Age Positive Conference

Workshop description
If you are interested in how to make sure you can stay living in your own home for as long as possible this is the session for you. If you are a provider that wants to know more about how to educate your patients or clients on how to help them be more independent in the house or apartment then this session is also for you! Join a seasoned occupational therapist as she educates you on ways to make living in place a reality.

Presenter

• Brandy Archie, OTD, OTR/L, CLIPP, CLVT, received her doctorate in occupational therapy from Creighton University. She is certified in both Living in Place and Low Vision Therapy. Dr. Archie has over 15 years of experience in home health and elder focused practice settings which led her to start AskSAMIE, a curated marketplace to make aging in place possible for anyone, anywhere! Answer some questions about the problems the person is having and then a personalized cart of adaptive equipment and resources is provided. She is also the founder of AccessAble Living, a company whose mission is also to adapt environments to fit the needs of older adults and serves clients in person in the Kansas City area.

Workshop description
According to the National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS), 50% of all cases handled by state Adult Protective Services programs fall into the category of self-neglect. In this workshop we will discuss how to incorporate person-centered language into our work to support these individuals. We will learn about innovative approaches being adopted in state APS programs as they adjust their approach to case investigation. We will explore the nature of self-neglect and the variety of problems and conditions that fall within this definition. We will talk about evidence-based screening tools. Finally, as a group we will discuss the short term and longer-term needs of people experiencing self-neglect. From the audience we will encourage discussion and examples of situations that result in self-neglect.

Presenter
Kathy Greenlee, J.D., is senior director for Elder Justice Initiatives for ADvancing States, the national membership organization of state agencies on aging, disability and Medicaid home and community-based services. Her work is focused on elder abuse, adult protective services, guardianship and rural aging. From 2009 to 2016, she served as Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a position to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama. Greenlee worked 18 years in Kansas state government, including serving as Kansas Secretary for Aging and Kansas State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. She is currently the board chair for the National Council on Aging. She is a University of Kansas graduate, having received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a J.D. from the School of Law. 

Workshop description
Human service agencies are increasingly expected to serve more individuals in need while tracking increased amounts of data to demonstrate program impact. While management personnel often engage around data, many direct-service staff are excluded from the conversation or reluctant to participate if information is viewed as punitive or solely focused on increasing output. This workshop will take a deep dive into having data-driven conversations within programs, development and communication of simple program data infrastructure, and how program directors can collaboratively incorporate staff at all levels into data-informed reflection. 

Presenters

• Rachel Ohlhausen (she/her) has a passion for developing age-friendly communities and attitudes, along with promoting high impact and efficient teams within nonprofits. As a team member at Jewish Family Services (JFS), she's living her passion. “My goal is to develop and engage community members as pieces of the aging puzzle that allows individuals to age in place. I seek to foster opportunities for individuals to stay connected and live safely at home.” At JFS, Ohlhausen is the director of program operations, overseeing two aging services (transportation and home maintenance) and two agency-wide operations (client intake and volunteer engagement). Ohlhausen holds a master’s in social work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, with an emphasis in aging and older adult populations and a specialization of nonprofit management. Her undergraduate degree is from Truman State University where she holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology and minored in communications. 
• Hayden Rand (she/her) currently serves as program impact manager at Jewish Family Services (JFS), overseeing the agency’s program data and reporting. She is passionate about developing processes for data management that deliver more efficient, equitable and comprehensive social services. In her role at JFS, she manages the program data and evaluation infrastructure that serves as a connection point between direct service staff, program managers, grant and development personnel, and the leadership team. Rand holds a Bachelor of Science in business administration - business economics and a master's of social work with an administrative and advocacy focus.

