Aging in America conference highlights: Part 1

Part 1:  Being present in Chicago

When I learned that American Society on Aging (ASA) was holding its annual Aging in America conference in Chicago (http://asaging.org/aia12) a week before my mid-terms, I immediately signed up.  While my classmates wondered how I could afford the time and expense to attend another out-of-town aging conference (http://geronature.blogspot.com/2012/11/charting-new-frontiers-in-aging-at-gsa.html), I wondered how I could afford not to attend this leading aging conference for practitioners?  As a full-time grad student, I qualified for the discounted $120 conference registration fee as Volunteer Student ASA Member!

ASA Program Coordinator Nancy Decia asked me to show up for my volunteer shift at 9 am on Tuesday, so I took the red-eye flight from SFO for arrival at ORD before 5 am that day, boarded CTA Blue Line train ($2.25) to check-in my carry-on bag at Hostelling International (HI) in Chicago ($30 per night rate including breakfast).  I’d briskly walk a mile, past the Art Institute and Millennium Park, to and from the hostel and Hyatt Regency conference site (so I passed on its $209 per night rate).

Colombia theme dinner prepared by local high school students at HI-Chicago:  sopa de maize (corn soup), papas chorreadas (creamy cheese with onions, potatoes & tomatoes), molde de papa y carne (meat & potato pie), and torta de coco (coconut bread pudding).  The students seemed initially disappointed to learn that I was American, instead of an international visitor, until I told them that I’m originally from Hawaii, which seemed exotic to them.  We debated on whether Obama Presidential Library should be located in Hawaii (Obama's birthplace despite naysayers) or Chicago (where Obama got his start in politics).  After our delightful intergenerational exchange dinner, the students delivered a presentation on the history, politics and culture of Colombia. 

Eating community

Far from being a starving student, ASA conference offered many opportunities to fill our stomachs at receptions for exhibit hall opening, networking, awards, leadership academy graduation, etc.
  

  

During ASA’s Network on Multicultural Aging reception, ASA Chair Louis Colbert presented Award for Excellence in Multicultural Aging to Hawaii Healthier Aging Partnership for its adaptation of Enhance Fitness and Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) to the multicultural population in Hawaii. 

 

During New Ventures in Leadership (NVL) Graduation & Reception, ASA Chair Colbert presented certificate to NVL graduate Fang Huang of San Francisco.  Her project sounded like a PhD dissertation:  Sustainable Approach to Implement CDSMP (Healthier Living Workshop) in Affordable Housing Settings.  San Francisco has offered CDSMP in six languages:  English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish and Tagalog (http://www.cahealthierliving.org/?location=san-francisco).

ASA also honored San Francisco-based Patrick Arbore with the Mental Health and Aging Award for founding Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services at Institute on Aging (http://www.ioaging.org/documents/news/Patrick_Arbore_Award_March2013.doc)

Behind the scenes with ASA

ASA is based in San Francisco, but I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting its staff until volunteering at the conference in Chicago.  Our volunteer training with Nancy included a review of our assigned duties (including wearing pageant-style volunteer sashes) and a 45-minute tour by Hyatt staff of the maze-like site, which many attendees found challenging.  Instead of referring to floor levels by numbers, Hyatt refers to floor levels by colors using the following association in descending order: 

Every cloud has a SILVER lining,

the sky is BLUE,

the vegetation below is GREEN,

the soil below is BRONZE,

dig below for GOLD,

and then PURPLE at the bottom. 

Only BLUE and BRONZE levels have bridges to cross to and from the East Tower (partly under construction) and West Tower; in between these floors, take escalators or elevators to access bridges to the towers.  Got it?   

At 10:30 am, I headed over to the East Tower’s PURPLE level to assist with Poster set-up led by Steve Moore, whose voice I immediately recognized.  Throughout the conference, I had fun pointing him out like a celebrity sighting to other attendees who were curious to see the face of ASA’s popular webinar host, so now we have an informal Steve Moore fan club!

While on volunteer duty, I refrained from taking photos.  At a later poster session, I took this photo of SFSU Gerontology Professor Brian de Vries and 2^nd year grad student Loren Meissner in front of their poster, “HIV and Aging: A Survey in the San Francisco Area.”  Their preliminary findings identified issues related to isolation, stigmatization, housing, economic security and transportation challenges; for more information, join http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/hivaging/.  de Vries is on ASA’s Aging Today Editorial Advisory Committee; check out his profile at http://www.asaging.org/brian-de-vries-phd.
  

