UNLV conference to focus on healthy aging

The Healthy Aging Conference is scheduled to be not only an educational series of seminars for healthy adults who will soon be seniors, but also a testimonial to the research under way at UNLV's Gerontology Department.

Those who may attend the conference each year are people in their 40s and 50s who "are interested in staying healthy as they get older," said Ann McDonough, director of gerontology.

Several of the speakers, who also are seniors nearly reaching retirement age, are professors at UNLV. Participants can learn what helps them stay healthy, learning such information from respected sources who also practice what they preach.

"We have some very fine senior faculty making presentations about their cutting edge research in staying healthy -- workshops like the affects of daily exercise on aging, psychology of aging, pain management and lifelong learning and how that keeps you young," McDonough said.

A dilemma this year for McDonough is how she can fit as many soon-to-be seniors into the mini-conference, which runs just a half day beginning 8:30 a.m. Jan. 12. The conference has become the must-attend event of the year for seniors because of the relevance of the issues.

"We have quite an array of concurrent workshops, two breakout sessions with five workshops per session," McDonough said. "It's not always easy to pick and choose. Carol Sala, administrator of the Nevada Division of Aging, is giving closing remarks on issues facing aging over the coming years. We also have a dance class performing.

"We can accommodate only about 150 people, but we always have more people that want to attend."

The conference, which takes place every other year, is generating so much interest among the area's baby boomer generation that McDonough and the department might eventually host the event annually.

Part of its draw is the focus on preventative remedies rather than how to fix an existing problem.

"It's important for the gerontology program to offer to the community the very latest knowledge and research on aging we have within our brain trust at UNLV," she said. "I view that as an important goal of our program. If we can arm people with current knowledge, it makes the world a better place. It has such a positive ripple affect in our health care system when we can affect the quality of life on a personal level.

"It also helps us to give us a sense of controlling the aging process and making it a developmental time of life instead of a degenerative time of life. Often we expect for aging to be a process when we get sick as older adults, but it doesn't have to be that way. If we can stay healthy not only physically but mentally, that contributes to all kinds of benefits for us."

Registration and refreshments will be offered at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 12 inside the Moyer Student Union, Room 201, followed by a 9 a.m. greeting from Jeffrey Koep, dean of the College of Fine Arts. Concurrent workshops will be held from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Mark R. Floyd of UNLV's Psychology Department will present a lecture on the psychology of aging. Other scheduled presentations include "Careers in Aging: Exploring the Field of Aging As a Career Option," by Phyllis E. Militello of the Nevada Geriatric Education Center.

Performances by the UNLV Senior Adult Theatre, led by Associate Director Douglas Hill, will be presented by student actors from the program. Following the performances, Hill will speak briefly about the academic and artistic program, and will join his students in answering questions regarding the program.

Call 895-1079 for reservations and more information.


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