At the end of March, healthcare professionals will convene in Long Beach, CA to brainstorm on better ideas for caring for America’s “expanding senior population.” Clearly the group is looking to the future, since, as Dan Osterweil, MD pointed out, in 20 years’ time, “one of every five Americans will be 65 or older.” Thus these individuals will need the appropriate care. Osterweil is the course chair of the Leadership and Management in Geriatrics (LMG) Conference. The aim thus is to make eldercare more “efficient and less costly.” For this to be achieved, those in the healthcare profession need to “hone their leadership and management skills,” which is what the conference is focusing on.
The LMG Conference has been running for a decade in order to help fill the gap in geriatric care. Sponsored by SCAN Health Plan, it is run in collaboration with the UCLA Academic Geriatric Resource Center and the California Geriatric Education Center. It offers its participants (comprised of all sorts of health professionals) to brainstorm new ideas on geriatric care as well as giving them the opportunity to get help and guidance from leaders in the field.
The ultimate goal of course is, according to Osterweil, to “actually change behavior in ways that lead to a better patient experience.”