News/Press Releases

• At #AGS18, @UNMC’s Dr. Jane Potter honored for far-reaching impact training future #geriatrics leaders http://ow.ly/jnP930jbk0C

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) today announced that Jane Potter, MD, AGSF, Chief in the Division of Geriatrics at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), will be honored with the 2018 Dennis W. Jahnigen Award celebrating work to train more health professionals in the care we all need as we age.

“Over the past 35 years, Dr. Potter’s tireless work has advanced education for thousands of health professionals,” said Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair. “It would be difficult to locate a geriatrics clinician trained in the last two decades whose education has not been shaped in some way by Dr. Potter’s influence.”

A dynamic force driving geriatrics education, Dr. Potter has not only led medical education at UNMC but also has expanded the scope of her work to lead national efforts aimed at increasing the prestige and prominence of the geriatrics workforce. Dr. Potter is a co-Principal Investigator for the AGS’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) Coordinating Center—a strategic resource supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation for 44 organizations in 29 states working through the only federal program focused on increasing the number of doctors, nurses, social workers, and other healthcare professionals trained to care for America’s older adult population.

• Prestigious Nascher/Manning Award presented by @AmerGeriatrics to two #geriatrics pioneers: @AGSJournal’s @WApplega_Bill, VA’s Dr. Thomas Edes http://ow.ly/IQz030jbkc4

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this year honor not one but two pioneers of geriatrics expertise with the prestigious Nascher/Manning Award given biannually at the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18; held this year May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.). William Applegate, MD, MPH, MACP, AGSF—Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS) and a renowned clinician-educator at Wake Forest Health and the Wake Forest School of Medicine—and Thomas Edes, MD, MS—Executive Director of Geriatrics & Extended Care Operations for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)—now join a cadre of less than 20 geriatrics healthcare professionals recognized with the Nascher/Manning Award since its inception in 1987.

A professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Dr. Applegate has long been instrumental in leading change and innovation, particularly at the AGS. An AGS member since 1984 and a former Society President, Dr. Applegate has twice anchored JAGS as Editor-in-Chief, having returned most recently in 2016 following an earlier tenure from 1993 through 2000.

• Dr. John Burton of @HopkinsMedicine, Dr. George Drach of @PennMedicine & @UofA honored for commitment to #geriatrics expertise, education at #AGS18 http://ow.ly/rvU330jbkro

New York (March 27, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) will this May honor two of the field’s most seasoned clinician-educators with one of the Society’s highest accolades. John R. Buton, MD, AGSF—Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) in Maryland—and George W. Drach, MD, AGSF—Emeritus Professor of Surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and the College of Medicine at the University of Arizona—will be recognized for decades of commitment to community service and geriatrics education when they receive the David H. Solomon Public Service Award at the AGS 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), held May 3-5 in Orlando, Fla.

“Dr. Burton and Dr. Drach exemplify two pillars of geriatrics: Our commitment to educate more of the experts we all will need as we age and our promise to ensure that all our doctors, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other health professionals understand what makes our care unique as we age,” notes Ellen Flaherty, PhD, APRN, AGSF, AGS Board Chair.

• At #AGS18, innovation for “young & young at heart” finds common home at Disney & in #geriatrics http://ow.ly/3XLU30j3MKW
• What do #geriatrics & @Disney have in common? More than you might think thanks to @AmerGeriarics’ #AGS18 http://ow.ly/3XLU30j3MKW

New York (March 20, 2018)—Home to the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting (#AGS18), the Walt Disney World Resort® in Orlando, Fla., has long been a place for the “young and young at heart”—but it shares more with geriatrics, the health specialty dedicated to expert care for older adults, than you might think.

In the same year that Walt Disney announced plans for his iconic theme park, then-President Lyndon Johnson proposed an equally ambitious program, Medicare, to ensure older Americans like Disney could continue contributing to our communities for as long as possible. Since then, the same creativity and innovation that helped Disney change the landscape of central Florida has also helped geriatrics shape a more supportive landscape for clinical practice, public policy, and public and professional education serving us all as we age—something more than 2,500 geriatrics health professionals and advocates will revisit at #AGS18, held May 3-5 (pre-conference day May 2) at the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin Resort®.

Geriatrics health professionals remain concerned that increasing costs for people in their 50s and 60s and expanding access to insurance lacking minimum protections could raise costs and jeopardize care quality.

