The Gray Wave is rolling in.
Americas Baby Boomers are cresting retirement age, meaning the country today is experiencing the largest growth surge of older adults in its history.
How social workers, counselors and other health professionals ride that wave is the subject of West Virginia Universitys Summer Institute on Aging, set for June 4-7 at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown.
Pathways to Healthy Agingis the name of the gathering, which is sponsored by WVU s Division of Social Work and the WVU Center on Aging.
This is the 29th year for the institute, which features keynote remarks by Rona Bartelstone, a nationally known social worker, care giver and aging consultant from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; and Ron Culberson, a motivational speaker who uses the foundation of humor to help people cope with the often serious business of life and work.
The New Faces of Healthy Agingis the title of Bartelstones talk, which is from 1:15-2:30 p.m. June 4. Bartelstone, who runs her own home health care management company, will talk about those numbers that add up every birthday and how they dont have to take away from quality of life.
Culberson will discussThe FUNdamentals of Humorfrom 9:30-11:30 a.m. June 6. The former hospice care social worker will touch on the lighter side for those who care daily for the elderlyand hell show them how to use humor to minimize stress in their jobs while still preserving the integrity of their work.
Other workshops will explore family-centered care, spirituality, nutrition, the logistics of care in rural locales, cultural competencies, Medicare and health literacy.
Exhibit spaces are still available. Information and registration forms are available at www.wvsioa.org . A $75 discount is available for those exhibitors who also want to attend workshops.
National sponsors include the Hospice Care Corp. and the Institute for Geriatric Social Work at Boston University.
The Division of Social Work is housed in the School of Applied Social Sciences in the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.
For more information, visit the above Web site or contact Englehardt at jacki.englehardt@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-3501, ext. 3109.