News/Press Releases

@AmerGeriatrics honors Dr. Annie Medina-Walpole w/ #AGS16 Jahnigen Memorial Public Service Award

New York (April 5, 2016)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today announced that Annette (Annie) Medina-Walpole, MD, AGSF, a leading geriatrics clinician and educator at the University of Rochester (UR) in New York, will be honored with the 2016 Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Public Service Award. Across her career, Dr. Medina-Walpole has worked tirelessly to recruit and educate more professionals equipped to care for our growing older adult population—a critical unmet need for one of the country’s fastest growing groups.

“In the clinic, at the bedside, and the classroom, Dr. Medina-Walpole has led the charge on innovative educational programs to get more students and trainees across health care interested and engaged in geriatrics,” noted AGS President Steven R. Counsell, MD, AGSF. “We already need 20,000 geriatricians to care for America’s 46 million older adults, yet today less than 7,500 certified geriatricians are practicing nationwide. Our vision for tomorrow is a reality first and foremost because AGS leaders like Dr. Medina-Walpole are stepping up to model the way for aspiring eldercare experts.”

Dr. Chris Callahan of @IUMedSchool to be awarded @AmerGeriatrics Henderson Award, deliver Henderson Lecture at #AGS16

New York (April 5, 2016)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) announced that Christopher Callahan, MD, an eldercare expert in depression, dementia, and related conditions, will receive this year’s prestigious Edward Henderson Award. Dr. Callahan—the Cornelius & Yvonne Pettinga Professor of Medicine at Indiana University (IU), as well as founding Director of the IU Center for Aging Research and a Research Scientist with the Regenstrief Institute—will deliver the prestigious Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (May 19-21; Long Beach, Calif.) on “Alzheimer's Disease: Individuals, Dyads, Communities, and Costs.” His presentation will focus on an extensive body of research addressing care for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease, the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. and one of the only leading causes of mortality that cannot presently be prevented or cured.

“Across his more than 25-year career, Dr. Callahan has raised the bar for geriatrics research and expertise by expanding our understanding of what it means to deliver high-quality, person-centered care,” notes AGS President Steven R. Counsell, MD, AGSF. “Dr. Callahan’s commitment to dementia care models has led to new ways of thinking about managing Alzheimer’s disease in health systems that are now more integrated and more collaborative.”

Dr. Laura Iglesias Lino honored by @AmerGeriatrics w/ #AGS16 Arnold Gold Humanism Award

New York (April 5, 2016)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) congratulates Laura Iglesias Lino, MD, the third recipient of its Arnold P. Gold Foundation Humanism in Medicine Award for Practicing Doctors.

“Dr. Iglesias Lino has played a critical role in care planning for vulnerable older adults in her community, a key area of focus for the AGS,” said AGS President Steven R. Counsell, MD, AGSF. “Colleagues recognize Dr. Iglesias Lino’s commitment to embracing the network of friends, family, and caregivers who are vital contributors to the care continuum. This is something at the heart of an award for recognizing compassionate clinician leaders.”

An Assistant Professor of Medicine at Baystate Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Dr. Iglesias Lino has dedicated her career to interweaving geriatrics and palliative care to improve older adult health. Caring for some of her community’s most disenfranchised elders, Dr. Iglesias Lino has served as a vital link to healthcare resources for Springfield’s Latino community, as well as vulnerable Ukrainian, Moldavian, and Russian older adults, among other groups. At the health center where she works, Dr. Iglesias Lino is focusing on the frailest patients with dementia, developing a program to improve the quality of care delivered to this group of elders.

Overdue since 2011, reauthorization of the Older Americans Act has passed the U.S. House of Representatives; swift passage in the Senate would finally address a long gap in affirming important protections and programs to help older adults live independently.

New York (Mar. 21, 2016)–Representing nearly 6,000 healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older adults, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) commends the U.S. House of Representatives on passing the Older Americans Act (OAA) Reauthorization Act of 2015, key legislation to deliver social and protective services to older Americans through 2018.

