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IPA Bulletin

IPA's Latin America Initiative Takes Next Step

David Resnikoff

In April 1997, the Latin America Initiative met in Sao Paulo for IPA's regional workshop. This is the second time in IPA's history that such an event was convened in a Latin American country. This certainly is not by chance. Through its executive committee and board of directors, IPA has decided to respond to psychogeriatric needs in different regions of the world, and Latin America is one of the organization's top priorities.

It is a fact that Latin American nations are beginning to recognize the impact of an aging population on their cultures and societies. This in turn will dramatically affect policy making and general health service delivery in countries where old age has been dealt with through family networks.

Changes are occurring at lightning speed. The traditional family values and support systems are collapsing, mainly from changes in economic variables and social responses to such changes. The family system that used to care for an extended member of the group is no longer capable of withstanding such variables, and the need for social intervention is now commonly demanded by our societies

IPA's Latin America Initiative is tackling three primary concerns:

1. Policies: IPA plans to provide assistance in how to educate policy makers toward a healthy approach regarding the aging population. IPA has active members that have tackled similar problems in their respective countries in the past. Their experiences and willingness to share them can certainly help the developing world.
2. Education: Education in geriatrics and psychogeriatrics is still underdeveloped. IPA will advise and assist on general principles of developing education. We need to know how education in these areas has developed in each of our countries in recent years. We need fresh ideas that are congruent with the systems in each respective country. For example, Mexico has produced a teaching instrument that will allow general practitioners to detect dementia cases. Can we share it with other countries? Would it have the same value as we have experienced in our own system?
3. Communication: The flow of information in and out of Latin American countries, between them and with other nations, is developing at a very slow rate. IPA will enhance such communication and promote a better system of sharing information. We also need more research and publications arising from Latin America. IPA is certainly a forum through which this can be achieved, but it has scarcely been used.

During the Sao Paulo workshop, both formally and informally, it was concluded that for these objectives to be feasible and realistic, a key person in each Latin American country must be identified to be the liaison agent of change in that country. IPA has asked Dr. Osvaldo Almeida to fulfill such a task in Brazil, Dr. Sergio Starkstein will do the same in Argentina, and I will represent Mexico.

IPA needs to identify those willing to promote the Initiative in the rest of the Latin American countries. We hope to establish on this web site a forum to facilitate communication among professionals in Latin American countries in order to exchange ideas and promote the objectives of the Latin America Initiative.

If you are a possible candidate to represent the Initiative in your country, please send me information about you including your CV. We would also welcome information about the psychogeriatric infrastructure in your country so that we can begin to develop an educational strategy.

You may contact me through the IPA Secretariat or directly at:

David Resnikoff, MD
Insurgentes Sur 594-402,
Colonia del Valle,
Mexico 03100, D.F.,
Mexico
Fax 52+5523.1526,
E-mail resnik@data.net.mx.

David Resnikoff, MD, an IPA director, is one of four psychiatrists in Mexico who deal with geriatrics, and is part of a multidisciplinary consensus committee in Mexico on intellectual decline in old age.