FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Dr. Mary E. Tinetti to Receive the 2009 deVries Award for Distinguished Research on Aging

Reston, VA – Mary E. Tinetti, M.D., professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University, is the winner of the Herbert deVries Research Award for Distinguished Research on Aging, given by the Council on Aging and Adult Development (CAAD). The award will be presented at the 20th Annual CAAD Symposium on Research and Aging, which takes place at the annual Convention of the American Alliance for Physical Education, Health, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) in Tampa, Florida. At that time, Thursday, April 2, 2:15 PM, Dr. Tinetti will speak about her research with the topic "Falls Among Older Adults: Research from Prediction and Prevention to Practice and Policy."

Dr. Tinetti is a leading expert in falls and identifying fall injury risk factors and prevention. She was one of the first investigators to note it was possible to identify older people who were at risk for falling and injury, that risk factors could also be identified, and that a combination of strategies could be effective at reducing the rate of falling. This series of studies, funded by the National Institute on Aging, dispelled the notion that falling was inevitable, and thus, an unpredictable and unpreventable aspect of aging. The studies also helped convince investigators that many of the other relatively neglected health problems of the aging, such as incontinence, delirium, and driving problems, could be addressed with thorough scientific research methods. Through her own studies, and the development of rigorous methodologies for addressing geriatric health problems, Dr. Tinetti helped open the field of geriatric clinical research and bring credibility to the nascent field of geriatric clinical investigation.

In collaboration with nurses and occupational and physical therapists, she has pioneered treatments tailored to individual patients rather than specific ailments. By simultaneously combining several interventions—reducing medication, promoting balance exercises, and removing environmental hazards, for example—she has shown that falls, and the debilitation and decline that often follow, can indeed be prevented. Dr. Tinetti also serves as Chief of the Division of Geriatrics at Yale, Director of the Yale Program on Aging, and Director of the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center.

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The Council on Aging and Adult Development is a distinguished network of exercise professionals and trainers with the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR). For more information, visit www.aapar.org.

AAPAR, one of 5 national associations that make up the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD), serves more than 8,600 professors, teachers, trainers, and community leaders who promote meaningful physical activity and recreation across the lifespan. AAPAR advocates fitness and fun for every body, with a focus on inclusive community based programs.

The vision of AAHPERD is "Healthy People – Physically Educated and Physically Active!" Headquartered in Reston, VA, 25 miles west of Washington, DC, AAHPERD is the largest organization of professionals involved in physical education, physical activity, dance, school health and sport--all specialties related to achieving an active, healthy lifestyle. Its mission is to advance professional practice and promote research related to health and physical education, physical activity, dance and sport by providing its members with a comprehensive and coordinated array of resources, support and programs to help practitioners improve their skills to further the health and well-being of the American public. For more information, visit www.aahperd.org.