AGS Foundation Launches New Web-Based Resource For Patients and Their Clinicians

In February, the American Geriatrics Society’s Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) is launching a comprehensive online resource for the public featuring health information on specific topics related to aging. Aging in the Know: Your Gateway to Health and Aging Resources on the Web (www.healthinaging.org) makes state-of-the-art information on the diseases and disorders of older adults available to the public. Based on the American Geriatrics Society’s Geriatrics Review Syllabus (GRS) and Geriatrics at Your Fingertips (GAYF), Aging in the Know translates the premier clinical resources on aging for a public audience. “We created Aging in the Know because we believe that it is important for geriatrics clinicians to take the lead in providing their patients and caregivers with the resources that they need to become better advocates for their own health and the health of those they love,” according to FHA and AGS President Meghan Gerety, MD.

A new “What to Ask” series, developed by the members of the AGS Public Education Committee, helps older adults and their caregivers initiate conversations with clinicians, providing consumers with disease- and condition-specific questions that they can use to guide their health care discussions. A section entitled “Health Care Decisions” includes information on community-based care, hospitalization, nursing home care, palliative care, and rehabilitation. The website provides links directly from pages organized by health topic to other credible resources on the Web, such as materials from www.nihseniorhealth.gov, the National Institutes of Health’s website for seniors. Easy-to-read printer-friendly versions of all the resources available through Aging in the Know can be obtained from the site. “This approach will make it easier for the public to obtain the comprehensive, credible information that they need,” commented David B. Reuben, MD, AGS President-Elect, lead author for GAYF, and a member of the Aging in the Know Editorial Board.

Later in 2005, the FHA will be adding a feature that highlights some of the latest research from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (JAGS). A joint project of the AGS Research and Public Education Committees, the feature will provide easy access to lay language versions of recent clinical investigations and articles. “We anticipate that Aging in the Know will be useful to readers of Annals and those who would like to be able to provide reliable educational resources to their patients and their caregivers,” commented Dr. Gerety. “It presents information that has been vetted by leading geriatrics health care professionals,” she noted, “and it will help all of us to provide better care to our patients by giving them the tools to become better informed consumers of care.” With the first phase of the site’s launch completed, information on 20 health topics is now available to the public. Plans are underway to launch additional topics throughout 2005. We hope that you will not only visit the site throughout the year as it grows in comprehensiveness but will urge patients with questions about aging and about their care to do the same.