- @AmerGeriatrics recognizes the Institute for Health Care Improvement @TheIHI for its work to advance age-friendly healthcare for all of us as we age with its 2024 David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award. https://ow.ly/t3kO50RcXjP
New York (4/11/2024) — Today, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) announced that it will be honoring the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) with its David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award for being a leader of the Age-Friendly Health Systems movement – which now includes almost 4,000 sites recognized by IHI for providing 4Ms (What Matters, Medication, Mentation, Mobility) care to over 3 million older adults.
“More than 3 million older adults have been reached with 4Ms care because of the work that IHI has been doing to improve the care of older adults equitably through the Age-Friendly Health Systems Initiative,” said AGS President Donna Fick, PhD, RN, GCNS-BC, AGSF, FGSA, FAAN. “This work is very much aligned with Dr. Solomon’s life-long commitment to improving quality care for all of us as we age, and I could think of no individual or group more deserving of this award. We have been fortunate to partner with IHI on these efforts and are grateful to The John A. Hartford Foundation for its long-standing partnership with AGS and its visionary leadership of this movement.
IHI partners and collaborates with visionary leaders, organizations, and frontline practitioners worldwide to seek and achieve science-based improvements in health and health care. “I am so proud of our work in partnership with IHI to spread age-friendly care and improve outcomes for older adults worldwide,” said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, President of The John A. Hartford Foundation. “One incredibly important example is IHI’s collaboration with the AGS and its Coordinating Center for the 48 Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Programs (GWEPs) that are funded by the Health Services and Resources Administration, which are all embedding training on the 4Ms Framework into primary care.” Because of this partnership, all GWEPs and hundreds of their partners have achieved Age-Friendly Health Systems recognition from IHI.
“We are humbled and honored by this recognition of the Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, which has become one of the most dynamic programs we have ever worked on as an organization,” said Kedar Mate, MD, President and CEO of IHI. “The values that Dr. Solomon embodied are exceptional, and we aspire to those every day in our work on Age-Friendly and across all areas of our organization. AGS has been an instrumental partner in this work, and we look forward to our ongoing partnership to keep up the momentum on the growing adoption of age-friendly care worldwide.”
Established by the AGS in 2002, the David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award celebrates the legacy of David H. Solomon, MD, AGSF, a renowned geriatrician committed to community service and advancing knowledge about the care of older individuals. It is one of several honors conferred by the AGS at its Annual Scientific Meeting—held this year virtually, May 9 – 11 (pre-conference days: Tuesday & Wednesday, May 7-8). The 2024 award recipients include more than 17 healthcare leaders representing the depth and breadth of disciplines championing care for older adults. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
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About the American Geriatrics Society
Founded in 1942, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide, not-for-profit society of geriatrics healthcare professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of older people. Our 6,000+ members include geriatricians, geriatrics nurse practitioners, social workers, family practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and internists who are pioneers in advanced illness care for older individuals, with a focus on championing interprofessional teams, eliciting personal care goals, and treating older people as whole persons. AGS believes in a just society, one where we all are supported by and able to contribute to communities where ageism, ableism, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination no longer impact healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for older adults and their caregivers. AGS advocates for policies and programs that support the health, independence, and quality of life of all of us as we age. AGS works across patient care, research, professional and public education, and public policy to improve the health, independence, and quality of life of all older people. For more information, visit AmericanGeriatrics.org.
About the David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award
The AGS created the David H. Solomon Memorial Public Service Award in 2002 to honor David H. Solomon, MD, AGSF, for his commitment to community service and the advancement of knowledge in caring for older adults. Dr. Solomon was the founding Director of the Center on Aging at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. He will forever be remembered for his excellence in research, teaching, patient care, and administration.
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 2,600 nurses, pharmacists, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, long-term care and managed care providers, healthcare administrators, and others will convene virtually, May 9 – 11 (pre-conference days: Tuesday & Wednesday, May 7-8) to advance geriatrics knowledge and skills through state-of-the-art educational sessions and research presentations. For more information, visit https://meeting.americangeriatrics.org/.