Social Science professors Lawrence Force (pictured) and Jeffrey Kahana are co-directors of Mount Saint Mary College’s Center on Aging and DIS-Ability Policy (CADP).
Mount Saint Mary College’s Center on Aging and DIS-Ability Policy (CADP) was recently named the 100th member organization of the national Independence Through Enhancement of Medicare and Medicaid (ITEM) Coalition.
Mount Social Science professors Lawrence Force and Jeffrey Kahana are co-directors of the Mount’s CADP. Established in 2006, CADP promotes an interdisciplinary perspective dedicated to excellence in research and scholarship in the fields of gerontology and disability studies. CADP is also a national resource for the Area Agencies on Aging (AAA).
Force is proud that CADP was named a member of the ITEM Coalition: “We are honored to be part of this national group,” he said. “It’s an example of the disability advocacy work our Center on Aging and Dis-Ability Policy is involved in, on a national level.”
Force, a gerontologist, has worked in the field of aging and disabilities for more than three decades as an administrator, clinician, and educator. He has authored and collaborated on books, articles, and technical reports that address topics of aging policy, Alzheimer's disease, family caregiving, and end-of-life care.
Kahana, in addition to teaching at the Mount and working with the Center on Aging and Disability Policy, is a prolific author on subjects ranging from academics to social issues in the United States.
Comprised of a diverse set of disability organizations, health care associations, aging organizations, and non-profit groups, the ITEM Coalition focuses on improving access to and coverage of assistive devices and technologies for individuals with disabilities of all ages. Among other accomplishments, the ITEM Coalition has helped lead efforts to expand more specific billing codes for intermittent catheters that help reduce urinary tract infections in Medicare beneficiaries with spinal cord injuries, Spina Bifida, and other disabling conditions.