Recent Clinical Advances and Integrative Chinese-Western Medicine Practices in Geriatric Care

A Review from the Perspective of Traditional Chinese Internal Medicine

Abstract

With the accelerating global population aging, older adults face complex health challenges, including chronic diseases, multimorbidity, functional decline, and mental health disorders, which place substantial burdens on healthcare and long-term care systems. Traditional Chinese Internal Medicine (TCIM), grounded in holistic, individualized, and preventive principles, offers integrative strategies tailored to the physiological and functional needs of the elderly. This paper reviews recent theoretical developments and clinical applications of TCIM in managing cerebrovascular disorders, degenerative arthritis, gastrointestinal dysfunction, and late-life depression, emphasizing evidence-based outcomes. Integrating TCIM with Western medicine enhances rehabilitation, emotional regulation, and healthcare resource utilization. Experiences from China and Taiwan demonstrate the benefits of incorporating TCIM into home-based and long-term care models, including delayed functional decline, reduced hospitalization, and improved care efficiency. The paper also discusses current challenges, such as insufficient standardized outcome measures, integration barriers with biomedicine, and gaps in professional education, and provides recommendations to promote the systematic development and international adoption of TCIM in geriatric healthcare.