SON: Connections - Spring 2003

Headlines | Briefly | From the Deans Desk

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO
Speaks to the Unequal Treatment of Older Adults

Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey

Older adults may experience the effects of health disparities more dramatically than any other population group. Because they are more likely to have chronic illness and frequently visit hospitals, and because many live in poverty, their access to care becomes even more challenging. The care of seniors who are chronically ill, poor and members of an ethnic community is an important health priority.

Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, recently spoke on the topic of unequal treatment and the implications for older adults as a guest of the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging. Lavizzo-Mourey is a specialist in geriatric medicine and a nationally recognized expert in health care policy. As a member of the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, Lavizzo-Mourey co-authored the report, Unequal Treatment: What Health Care Providers Need to Know About Racial and Ethnic Disparties in Health Care (available through the Institute of Medicine's web site at www.iom.edu).

Lavizzo-Mourey's lecture, co-sponsored by the Center for the Advancement of Health Disparities Research, the Center for Women's Health Research, and the University of Washington Retirement Association, is one of several special programs offered through the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging. The center is committed to advancing and sharing knowledge about successful aging and ways professionals and systems can support optimal experiences for older adults. For more information about the center, visit the web site at www.agingcenter.org.

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