Houston Gerontological Society

The Houston Gerontological Society provides an ongoing forum for professionals and students in the field of gerontology to advance their understanding of the aging process and encourages a collaborative approach to strengthening and enhancing current and future services for older adults and their families. HGS provides gerontological information and practical application ideas to a wide array of professionals and endeavors to educate the general public on matters related to our aging population. Membership is open to all who are interested in learning more about the aging process and related healthcare support systems. HGS already benefits greatly from the diverse backgrounds of its current members and encourages more professionals, students, and other interested community members to add to the collaboration by joining soon. Brief History of the Houston Gerontological Society (edited from Early Days of HGS: Some Personal Recollections by Dr. George Niederehe) Dr. Charles M. Gaitz is credited as the founder of the Houston Gerontological Society. Dr. Gaitz was a pioneer in geriatric psychiatry, who from 1966-1985 built and directed gerontological programs at the Texas Research Institute of Mental Sciences (or TRIMS). Dr. Gaitz's inspiration was that HGS become a broadly based, multi-disciplinary organization. His interest was in establishing an analogous support organization for those in other fields and disciplines, such as social work, nursing, psychology, sociology, law, and long-term care services. And thus HGS was structured to promote interdisciplinary and inter-institutional cooperation and dialogue at the local level. In November 1986, the first regular meeting was held in the format that has remained standard - a dinner meeting with invited speakers. The first speakers were Baruch Brody and Andrew Evans from the Baylor Center on Ethics, who presented on ethical issues in the allocation of geriatric services.