New York (Mar. 13, 2018)—Experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed concern over recent proposals by the Trump Administration to increase health insurance costs for older adults purchasing coverage on the Affordable Care Act marketplace and to expand so-called “short-term,” limited-protection health insurance. Such coverage—which would not be subject to important protections under present law safeguarding essential benefits and coverage for pre-existing conditions—risks increasing costs and the stability of health coverage at a time when more Americans than ever before are poised to benefit from increased longevity thanks to better care.

“We oppose changes that increase costs and impede access to key services for older Americans, families, and caregivers,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy E. Lundebjerg, MPA. “We agree that health care can be improved, but that can’t happen with ‘short-term’ solutions that short-change our options, benefits, and costs.”

New York (Feb. 16, 2018)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) expressed deep disappointment with proposed cuts that could curtail training for the health professionals we all will need as we age, as well as impede a range of services for older adults—all outlined by President Trump in his budget plan for 2019.

Among several concerns, the AGS noted that the budget would eliminate $451 million from training programs that educate family caregivers, as well as our doctors, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, and many other health professionals essential to our care as we grow older. While Congress has ultimate say on spending, the Trump proposal is already premised on a flawed assumption that “[t]here is little evidence that these programs significantly improve the Nation’s health workforce.”

The AGS remains especially concerned about the potential impact of cuts to the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) under Titles VII and VIII. This is the only federal program aimed at improving the quality, safety, and affordability of our care by increasing the number of professionals with the skills needed to preserve and promote health, safety, and independence for all older Americans.

• Read more about For 260,000 Older Adults Hospitalized with Hip Fractures, New Virtual Platform Gives Local Roots to AGS CoCare: Ortho Program

With Congressional vote expected early next week, experts at AGS continue to voice concerns about how tax reform bill lacked transparency in development and could jeopardize care for us all as we age.

New York (Dec. 15, 2017)—The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) continues to voice strong opposition to the Tax Cuts and Job Acts, the tax reform bill that could jeopardize care for millions of older adults and caregivers if it passes a Congressional vote planned for early next week. Since developing their own plans earlier this fall, House and Senate leaders have been working to reconcile independent versions of their proposals, neither of which have been open to considerable public comment or scrutiny. While it remains unclear what will be included in the final tax reform proposal, the AGS remains concerned that several flawed proposals under serious consideration could curtail supports for millions of older Americans and threaten important gains securing health coverage for us all, according to independent analyses.

Following passage of the Senate tax reform proposal, experts at the AGS continue to voice serious concerns about how the proposal could jeopardize care for us all as we age.

New York (Dec. 4, 2017)—Disappointed by Senate passage of a tax reform proposal that could curtail critical supports for older Americans and threaten important gains securing health coverage for more Americans, experts at the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) continued to voice strong opposition to the bill and its impact on millions of older adults and caregivers.

“We remain deeply concerned about the impact of this flawed proposal—not only on federal programs important to older Americans but also on the availability of high-quality, person-centered, and affordable health care for us all as we age,” noted AGS Chief Executive Officer Nancy Lundebjerg, MPA. “We at the AGS will continue to work tirelessly for solutions that can improve health, independence, and quality of life for all older Americans—despite the absence of these goals in the present proposal.”

The answer lies not only in prioritizing under-researched yet increasingly prevalent conditions like urinary incontinence but also in addressing such concerns in the broader context of high-quality and evidence-based health care for older adults.

New York (Dec. 4, 2017)—Nearly 40 percent of older women and up to 35 percent of older men live with distressing urinary symptoms, including difficulty with bladder control and urinating (sometimes known as “voiding”), which often compromise quality of life and overall health. The lack of truly effective and safe therapies for these challenges stems from insufficient knowledge of the biological mechanisms for urinary control, the impact of aging and disease on urinary control, and the relationships of symptoms to urinary health and overall well-being, so say researchers reporting on a prestigious conference hosted by the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and funded by a grant from the National Institute of Aging (NIA) to George A. Kuchel, MD, FRCP, AGSF, Director of the UConn Center on Aging and Travelers Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology at UConn Health.

A summary report published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society emphasizes that the conference—the third in a series on common geriatric syndromes like incontinence, delirium, and sleep disturbances—holds promise for pin-pointing gaps in knowledge and building a better research agenda to improve care for us all as we age.