Upcoming Events and Seminars, Lectures, and Trainings
Reynolds Visiting Professor Program (RsVP) -May 21-22, 2012
The next RsVP speaker will be Janice Knebl, DO, MBA, Endowed Chair in Clinical Geriatrics and Professor of Medicine at the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth.
CME Lecture and Dinner
| Presentation: | (SAGE) Seniors Assisting in Geriatrics Education: Utilizing a Successful Senior Mentoring Program to Train Medical Students in Geriatrics |
| Date/Time: |
Monday, May 21, 2012 |
| Location: |
UT Health Medical School Building |
| Light Dinner: | Immediately following the lecture |
| CME: | Provided |
| Cost: | None |
Internal Medicine Grand Rounds
| Presentation: | To Artificially Feed or Not to Feed...Ethical Dilemmas in Dementia |
| Date/Time: | May 22, 2012 12:00-1:00 pm |
| Location: |
UT Health Medical School Building |
| Lunch: | Provided |
| CME | Provided |
| Cost: | None |
These lectures are funded in part by a grant from the D. W. Reynolds Foundation and by the Phyllis Gough Huffington Lecture Series II.
For more information or to register for the presentation, please visit the website at http://www.uth.tmc.edu/reynolds/RsVP.html or contact Rhonda Bailes at Rhonda.Bailes@uth.tmc.edu or 713.873.4686.
Empowering Communities to Provide Services in a New Age: Focus on Vulnerable Adults
Legal, Financial, Social and Healthcare Perspectives
May 18, 2012
8 am to 4 pm
United Way
50 Waugh Drive
Houston, TX
Commemorating Older Americans Month
News
Beers Criteria Updated
The 2012 AGS Updated Beers Criteria was published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Given the importance of the Beers Criteria to insuring high quality care for older adults, the AGS is making the criteria and related professional and public education materials free at www.americangeriatrics.org.
In the coming months, the AGS will be adding a new Smartphone Application and Teaching Slide Presentation to their portfolio of materials based on the 2012 AGS Beers Criteria.
Some important things to note about the updated criteria:
- The Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication (PIM) Use in Older Adults is one of the most frequently consulted sources of information about the safe prescribing of medications for older adults and is used widely in geriatrics clinical care, training, and research. The 2012 American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults has been completely revised and expanded since the 2003 edition, to ensure that clinicians have the best and most up-to-date information about medications that could be harmful to older adults to inform their decisions.
- The new Criteria include three categories of recommendations: (1) medications to avoid in older adults regardless of diseases or conditions; (2) medications considered potentially inappropriate when used in older adults with certain diseases or syndromes; and (3) medications that should be used with caution.
- Fifty-three medications and classes of medications are among those listed as potentially problematic. New medications listed in the category 1 section include “sliding scale” insulin, which research suggests may pose more risks than benefits and for which other alternatives are available. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which may increase the risks of falling in some older adults, are among the new entries listed in category 2. Vasodilators, which may increase episodes of syncope in older adults with a history of this condition that could increase the risks of falling, are among the new category 3 listings.
- The 2012 AGS Beers Expert Panel (a multidisciplinary panel comprised of eleven experts from medicine, nursing, and pharmacy) followed a process that included a rigorous systematic literature review, building panel consensus through a modified Delphi process, invited peer review combined with an open public comment period, internal peer review by AGS leaders, and grading of the strength of evidence and recommendations.
- The criteria are not meant to be absolute, to substitute for professional judgment, to dictate prescribing habits for an individual patient, or to be punitive in any manner. The criteria are not applicable in all circumstances. The criteria are meant to inform clinical decision-making around personalized treatment plans for individual patients. For example, they do not address the needs of patients receiving palliative care where a prescribing clinician might determine that a medication listed as potentially inappropriate for older adults is the only reasonable choice for that patient.
- The AGS 2012 Beers Criteria is not meant to supersede clinical judgment or an individual patient’s values and needs. Prescribing and managing disease conditions should be individualized and involve shared decision-making. The criteria should be viewed as a guide for identifying medications for which the risks of their use in older adults outweigh their benefits and as a tool to inform clinical decision-making.
