Editor's Note

VOLUME 39, NO. 2 • JUNE 2022

Tzung-Jeng Hwang, IPA Bulletin Editor-in-Chief

Although the COVID-19 pandemic seems to ease its impact in many countries, the world is still not stable, especially after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. We hope you and your family are well. Because of many uncertain factors, the IPA Board of Directors decided to postpone the in-person Congress to 2023, and provide a virtual program in October in conjunction with the Older Adult Mental Health Awareness Week. Many web-based activities will be continued through our IPA website. Please take these opportunities to connect with IPA friends and members.

I want to thank Drs. Jorge Cuevas and Migita D'cruz for their devotion to the IPA Bulletin in the past two years. Dr. Javier Vicente-Alba (Spain) and Dr. Debanjan Banerjee (India) will take the vacant posts as assistant editors. We warmly welcome them on board and look forward to their contribution.

In the "International Psychogeriatrics Review Column", Ms. Qiyini Ma et al. review the paper "Dementia knowledge and associated factors among older Chinese adults: a cross-national comparison between Melbourne and Beijing" by Mei Zhao et al. The review shows that there were similar levels of overall dementia knowledge between older Chinese adults in Melbourne and Beijing. But the associated factors related to dementia knowledge vary between the two groups. The study concluded that dementia education programs should focus on caregiving information and risk factors for dementia.

There are four articles in "Research and Practice", and two in "Around the World". In "Research and Practice", Dr. André Stang (Germany) et al. discuss PISTA (Processing Inner Strength Toward Actualization) as a sound-based intervention to assist older adults with psychosocial distress. Some evidence shows that PISTA may be beneficial for reducing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Nour Awad and Dr. Rita Khoury (Lebanon) review the issue of suicide in older adults, including risk factors and preventive strategies. One simple and potentially useful screening tool (The SLU "AMSAD") is also introduced. Dr. Javier Vicente-Alba (Spain) reports a higher suicide rate in older Spanish adults during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, especially among those above 80 (20% increase compared to 2019). Dr. Laura Valzolgher (Italy) updates us on the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a less frequent but preventable form of cognitive disorder. The syndrome is often caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency due to malnutrition in chronic alcohol consumption and other less recognized conditions such as cancer, chronic inflammatory disease, and anorexia nervosa. Replacement must be early and adequate with a high dosage of parenteral thiamine to prevent the progression of brain damage and reverse symptoms.

There are two articles in "Around the World". Dr. Clarissa Giebel (UK) shares how her dementia research experiences evolved to setting up the Liverpool Dementia & Ageing Research Forum in 2019 and then developing "The Ageing Scientist podcast" one year ago. She also welcomes any IPA members to join the podcast as a panelist. Dr. Nahathai Wongpakaran et al. (Thailand) present their experiences of using telehealth to provide mental healthcare for long-term care residents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. Professionals from different disciplines also share their feelings and thoughts from these experiences.

Please submit articles and share your thoughts and experiences with us! You can reach us at IPABulletin@ipa-online.org.