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For Immediate Release |
Contact: Todd Kluss |
GSA Sets Focus on Optimizing Older Adults’ Pain Care
To highlight Pain Awareness Month in September, The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — is announcing two forthcoming publications focused on pain relief and medication for seniors.
Paired with its other recent research findings, GSA aims to provide readers with information on how new advances in pain prevention, treatment, and management may improve care and quality of life for older adults.
Both new publications are part of GSA’s From Publication to Practice series, which aims to promote the translation of research into meaningful health outcomes. They are slated to be released in November 2011.
One of the installments, “An Interdisciplinary Look at Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education,” will be supported by Purdue Pharma, L.P. It will address shortfalls in pain assessment and treatment for older adults with pain. This resource largely will be based on a recent Institute of Medicine report, “Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research.”
The other new issue, “An Interdisciplinary Look at Labeling Changes for Acetaminophen and the Implications for Patient Care,” will be supported by McNeil Consumer Healthcare. In response to several recent significant modifications to the recommended dosage for acetaminophen, it is being produced in order to ensure that clinicians and aging network professionals are aware of these developments and the subsequent implications for patient care.
These publications join a collection of research that GSA has published within the last year on the subject of pain.
For example, the latest edition of the organization’s WHAT’S HOT newsletter demonstrated that improved management of chronic pain can significantly reduce disability in older adults. This issue examines the impact of pain in older adults, strategies for managing pain and preserving function, and methods to improve the assessment and management of pain for residents in long-term care facilities, including those who have dementia. The newsletter points out that pain is a signal that something is wrong, and that reports of pain should not be dismissed simply because the patient is older.
Furthermore, a January 2011 article in the Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences points out that musculoskeletal pain is associated increased mobility disability in older people. A September 2010 study in the same journal found that seniors with moderate to severe musculoskeletal pain had more than twice the risk for impaired balance compared with those without pain.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society — and its 5,400+ members — is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
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Mildred M. Seltzer Distinguished Service Recognition
Presented to C. Joanne Grabinski, PhD, Eastern Michigan University, and Mary Alice Wolf, PhD, Saint Joseph University.
This award honors colleagues who are near retirement or recently retired. Recipients are individuals who have been actively involved in AGHE through service on committees, as elected officers, and/or have provided leadership in one of AGHE’s grant-funded projects.
Administrative Leadership Award
Presented to Tammy M. Bray, PhD, Oregon State University
This award honors administrators on AGHE member campuses who have made exceptional efforts in support of gerontology or geriatrics education.
David A. Peterson Gerontology & Geriatrics Education Best Paper of the Volume Award
Presented to Nina M. Silverstein, PhD, University of Massachusetts Boston; Elizabeth Johns, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston; and Judith A. Griffin, MA, MS, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the article “Students Explore Livable Communities.” Honorable mention is given to Emily J. Robbins, MS, Miami University; Jennifer M. Kinney, PhD, Miami University; and Cary S. Kart, PhD, Miami University, for the article “Promoting Active Engagement in Health Research: Lessons Learned from an Undergraduate Gerontology Capstone Course.”
The purpose of this award is to recognize excellence in scholarship in academic gerontology in AGHE’s official journal, Gerontology & Geriatrics Education.
Graduate Student Paper Award
Presented to Deborah Gray, MBA, University of Massachusetts Boston, for the paper “Weight and Wealth: The Relationship between Obesity and Net Worth for Pre-Retirement Age Men and Women.”
This award acknowledges excellence in scholarly work conducted by an AGHE Annual Meeting student attendee.
Book Award for Best Children’s Literature on Aging
Presented to Caitlin Dale Nicholson and Leona Morinn-Nelson for “Niwechihaw/I help” in the primary reader (pre-K to 2nd grade) category, and Ann Grifalconi and Jerry Pickney for “Ain’t Nobody A Stranger to Me” in the elementary reader (3rd to 5th grade) category.
This award recognizes portrayals of meaningful aging in children’s literature.