Program for Saturday May 14, 2022

Co-Chairs: Lauren Ferrante, MD, MHS & Una Makris, MD, MSc 
The Medical Specialties Section was developed in 2002 by the Association of Specialty Professors project “Integrating Geriatrics into the Specialties of Internal Medicine:  Moving Forward from Awareness to Action,” funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation and Atlantic Philanthropies, Inc. 

The theme of the session this year is "The Urgency of Adaptation,” with a focus on adapting to challenges in one's career, whether it is a career transition, pandemic-related disruption, or other challenge. Our multidisciplinary panel of senior medical and surgical specialists will speak briefly on the topic and then lead a panel discussion, followed by small round table discussions with the individual speakers. Breakout sessions will be followed by a talk from a National Institute on Aging (NIA) program officer about funding opportunities. All medical and surgical subspecialists, including geriatricians, are encouraged to attend.  
 

Moderator: Sharon K. Inouye, MD, MPH
This program will provide an up-to-date review of delirium epidemiology, prediction and diagnostic tools, workup, and practical methods for implementing delirium reduction programs within health systems. Learning Objectives: (1) describe the dire consequences of delirium through an up-to-date review of delirium epidemiology; (2) identify current evidence-based practices for predicting, recognizing, and diagnosing delirium; (3) implement an algorithmic approach for working up delirium; and (4) describe innovative and practical strategies for developing and implementing delirium reduction programs within health systems.

Sponsored by the Teachers Section and the Education Committee   
Moderator: Megan E. Young, MD

This workshop presents a forum for teachers of geriatric education to share topics and materials of common interest, such as program development, curriculum, educational process and research in teaching and evaluation. Learning Objective: (1) describe and exchange geriatric education and teaching materials.

Sponsored by the Research Committee

Moderators: Daniel R. Berlowitz, MD & Joshua Chodosh, MD, MSHS
This session will present the latest peer-reviewed geriatrics research with questions and answers to follow.  Learning Objectives: (1) discuss new and original geriatrics research; (2) describe an emerging concept or new scientific focus in aging research; and (3) summarize the key findings of projects with relevance to care of older adults.  

Sponsored by the Research Committee and the Junior Faculty Research Special Interest Group
Moderator: Cynthia Boyd, MD, MPH

The purpose of this symposium is to empower AGS members to support research inclusion of diverse older adults at their own institutions. Learning Objectives: (1) access and use existing research education tools that were designed to raise awareness about key aspects of age-friendly research and disseminate best practices in research inclusion; (2) recognize the 5Ts Framework as a tool for communicating with non-geriatrician collaborators in order to maximize the relevance of their work to older adults; and (3) describe ways clinicians can advocate for research inclusion on behalf of their patients by addressing patient concerns and partnering with clinical researchers to overcome common barriers.

Sponsored by the Clinical Research in Dementia Special Interest Group
Co-Moderators: Esther S. Oh, MD, PhD & Noll L. Campbell, PharmD, MS

This program is intended to provide information for health professionals who want to learn more about the newly FDA approved treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD): aducanumab. Recent approval of aducanumab has opened the floodgates for other pharmaceutical companies to potentially seek accelerated FDA approval for anti-amyloid therapy based on surrogate (biomarker) endpoints (e.g. donanemab). Learning Objectives: (1) review the evidence and controversies surrounding the new AD medication aducanumab, and how best to choose appropriate patient population, determine therapeutic dose/frequency/duration and monitor for adverse events; discuss issues that clinicians may encounter in the near future as the practice of precision medicine for the brain utilizing biomarkers and genetic markers are increasingly applied to older adults in determining their risk of future dementia as well as for treatments of neurodegenerative diseases; and (3) describe the healthcare delivery and economic implications of the FDA approval of medications, such aducanumab, that target a broad population of people at risk or with Alzheimer’s disease.

Moderator: Ana Tuya Fulton, MD, MBA, AGSF, FACP
The intended outcome of this session is to increase participants’ knowledge of how developing home-based acute care programs help achieve value-based care goals. Learning Objectives: (1) describe the connection between value-based care and how these models can facilitate success implementing home-based acute care models as a strategy; (2) initiate the adoption of home-based acute care models and understand how at-home care can better meet older adults’ challenging and complex health care needs; and (3) utilize practical guidance and resources for starting or expanding a program.

