Skip to main content
February 2017

Monthly Member Spotlight:

Alliance for Aging Research

This month, we are proud to spotlight the Alliance for Aging Research and their ongoing efforts to accelerate the pace of scientific research and discovery that improves the experience of aging. The Alliance is instrumental in advocating for research that explores the mechanisms of aging and methods to improve the process of aging. The OAAA is proud to collaborate with the Alliance for Aging Research to bring attention to the importance of research into preventing and managing the burden of chronic conditions associated with aging.

An Interview with Susan Peschin and the Alliance for Aging Research

Susan Peschin, MHS, is president and CEO of the Alliance for Aging Research

  1. What is your organization’s interest in the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance (OAAA)?

    The Alliance for Aging Research is a leading non-profit dedicated to accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health.  Our goal is to advance innovation that supports the health care needs of older Americans and their caregivers, through targeted Federal advocacy and educational initiatives. Osteoarthritis (OA) affects over 30 million US adults, and older age is the greatest risk factor for OA. However, OA is not an inevitable consequence of growing old.  An improved mechanistic understanding of joint aging will likely reveal new therapeutic targets to slow or halt disease progression. The ability to slow progression of OA in older adults will have enormous public health implications given the aging of our population and the increase in other OA risk factors such as obesity.

    2.  What do you think is the most important issue today related to osteoarthritis?

    As a chronic disease, OA’s impact on severe joint pain, swelling, and stiffness can often lead to reduced function and disability, impairment of activities of daily living, and work restriction. Severe cases may require joint replacement surgery, particularly for knee or hip OA. These issues have significant quality of life implications for patients.

    Management of symptoms is often possible, but can be time-consuming for those still in the workforce, and for physical therapy and more formal programs, may not be covered by insurance. Additionally, efforts to prevent abuse of opioids in this country have had the unintended consequence of stigmatizing pain management, and limiting access to some pain management options for older adults. A critical part of osteoarthritis care is pain management.  While the focus on opioid abuse is essential, we also need to make sure our policies consider the needs of patients facing persistent pain.

    3. How does your organization’s work connect to issues in osteoarthritis?

    In addition to producing a Silver Book on persistent pain—outlining the leading data on the burden of pain and the value of innovation in reducing that burden—the Alliance has produced a number of other resources on persistent pain, including a survey of over-the-counter pain management.  The survey found that the daily incidence of pain is 37% in adults ages 60+, compared to 25% in 18-59 year olds. The survey also explored OTC behaviors, views on potential government action on dosage, and more. The Alliance is also active in two coalitions: Protecting Access to Pain Relief (PAPR) coalition and the Pain Care Forum.

    4. What is a headline you’d like to see about osteoarthritis in five years?

Researchers discover compound that targets aging-changes in the joints to slow the development and progression of OA.

  1. What is one interesting fact you’d like people to know about your organization?

    While we do not fund research, the Alliance for Aging Research has led the effort to increase NIH aging research to reach its highest funding level ever.

Alliance for Aging Research Resources & Events

 
The Healthspan Campaign aims to fight aging itself, ushering in an era of preventive medicine that can reduce the burden of numerous chronic conditions, including osteoarthritis, that have aging as a risk factor. Check out the Healthspan Imperative film!

Resources

Silver Book on Persistant Pain
A compilation of statistics on the prevalence, cause, and burden of persistant pain, as well as the value of medical research on persistant pain.

The Healthspan Campaign
The Healthspan Campaign aims to increase awareness on the need for research into the basic biology of aging. As the population ages and the number of people with multiple chronic diseases increases, even a modest increase in healthy lifespan through improvements in preventive medicine could have enormous benefits on productivity, medical costs, and caregiver burdens. Watch the Healthspan Campaign film and share the white paper!

Upcoming Events

National Heart Valve Awareness Day
This month, the Alliance for Aging Research partnered with 29 other organizations to have National Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day listed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on its National Health Observances Calendar. This coincides with American Heart Month. While osteoarthritis and aortic value disease are not related pathogenically, lifestyle changes like physical activity and weight management can be great preventive and management strategies for both diseases!

2017 Roundtable Discussion
Both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have undergone transformational policy shifts in the last year, intended to accelerate patient access to drugs and medical devices and to shift patient care under Medicare toward a more quality-driven payment system. The 2017 Roundtable Discussion on September 26th, 2017 will bring together experts from FDA and CMS to reflect on the effect of these policy changes on older adults and offer their insights on future policy changes that could improve healthcare innovation for an aging population.

Share
Tweet
Forward
Share
The Monthly Member Spotlight is a way to learn more about and highlight the great work being done by our members and member organizations of the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance to advance osteoarthritis awareness, resources and education. Are you interested in being featured in our Monthly Member Spotlight? Contact us at oaaction@unc.edu.
 

 

Copyright © 2017 Osteoarthritis Action Alliance, All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: Any reference obtained from this newsletter to a specific research study, resource, service, product, or opinion is for informational purposes only and does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the OAAA. Privacy Policy

Save

Save

Save

Comments are closed.