Institute: National Institute on Aging (NIA)

With only about 9,000 geriatricians, the United States is far short of the estimated 36,000 needed by 2030 to treat the growing number of older people, according to a study by the Association of Geriatric Academic Programs. But a novel program, Vital Visionaries, has been developed by NIA to help prevent this possible crisis.

The mingling of young and old is at the heart of this arts-based project. Managed by the nonprofit Society for the Arts in Healthcare, the goal is to improve the attitude of future doctors toward older people and to awaken in older people an awareness of their creative possibilities. This is achieved by pairing medical students with seniors as they explore art projects together.

The schools and museums currently in the program are:

• Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
  
  
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in Chicago.


• Washington University Medical School and the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis.


• University of Florida and the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville.

Next Steps
For more information, call Jeannine Mjoseth in the Communications and Public Liaison Office of the NIA at (301) 496-1752.