Focusing on the urgent need to prepare the health care workforce to better serve the nation’s older adults, on December 10, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chair of the Senate Aging Committee, introduced the Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008. This bill addresses the current and future shortage of health care personnel who are trained to care for older adults. The legislation was prompted by a report issued by the Institute of Medicine in April 2008, which painted a grim picture of health care for older Americans—a growing segment of the population with the first of the Baby Boomers turning 65 in 2011. The older population in 2030 is projected to be twice as large as in 2000, growing from 35 million to 71.5 million.

“The complex problems associated with aging require a supply of health care professionals and paraprofessionals with special training in geriatrics, better geriatrics education and training for the entire health care workforce, and better information and support for family caregivers,” said Bruce G. Pollock, MD, PhD, FRCPC, president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. “It is critical that action be taken now to alleviate the serious shortage of health care professionals trained to meet the special needs of older people, and this legislation would make a major contribution to this effort,” Pollock explained.

The Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008 includes several provisions relating to mental health—an important component of overall health considering 1 in 10 Americans over age 65 and nearly half of those over 85 suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, one-third of people age 71 and older have some cognitive impairment, and upwards of 5-13 percent of older adults live with depression. Kohl’s bill includes a provision that would authorize a complementary IOM report on the composition of the mental health workforce that is needed to meet the needs of the aging population. In psychiatry alone, the number of doctors trained in geriatrics does not currently meet the need. Today there are just 3.9 geriatric psychiatrists for every 10,000 Americans age 85 and older and just 1.1 for every 10,000 over 75 years of age. It is estimated the country needs 5,000 geriatric psychiatrists, yet last year there were fewer than 1,600 board-certified geriatric psychiatrists in the United States.

A second study, to be conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), would examine National Institute of Health spending on conditions and illnesses that disproportionately affect the health of older adults. This study would examine the number of older adults included in clinical trials supported by NIH institutes.

In addition, the bill would expand funding for Geriatric Education Centers (GECs) to include new grants for short-term intensive courses (mini-fellowships) in geriatrics, chronic care management and long-term care to faculty members of medical and other health professions schools. It would require GECs applying for these grants to incorporate mental health and dementia “best practices” training into most of their courses.

The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (www.AAGPonline.org) is a national association representing and serving its members and the field of geriatric psychiatry. AAGP’s mission is to enhance the knowledge base and standard of practice in geriatric psychiatry through education and research and to advocate for meeting the mental health needs of older Americans.

CONTACT:
Kate McDuffie, E-mail: kmcduffie@aagponline.org, Phone: 301.654.7850 x113

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