Kudos
Posters Accepted for Presentation at American Geriatrics Society (AGS) Meeting
Four posters have been accepted for presentation at the AGS national meeting to be held in Seattle in early May:
- The First Intervention Study in Elder Self-Neglect: A Randomized Clinical Trial to Improve Vitamin D Levels. Burnett J, Hochschild AE, Diamond PM, Stotts A, Ruppe M, Smith SM, and Dyer CB
- Subsets of Executive Function Impairments in Elders Who Self-Neglect: A Cross-Sectional Study (Presidential Poster Session Presentation). Pickens S, Burnett J, and Dyer CB
- The High Prevalence of Medication Non-Adherence in Community-Dwelling Elders Who Self-Neglect. Turner A, Hochschild AE, Burnett J, Zulfiqar A, and Dyer CB
- Differences in Vitamin D Deficiency by Ethnic/Racial Background in a Geriatric Clinic, Houston, TX. Rianon N
Medical Students Awarded Scholarships
Two students at UTHealth Medical School, Kayley Ancy and Katelyn Kennedy Ladd, were recently awarded scholarships funded by the Hattie and Crawford Jackson Foundation. The scholarship funds were specifically designated for medical students with an interest in pursuing the practice of geriatric medicine.
Kayley attended Tomball High School and The University of Texas at Austin before beginning her medical training at UTHealth.
Katelyn grew up in California, graduated from UCLA where she majored in history and art history and then completed a post-baccalaureate pre-med program at Columbia University before coming to Houston.
Both Kayley and Katelyn credit the friendly and warm atmosphere at UTHealth for their medical school choice.
Recent events
5th Annual H-GEC Interdisciplinary Student Team Competition, 2012
Motivated and enthusiastic students from 14 health professional degree programs at 4 universities in Houston gathered for the kick-off of the annual H-GEC Geriatric Interdisciplinary Student Team Competition on Monday, January 23, 2012. The focus of the competition changes annually, and in its fifth year, the emphasis is placed on the assessment of the health and social needs of older adults within the context of their diverse communities. There are 49 students participating this year, who will gain firsthand knowledge of conducting community assessments and strategizing new and innovative ways for community organizations to provide services to older adults.
Teams consist of students from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Schools of Dentistry, Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Medicine, Biomedical Informatics, and Public Health; the University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work, College of Pharmacy, and Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; and Texas Woman’s University Schools of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. For the first year since the inception of the H-GEC Student Competition, students from the American College of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine are also participating.
Five teams comprised of students from each health discipline will compete on their ability to assess and analyze the structure and organization of community centers serving older adults; their ability to develop relationships and an understanding of the needs of older adults who use the community centers; and their ability to identify additional social and health services available to older adults. The five teams are each assigned to one community senior center in the metropolitan Houston area. The H-GEC interdisciplinary faculty and the Senior Center Specialists from each community center will judge the student teams on their knowledge of the community, innovation of approach, evidence of an interdisciplinary approach taken, and the creativity of their presentations.
The competition will take place on Monday, April 16, 2012 beginning at 5:30 pm in the Albert and Margaret Alkek Auditorium, Room 120 in the UTHealth School of Nursing.
For more information about the H-GEC Annual Geriatric Interdisciplinary Student Competition, please visit http://www.uth.tmc.edu/HGERC/studentComp.html.
RsVP Lectures Bring Noted Geriatrics Experts
The RsVP (Reynolds Visiting Professor) lecture series, made possible by funding from the D. W. Reynolds Foundation and the Phyllis Gough Huffington Lecture Series II, brought the following renowned geriatrics experts to our campus in 2011:
March 2012
Barbara Resnick, PhD, CRNP, FAAN, FAANP
Professor of Nursing at the University of Maryland
President of the American Geriatrics Society
Dr. Resnick presented two programs: Successful Aging: Helping Your Patients Achieve It and Physical Activity: Motivating Older Adults across all Levels of Care.
November 2011
Amit Shah, MD
Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
Dr. Shah presented two programs: Lessons from Housecalls that May Save American Medicine and Old Age Beyond the Reflective Rocking Chair and Erikson's Integrity/Despair.
August 2011
Charlene M. Dewey, MD, MEd, FACP
Co-Director of the Center for Professional Health
Associate Professor of Medical Education and Administration
Associate Professor Medicine
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Dr. Dewey presented two programs: Professional Health and Wellness of the Clinicians and Scholarship and Faculty Development for Geriatric and Palliative Education
April 2011
Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP
Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Medicine
Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York
Director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC)
Dr. Meier presented two programs: Palliative Care 2011: Going to Scale and Future of Healthcare: Palliative Care in the Center of the Medical Home/Accountable Care Organization.
January 2011
James Rudolph, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School
Associate Physician, Division of Aging at the Brigham and Women's Hospital
Dr. Rudolph presented two programs: Unrecognized Cognitive Deficits in the Older Patient and Delirium Across the Spectrum of Care.
