PALTC23 Conference Recordings FR02 Ageism: Still a Crisis in 2023

Ageism: Still Fighting the Battle in 2023

The session will detail the history of ageism in the United States, discuss research on ageism and outline approaches to change behaviors and attitudes of staff and trainees working in the PA/LTC setting. Different types of ageism will be discussed, including institutional, inter-personal, and self-directed ageism. The effects of ageism on physical and mental health will be described. The session will discuss actions that a medical director or other leader in the PA/LTC interdisciplinary team can take to combat ageism. Strategies for teaching trainees and sparking discussions about ageism will be demonstrated. Techniques to identify unconscious bias and create culture change will be illustrated.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this session, learners will be able to:

  • Define ageism and unconscious bias for staff and trainees in the PALTC setting.
  • Describe the physical and mental health consequences of ageism for seniors.
  • Demonstrate strategies and leadership techniques that can elicit culture change for staff and trainees in PALTC.
  • Utilize strategies and techniques listed in Learning Objective 3 to impact ageism in our communities.

Cynthia Kuttner, MD, CMD

Cynthia Kuttner, MD, CMD, is the medical director of the Community Living Center at the Wilmington VA Medical Center in Wilmington, Delaware. She is also an adjunct assistant professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a graduate of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and completed a primary care Internal Medicine residency at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York. She is fellowship-trained in Geriatrics at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland. Prior to joining the Veterans Administration, she served as the medical director at several community nursing homes in Ohio.

  • 1.0 CME
  • 1.0 CMD Management
  • 1.0 MOC

Release Date: 03/29/2023   |   Expiration: 03/01/2026

Credit Statements:

Accreditation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. 

CME Designation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CMD Credit Hours: This CME activity has been pre-approved by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) for up to 1.0 management hour(s) toward certification or recertification as a Certified Medical Director (CMD) in post-acute and long-term care medicine. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit actually spent on the activity.

The CMD Program is administered by the ABPLM. For further information, contact ABPLM at 410-992-3117 or at cmd@paltmed.org.

ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC): Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points and patient safety credit in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Financial Disclosure Statement:

The Association requires the disclosure of all speaker/faculty/planner’s relevant financial relationships; presence of off-label use of a device or medication; and discussion of any experimental, new or evolving topic prior to each accredited education activity.

If the learner perceives any bias toward a commercial product or service, advocation of unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or recommendation, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients please report this to the Association's staff.


The following speaker(s) disclosed relevant financial relationship(s): 

  • Julie Gammack, MD, CMD (Planner & Speaker): Stockholder: Amarin
  • Kenya Rivas Velasquez, MD, CMD, FAAFP (Planner & Speaker): OptumRx: Stockholder
  • All other planners, speakers, and AMDA staff have no relationships with ineligible companies.

All relevant financial relationships have been identified and mitigated.

Components visible upon registration.