Epstein-Lubow Tapped to Lead Memory Care Program

BOSTON — Hebrew SeniorLife (HSL), the largest provider of senior health care and communities in New England and an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has named Gary Epstein-Lubow, M.D. as Medical Director for the organization’s planned center of excellence for Alzheimer’s disease and memory care. His appointment will begin in September.

Dr. Lubow will build and oversee HSL’s Alzheimer’s disease and memory care program, which will deliver comprehensive clinical services for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, along with their families, through clinical care, education, advocacy, and research. He and the program’s team will serve seniors from the broader community, as well as those from HSL’s system of health care and housing communities.

“We all look forward to Dr. Lubow’s upcoming arrival and the launch of our expanded program to address the many complexities of Alzheimer’s disease and memory care,” says Mary Moscato, President of Hebrew SeniorLife Health Care Services and Hebrew Rehabilitation Center. “As Medical Director, Gary brings great compassion and extensive knowledge to the subject of caring for our country’s most vulnerable senior population—those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia-related disorders.”

Dr. Lubow brings nearly 20 years of academic and clinical achievements to his position at HSL. His current clinical appointment is as a Staff Psychiatrist in Geriatrics at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I., where he previously served for nine years as the Assistant Unit Chief for inpatient geriatric psychiatry. At Brown University, Dr. Lubow is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Associate Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, and Associate Professor of Medical Science in the Teaching Scholar Track effective July 1, 2017. Dr. Lubow is also a Co-director of the Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship of Alpert Medical School’s Primary Care-Population Medicine program and a Fellow in the Health and Aging Policy Fellowship Program, where he is working to improve the care of frail elderly people nationwide.

In addition, Dr. Lubow has held many appointments with societies, hospitals, and associations dedicated to improving the care of people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias, including his current service as a Member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Advisory Council on Alzheimer’s Research, Care, and Services; and recent membership with the Dementia Caregiving Network under the John A. Hartford Foundation’s Change AGEnts Initiative and the Gerontological Society of America. Dr. Lubow has published more than 40 peer-reviewed research and review articles, focusing on dementia, depression and family caregiving.

Dr. Lubow has also received research support from the National Institutes of Health and from foundations, including current work with the Rhode Island Foundation. Dr. Lubow enjoys emphasizing his role as an advocate for persons living with dementia and their family members and caregivers; in this role, he is currently assisting with the planning for the nation’s first National Research Summit on Care, Services and Supports for Persons with Dementia and Their Caregivers.

“I see Hebrew SeniorLife working collaboratively to lead Massachusetts in designing, testing, and implementing models of best-practice for comprehensive, cost-effective, person-centered dementia care,” says Dr. Lubow. “Then we will scale and disseminate our successful outcomes across the region, ideally serving as a national model. I’ve been impressed with HSL since learning about its clinical and research leadership and I’ve felt lucky to be a contributor since 2015 to their innovative videoconferencing team-based collaborations to improve care for persons with complex illness in nursing homes and the community.”

Dr. Lewis Lipsitz, Director of HSL’s Institute for Aging Research, had the opportunity to work with Dr. Lubow on this innovative videoconferencing project called, ECHO-AGE, “I worked with Gary on an RX Foundation project, ECHO-AGE, based at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, an HSL partner and clinical affiliate. ECHO-AGE is a video consultation and education program, focused on improving the care of seniors who suffer from dementia and associated behavioral problems by bridging the gap between their clinicians and geriatric specialists at academic medical centers. Gary is an outstanding scholar and I look forward to our new collaboration.”

Dr. Lipsitz, Mary Moscato, and Dr. Lubow agree that the challenges we face regarding the need for comprehensive memory-care services and new research requires an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach. This means full engagement of state and federal agencies, and research programs combined with public and private health care delivery teams. Also, persons living with memory concerns and their family members must be fully included in the plans and implementation of new care systems. Doing this well requires leadership, which HSL provides, plus support through grants, strategic partnerships, and fundraising.

Hebrew SeniorLife offers a continuum of senior health care including adult day health, primary and specialty care, outpatient care, rehabilitative care, home care, long-term chronic care, and hospice care.

About Hebrew SeniorLife

Hebrew SeniorLife, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, is a national senior services leader uniquely dedicated to rethinking, researching and redefining the possibilities of aging. Founded in Boston in 1903, the nonprofit, non-sectarian organization today provides communities and health care for seniors, research into aging, and education for geriatric care providers. For more information about Hebrew SeniorLife, visit http://www.hebrewseniorlife.org, follow us on Twitter @H_SeniorLife, like us on Facebook or read our blog.