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This Momentum Discussion podcast provides insight into the “Aging and Oral Health Research “Meeting within a Meeting” held during the March 2023 American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research Annual Meeting. Learn about the primary objectives and outcomes of the meeting and the impact of loneliness and isolation in older adults and oral health and nutrition in aging.

Speakers:

• Jane A. Weintraub, Department of Pediatric and Public Health, Adams School of Dentistry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC; And Immediate Past President of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (Guest)
• Carla Perissinotto, Division of Geriatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA (Guest)
• Riva Touger-Decker, Diagnostic Sciences, Rutgers School of Dental Medicine, School of Health Professions, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ (Guest)
• Karen Tracy, The Gerontological Society of America, Washington, DC (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Haleon. 

According to the Alzheimer's Association, over 11 million Americans provide an estimated 18 billion hours of unpaid care for people with Alzheimer's or other dementias. In 2022, this care was valued at $339 billion. Most of these caregivers are women, and many caregivers are from diverse and underserved communities. In this Momentum Discussion podcast episode, leaders from the Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York discuss the unique needs of diverse caregivers and how they are meeting these needs. They offer insights into how healthcare providers and others can best meet the needs of all caregivers while promoting brain health for all individuals.

Speakers:

• Elizabeth Smith-Boivin, Executive Director/CEO, Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York (Guest) 
• Debbie Abreu, Community Outreach Manager for DEI initiatives, Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Eisai, and Otsuka. 

Agitation can be described as increased, often undirected, motor activity, restlessness, aggressiveness, and emotional distress. It may include nonaggressive behaviors such as pacing, repetitious movements, and general restlessness, or it may manifest as physically or verbally aggressive behaviors. It is one of the most distressing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, and between 30% and 80% of people living with dementia, depending on the setting, experience agitation. Because of the wide-ranging potential negative impacts associated with agitation in Alzheimer’s disease (AAD), a person-centered, individualized approach to address AAD is a must. In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, we provide insights into AAD from the perspective of a professional caregiver and a family member whose loved one lives with AAD. They share how the condition impacts the person with Alzheimer’s disease and those around them and offer strategies to prevent and address troubling behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia associated with AAD.

Speakers:

• Laura Medders, LCSW, Administrative Director, Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (Guest)
• Maureen Morrison, Care partner to her husband, Angus, who lives with Alzheimer's disease (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Otsuka. Content was developed by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

According to the McKnight Brain Research Foundation website, “there is growing hope and expectation that it’s possible to maintain cognitive health later in life, allowing people to age independently and enjoy the benefits of a fuller life.” During this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees and the University at Buffalo’s Vice President for Health Sciences and Dean of the Jacobs School, and Angelika Schlanger, PhD, executive director of the Foundation, will offer insights into brain health, cognitive health, and cognitive aging. They discuss how normal cognitive aging differs from changes in cognitive function due to dementia. Finally, they offer insights into how individuals can take steps to promote their brain health at any age.

Speakers:

• Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, Vice President for Health Sciences, Dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo (Guest)
• Angelika Schlanger, PHD, Executive Director, McKnight Brain Research Foundation (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Eisai, and Otsuka. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Early detection of dementia leads to better outcomes for individuals with dementia and their care partners. It allows them to potentially benefit from a variety of care interventions, make decisions about their care, and tap into community resources to enhance their quality of life and function. Despite this, the Alzheimer’s Association reported that neither older adults nor primary care practitioners routinely raise brain health issues – particularly in the case that an older adult has signs of mild cognitive impairment. In this GSA Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Bonnie Burman, president of the Ohio Council for Cognitive Health, discusses barriers to kickstarting brain health conversations and early diagnosis of dementia, offers strategies to overcome them, and highlights how care providers and other communities of interest can use the KAER Toolkit for Brain Health to improve early detection of dementia.

Speakers:

• Bonnie Burman, ScD, President, Ohio Council for Cognitive Health (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Eisai, and Otsuka. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

In their special report, Alzheimer’s Detection in the Primary Care Setting: Paving a Path Forward, the Alzheimer’s Association reported that despite a strong belief among older adults that brief cognitive assessments are important and that early detection of cognitive problems is beneficial, only half are being assessed for cognitive decline, and much fewer receive routine assessments. The Association’s findings about dementia care practices in primary care along with the ever-growing number of Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias highlight the need to take a systems approach to improving dementia care. In this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Amy Boehm, senior health systems director for the Alzheimer's Association discusses the urgent need to improve dementia care practices in primary care, how The GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams addresses an unmet need for primary care providers, and shares how the Alzheimer’s Association Health System Initiative can support them in implementing practice change to improve dementia care. Amy also offers strategies to get started with changing practice in any care setting.