Workshop description
Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias take a serious toll on family caregivers, including depression, anxiety and other health issues. Barriers to caregiver support access are common, and include time incompatibilities, financial issues, lack of transportation options and inequitable digital opportunities. To address these barriers, we developed CareTEXT, a dementia caregiver support program via text messaging. CareTEXT has shown high levels of satisfaction and preliminary efficacy (e.g., decreased depression and stress) among 24 Latino family caregivers. We have now adapted it to other communities and are implementing the program in the Mid-America Regional Council region: Clay, Cass, Ray, Platte and Jackson counties in Missouri.

Presenters

• Jaime Perales Puchalt, Ph.D., MPH, is an assistant professor at the University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. His background is in psychology and public health. In addition to conducting research in Spain, England and the United States, Perales Puchalt has collaborated with teams from other countries in the European Union and the Americas.
  
  With a primary focus on reducing Latino dementia disparities, his research has led to the development of a dementia educational/recruitment tool for Latinos. He has also studied the risk of dementia and mild cognitive impairment among sexual and ethnoracial minorities. He currently leads federally funded grants to understand and reduce disparities in dementia care among Latinos. One of those grants includes the first text message caregiver support program for Latino family caregivers (CuidaTEXT). The success of CuidaTEXT has led to the adaptation of this program to other groups for implementation in five Missouri counties thanks to funding from the Mid-America Regional Council.

Workshop description
In today’s society, there is a misconception that older adults cannot be successful due to their lack of digital literacy. This negative stereotype is disproven as you see an increasing number of older adults on social media like Tik Tok. We have to change this narrative to reflect that with adequate training with programs such as the AARP Foundation's Senior Community Service Employment (SCSEP), older adults are more productive in society. Their self-esteem increases, their productivity is the same as their younger counterparts, and they feel they contribute to society. Companies are hiring more older adults because they are more reliable to be there to get the job done. They are investing in restructuring their training to focus on a learner-design type of training.

Presenter

• Jonathan Smith has been the Project Director for AARP Foundation's Senior Community Service Employment (SCSEP).  He has a master’s in education with a concentration on Instructional Design.

Workshop description
This introductory presentation will focus on research around ageism, including ideas of perceived and ideal narratives of aging, authentic aging and more. Participants will examine images of stereotypical aging and discuss effects of these messages on a personal level as well as on adults they serve. Then they will reinvent these messages by choosing to draw or write how they want to be perceived as they age. Materials will be provided for drawing, writing, etc., for some creative fun.

Presenters

• Becky Franklin is a behavioral health specialist and educator with Tri-County Mental Health.  She has been a therapy provider for over 20 years. Franklin also provides mental health support and outreach to the older adult population through support groups, presentations and case management.  As part of this role, Franklin coordinates the Northland Grandfamilies program, which offers support to grandparents raising grandchildren, or others who are in a kinship role. She is passionate about reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness and sharing inspiration about being a lifelong learner. In her free time, Franklin enjoys being outdoors, playing with her two dogs, or spending time with family. As a former hospice chaplain, she has found that there truly is beauty to be found in each and every day.
• Paula Zigmond has been working with older adults for more than 20 years, as program and resources manager for Clay County Senior Services since October 2005 and before that as volunteer coordinator for Northland Shepherd's Center. She was also an adult educator in community colleges as well as teaching in high schools. She enjoys providing resources and ideas for older adults to age well in Clay County. Zigmond is a master trainer for Living Well with Chronic Conditions programs, a trained leader for A Matter of Balance, and a facilitator for the Aging Mastery Program. Four grandkids, a dog, a cat, a good husband, reading and stargazing add to her quality of life.

Workshop description
Seniors Who Paint™ is a unique program dedicated to inspiring older people to showcase their art on greeting cards. Art gives a positive awareness of a person’s hidden talent and an opportunity to believe in themselves through their talent. Attendees will learn how the Seniors Who Paint program can be incorporated within independent living and senior center programming. Attendees will be provided paint supplies and be given the opportunity to paint. Artwork from previous Seniors Who Paint programs will be available for participants to view.

