A conversation about aging well
Kaiser Permanente’s Aging Well Summit in Oakland explored ways to strengthen systems for older people to live with dignity and joy.
Vivian Reyes, MD, a Kaiser Permanente Northern California physician leader, right, and Mike Bowers, interim president of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, opened the conference.
When Vivian Reyes, MD, brought her father to a doctor in Las Vegas to help with a plan that would address his severe dementia, the physician took a pass.
Not my job, he told the family.
“My father’s primary care physician indicated this was a social issue he could not help with,” said Dr. Reyes, an emergency medicine physician at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center and associate executive director of The Permanente Medical Group. “Medicine has done a great job in helping us live longer, but it has not done a good job helping us age better. We have so much farther to go to serve our older population. That is why today is so important.”
Dr. Reyes spoke at the Kaiser Permanente Aging Well Summit at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland earlier this month, a day-long event that brought together about 350 state and local leaders, geriatricians, community leaders, and policymakers to discuss the latest innovations around healthy aging at home.
The summit was co-sponsored by Yvette Radford, Kaiser Permanente Northern California regional vice president for External and Community Affairs, and Trish Rodriguez, senior vice president of Clinical and Continuum Services.
“We invited this diverse group of participants because caring for our aging population takes all of us,” said Radford, who made opening remarks. “Our goal is to strengthen the infrastructure that supports older adults to ensure that we all age with dignity — at home, in our communities, and within health systems.”
Rodriguez moderated a panel on protecting older adults in the context of shifting public policy.
“From Medicare and Medicaid to housing, food, and long-term care, these policy decisions will have a profound impact on older Californians,” Rodriguez said.
The Golden State Warriors’ Hardwood Classics Dance Team opened the first panel discussion.Close to 8.7 million people are over age 60 in California today with that number projected to grow by 1.2 million in just 5 years, according to the California Master Plan for Aging. Today, 22% of people over 60 live alone, 12% earn less than $14,580 a year, and 14% have difficulty living independently.
In response to this growing demographic, Kaiser Permanente in 2023 launched its Senior Care Strategy that is focused on enhancing quality, experience, and affordability for older adult members. The strategy’s core tenants include patient comfort, an equitable and empathetic approach to care, and spending less time on paperwork.
Wynn Canio, MD, moderated a session on building systems for healthy aging in Northern California.
At the summit, Wynn Canio, MD, chief of Geriatric Medicine at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center, moderated a panel discussion on building systems for healthy aging in Northern California. As a geriatrician, she sees first-hand the challenges older adults and their families face in dealing with complex health issues, finances, emotional needs, and physical changes to their minds and bodies.
“Aging well is more than having adequate health care,” said Dr. Canio. “People need digital access that connects, not isolates. They need age-friendly transportation, and we need a collective societal commitment, so that when someone reaches out for help, it shouldn’t matter where they start. They should be seen and heard so they can live with purpose and dignity.”
Aana Brenman, MD, regional medical director of Geriatrics and Extended Care for Kaiser Permanente Northern California, participated in the panel on building systems for healthy aging.
Aana Brenman, MD, a primary care physician at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco for the past 23 years, was recently appointed as the regional medical director of Geriatrics and Extended Care for Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. She emphasized the importance of involving all caregiving clinicians in older adult care to ensure services are truly wrapped around the patient.
“It is a critical reality that there is only one geriatrician for every 10,000 older adults in the United States,” said Dr. Brenman. “It’s simply not enough. It will take all of us from primary care, the hospitalists, emergency rooms, surgery, specialties, and home-based care. Everyone should have the education in what our older adults need so that we have a cohesive system surrounding the patient.”
