Annals of Long Term Care

I joined the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) more than a decade ago. I’ve been a member of AGS' Program Committee, and its Education Committee. I was also the first formal liaison between AGS and the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP), of which I'm also a member.

I think one of the AGS' strengths is that it’s multidisciplinary. It's the umbrella organization for all providers in the field.

Both the networking opportunities that AGS membership affords and the aging policy advocacy work that AGS does are centrally important to me. Mental health issues are always stigmatized, and there are fewer mental health providers, so it's critically important that mental health providers partner with primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals if we're to have any success with advocacy on behalf of mental health services for older adults.

I really applaud the AGS’ position statement on depression. I also applaud its advocacy work on behalf of key healthcare reform provisions that would, among other things, expand geriatrics training programs, extend Medicare coverage to include care coordination and transitional care, enhance preventive care for seniors, reduce hospital readmissions, and improve financial incentives for primary care clinicians (including geriatricians) who care for older adults. We need this kind of legislation and other measures for which AGS advocates—such as those to improve Medicare reimbursement, and find an alternative to Medicare’s problematic Sustainable Growth Rate formula—if we’re to address workforce shortages in the field and help ensure that older adults have access to appropriate healthcare. Those are just a few of my favorites among the many things AGS does.

Dr. Kennedy is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Director, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry & Fellowship Training Program, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York.