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Since preparations for the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) began in the Fall of 2004, AGS staff, leaders, state affiliates, and individual members were extensively involved in the many activities, in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere, leading up to this important decennial event. AGS disseminated information-at meetings and through our Web site and publications explaining how members could get involved in the conference. As a result, AGS is well represented in every decision-making body of the WHCoA. (For details, see entries on individual committees, delegates, and preparatory meetings, below) For your reference, the WHCoA's website is: http://www.whcoa.gov/.
Delegates at the Dec. 11-14, 2005 Conference voted on resolutions and developed implementation strategies. Choosing among a field of seventy-three proposed resolutions (http://www.whcoa.gov/about/resolutions/resolutions.asp), the delegates adopted twenty-four of the twenty-six resolutions the AGS had identified as most closely reflecting the Society's priorities. The twenty-four included all five of the resolutions the AGS had identified as "highest priority." Fifty final resolutions will be included in a final report to the President and Congress. A full report on the resolutions is due to Congress by June 2006. The final report will include specific recommendations for implementation that AGS delegates played a key role in forming. To review the recommendations visit www.whcoa.gov/press/speakers/Implementation_Strategy_Highlight_Report.pdf.
Many of the resolutions reflect the priorities of our organization as indicated in the reports, Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine and Geriatric Medicine: A Clinical Imperative for an Aging Population.
The American Geriatrics Society asked delegates to vote for twenty-six resolutions. Click here for the complete list.
Policy Committee
The Society was represented on the WHCoA committee responsible for planning the 2005 Conference. AGS member Alejandro Aparicio, MD, was appointed by President Bush to serve on the 17-member Policy Committee, which provided direction, advice, and recommendations for planning and implementing the Conference. He was the only physician named to this important committee. Another AGS member, Thomas Edes, MD, represented the Secretary of the VA on the Policy Committee.
Dr. Parag Dalsania, who is the AGS-Metropolitan Washington DC Geriatrics Society state affiliate representative, was on detail to the WHCoA in May and June of 2005. Dr. Dalsania is the Director of the Geriatric & Memory Disorder Clinic at the VA Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Advisory Committee
On May 13, 2005 President Bush appointed AGS members F. Michael Gloth, III, MD, FACP, AGSF, from Maryland and Joanne Schwartzberg, MD of Illinois, to serve on the 22-member Advisory Committee. As required by statute, the Advisory Committee of the White House Conference on Aging advised the Policy Committee. A press release announcing the Advisory Committee appointments is available at http://www.whcoa.gov/press/releases/2005/pr_051705.asp.
Delegates to the 2005 WHCOA
Some 1,200 delegates were selected to participate in the 2005 White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA). Governors of all 50 States, the U.S. Territories, Puerto Rico, and the Mayor of the District of Columbia, Members of the 109th Congress, and the National Congress of American Indians appointed delegates. AGS provided its members with information on its website and in its publications on what actions they could take in order to be considered by their governors and other elected officials. AGS submitted the names of Drs. Meghan Gerety and David Reuben, who were selected to serve as at-large delegates. For a complete list of AGS members who were selected as at-large delegates to the WHCoA click here. For a complete list of AGS members who were selected click here.
For a state-by-state listing of delegates selected by governors and members of Congress, go to http://www.whcoa.gov/press/releases/releases.asp.
Solutions Forums
Throughout the year, the WHCoA Policy Committee solicited input from stakeholders in Listening Sessions and Solutions Forums across the country, on recommendations for potential consideration as Conference resolutions. Several AGS members participated in these events and highlighted problems with access to geriatric care confronting the elderly.
Mini-Conference on Geriatric Workforce Issue
Official White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) Mini-Conferences were coordinated by a variety of partner agencies, organizations, and the WHCoA on a key topic areas identified by the Policy Committee. The Mini-Conferences were designed to provide the Policy Committee with focused information on specific issues and to generate recommendations and solutions, from the public and private sectors, for use in the development of resolutions and implementation recommendations for delegates to the 2005 WHCoA.
The Louisiana Geriatrics Society held a miniconference on aging July 9, 2005 in New Orleans. The post event report is available at http://www.whcoa.gov/about/des_events_reports/PER_LA_08_12_05.pdf.
AGS, along with the Hartford Foundation, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, and others held a mini-conference on geriatric workforce issues on July 16, 2005 in Bethesda, MD. Several AGS members spoke at the conference. Click on the link below for a copy of the report.
Report and Recommendations by the Mini-Conference on Geriatric Health Care Workforce Issues
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