Penn Nursing 090805_final_4c - University of Pennsylvania School ...

intellectual integration aimed at
improving the lives of a globally burgeoning
older population.This will
require, at a minimum, a greater intersection
of two heretofore competing
paradigms. One is the biomedical
model, disease focused and reductionist
– the essential framework for the medical
sciences.The other, in contrast, is
an amalgam of models (no single one
predominates in the technologically
developed world) under the rubrics of
holism, naturalism, health, and function.
By combining biomedical and
psychosocial approaches, many believe,
including myself, that we could achieve
better outcomes for older adults.
To Claire’s credit, she understood
that nothing was possible without
critical mass and integration of gerontology
within nursing’s tripartite mission
of research, education, and practice.
In 2000, with funds from The
John A. Hartford Foundation, Penn
Nursing was designated as one of five
Hartford Centers of Geriatric Nursing
Excellence.
By 2050, in the U.S. alone, there
will be 70 million Americans over the
age of 65; 50 million will be over 85;
and 300,000 will be centenarians.And
therein lies the challenge for gerontologists
of the future: to understand aging,
in all of its manifestations, from the cell
to the spirit; to create systemic structures
permitting a healthy, viable interdependence
between young and old; to reimagine
a health and social service system
that takes advantage of new knowledge,
in whatever form, to support both
the individual and society; to implement,
diffuse, and sustain evidence-based
practice within and across settings; and
finally, to create the best possible atmosphere
for an aging world.
By combining biomedical and
psychosocial approaches,
many believe, including myself,
that we could achieve better
outcomes for older adults.
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