Editor's Note
VOLUME 37, NO. 1 • MARCH 2020
Tzung-Jeng Hwang, IPA Bulletin Editor-in-Chief
In the past three months, our IPA president, Dr. Reichman, has led the Board of Directors and three related task forces to move forward actively with the goal to achieve better outcome for our organization. In his President's Message, Dr. Reichman clearly indicates that we must commit to growing and sustaining a global community of IPA members that is representative of multidisciplinary and diverse nature of geriatric mental health field. In order to reach the goal, we must retain and grow our membership ranks, create tangible products and services which are accessible and affordable for our members, and advocate the needs of older adults at risk of or suffering from mental disorders. He also invites our members to participate in these task forces to express different voices and opinions to truly realize the diverse nature of the IPA and strengthen the joint effort.
From 2 to 5 October 2020, the IPA Congress will be held in Lisbon, Portugal. The scientific and organizing committees are currently undertaking many preparatory works and calling for various proposals and abstracts. In fact, the 2021 Congress has also been determined to be held in Kyoto, Japan (16-18 September 2021). Please mark these days for the exciting annual meetings
In this issue, there are seven articles, four in “Research and Practice,” three in “Around the World,” and one in “Technology Corner.”
In “Research and Practice”:
Dr. Claudia Smeets (Netherlands) discusses the many interacting factors involved in the psychopharmacological prescription for neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing home patients with dementia. When judging a prescription, the full context should always be considered. Dr. Brittany deGraves (Netherlands) introduces the palliative care in innovative small-scale facilities such as Dutch green care farms. She reports a two-part study looking at the palliative care services provided to residents with dementia in these innovative facilities. Dr. Marleen Lovink (Netherlands) reports her systematic review study on substituting physicians with nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) or registered nurses (RNs) in healthcare for older people. Her study showed that NPs and PAs in healthcare for older people are able to substitute GPs largely autonomously with at least maintenance of the quality of healthcare. RNs are able to prepare work for physicians and to support them. Finally, Dr. Rita Khoury (Lebanon) updates us on a new concept in dementia, so-called LATE-- Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy. The LATE has been recently identified as a distinct neurocognitive disorder, mimicking AD clinically but is characterized by pathological deposits of TDP-43 instead of the pathological hallmarks of AD.
In “Around the World”:
Dr. Tomas Leon (Chile) describes the recent creation of two policy papers in Chile regarding Dementia and Oral Health for the elderly. Those papers are the culmination of a multidisciplinary effort to enhance the awareness of the politicians and the general population to help make new and better policies. Dr. Clarissa Giebel (UK) reflects on how she set up a professional and public-facing dementia and aging network in Liverpool. Lastly, Dr. Jorge Cuevas-Esteban (Spain) summarizes the content of a recent course about multidisciplinary intervention and treatment in patients with dementia in Barcelona.
In “Technology Corner”, following a previous report regarding the exoskeleton system in 2018 (IPA Bulletin, Volume 35, Number 2), Dr. Yung-Jen Yang (Taiwan) updates us on a newly developed exoskeleton system launched in Japan in November 2019. The new system, invented by Japanese company, Innophys, was named Muscle Suit 'Every'' and may be more practical for a wider range of elderly people.
I cordially invite IPA members to submit articles to share thoughts and experiences with us! Please reach us at IPABulletin@ipa-online.org.
