New York (April 27, 2017)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) announced that Richard M. Allman, MD, Chief Consultant for Geriatrics & Extended Care Services, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), will deliver the prestigious Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture at the AGS 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting (May 18-20; San Antonio, Texas). Dr. Allman’s lecture, “Building, Sustaining, and Promoting Age-Friendly Health Systems,” will focus on the role of leadership, research, education, and quality improvement in developing and maintaining better systems for older adult care.
“The VA has played such a critical role in advancing geriatrics care and research for those who have served our country, and Dr. Allman has been integral to that legacy,” notes AGS President Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF. “As we work to shape the context of care for all older adults, exploring how better health outcomes are tied to better health systems has never been more important—which is why we so value Dr. Allman’s expertise.”
As Chief Consultant for VA’s Geriatrics & Extended Care Services since 2014, Dr. Allman is responsible for developing policy and planning programs and services to meet the needs of Veterans facing the challenges of aging, disability, or serious illness. Nearly half of the more than 9 million Veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration, the nation’s largest integrated healthcare system, are age 65 and older. Dr. Allman’s career has focused on improving care for older adults at the local, state and national levels. His research has informed these efforts as he has focused on a multitude of pressing issues that face us all as we age, particularly with regard to mobility, cardiovascular health, and health disparities among older adults. In this context, Dr. Allman has witnessed first-hand how health systems can change to provide care that is supportive of older adults’ overall health, function, and well-being.
“I am honored and humbled by receiving the Henderson Award. I have had the privilege of being part of healthcare teams committed to improving the care of older adults for more than three decades, but there is an urgent need to accelerate changes in our approaches to care. The application of the knowledge gained in geriatrics is essential to ensuring age-friendly health systems that will promote more person-centered care, improve health outcomes, and decrease costs by reducing hospitalizations, nursing home stays, and unwanted and unnecessary tests and procedures,” observed Dr. Allman.
Before his current role, Dr. Allman was founding director of Birmingham/Atlanta VA Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center (GRECC). He also was the Parrish Endowed Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care and the Comprehensive Center for Healthy Aging at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Allman served as the principal investigator for the National Institute on Aging-funded UAB Study of Aging, the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research, and the UAB component of The John A. Hartford Foundation-funded Southeast Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Allman received his medical degree from West Virginia University School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in internal medicine. He did a post-doctoral fellowship and received training in clinical epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University. He now joins a prestigious group of colleagues who have delivered the Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture at AGS Annual Scientific Meetings.
Edward Henderson, MD, namesake of the Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture, was a beloved and respected geriatrician who served the AGS in several capacities, most notably as President, Vice President, and Executive Director. For more than two decades, Dr. Henderson’s devoted efforts on behalf of the AGS made him an international authority in human aging and geriatric medicine. The Edward Henderson Award is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting. The 2017 award recipients include more than 15 healthcare leaders representing the depth and breadth of disciplines championing care for older adults. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
About the American Geriatrics Society
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals that has—for 75 years—worked to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Its nearly 6,000 members include geriatricians, geriatric nurses, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists. The Society provides leadership to healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public by implementing and advocating for programs in patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
About the Edward Henderson Award and the Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture
The late Edward Henderson, MD, was a renowned geriatrics researcher and physician and an instrumental leader for the AGS. The Edward Henderson Award is conferred upon a distinguished clinician, educator, or researcher who also delivers the Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture on a topic related to the body of his or her work at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting.
About the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting
The AGS Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier educational event in geriatrics, providing the latest information on clinical care, research on aging, and innovative models of care delivery. More than 2,500 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene May 18-20, 2017 (pre-conference program on May 17), at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.