Responsibility to our Elders

I started writing this blog from the Hall of Justice in San Francisco, where I have been called in for jury duty (although interrupted halfway through because I was empaneled). While frustration reigns because I (like you) have a lot of work to do and this feels like a waste of time, I am also reminded of my civic duty.

Civic duty take the shape of many forms, from serving our nation in the armed forces, to voting, to protesting unjust actions of individuals of government (I could go on and on). But what does this have to do with us a ESPO members?

PLENTY!!!

From ensuring our elderly home or institution bound population has the opportunity to vote to ensuring that our society provides the proper care and safety net, it is our job to act. As citizens involved with care of the elderly, to advocate for their rights and safety. This is why I implore you, regardless of your political leanings' to become involved in the policy process and make your voice heard for all those who can't.

A good first start, beyond educating yourself about the issues, would be to sign up for the closing session of the annual conference, where a show of numbers to the congressional staff on capitol hill may help them to sway momentum in favor of action over continued inaction on any number of issues, including neglect, social security and medicare reform, nursing home reform, home and community based services incentives, etc...

Other ideas:

work with your local institutionalized care setting to ensure that residents are able to vote;

write your congressperson or state legislative leaders regarding a particular issue up for consideration (often you will see policy alerts from the GSA when major issues are before congress);

or even consider becoming involved in a local or statewide advocacy group for the elderly, as they often lobby for passage of acts related to geriatric interests. For instance, the California Coalition for Compassionate Care successfully lobbied this year to make Physician Orders For Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) forms a legally acceptable document in my state, which will hopefully lead to more successful handoffs and advance care planning, and lead to fewer unnecessary procedures and hospitalizations.

Whatever it is, I encourage you to become involved, because our system is not working in too many places, from the social to the medical aspects of elder care, and we need your voice to make the difference!

Finally, remember to vote! Most states now even allow early or absentee voting prior to election day, that way if you get stuck in a storm, or your car breaks down, you don't need to worry about it because you will have already voted. Once again, your individual vote does make a difference.

Bench to Bedside: Lag Time versus Publication

In this weekly blog post I’d like us to think about the dissemination of our science. Will the advent of new technologies, such as blogging, electronic and open access online journals, and web 2.0 interactive technologies (user-generated content, facebook, etc…) change the way we disseminate and evaluate our work and the works of others? Will it lead to a shorter lag time from bench to bedside from the current 5-20 years? Will it lead academia to change the age old dictum of publish or perish?

I recently read an article in The Economist that discussed all these issues and even pointed me to a blog that discusses peer reviewed science called Research Blogging. This is only for after the research has been published however, not the original dissemination of work (although it can provide some visibility of the work) However, in the end, the question is how does this new world of technology relate to the emerging scholar? If on the academic track, as an emerging scholar you likely do not have tenure, meaning a significantly smaller soap box to stand from and significantly greater risks to job security to worry about. Furthermore, you would likely be concerned that you cannot get your work out prior to having it accepted for publication because you would be concerned that someone else might then beat you to the publishing punch, thus diminishing how your work is accepted within the community.

In this situation, we end up having to put our self interest versus the interests of improving the science in our given field and the lives of the elderly we wish to improve, a sticky ethical dilemma. On the one hand, by waiting until we publish we are A) receiving peer review so that our science is seen as stronger, and B) without publications it is difficult to receive further funding to perform future research which could be of greater help to the scientific elderly community. On the other hand however, by A) releasing our results as we complete our research we have the opportunity to get the word out faster, and B) disseminating through blogs or other similar types of postings making it easier for the lay public to understand and utilize, as they are more likely to read an article on a blog that popped up on a search engine, that in a less scientific writing style such as a formal publication.

Currently, it can take over 2 years from the completion of research to publication, and even then the results might not be widely disseminated because of the lack of access to the journal. So, I ask you, how do we ensure that our research has an impact and is reported in a timely manner, while still completing all of the necessary requirements for receiving tenure? What type of balance needs to occur and how can we affect change to improve on the current lag time from bench to bedside? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below so that we can have a dialogue on this topic!