Saturday, December 26, 2009

Positive Aging Conference Overview--Wellness

Unfortunately I did not hav ethe opportunity to attend any of the sessions for this topic so I am not able to write from my own experience. Many of the presentations were related to health care and nursing home operations which according to others did not have anything new to add to the discussions. However there were a few presentations which were thought provoking:

Several presenters related the importance of inter-generational interaction to a greater sense of wellness. Joan Chadbourne, EdD gave a presentation on how elders telling their stories to younger people increased energy and mended intergenerational riffs or misunderstandings. Storytelling accompanied with compassionate listening can create legacies and suggests new possibilities for positive aging.

Joan Chadbourne; Healing Conversations; www.healingconversationsnow.com

Kol Birke, Commonwealth Financial Network, gave a stirring presentation on how our sense of "satisfaction" can be linked to not just being less "dissatisfied" but to increased wellness and a deep sense of contribution by aligning how we spend our money with our passions and sense of life purpose.


Lesley Hart, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, talked about a program in Scotland that created new careers for long-term unemployed individuals through life-long learning initiatives.

In addition there were two presenters who made the connection between creativity and improved wellness and being in a meaningful community to improved wellness.

If you are interested in more information send me an email: dkrozell@comcast.net or comment to this post.

The 2010 Positive Aging Conference will be in Los Angeles in early December.

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