February 11, 2013 - By John Sanford
In an effort to promote successful aging and end-of-life care for multicultural older adults, Stanford recently launched the Internet-based Successful Aging program, or iSAGE. The mini-fellowship is funded with a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health Disparities, and it's being offered for free to both health-care professionals and members of the public.
The self-training program was developed by V.J. Periyakoil, MD, director of palliative care education and training at Stanford, in partnership with the School of Medicine's Office of Diversity and Leadership.
Hannah Valantine, MD, senior associate dean for diversity and leadership and a collaborator on the project, said iSAGE addresses the critical need to educate Americans, across racial and ethnic groups, about successful aging. "Americans are aging and becoming increasing more diverse," she said. "In order to provide the best possible care for multicultural American older adults, we need to activate the lay public and health personnel by increasing awareness about the principles of successful aging. Dr. Periyakoil's work is an important effort in that direction."
It is anticipated that the entire mini-fellowship will take 80 hours of focused studying. More information about the program is available online at http://geriatrics.stanford.edu/mini_fellowship/.
To read a Q&A in which Periyakoil discusses the program, visit http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2013/01/23/stanford-introduces-web-based-mini-fellowship-program-on-successful-aging/.
About Stanford Medicine
Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu.