Seminal Reports Concerning Geriatrics

Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce
In this groundbreaking 2008 report, the Institute of Medicine warns that the nation's healthcare workforce is too small and “woefully” unprepared to care for the rapidly growing number of adults in the US -- a number that will exceed 70 million by 2030. The report, which builds on the American Geriatric Society’s (AGS’) “Caring for Older Americans” (below), calls for sweeping changes to avert this looming crisis, including efforts to enhance the geriatrics competence of the entire healthcare workforce; increase the recruitment and retention of geriatrics specialists and caregivers; and improve the way care is delivered. Several AGS members sat on the IOM committee that wrote Retooling and many of its recommendations parallel those of the Society, which advocated for the report.

“Caring for Older Americans: The Future of Geriatric Medicine”
According to this seminal 2005 report from the AGS, current shortages of geriatricians and other geriatrics healthcare professionals in the US could reach crisis proportions in the next two decades as millions of Baby Boomers hit retirement age. Geriatrics providers are trained to meet the unique healthcare needs of even the sickest, most vulnerable older patients -- including those with  multiple chronic health problems. The report identifies obstacles to ensuring that all seniors get the quality care they need, and outlines how to overcome these obstacles by, among other things, addressing financial and other disincentives to caring for older patients, and expanding geriatrics training and eldercare research.