Sponsored by the Older Adults Facing Chronic Kidney Disease and/or Kidney Failure Special Interest Group, Clinical Practice and Models of Care Committee, Public Education Committee, and Public Policy Committee
Moderator: Laura C. Plantinga, PhD
This session will present a ten-minute vignette of an older adult with worsening kidney disease who is thinking about whether to initiate hemodialysis. Four experts with backgrounds in geriatrics, nursing, nutrition, and nephrology will each provide their insights regarding the situation addressing issues with symptom management, lifestyle changes mandated with hemodialysis treatment, and best practices for advance care planning (ACP) discussions regarding advanced kidney disease. Learning Objectives: (1) utilize best practices for ACP discussions prompted by advanced kidney disease, including strategies to address racial disparities in ACP care; (2) empower older adults with advanced kidney disease and their families with concrete approaches to facilitate ACP discussions with other providers; (3) describe the lifestyle impact associated with hemodialysis including dietary restrictions, transportation issues, care partner responsibilities, as well how health policy impacts care decisions at the end of life for older adults receiving hemodialysis; and (4) medically manage older adults with advanced CKD, including practical strategies to address volume overload and electrolyte abnormalities. 

Sponsored by the Junior Faculty Research Career Development Special Interest Group
Moderator: Sandra Shi, MD
The goal of this symposium is to provide researchers with strategies to help recruit, retain, and assess “hard-to-reach” older adults. We discuss barriers unique to remote research and offer strategies and approaches by successful researchers. Learning Objectives: (1) define "hard-to-reach" populations in aging-related research, especially in the context of performing remote cohort studies and clinical trials; (2) describe strategies for remote patient recruitment and engagement among socially isolated and vulnerable older adults; (3) describe approaches to the performance of physical function assessments and interventions in hard-to-reach older adult populations with a focus on the challenges presented and the use of technology in older adults; and (4) outline strategies for the assessment of cognitive function and delivery of cognitive rehabilitation in hard-to-reach older adult populations.

Sponsored by the Nurses Section, Fellows-In-Training Section, Residents Section, Teachers Section, Clinical Practice and Models of Care Committee and Education Committee
Moderator: Lisa J. Granville, MD, AGSF
This workshop will provide tools to tailor dementia management explicitly based on the 5M framework of geriatrics: medications, mind, mobility, multicomplexity, and matters most to me. Three 15-minute sessions focused on each prognostic category will follow this initial introduction; for each, a 5-minute podium presentation of the case and dementia management tools that are applicable to the case will be presented followed by 10-minutes of discussion and hands-on application of two of the high-yield clinical tools in groups at the tables, facilitated by an interprofessional team of social workers, nurses, advanced practitioners and geriatricians. In each of the stations, learners will identify the stage of dementia, the overall prognosis, what matters most and apply this information to the management of a common medical comorbidity.  Learning Objectives: (1) using the framework of the geriatric 5Ms, implement a strategy to optimize dementia management in older patients with different prognoses based on what matters most; and (2) compare and contrast decision support tools and approaches to optimizing dementia management for older adults across the spectrum of function and prognosis, including identifying potentially inappropriate medications and deprescribing.

Moderator: Sharon A. Brangman, MD, AGSF
After attending this session, healthcare professionals will be able to develop individualized diabetes care plans for their patients that include appropriate intensity of treatment and selection of hypoglycemic agents that reduce the risk of hypoglycemia in older adults. Learning Objectives: (1) describe the ADA’s Standards of Medical Care for Older Adults and apply them to patients in the post-acute long-term care setting; (2) discuss three strategies to improve diabetes management for their patients in the post-acute and long- term care setting; (3) discuss the commonly used hypoglycemic agents and how to identify and avoid hypoglycemia; and (4) consider the racial and ethnic groups that have been disproportionately impacted by diabetes and the factors that result in health disparities in diabetes care in order to develop strategies for reducing inequities and disparities in diabetes management in their patients.
 

Sponsored by the Research Committee
Moderator: Sarah D. Berry, MD, MPH
The goal of this symposium is to discuss disparities in care across nursing homes, new innovative models to improve care delivery in this setting, as well as common barriers to successful implementation. Learning Objectives: (1) recognize disparities in the quality of healthcare in nursing homes by race, ethnicity, rurality, and other facility characteristics; (2) address common barriers to implementing new healthcare delivery models to improve the quality of care in nursing homes; and (3) identify and employ best practices for implementing new healthcare delivery models in nursing homes.

