Marie A. Bernard

New model of health promotion and disease prevention for the 21st century

Our susceptibility to disease increases as we grow older. Robert Butler and colleagues argue that interventions to slow down ageing could therefore have much greater benefit than those targeted at individual disease

The Effect of Vitamin B12 Deficiency on Older Veterans and Its Relationship to Health

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of vitamin B12 deficiency on older veterans and its relationship to general health and cognitive impairment.

The Effect of Aging on Bone Mineral Metabolism and Bone Mass in Native American Women

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of age on mineral metabolism and bone mineral density (BMD) of the hip and spine in Native American women.

Morbidity, disability, and health status of black American elderly: a new look at the oldest-old.

There are over 2.5 million black Americans aged 65 and over living in the United States today, including some 258,000 persons aged 85 years and over. The post‐World War II baby boom within the US black population should ensure that the numbers of persons aged 65 and over will increase into the 21st Century. If present trends continue, it is projected that the current population of black elders will also age. This means that the numbers of black persons aged 85 and over will also increase. Data from both national surveys and population‐based community studies concerning the health and well‐being of black elders are now becoming available. This report presents information concerning self‐reported health status, chronic disease prevalence, disease‐risk‐factor prevalence, measures of physical functioning, and nursing home utilization rates for age groups within the black population aged 65 years and over. The availability of such data should lead to the development of targeted interventions designed to lessen impairment and prolong independent living. J Am Geriatr Soc 40:1047–1054, 1992

Chapter 2 Workforce Needs in the Future The Institute of Medicine 2008 Report—Retooling for an Aging America

WORKFORCE NEEDS IN THE FUTURE The Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report on April 14, 2008, titled Retooling for an Aging America, addressing the geriatrics workforce needs of the future (IOM, Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans, 2008). The committee that developed the report was tasked with determining (a) the future health status and utilization of services by older Americans, (b) the best use of the health care workforce, given projections for future health and utilization, (c) the education and training, recruitment, and retention of health care professionals that will be needed, and (d) what needs to be improved in public programs to support the care of older Americans. The committee was convened with support from a number of private foundations (see Table 2.1), and had representatives from a variety of areas of expertise, ranging from geriatric medicine to health economics and social policy (see Table 2.2). This chapter reviews the fi ndings and recommendations within the report. Retooling for an Aging America is best summarized by considering, as the committee did, the current state of health and workforce availability for aged Americans. From this examination came a number of recommendations and some suggestions for what should be done in the future. Thus this chapter addresses why the report is important, its fi ndings and recommendations, as well as suggestions for the future.