Introduced by U.S. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Patty Murray (D-WA), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2015, the bill would strengthen landmark legislation originally passed in 1965—and overdue for reauthorization since 2011. Among other objectives, the legislation aims to address elder abuse; evidence-based care; effective coordination of services at the federal, state, and local levels; and several other challenges confronting older Americans and their healthcare professionals.

“The OAA reflects our national commitment to protect and provide for generations of older Americans who helped shape the society we now share,” said AGS CEO Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA. “It’s important that all branches of government stand behind legislation like the OAA, which reflects the attention and respect that older adults deserve.”

New York (Feb. 16, 2016)—A newly updated guide from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is putting healthcare professionals on the road to success for assessing and counseling older drivers. With older adults accounting for 10 percent of all people injured in traffic crashes annually and 17 percent of annual traffic fatalities, the Clinician’s Guide to Assessing and Counseling Older Drivers (3rd Edition)translates research findings and public health initiatives into practical, person-centered advice for safely navigating the open road.

“For all of us, but for Baby Boomers especially, driving is more than just a national pastime and a means for transportation. It’s a reflection of independence, mobility, and freedom,” explains Alice Pomidor, MD, MPH, AGSF, chair of the editorial board that developed the AGS-NHTSA guide. “The main goal of this guide is to help healthcare professionals promote health, independence, and quality of life by preventing crashes and injuries.”

Added Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA, AGS CEO: “This guide reflects the fact that many individuals play a role in older adult well-being, and that expert-authored tools, tips, and recommendations can help all healthcare professionals support high-quality, person-centered care in a key focus area: driver safety.”

As the U.S. welcomes its largest and most diverse group of older residents, insights from ethnogeriatrics specialists at the AGS shed light on health disparities and the importance of embracing culture as a critical facet of care

New York (Feb. 4, 2016)—New guidance from the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) aims to transform approaches to healthcare for our increasingly diverse older population. Developed by a committee of experts in ethnogeriatrics (the study of how ethnicity and culture impact the health and well-being of older people), “Achieving High-Quality Multicultural Geriatric Care” outlines present health disparities and the need for sensitivity to culture and health literacy when working with older individuals. As we look toward a not-so-distant future in 2050 when more than 80 million Americans will be 65-years-old or older, the factors outlined by AGS experts represent aspirational hallmarks of health care for a nation where “minorities” will soon account for nearly 40 percent of all older adults.

Under a $3 million grant from The John A. Hartford Foundation, the American Geriatrics Society will administer a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program Coordinating Center to provide strategic resources for 44 HRSA awardees working on local solutions to the national geriatrics workforce shortage

• W/ $3M @JHARTFOUND grant, @AmerGeriatrics to administer GWEP coordinating center to improve #geriatrics care

New York (Jan. 20, 2016)—The John A. Hartford Foundation has awarded the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) a $3 million grant to establish a Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) Coordinating Center. As a component of the GWEP platform administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the GWEP Coordinating Center will serve as a strategic resource for 44 organizations across 29 states working on projects to increase the number of doctors, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare professionals trained to care for America’s growing older adult population.

Joint best practice recommendations from American College of Surgeons and American Geriatrics Society address unique care required for older adults facing surgery.

Chicago (Jan. 4, 2016)—Responding to the needs of the country’s growing older adult population, a new collaborative best practices guideline was released today for optimal care of older adults immediately before, during, and after surgical operations (a timeframe known as the “perioperative” period).  The new consensus-based guideline was developed by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP^®) and the American Geriatrics Society’s (AGS) Geriatrics-for- Specialists Initiative (GSI), with support from The John A. Hartford Foundation. With more than 40 million older adults living in the U.S. today—and with that number expected to nearly double to 89 million by 2050—providing expert guidance on surgical care is key since the need for surgical services increases with age and targeted guidance during the perioperative period can speed recovery.