Presenter

• Carolyn Caniglia, founder, Seniors Who Paint™, has 45 years of business marketing experience. She engineered four business start-ups, starting with co-owning a construction company and a real estate firm. In addition, Caniglia opened a women’s shoe store, later adding three more locations. She is the author of the workbook "Seven Steps to the Magic of Marketing," and is a widely respected public speaker, and leads marketing seminars for businesses and colleges. Caniglia was host to a weekly radio talk show “Business Smart, Learning Through the Knowledge of Others.” She also was a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.
  
  Her latest accomplishment is to use her marketing background and to start a business greeting card company. The company provides businesses with personalized employee birthday and anniversary cards. She also launched 
  
  Seniors Who Paint™ original art program for seniors, and Treasures of Your Times™, that highlight seniors’ treasures to share on greeting cards, and include the history of the treasures in the card. 
  
  Caniglia was nominated to receive the Shepherd’s Center Central of Kansas City’s  2018 “70 Over 70” award that recognizes 70 outstanding individuals for inspiring others and building community.

Workshop description
Age can be just a number. Or it can be a challenge you welcome with open arms. This program brings together three quality indicators of aging — the physical aspects of aging, the mental aspects affecting aging, and the business of aging. We start with the importance of exercise, the best kind of exercise for our aging bodies, and how to make exercise a daily habit. Our social worker will discuss the ways the baggage of life can clog up our ability to enjoy life and absorb the challenges that come with aging. We will also discuss the “business” side of our lives and how to design and complete your personal business plan to meet your goals. The combination of these topics helps move us toward a healthier, happy and more fulfilled life.

Presenters

• Evie Curtis is the development director at Assured Trust Company. After over 40 years in the financial industry, Curtis continues to advocate for seniors and persons with disabilities. Her trust career spans many years with Bank of America, Country Club Trust Company and after four years of retirement, Assured Trust Company. She has been an active speaker in our community on topics ranging from housing choices to estate planning. Curtis had to reinvent her life — physically and mentally — after the death of her spouse. Reflecting on the past only drives her to make the future look even better.
• Melissa McKinley is a talented and accomplished professional with proven success and excellence leading programs and services within diverse fields of social work, including 10+ years of experience within a hospice setting. She possesses highly developed organizational and leadership skills, mixed with a calm and discreet manner that grows relationships and trust between families, personnel and community constituents. McKinley demonstrates her leadership capacity through her involvement in the development of Kansas Supported Family Living Services which is now known as Home and Community Based Services in the state of Kansas. She brings genuine passion and dedication to delivering exceptional outcomes while ensuring meaningful connections are maintained. Well versed and knowledgeable in various facets of the industry, she is consistently chosen to serve in public forums, as well as highly competitive referral consultations, as the face and voice of the company and industry.

Workshop description
In anticipation of the dramatic increase in our region's older adult population, nearly 23 local jurisdictions in the Kansas City region are taking concrete steps to increase their age-friendliness. Hear from representatives from four of these communities describe policies and actions  undertaken to respond to the needs of all residents.

Presenter
Lauren Schaumburg is the community engagement specialist for MARC's Aging and Adult Services department. In addition to coordinating public-facing programs serving older adults, she helps coordinate the Communities for All Ages Recognition Program, which leads cities through a process of self-assessment and action related to age-friendly municipal policies and planning. Schaumburg joined MARC's Aging and Adult Services department with a background in improving food systems and access, and is passionate about creating pathways for people of all ages to fulfill their greatest potential.

Workshop description
In this session, educators from The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will share Vitality Arts, a new initiative designed to address ageism and foster creativity, social engagement and wellbeing among older adults. Presenters will provide an overview of project components including community partnerships, creative aging workshops and exhibitions, age equity staff and volunteer training, and evaluation. Attendees will hear about success and best practices, as well as lessons learned and early results of the initiative. 

