At the end of 2009, our friends at the SCAN Foundation saw the start of their new series in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on the "Care of the Aging Patient: From Evidence to Action." This debut reflects several milestones--the emergence of new funders dedicated to aging and health, like the SCAN Foundation, and the growing awareness of pillars of medicine such as the AMA and its journal JAMA on the importance of aging.
Of course, this new series has deep roots in the decades of work of the Hartford Foundation to build capacity in geriatrics to lead health care to deliver better care to older Americans. It is fitting then that the primary author in the series is David B. Reuben, MD, Archstone Professor of Medicine at UCLA, director of UCLA's Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training, and a beneficiary of the Foundation's first training program in geriatrics. Over the intervening years he has led a number of critical projects for JAHF, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and others interested in improving the care of older adults. In addition, the series editor is C. Seth Landefeld, another long-time Foundation grantee whose accomplishments include participating in the development of the ACE Unit (Acute Care of Elders). He currently leads the Hartford Center of Excellence in Geriatric Medicine and Training at UCSF. Commentators include former University of Chicago and Mount Sinai CoE director Christine Cassel, MD, now President of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Dr. Landefeld, and Dr. Chernof, President of the SCAN Foundation.
Stay tuned for the next eleven articles in this series.