2009 Aging In America Conference

The Aging in America Conference is sponsored by the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging. This conference is held annually to demonstrate the best practices in education, professional development, research and businesses in the field of aging. The conference this year emphasized some best practices in a variety of areas; however I was most interested in information related to intergenerational exchange, the life course, health & wellness and women.

I attended health related workshops on training professionals and maintaining health & wellness. These workshops highlighted the need to appropriately train professionals and students working with older adults. There were concrete exercises and illustrations to demonstrated and provide an understanding of the significance of healthy living on the life course and older adults' choices. Some of these exercises could easily be incorporated into the classroom. For example in one workshop, one exercise illustrated the difficulty of decision making for older adults by providing a list of essential items for daily living and then giving specific circumstances by which items might be crossed off the list. For instance, the list may be a budget including prescriptions, produce, gas, co-pay for doctor's visits, etc. As an exercise, you would need to under specified circumstances that limited income or related to health prioritize the items on your list. In many instances, items may need to be removed from the list. This type of exercise could easily be altered and adapted to aging courses at all levels.

Another workshop attended related to incorporating technology and women's issues by accessing websites and agencies housing aging statistics and linking that to both in-class and online course materials. This would provide learning materials that are not only up-to-date but it would also allow students to concretely see how to link credible online source material with text and lecture information. Additionally, this workshop provided some ideas on classroom blogs and discussion board materials to enhance learning of age related concepts at all levels.

There were other workshops that demonstrated the best practices in business and clinical settings. These provided some useful information on how to help better train students for the field of aging. Health professionals and business owners discussed the need to train and educate a more compotent aging service provider. There were illustrations of program training that demonstrate where the field is going and what students will need to know. For instance, there were policy discussions in relation to health care reform and long term care that provided concrete examples of how to help professionals and students better understand the application in real world scenarios. This discussion also demonstrated the need to seek out internship and practicum opportunities with agencies and businesses representing the best in the field and local area.

While at the conference, I also gave a presentation on a collaborative senior level learning assessment that would require gerontology and music majors to work together to create a music learning program for older adults. The interactive audience provided valuable feedback on what types of activities might be most useful for both students and older adults. Additionally, suggestions for implementation and curriculum development were provided. The presentation undoubtedly will lead to the develpment of a better learning experience for students and will enhance the potential partnership between the music and gerontology programs.

Overall, this conference was really beneficial. Unlike more academically focused conferences, this conference brought together professionals, educators and business owners in a venue that allowed for useful exchange. In order to succesfully educate students to succeed in the field of aging, it is important to keep up with what is going on in all sectors of the field. Therefore, this conference by demonstrating the best practices in health, education, business and research provides numerous teaching and learning opportunities and other vital information.