Presenters

• Amy Berridge, senior manager of school programs at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, oversees PreK-12 teacher and student programs, as well as youth and adult studio experiences. She taught art in public, private and charter schools before joining the Nelson-Atkins in 2011 to teach school workshops and studio classes. She earned a B.S. in Art Education from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and completed an M.S. in Leadership in Museum Education from Bank Street College as a Kress Fellow. 

• Jackie Niekamp, manager of community and access programs at the Nelson-Atkins, cultivates relationships with community organizations, designs hands-on workshops in the community, onsite and virtually to underrepresented audiences. Recently named the Museum Art Educator of the Year by the Museum Art Education Association, Niekamp joined the museum in August 2014 as a teaching artist. Niekamp has a background in silk screening and earned her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 

• Anne Manning, deputy director of learning and engagement at the Nelson-Atkins, oversees school and community programs and partnerships, visitor engagement and research, and the library and archives. Prior to that, she held positions at the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin, and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College. Manning has an M.A. in art history from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.A. in art history and Italian language and literature from Smith College. In 2010 she was named the National Art Museum Educator of the Year by the National Art Education Association. 

Workshop description
Available in Wyandotte County since 2016, the PACE model of care will be coming to Kansas City, Missouri, for the first time in late 2023. PACE, Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, is widely considered to be the gold standard of Home and Community Based Care for nursing home-eligible older adults. Available in 31 states, this unique model of care provides a full range of personalized healthcare and wellness services to allow older adults to age gracefully in their home communities. The model emphasizes comprehensive, coordinated and preventive care in a way that treats the whole person — addressing physical, emotional and psychological needs. 

This presentation will provide an overview of the PACE model of care, present evidence-based outcomes that prove the efficacy and value of PACE, and present the advocacy work that laid the groundwork for bringing PACE to Kansas City for the first time.

Presenter

• Heath Rath has spent his professional career working to build and expand evidence-based programs that improve the lives of older adults. Over the last seven years, he has focused his efforts on the development of programs that aim to allow older adults to age gracefully in the communities they call home, specifically PACE programs. He worked with Swope Health to successfully lobby members of the Missouri Senate and House of Representatives as well as the Missouri Department of Social Services, MO Health Net Division, to support and appropriate PACE funding.

  Prior to his work with Swope Health, Rath served as director of Midland Care Connection’s Ann Street PACE Center in Kansas City, Kansas. During his time at Midland, he oversaw the development and successful launch of Midland’s third center and the first PACE program in the Kansas City metro area.

  Rath earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology and secondary major in gerontology from Kansas State University. He went on to complete a master’s of Science in Gerontology with an emphasis in long-term care administration. While earning his M.S. at Kansas State, he worked in the College of Health and Human Sciences Center on Aging as a project specialist for the PEAK 2.0 program. He also served as the advisor for the K-State Gerontology Ambassadors and the K-State Gerontology Club as well as instructing online undergraduate courses in gerontology. Rath is a licensed long-term care administrator in the state of Kansas.

Workshop description
Healthy, nutritious meals, educational programs and services for aging adults are few and far between in rural America. When a senior center closes in a community, a void remains. In LaCygne, Kansas, population 1,048, this is exactly what happened. With the closure of the senior center, the LaCygne Library stepped in to fill the void, developing a program tailored to adults age 50+. What started as a lunch & learn with 25 people has grown exponentially – in both attendance as well as programs and services provided.

In this session you will learn how the LaCygne library went from no senior programs to a well-defined method of reaching seniors in their area.

