Shaping Professional and Public Awareness of Geriatrics

Media Outreach, Media Spokespersons, and Coverage

Throughout 2006, AGS members generously volunteered their time to act as media spokespersons, giving interviews with print, radio, Internet and television news journalists. The media focused the spotlight on a variety of geriatrics healthcare issues during 2006 and AGS' Communications staff capitalized on these opportunities by placing stories in major news outlets throughout the country. Over the course of the year, AGS members were interviewed for high-profile stories in NBC Nightly News programs, and for National Public Radio's NPR's "Morning Edition", and were quoted in The Chicago Tribune, The Wall Street Journal, MSN.com, HealthDay.com, The Star Ledger, The Arizona Republic, The Albany Business Review, The Saturday Evening Post, The Tampa Tribune, Forbes.com, Health News Digest.com, Health Day News.com and The AtlantaJournalConstitution.com, to name just a few publications.

FHA Health "Tip Sheets"

The FHA released five new public education "tip sheets" over the course of 2006. The tip sheets, written for older adults and their caregivers, are posted on the FHA's public education Web site, www.healthinaging.org, and can be printed and distributed at no cost. Tip sheets released in 2006 offered older adults advice on travel safety; walking safety; avoiding winter hazards; beating the holiday blues and getting needed vaccinations. The tip sheets, which are also sent to the press, help raise media awareness, and as a result, further raise public awareness, of the unique health concerns and healthcare needs of older adults. Web sites and newspapers nationwide reported on the tip sheets during 2006.

"Health in Aging Stories" Site

The Foundation launched its Health in Aging Stories Site in March 2006. On the site, older adults who have benefited from geriatrics care and their caregivers recount their experiences with such care. The site, which also features contributions from geriatrics healthcare professionals who explain what makes geriatrics care unique, testifies to the difference it can make in the lives of older people. The site aims to help older adults and their caregivers determine whether they would benefit from geriatrics care. In addition, the FHA shares stories on the site with the media and policy makers to highlight the value of geriatrics healthcare.

Health in Aging Advocacy Center and Public Policy News Page

To keep members and other advocates of quality elder healthcare apprised of policy developments affecting such care, and to make it easier for them to advocate for policy supporting geriatrics healthcare, the AGS also launched its online Health in Aging Advocacy Center in March 2006. The advocacy center provides AGS staff with tools for alerting AGS and ADGAP members and others who register with the center to policy developments and AGS advocacy campaigns. More

Careers in Geriatrics Web page and Careers in Geriatrics Local Mentoring Program

AGS debuted its Careers in Geriatrics Web page in the fall of 2006. The page, which profiles members in a wide range of disciplines, gives potential recruits, journalists and other readers a sense of the myriad opportunities a background in geriatrics affords.

In another effort to link members and possible recruits, AGS' created its Careers in Geriatrics Local Mentoring Program, which pairs students and other trainees interested in geriatrics with AGS members. The program matches members and trainees based on each trainee's goals and interests and geographic location.

AGS' Grassroots Media Toolkit

AGS also launched its members-only AGS' Grassroots Media Toolkit in 2006. Available via the Society's members-only portal, MYAGS, the toolkit is designed to help members work with the media to raise awareness of important issues affecting the health of older adults. It includes easy-to-follow, step-by-step guides to writing Letters to the Editor, Op-Eds, and articles and columns on aging and health. The kit also includes sample Letters to the Editor, Op-Eds, columns and articles.

Institute of Medicine Report

AGS also continued to assist the Institute of Medicine (IOM) with its study assessing the readiness of the nation's healthcare workforce to meet the needs of an aging society. The AGS first proposed such a study in its watershed 2005 report, Caring for Older American: The Future of Geriatric Medicine, and the Society's leadership and staff advocated for the initiative, collaborating with the Hartford Foundation to bring funders and the IOM together. The IOM panel conducting the study includes several AGS members. Its report, which will provide a blueprint for elder healthcare in the 21st century, is slated for release in March 2008.