Sponsored by the Education Committee, AHEAD Special Interest Group and Teachers Section
Moderator: Ryan Z. Chippendale, MD

Learning Objectives: (1) identify why incorporating teaching about social determinants of health (SDOH) in older adults in multiple care settings is timely and essential; (2) describe strategies for incorporating curricula about SDOH in older adults in preclinical and clinical didactics and case-based learning; (3) evaluate strategies for teaching about SDOH and their impact on older adults in the different care settings where geriatric medicine is practiced; and (4) create two action plans for incorporating future SDOH teaching in their own settings.

Teaching Faculty and Small Group Facilitators: Vanessa Rodriguez, MD; Helen Fernandez, MD, MPH; L. Gregory Pawlson, MD, MPH, FACP, AGSF; Caitlyn J. Kuwata, MD; Nisha Rughwani, MD; Lesca C. Hadley, MD, MBA, AGSF, FAAFP; Ugochi Ohuabunwa, MD; Martine Sanon, MD; Olusegun Apoeso, MBBS; Veronica Rivera, MD; Fiorella M. Perez, MD

Learning Objectives: (1) explore individual leadership aspirations/beliefs and how to share them effectively; (2) practice the basics of communication, emotional intelligence, self-compassion, resilience and grit as key life skills important to becoming a fully effective clinician and leader; and (3) enhance leadership skills related to listening and communicating, including how our social style preferences impact. 

Moderator: Christine Kistler, MD, MASc

This session will present the latest peer-reviewed geriatrics research with questions and answers to follow.  Learning Objectives: (1) discuss new and original geriatrics research; (2) describe an emerging concept or new scientific focus in aging research; and (3) summarize the key findings of projects with relevance to care of older adults.  
 

Sponsored by the American Academy of Neurology
Moderator: Alexander P. Auchus, MD

In this symposium, three practicing academic neurologists will discuss the phenomenology, diagnostic evaluation and treatment of common tremors encountered in geriatric patients. Learning Objectives: (1) identify tremor and distinguish it from other involuntary movements; (2) recognize different patterns of tremor and describe their underlying pathophysiology; (3) develop skill at selection of treatment options for tremor disorders; and (4) review the unique aspects of the assessment and management of tremor in older patients. 

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS), in partnership with the American Federation for Aging Research Clinician-Scientists Trandisciplinary Aging Research Coordinating Center (AFAR Clin-STAR CC) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) are offering an in-person AGS/AFAR Clin-STAR Mentoring and Grantsmanship Workshop during the AGS 2022 Annual Scientific Meeting. This workshop will offer opportunities for networking, discuss important aspects of DEI across research, and provide attendees with useful information on grantsmanship efforts through breakout discussions. Click here to view the full agenda. Who Should Attend? Geared towards early career investigators but open to all, anyone interested in hearing about DEI practices and processes to promote structural change and grantsmanship topics should attend! Lunch will be provided! Email Erin Obrusniak if you’d like to reserve a boxed lunch.

Sponsored by the Pharmacists Section and the Polypharmacy Special Interest Group
Moderator: Carla J. Bouwmeester, MS, PharmD, RPh
This symposium will summarize the changes over the past year in pharmacotherapy and examine information regarding newly approved medications, as well as the clinical utility and evidence-based application of pharmacogenomic testing in older adults. Learning Objectives: (1) communicate the indication for use, mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, dosing, safety, and drug interactions for newly approved medications; (2) compare potential advantages and disadvantages of incorporating new medications into clinical practice; (3) explain the clinical utility of pharmacogenomic testing in older adult patients; and (4) apply evidence-based medication management principles based on results of pharmacogenetic testing in older adults.

Sponsored by the Education Committee and AGS Teachers Section
Moderator: Thomas V. Caprio, MD, MPH, MS, AGSF
This workshop will provide participants with the competence to develop and implement Project ECHO as a teaching strategy at their home institutions for geriatrics education. Learning Objectives: (1) identify the value of the Project ECHO Model for interdisciplinary training to teach the 4Ms of Age Friendly Health Care; (2) explain the different clinical settings and audiences where Project ECHO can be utilized; (3) review the benefits and challenges unique to the ECHO Model; and (4) apply Project ECHO as a solution to a particular, real-world educational scenario at their home institution.