Presenters

• Janet Reynolds has worked with the Library District #2 of Linn County since 1979. She taught elementary school for 18 years, moving to high school library, curriculum, testing and technology before retiring in 2018. She invented and implemented children's programming and brought technology to the library in 1983. In 2018, the board challenged her to reinvent senior programming at the library. As the program has grown, they continue to innovate what senior programming looks like at the library, establishing partnerships with Extension, First Option Bank and others through their Children's summer lunch and enrichment programming. Her dream is to provide as many services to our community as possible.
• Kathy Goul began her K-State Research and Extension career in 2003, specializing in their Foods and Nutrition programs. In 2018, she accepted the position of family and consumer sciences agent, specializing the areas of aging and family resource management. Goul has served in the role of family caregiver on more than one occasion and has seen how Alzheimer’s can devastate a family. She is passionate about providing programs and resources to help individuals and communities in rural America age well. On any given day, Goul can be seen in communities providing programs on estate planning and advance healthcare directives, Alzheimer’s, powerful tools for caregivers, assistive technology, Medicare basics, and avoiding identity theft and scams. Goul is a certified community educator for the Alzheimer’s Association and a Kansas certified SHICK Counselor, providing Medicare education and enrollment assistance.
   

Workshop description
This workshop will provide information on the importance of various types of exercise for seniors, such as cardio, balance, flexibility and strength training. The presenters will discuss the health benefits of exercise in general, with an emphasis on the role physical activity plays in fall prevention. They will cover the evidence-based programs MU Extension offers to increase activity and help prevent falls among the aging population in Missouri, like Stay Strong, Stay Healthy, A Matter of Balance, Tai Chi for Arthritis and Fall Prevention and Walk With Ease, and reflect on how those programs have evolved since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and what is now known about the pros and cons of in-person versus online delivery methods. There will be an interactive segment of the session, where participants will be led through a sample of Tai Chi exercises and stretches.

Presenters

• Tyler Hall is a nutrition and health education specialist for the University of Missouri Extension. He holds a master’s degree in exercise physiology and a Bachelor’s in nutritional science from the University of Missouri and has several years of experience in the field of falls prevention programming for seniors. Before joining MU Extension, Hall worked in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation, overseeing exercise programs for patients recovering from cardiac events or chronic lung diseases. Hall is committed to promoting active aging and helping seniors maintain their independence. With his hands-on approach, he encourages seniors to participate in physical activity and make small progressive changes for lifelong benefits.
• Melissa Cotton is a field specialist in nutrition and health education, serving Jackson and Clay Counties. She has worked for the University of Missouri Extension for six years, providing educational opportunities focusing on nutrition, health, wellness, food safety, physical activity and chronic disease prevention and self-management. Her local educational programs contribute to MU Extension’s long-term goal of improving the national health ranking of Missouri from 40th to 25th.

Workshop description
Seniors Who Paint™ is a unique program dedicated to inspiring older people to showcase their art on greeting cards. Art gives a positive awareness of a person’s hidden talent and an opportunity to believe in themselves through their talent. Attendees will learn how the Seniors Who Paint program can be incorporated within independent living and senior center programming. Attendees will be provided paint supplies and be given the opportunity to paint. Artwork from previous Seniors Who Paint programs will be available for participants to view.

Presenter
Carolyn Caniglia, founder, Seniors Who Paint™, has 45 years of business marketing experience. She engineered four business start-ups, starting with co-owning a construction company and a real estate firm. In addition, Caniglia opened a women’s shoe store, later adding three more locations. She is the author of the workbook Seven Steps to the Magic of Marketing, and is a widely respected public speaker, and leads marketing seminars for businesses and colleges. Caniglia was host to a weekly radio talk show “Business Smart, Learning Through the Knowledge of Others.” She also was a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business.
Her latest accomplishment is to use her marketing background and to start a business greeting card company. The company provides businesses with personalized employee birthday and anniversary cards. She also launched 
Seniors Who Paint™ original art program for seniors, and Treasures of Your TimesTM, that highlight seniors’ treasures to share on greeting cards, and include the history of the treasures in the card. 
Caniglia was nominated to receive the Shepherd’s Center Central of Kansas City’s 2018 “70 Over 70” award that recognizes 70 outstanding individuals for inspiring others and building community.