Diversity workshops

Name badge ribbons for ASA Constituent Groups

After lunch break, I began duty as room monitor on BRONZE level for a workshop, U.S. AoA: A Toolkit for Serving Diverse Communities (Multicultural Aging), which held great interest for me and 40 attendees (http://www.aoa.gov/AoAroot/Press_Room/For_The_Press/pr/archive/2010/June/DiversityToolkit.aspx).  While on the lookout for my workshop presenters, standing outside my assigned room and appearing like a beauty contestant with my gold “Ask me, Volunteer” sash, Harry (Rick) Moody approached me to ask for location of his workshop Public Policy and Livable Communities for a Lifetime (Policy & Advocacy), so I directed him to escalators down for GOLD level.  After calling Nancy 10 minutes and then 20 minutes following the 90-minute workshop start time to report that we were waiting for presenters to show up, she advised me to announce cancellation. Yet, a few attendees were hopeful that the speakers would show up so they remained in the room—as I did, though I was very tempted to check out Moody’s workshop. 

 

For next workshop, Religious Affiliation & Successful Aging Among Transgender Older Adults (Aging 101, Spirituality & Aging), attendance was smaller but at least the presenters showed up!  UMass-Boston gerontology grad students, Kristen Porter and Corina Ronneberg, plan to publish their research in a special LGBT issue in Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging (http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wrsa20), which they said has stirred a bit of controversy with some people objecting to this special issue by canceling their subscriptions.  (They also told me UMass-Boston’s graduate gerontology programs are thriving, despite suspension of undergraduate gerontology program due to low enrollment.)

As a foodie, I was interested in the workshop that Kristen presented earlier on Diversity and Inclusion in Congregate Meal Program: A Lifeline to Isolated Elders (H&CBP).  For example, San Francisco’s senior congregate meals program offers an amazing nine different cuisines, including vegetarian options, which reflect the diversity of its residents (http://www.sfhsa.org/356.htm).  Kristen’s research on LGBT meal sites (offered in only 10% of states) reminded me that the value of a congregate meal program is not just about culturally appropriate nutrition that targets specific ethnic preferences, but also about building community—a place where people can feel they belong, to reduce isolation and need for institutionalization.  San Francisco leads with a LGBT Aging Task Force (http://www.sf-hrc.org/index.aspx?page=201) and services for LGBT community (http://www.sfhsa.org/DAAS.htm).

Coming together

My last assignment was to hold a “General Session (with pointed arrow)” sign and direct traffic on the GOLD level to the Grand Ballroom, which rocked with the musical Chicago on stage.  When the music ended, my volunteer duty ended so I took a seat in the second row and brought out my camera.

Debra Whitman, AARP’s Policy EVP, quoted economist Paul Samuelson’s “good questions outrank easy answers,” before presenting her 7 Unsolved Mysteries in Aging Policy, and inviting us to respond via email to askwhitman@aarp.org: 

1.     how do we encourage more people to save for retirement?

2.     how do we make sure people’s nest eggs will last for the rest of their lives?

3.     how do we encourage people to work longer, while taking care of those who cannot?

4.     how can we help consumers play bigger role in managing their own health & wellness?

5.     how will we pay for LTC services & supports?

6.     how can society best deal with growing numbers of people with diminished mental capacity?

7.     how can we get politicians to look at the needs of an aging society? 

Then in a moment of impeccable timing, which made me wonder if this was scripted, such a politician arrived with his entourage, taking reserved seats in front of me . . . and I was tempted to ask Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel what he thought about his brother Ezekiel’s new autobiography, Brothers Emanuel (http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2013/01/ari-ezekiel-rahm-emanuel-book-preview#), but then he was called to the stage.  

Robert Blancato presented ASA Leadership in Public Policy Award to Mayor Emanuel for his role in securing passage of Elder Justice Act as part of the Affordable Care Act.  Emanuel mentioned that he introduced the Act when he was a Congressman seven years ago, and got it passed after he got inside the White House as Chief of Staff.  Always the fundraiser, he encouraged us to “spend some money” in Chicago, and mentioned that Chicago was working to get recognition as age-friendly city by WHO.