Title: The 2003 GHS Program and Older Drivers: How the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market Tragedy Calls Attention to Psycho-social Side of Aging
Author:
Section/SPIG: Aging & Public Health
Issue Date:
In the wake of the Santa Monica farmer’s market tragedy, some recent headlines in the Los Angeles Times include: “Where Older Drivers Are Put to Test;” “Crash Adds Urgency, Emotion to Debate Over Elderly Drivers;” and “Test Elderly Drivers but Don't Profile Them.” What? An article that is not about Medicare reform or Alzheimer’s Disease? Important topics as these latter two are, they now share the hot seat.
The 86-year-old man who accidentally killed 10 people and seriously injured dozens of others by keeping his foot on the accelerator instead of the brake drives home a side of aging that all-too-often takes the back seat to policy and biological issues in aging.
The 2003 GHS Program is cutting edge. It already has two sessions on older drivers scheduled: one pre-conference and one during the APHA Annual Meeting. It also has an entire sequel session to last year’s session on “Medicare Reform under ‘W’” along with several other sessions that indirectly address issues related to caregiving for an older adults with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Numerous other sessions, though, deal with the full scope of psycho-social aging issues, so the bases are full. They include sessions on self-care, quality of life, communicating with older adults, environmental issues, falls, prevention and health behaviors, and, of course, nursing home quality and caregiving. With the sessions on older drivers “hitting the home run,” and, thus, grabbing the crowd’s attention, I hope these other sessions also get increased visibility. Aging, like APHA, is more than policy and biological research. It is also about the individual in society and how each affect the other. Aging is about how we as leaders in the field of gerontology can affect the aging of society—over time.
For more details about the 2003 GHS Program, please visit: http://apha.confex.com/apha/branding/index.html.