Workshop description
Two Chicago Villages share what it takes to become a dementia friendly community. Hear about their experiences in getting this formal designation from Dementia Friendly America, including how to start and run a memory cafe and collaborating on an educational series.
Each Village will share information about how their dementia friendly programming evolved in the first year. This presentation will include information on how to start and run a memory cafe and share successful strategies for involving caregivers. Finally, the presentation will also discuss the development of a collaborative educational series between four Villages in the Chicagoland area.

Presenters

• Janie Urbanic, founding director, South Loop Village, holds a master’s degree in gerontological psychology and is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She is the founding director of the South Loop Village in Chicago. After a 30+ year career in marketing and advertising, Urbanic changed careers to work in the field of dementia care, with a focus toward research with informal caregivers for persons with dementia. She did this work at Rush University Medical Center both in the Alzheimer's Disease Center and in the College of Nursing. 
  In 2019 she retired from Rush to start the South Loop Village. The primary strategic initiative of the Village is focused on Brain Health. South Loop Village the only Village in the Chicagoland area to host a monthly Memory Cafe.
• Dorothy Pytel, special projects manager, Chicago Hyde Park Village, holds a master’s degree in public service administration from DePaul University and has been involved in grassroots community activism and organizing for the past two decades on the south side of Chicago.
  At Chicago Hyde Park Village, Pytel works to build relationships with local organizations such as faith communities and university and community groups. She also manages Village Visitors, a program which connects older adults to caring volunteers in the neighborhood and she oversees the dementia friendly initiative for Chicago's south side community of Hyde Park. 
  Under her watch, the Brick Yard Community Garden in the neighborhood of Woodlawn became a permanent green space (through the non-profit Neighborspace) and the Hyde Park Refugee Project grew from an idea to a community-wide volunteer effort with 150+ volunteers working with refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, the Congo and Senegal, as well as immigrants from all backgrounds in local schools.

Workshop description
Embracing the emerging Third Age of Life – older men and women are a rapidly increasing portion of the U.S. population, and in terms of wealth, experience, time influence, healthcare, housing and spending, they already have a disproportionate impact and social clout.  Gain a holistic understanding of today’s aging to anticipate their needs and provide them with informed, innovative, empathetic and valuable services. Learn to Put Wisdom to Work – full-time, part-time, cycling between work and leisure, returning to work after intermissions, new careers and inventions, new employers, reinvent professional lives, start new businesses, pursue new passions, mix work and purpose with other pursuits, phased retirement, and knowledge exchange.     

Presenter

• P. Glen Smith is the founder and managing attorney of Lifescape Law & Development, a holistic, multidisciplinary Life Care Planning, Elder Law and Special Needs Firm, and practices exclusively in the areas of life care planning, estate and special needs planning, long-term care planning and elder law.  In 2020, Smith led Lifescape into becoming a Life Care Planning Law Firm, with services including care coordination, healthcare advocacy services, estate planning, elder law, crisis planning, asset protection, public and private benefits, and personal and health and wellness coaching serving older adults, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and their families.  

Workshop description
Bates County, a rural county in west central Missouri with a population of 16,051, has many health and education concerns. To address these concerns, the Bates County Extension Office secured a three-year Retired and Seniors Volunteer Program AmeriCorps grant in 2021. That effort has led to Creating a Healthier Bates County, a county-wide volunteer program of older adults and collaboration with stakeholders while incorporating many service projects in the county to address these concerns. There are currently 10 service projects focusing on the health and education concerns the county. As more partnerships and ideas emerge, more service projects take place. The community partnership transformed into a county-wide collaboration providing positive health and education outcomes, with the Bates County Extension Office leading those efforts.

Presenter

• Sara Bridgewater is a nutrition and health field specialist for the University of Missouri Extension. Bridgewater has been a faculty member of the University of Missouri for almost five years. She serves three counties in the West Central Region with her office being located in Bates County. Bridgewater provides her communities with nutrition and health evidence-based programming. She has created a volunteer program for older adults in Bates County and the volunteers have assisted with many successful service projects in the county. Bridgewater has her Master’s in public health and her Bachelor’s of Science in health services both from Missouri State University. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in learning, teaching and curriculum at the University of Missouri. Bridgewater has a passion for helping people and serving rural areas. When she is not working, she enjoys spending quality time at her home in the country with her husband, Harley, and two little boys, Teddy and Franklin.