Speakers:

• Amy Boehm, Senior Health Systems Director, Alzheimer's Association (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Eisai, and Otsuka. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

People with obesity often experience bias due to their weight which can negatively impact their overall health and well-being. Older adults may have faced weight bias for many years, including from their healthcare providers, their families, and themselves. In addition to the weight bias being prevalent in healthcare, it also permeates places of employment, educational institutions, the media, and society overall. During this Momentum Discussion Podcast episode, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford discusses weight bias and its negative consequences. She shares examples of how weight bias exists in healthcare and other areas and provides insights into how a person’s cultural identity impacts how they might experience weight bias. Finally, she offers solutions to this significant issue, including steps that healthcare professionals can take to eliminate weight bias and provide a comfortable environment of care for people with the chronic disease of obesity

Speakers:

• Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FTOS, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Obesity Medicine Physician-Scientist, Massachusetts General Hospital (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Novo Nordisk. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Kickstarting the obesity conversation with older adults requires an understanding of the pathophysiology of overweight and obesity in conjunction with an appreciation for communication concerns that affect conversations with older adults. In this podcast episode, Dr. Jason Lofton of Lofton Family Clinic and Wellness in De Queen, AR discusses important issues addressed in Step One of The GSA KAER Toolkit for the Management of Obesity in Older Adults: Kickstart the Obesity Conversation. He shares insights into how he and his team set the stage to engage in successful, motivating conversations about body size with their patients. Dr. Lofton discusses overcoming common roadblocks to body size conversations, preparing for shared decision making and goal setting, and how issues such as culture, race/ethnicity, and age influence conversations about body size. 

Speakers:

• Jason Lofton, MD, Lofton Family Clinic and Wellness (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Novo Nordisk. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Early detection of dementia is vital, and it allows people living with dementia to receive comprehensive care to address symptoms, build a care team, participate in supportive services, access community supports, and potentially access disease-modifying treatments or enroll in clinical trials. With early detection of cognitive impairment and disclosure of the diagnosis to the patient, the individual with the condition and their care partners can set systems in place that allow them to achieve their highest practicable level of function and quality of life. In this episode, Dr. Joshua Chodosh shares strategies to kickstart the brain health conversation, describes how he has engaged the whole healthcare team in the conversation, and highlights approaches aimed at early detection of cognitive impairment in the primary care setting. Dr. Chodosh also underscores how providers can use tools in The GSA KAER Toolkit for Primary Care Teams to enhance their early detection efforts and help to improve outcomes for older adults with cognitive impairment and their care partners.

Speakers:

• Joshua Chodosh, MD, MSHS, Co-lead, BOLD Public Health Center of Excellence on Early Detection of Dementia, Director, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Professor of Medicine and Population Health, New York University (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA). 

A person living with dementia and their care partner often have needs for a variety of community supports that enables them to achieve their greatest potential function and quality of life. This podcast episode addresses the fourth step of the KAER Framework: Refer for Community Services. Our guests discuss how interdisciplinary care teams in primary care can use risk-based strategies to refer older adults with dementia and their care partners to appropriate community services, and they share strategies for success that they and their interdisciplinary colleagues use in the Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic – a nurse-led primary care practice for people living with dementia. 

Speakers:

• Carolyn K. Clevenger, DNP, GNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA, FAAN, Professor, The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, Clinical Director/Practicing Nurse Practitioner, The Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (Guest)
• Laura Medders, LCSW, Administrative Director, The Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Otsuka, and Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Appropriate reimbursement for detection, evaluation, and diagnosis of dementia as well as for care planning and ongoing care of individuals with cognitive impairment and dementia is possible. In fact, pathways to appropriate reimbursement well align with evidence-based guidelines for care and expectations around quality. To ensure well-coordinated quality dementia care, the primary provider and other members of the interdisciplinary care team spend a great deal of time outside the standard primary care visit, and reimbursement for this time is available. In this podcast, our guests share their insights into the documentation, infrastructure, and processes necessary to capture appropriate reimbursement for quality dementia care. They also discuss how using reimbursement as a pathway for quality dementia care supports high-functioning teams, incentivizes care teams to provide care that aligns with guidelines, and prevents the vital work of the entire interdisciplinary team from being invisible.

Additional Handout: Podcast Discussion Points
GSA developed this podcast and the associated Additional Handout: Podcast Discussion Points in December 2022. It is important to note that payment policies change often and vary by payor, and listeners should seek payor-specific guidance around billing for services. 

Speakers:

• Carolyn K. Clevenger, DNP, GNP-BC, FAANP, FGSA, FAAN, Professor, The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, Clinical Director/Practicing Nurse Practitioner, The Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (Guest)
• Laura Medders, LCSW, Administrative Director, The Emory Integrated Memory Care Clinic (Guest)
• Jennifer Pettis, MS, RN, CNE, Director of Strategic Alliances, Gerontological Society of America (Host)

Download the Transcript

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This podcast episode is supported by Genentech, Lilly, Otsuka, and Eisai. Content was developed by Gerontological Society of America (GSA).