I have been reviewing the past few issues of
the IPA Bulletin and am impressed by the
different stages of development of
Psychogeriatrics in the various IPA regions of
the world. Our current issue is a case in point
as we feature the next in the series of articles
summarizing IPA’s Focus Groups on dementia
care around the world. This entry describes
the environment in Asia, more specifically:
China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, and
Taiwan. Certainly, in many locations,
Psychogeriatrics is a new and exciting area that
is now experiencing “organizational meetings“
and “new“ initiatives”. Equally exciting are
those geographic regions that have matured
and are successfully integrating old age psychiatry
and mental health into the fabric of clinical
service systems, as well as contributing to
teaching and research programs. In North
America, particularly in Canada and the United
States, geriatric psychiatry is a well-established
subspecialty after 28 years of development. The
recent meeting of the American Association of
Geriatric Psychiatrists (AAGP), was a large,
well-conducted affair in central Florida in stark
contrast to the small group of 80 psycho-geriatricians,
myself and other members of our IPA
Board of Directors, who attended the first
meeting in the 1980’s in Southern California.
The 14th IPA Congress to be held in
Montreal in September 2009 looks to be a magnificent
meeting. Some of the plans for this
educational event were outlined at the recent
meeting of the IPA Board of Directors in
Dublin, Ireland. Of course, the IPA Congress, a
biennial event, will most assuredly bring
together an impressive group of our colleagues
with expertise in diagnosis and treatment and
countless technical advances within the field of
Psychogeriatrics. This is your opportunity to
interact with world leaders and combine the
meeting with a few extra days of cultural interests
within the Canadian province of Quebec.
The Bulletin will continue to cover the planning
for this Congress, so stay tuned and periodically
check the IPA website. Please mark
your calendar and diaries now for 1-5
September 2009.
Also in this Bulletin issue, please take note of
the article written by our president, Helen Chiu.
She has announced changes in the governance
structure of IPA that will certainly encourage our
colleagues in nursing, psychology, social work,
occupational therapy and other psycho-geriatricians
to join IPA. The intent of this change is to
have our organization expand even
more as a multidisciplinary organization.
In Recent Advances on page X,
Robert Barber and Robert Baldwin
once again superbly report the research
advances in the field. In this issue,
they identify several timely articles that
serve to remind us that depression and
anxiety in younger years may extend
into later life. Moreover, the updates
reference several studies that suggest
that many develop depression and anxiety
for the first time as they enter later
life. Risk factors, clinical features, and
underlying neurobiology are expertly
reviewed in synopsis format complete
with reference citations and commentary.
Finally, let me echo President Chiu’s
kudos to Professor Brian Lawlor and
Gregory Swanwick for their leadership
in organizing and coordinating a truly
outstanding meeting in conjunction
with the old age psychiatrists of The
Royal College of Physicians.
Reprinted from IPA Bulletin, Volume 25, Number 2
Copyright 2012 International Psychogeriatric Association
By David G. Folks