Dealing a blow to quality health care for older adults, Congress recently eliminated funding for what were known as "Title VII geriatric health professions training programs." These crucial programs supported "academic geriatricians" who, among other things, trained future geriatricians and taught the basics of quality elder care to primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals.

Without Title VII funding, many academic geriatricians may leave teaching, worsening the nationwide shortage of geriatricians and other health care professionals qualified to meet the unique health care needs of older adults.

At this moment, Congress is developing its budget proposals for 2007 and the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) and its Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) are advocating to have funds for Title VII geriatrics programs included in both the House and Senate proposals. We need your help. Visit the new "AGS Advocacy Center" at http://www.americangeriatrics.org/advocacy/ and let your congressional representatives know that including these funds is essential to meeting the needs of the nation's growing population of older adults.

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Finding the right health care for an older loved one, or for yourself if you're an older adult, can be a confusing and difficult task. To make it easier, the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) recently launched its "Health in Aging Stories" Web site.

The FHA designed the site to provide a place where older adults who have been under the care of geriatrics health care professionals, and those whose older loved ones have been cared for by these professionals, can post stories about their experiences with these providers.

If you or a loved one has been cared for by a geriatrics health care provider and would like to post your story on the Web site and share it with others, please visit the "Health in Aging Stories" site at http://www.healthinaging.org/caregiver/.

"We envision our "Health in Aging Stories" site as a resource for those trying to determine how to get the appropriate health care in their later years, or for their older relatives or friends," explains Meghan Gerety, MD, Chair of the FHA Board and professor of medicine, geriatrics and extended care at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. "We're hoping to get submissions from people in a wide array of situations - those who had many health problems and saw a geriatrician, as well as those who were in good health and also saw a healthcare provider with training in geriatrics care. This way, people who go to the Web site will be able to find stories about situations similar to their own, stories that will help them to recognize the right kind of care."

The site offers easy-to-follow instructions for posting and sharing stories. Visit www.healthinaging.org/caregiver.

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The AGS Foundation for Health in Aging (FHA) has published three new health "tip sheets" for older adults. The tip sheets are the latest in an ongoing series of easy-to-understand pieces addressing the health and health care needs of older people.

"Winter Safety Tips for Older Adults" offers advice on avoiding hypothermia (dangerously low body temperature), frostbite, slips and falls, driving accidents and other winter hazards. "Safe Travel Tips for Older Adults" includes tips on getting needed pre-departure vaccinations, traveling with medications, avoiding deep vein thrombosis during long flights, and steering clear of infectious diseases. Arriving just in time for spring - prime walking season - "Safe Walking Tips for Older Adults" explains how to get started with a healthy walking program.

The tip sheets are posted on the FHA Web site, http://www.healthinaging.org/public_education/tip_sheet.php.

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