IPA Press Releases

Distinguished Leaders in Psychogeriatrics Receive IPA Field and Service Awards

Six distinguished leaders in the field of psychogeriatrics – Prof. Tom Arie (UK), Dr. Sanford I. Finkel (USA), Dr. Kazuo Hasegawa (Japan), Dr. Joel Sadavoy (Canada), Dr. Kenneth Shulman (Canada), and Prof. Jean Wertheimer (Switzerland) – were honored by the International Psychogeriatric Association (IPA) in August at its Ninth International Congress in Vancouver, BC, Canada, with the organization’s prestigious 1999 Field and Service Awards. Presentations to Prof. Arie, Dr. Hasegawa, and Prof. Wertheimer recognized their long history of significant contributions and leadership in the field of mental health of the elderly. Drs. Sadavoy and Shulman were honored for their contributions to the field in Canada, the Congress host country. Sanford I. Finkel was recognized for his distinguished service, dedication, and contributions to IPA since helping to establish the organization in 1982. Following are excerpts from IPA President Barry Reisberg’s remarks about each of the award recipients:

Barry Reisberg (center) presented IPA Service Awards to six distinguished leaders in psychogeriatrics at the Ninth Congress in Vancouver. Award winners, from the left, included Kenneth Shulman (Canada), Sanford I. Finkel (U.S.A.), Tom Arie (UK), and Joel Sadavoy (Canada). Not present when the photo was taken were Jean Wertheimer (Switzerland) and Kazuo Hasegawa (Japan).

Tom Arie can be rightly credited with establishing the foundation principles and practices of a comprehensive, integrated, multidisciplinary service system of psychogeriatric care. Through the many students and disciples he trained at Nottingham (UK), particularly in the intensive residential Arie Courses, his precepts have been translated into policy and action in many countries, with inestimable benefits to the elderly with mental disorders.

Kazuo Hasegawa is honored for his vision and high ethical principles, his leadership in the integration of psychogeriatric services into Japan’s overall health care plan, and for helping to organize and develop psychogeriatrics in Asia. He has done innovative, creative, and seminal research in dementia; played a key role in the worldwide development of the field; and been inspirational in the training of younger colleagues.

The quiet, gentle leadership of Jean Wertheimer* of Lausanne gave much to the field of psychogeriatrics, especially through his influence in Switzerland and the French-speaking countries. His service in Lausanne is a world-best model of comprehensive multidisciplinary care, emphasizing day hospital and community care. In the completion of the three-part Lausanne Consensus Statements in geriatric psychiatry, a task he performed for the World Psychiatric Association, he has left a permanent mark in a manifesto of the nature, content, and mission of geriatric psychiatry.

Joel Sadavoy has made significant contributions through his involvement in organizations promoting geriatric psychiatry, including IPA, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, and the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry, of which he was a founder and the first president. He is co-editor of one of the few textbooks in geriatric psychiatry and a major contributor to the literature on psychotherapy in the elderly, in addition to being a dedicated clinician, a great motivator, and an inspiring role model.

Kenneth Shulman has made significant contributions to the development of geriatric psychiatry in Canada and is a strong advocate for the development of academic geriatric psychiatry centers in Canada. As director of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, University of Toronto, he encouraged many trainees to join the then-burgeoning field of geriatric psychiatry. As a scholar, he has broadened our understanding of bipolar disorders in late life. Editor of a book on mood disorders and author of many scientific papers, he popularized the use of the clock face drawing as a screening instrument for cognitive impairment.

There clearly is no more deserving recipient of the 1999 Award for Service to IPA than Sanford Finkel. With this presentation, we honor his many contributions which have made IPA the leading organization in psychogeriatrics. A co-founder of IPA in 1982, he has served as president and sat on the Board of Directors, contributing in many capacities, and has played a leadership role in virtually every aspect of the organization. In addition, he has acted as a mentor in IPA’s Research Scholar Program, serves as an Associate Editor of IPA’s journal, International Psychogeriatrics, and has edited special issues of the journal. IPA is indebted to him for all his many contributions to IPA over the past 17 years.