AGS Announcements

AGS' Annual Scientific Meeting Runs Tomorrow Through Saturday in Chicago; AGS News Week in Review Will Not Publish Next Tuesday
The American Geriatrics Society's Annual Scientific Meeting begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday in Chicago. We hope to see you there! AGS News Week in Review will not publish next Tuesday. Look for the next issue in your Inbox on Tuesday, May 12.

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What's Up in Washington

Information About Emerging Swine Flu Epidemic on CDC Website; CDC Urges Older Adults and Others at Increased Risk To Take Antiviral Medications During Travel
As of Sunday, 20 human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) had been identified in California, Texas, New York City, Kansas and Ohio. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these cases may be linked to an ongoing swine flu outbreak in Mexico. As of Sunday, only two of the 20 US patients had been hospitalized and all had recovered. "However, CDC and state public and animal health authorities are still in the early stages of the investigations," the agency reports.

The CDC is advising older adults and others at high risk of severe illness from influenza - including those with diabetes, lung disease and other chronic conditions - to take antiviral medications during travel.

For continued updates on the emerging swine flu epidemic, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu

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Got A Minute? Top Health Policy News Picks
AGS staff and public policy advisors have kept an eye out for top health policy stories that our members should read. This week we recommend:

• Health Policy Picks, a monthly selection of recent publications by organizations and government agencies conducting healthcare policy analysis and research. Health Policy Picks is a joint undertaking of the Kaiser Family Foundation's KaiserEDU.org and the New York academy of Medicine Library's Grey Literature Collection.

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AGS Annual Meeting News

Dr. Kenneth Thorpe, Executive Director of The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, to Deliver Public Policy Lecture Friday, During AGS' Annual Scientific Meeting
Kenneth Thorpe, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, co-director of the Emory Center on Outcomes and Quality, and Executive Director of The Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease will deliver the Public Policy Lecture at the American Geriatrics Society's Annual Scientific Meeting this Friday.

The Partnership, of which AGS is a member, is a national coalition of organizations, patients, healthcare providers, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of and advancing policies and practices that improve care and lower healthcare costs through more effective prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

In his lecture, slated for 10:15 AM this Friday, Dr. Thorpe will discuss the Partnership's efforts to reform the healthcare system to better address issues of cost and quality that arise in the treatment and management of chronic disease. Care for people with chronic conditions accounts for roughly three-quarters of overall healthcare spending in the US, and more than 90% of Medicare spending. Chronic conditions are responsible for half of all disabilities among older adults and account for three out of every four premature deaths in this country.

Dr. Thorpe has held numerous leadership positions in healthcare. He was previously the Director of the Program on Healthcare Financing and Insurance at the Harvard School of Public Health and an assistant professor public policy and public health at Columbia. He was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Policy in the Department of Health and Human Services from 1993 to 1995. Dr. Thorpe has worked with numerous organizations and with lawmakers to develop and evaluate healthcare policy. He is a reviewer on several healthcare journals and the author of numerous publications. In December 2008, he testified before the Senate HELP committee on Prevention and Public Health.

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Member News

Clinical Geriatrics
A free yearly subscription to Clinical Geriatrics, is one of the many benefits of membership in the American Geriatrics Society. Clinical Geriatrics is a monthly medical journal that focuses on both clinical and practical issues related to the treatment and management of older patients.

The journal publishes authoritative, clinical articles covering a wide range of areas, including cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases, musculoskeletal disease, nephrology, neurology, oncology, pain management, psychiatry, pulmonary medicine, rheumatology, and urology. Clinical Geriatrics also includes insightful columns, including "Spotlight," a bi-monthly column by AGS member Barney Spivack, MD. In addition, the journal provides ongoing continuing medical education approved by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Each issue offers an opportunity to earn credit hours towards the AMA's Physician Recognition Award.

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Things We Like

New York Times Sees Blow to Ageism in British Singer's Success
When Susan Boyle belted out "I Dreamed a Dream" on television's Britain's Got Talent earlier this month, she didn't just bring what had been a dismissive audience and panel of judges to their feet in a lengthy ovation, she also stuck a blow against ageism, The New York Times reports.

Ms. Boyle, who had the temerity to go onstage with unplucked eyebrows and some body fat, is 47 -- a couple of decades older than the usual coiffed and toned contestants on shows like Britain's Got Talent and American Idol.

As a result Boyle -- whose performance has been viewed more than 43 million times on YouTube -- "has become a heroine not only to people dreaming of being catapulted from obscurity to fame but also to those who cheer her triumph over looks-ism and ageism in a world that so values youth and beauty," writes the Times' Sarah Lyall.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin, a Huffington Post blogger and feminist writer, concurs. According to the Times, Pogrebin emailed a link to the YouTube clip -- under the subject line "Ageism Be Damned" - to everyone on her "Women's Issues" email list. Boyle's audience and judges, Pogrebin wrote in the email, "were initially blinded by entrenched stereotypes of age, class, gender, and Western beauty standards, until her book was opened, and everybody saw what was inside."

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Other News

"Schism," Award-Winning Film Depicting One Man's Descent into Alzheimer's Disease, to be Widely Available on DVD
The final cut of "schism," the independent feature film about a man's descent into Alzheimer's disease that has been snapping up prizes and accolades at film festivals for the last year, will soon be available to the public on DVD.

To date, the film has been available only as a promotional DVD that has been screened at film festivals and other venues but hasn't been offered for sale to the public. The soon to be released Special Edition DVD of "schism" will include scenes that don't appear in the original, and Q&A sessions with the Alzheimer's Association, care professionals, and cast members.

Shot entirely in a nursing facility, with a cast of volunteers and a budget of less than $6,000, "schism" takes on "such timely subjects as Alzheimer's, assisted living, and aging from a unique perspective - that of the afflicted," Los Angeles' Zero Film Festival writes in a review praising the film.

"It's been a year since we first debuted "schism" and we kept editing it," says writer and director John C. Lyons. "People really respond to the film and open up about their own experiences with Alzheimer's. We always knew the movie would get people talking, we just needed a way to get it out there, and we're starting to ramp that up now. It's very exciting!"

More information about the film is available at www.schismmovie.com which will be re-launching soon.

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