7th Annual Aging Conference to take place at Fairfield University's Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts | Press Releases

Fairfield University's School of Nursing and the Southwestern Connecticut Agency on Aging, Inc. (SWCAA), will sponsor "Serving the Young Old - Plan NOW to Meet the Challenge!" for its Seventh Annual Conference for Providers of Services for Older Adults, on Tuesday, April 12, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts.

A growing success over the past 6 years, this conference is geared toward health care professionals who serve older adults. This year's conference aims to educate providers on the "Young Old" (Baby Boomers) who are expected by 2030 to represent 30 percent of Connecticut's population. The conference will explore roles, preparation and strategic planning of service providers.

"This age group is going to be a very important part of our population," said Jeanne M. Novotny, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, Dean and Professor of the School of Nursing. "This conference will provide valuable information about the interests and services needed by the Baby Boomers."

Registration begins at 8 a.m. with a "Healthy Heart" breakfast and a chance to visit more than 25 exhibits. Stephen G. Jones, M.D., director for the Center of Healthy Aging of Greenwich Hospital, associate professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine and director of the Outpatient Center of Greenwich Hospital, will deliver the first keynote lecture, "Serving the Young Old."

He will identify the demographics and challenges of the "young old" and their impact on society and services, while discussing the importance of starting now to integrate this population into service planning.

Waldo C. Klein, Ph.D., M.S.W., will follow with "Plan NOW to Meet the Challenge!" identifying the multiple bases of diversity of older adults, a population that spans 40 years, as well as defining successful aging and describing a primary prevention model that supports service planning. Dr. Klein is a professor of the School of Social Work for the University of Connecticut.

The conference will include four panel presentations on programs which already address changing service needs: grandparents raising grandchildren, caring for the caregiver, attracting the younger senior and step up to health.

The program has been approved for 3.6 contact hours from the Connecticut Nurses' Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation, and 3 Continuing Education Credit Hours by the National Association of Social Workers, CT and meets the continuing education criteria for Social Work Licensure renewal. The cost of the conference is $60 and a discounted fee of $50 is available for Friends of the Agency. For more information or to register, call Catherine Rogers at SWCAA at (203) 333-9288.