Symposium On Healthy Aging

TCU's Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences and JPS Health Network are hosting a symposium on "Use it or Lose it: Creative Partnerships for Healthy Aging” featuring AARP President Jennie Chin-Hansen. There will also be a community presentation with Ms. Hansen on “Current Realities and Future Trends in Population Aging” the evening prior, 7:30 p.m. (location to be determined). The community presentation on April 13 is free and open to the public; there is a cost to attend the symposium on April 14. Both events require reservations. The symposium includes lunch and conference materials; CEU credits are available.

Jennie Chin Hansen, R.N., M.S., F.A.A.N., of San Francisco, is the current AARP president and teaches nursing at San Francisco State University. She holds an appointment as Senior Fellow at the University of California, San Francisco's Center for the Health Professions and consults with various foundations. She transitioned to teaching in 2005 after nearly 25 years as executive director of On Lok, Inc., a nonprofit family of organizations providing integrated and comprehensive primary and long-term care community based services in San Francisco. On Lok was the prototype for PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), which was signed into federal legislation in 1997 making this Medicare/Medicaid program available to all 50 states.

Topics for the symposium include: Hot Topics in Healthy Aging (fitness and fall prevention and safe medication use); and Care Coordination for Healthy Aging (proactive end-of-life care and cross cultural health care). Seminar presenters include nursing and elder care professionals.

"We are excited to have a nurse researcher and professional of Ms. Hansen’s caliber present her work for our keynote and community presentation," said Paulette Burns, dean of TCU's Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences. "The entire symposium is complete with healthcare professionals covering a variety of topics pertaining to timely trends in elder care. As our population grows older, these issues become more important to their care and health."

The event is being planned by representatives from TCU's Center for Healthy Aging. The Center for Healthy Aging, a program within the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences at TCU, provides support for healthy aging initiatives with emphasis on older adults, their families, and their caregivers.

For more information and to RSVP for either event, email HogstelSymposium@tcu.edu or call 817-257-6391.