Aging and Community Health

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Program Goals

Our vision:

For society
All seniors will have access to safe, individually appropriate, high-quality medical management and oversight.

For physicians
All physicians caring for seniors will be proficient in geriatric care principles and practices.

Our objectives:

  • Ensure physician competency in caring for the aging patient.
  • Evaluate and disseminate tools and resources needed by physicians to improve their practice of medicine.
  • Help aging patients help themselves to better health outcomes.
  • Ensure that aging patients have appropriate options for long-term care.

Our strategies:

Ensure physician competency in caring for the aging patient

  • Develop consensus on standards and requirements for competencies in caring for the elderly by engaging medical societies and national organizations that are involved with medical education, accreditation, certification and licensure.
  • Identify and achieve consensus on minimum geriatric competences at the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education levels.
  • Disseminate information regarding the process of developing consensus to professionals and the public.

Evaluate and disseminate physician tools and resoureces

  • Assess best practices and programs.
  • Provide reports and tools for physicians that will augment their practice.
  • Provide technical assistance, materials and curricula for physicians to use for continuing medical education (CME) including performance improvement CME.

Help patients help themselves

  • Develop materials to help physicians and health care team(s) improve patient self-care, knowledge, practice and safety.
  • Develop public outreach tools and educational materials for patients and their caregivers (e.g. family members, friends) to learn about self-care methods.

Improve options for long-term care

  • Develop principles and criteria for long-term care practice options that promote coordination and continuity of care, quality and cost-effectiveness.

For more information on the AMA's program on Aging and Community Health, please contact program director Joanne Schwartzberg.