American society on aging.

The American Society on Aging (ASA) is a nonprofit organization working to strengthen the skills and knowledge of professionals who work with older adults. Since its founding in 1954, its membership has grown to 6,000, with scientists, health care practitioners, policy makers, and businesspeople among the professionals in its ranks. On its website, located at http://www.asaging.org/, the ASA provides access to its program information and educational materials, many of which are available for free to nonmembers.

The ASA sponsors a number of meetings and educational conferences for both elders and those who work with them. The annual ASA-National Council on the Aging joint meeting brings together thousands of professionals to share information on new research findings. Also conducted annually is the Summer Series on Aging, a series of intensive multidisciplinary training sessions held around the United States that address issues including psychopharmacology and aging, and diversity in the aging population. Throughout the year, the ASA conducts web-based multimedia seminars, some of which are recorded and can be accessed on the website at any time.

One of ASA's special projects, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is titled Live Well, Live Long: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention for Older Adults. From the main project page, accessible by opening the Resources pulldown menu and choosing Health Promotion, visitors can access three stand-alone modules: Blueprint for Health Promotion, Strategies for Cognitive Vitality, and Optimal Medication Use. This project has been developed to help professionals build knowledge of the specific health and social service needs of our diverse aging population, and each module offers strategies for health promotion that are relatively inexpensive to implement. For example, the modules present step-by-step lists for activities such as organizing a community consortium and planning presentations on health topics of interest to elders.

Recently added to the site is a report, cosponsored by the EPA, that summarizes input gathered at listening sessions conducted in California with blacks, Laotians, and Latinos on environmental issues the participants encounter in their neighborhoods. The report is available in the Resources portion of the ASA site, within both the Cultural and Ethnic Diversity and the Healthcare sections. The EPA will be using this information to help formulate its National Agenda on the Environment and Aging. A draft agenda should be available for public comment in January 2004, and the final document should be complete by fall 2004.

The Publications page provides access to ASA periodicals and other published materials. The quarterly journal Generations, the bimonthly newspaper Aging Today, and the e-newsletter ASA Connection feature news on research and clinical practice, information on educational events, new programs, and other resources, and updates on federal legislation affecting aging adults and those caring for them. Select articles from each publication are available online for free. Quarterly newsletters designed for each of eight "constituent groups" within the ASA (such as the mental health community and professionals concerned with diversity and delivering services effectively across many cultures) are also accessible through this page.

ASA books and other materials in 21 subject areas, which include cognitive functioning, diversity, genetics, public policy, and technology, can be purchased online at the ASA Store. A media center is also available that provides links to ASA press releases and to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention background documents on issues ranging from how West Nile virus affects older adults to initiatives to increase physical activity in elders. The center also offers Age Beat, a bimonthly newsletter for journalists who write about aging.