Workshop description
This workshop will explore ageism and how it manifests in our everyday language. We will look at how seemingly harmless compliments and comments reinforce and perpetuate stereotypes against people who are older. We will explore the us/them aspect of aging and talk about how to incorporate different language. Ageism is harmful to all of us. Research shows ageism negatively impacts health and well-being. And ageist public policy is common. Concepts such as paternalism and benevolence will be covered in our conversation. Finally, as a group we will consider if or how ageism is incorporated in our work to support aging and older people.

Presenter

• Kathy Greenlee, J.D., is senior director for Elder Justice Initiatives for ADvancing States, the national membership organization of state agencies on aging, disability and Medicaid home and community-based services. Her work is focused on elder abuse, adult protective services, guardianship and rural aging. From 2009 to 2016, she served as Assistant Secretary for Aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a position to which she was appointed by President Barack Obama. Greenlee worked 18 years in Kansas state government, including serving as Kansas Secretary for Aging and Kansas State Long-Term Care Ombudsman. She is currently the board chair for the National Council on Aging. She is a University of Kansas graduate, having received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and a J.D. from the School of Law. 

Workshop description
As you look around your home, reflect on the tasks you couldn’t manage if you had a recent hip surgery. What about the tasks you couldn’t do if you had poor vision or balance? Who would you call to change your lightbulbs? If you needed assistance with assembling furniture that was too heavy, how would you manage? For many older adults, these challenges can be insurmountable without available familial support or adequate finances to pay market rate for a contractor or service. The ongoing maintenance of a house — gutter cleaning, weatherization, changing light bulbs or adding grab bars — can get overwhelming to the point of moving. We know that 88% of individuals aged 50-80 think it is important to age in place. What services and supports make it possible to feel confident in aging in place? Join this session to learn about the community-level and individual-level components needed to support an aging-in-place goal. Participants will also learn about one community support, the Help at Home Program at Jewish Family Services and how this program assists individuals to age in their own home through ongoing home maintenance.  

Presenters

• Rachel Ohlhausen (she/her) has a passion for developing age-friendly communities and attitudes, along with promoting high impact and efficient teams within nonprofits. As a team member at Jewish Family Services (JFS), she's living her passion. “My goal is to develop and engage community members as pieces of the aging puzzle that allows individuals to age in place. I seek to foster opportunities for individuals to stay connected and live safely at home.” At JFS, Ohlhausen is the director of program operations, overseeing two aging services (transportation and home maintenance) and two agency-wide operations (client intake and volunteer engagement). Ohlhausen holds a master’s in social work from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, with an emphasis in aging and older adult populations and a specialization of nonprofit management. Her undergraduate degree is from Truman State University where she holds a Bachelor of Science in psychology and minored in communications. 
• Seroj Terian is the lead handystaff for the Help at Home Program at Jewish Family Services in Kansas City. He has been a part of the program since its inception 15 years ago and was instrumental in building this age-friendly support. As part of his work, Terian provides minor home repairs, safety modifications and technical assistance to help older adults age in their homes. Terian holds degrees from the University of Kansas in Mathematics and English. In 2022, he completed his Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) designation as part of the national Coalition for Home Repair. Prior to JFS, he worked as a technical writer before leaving the corporate world to start his own home remodeling business. His passions include motorcycles, racing, traveling and spending time with family.

Workshop description
Ever wondered why you seem to be spinning all the time? It might not be the obvious stressors like work and family obligations. It might be the place you live, the media you consume or even the people nearby. Explore hidden sources of stress and how you can control what you let in. Valuable techniques for stopping stress immediately will be presented. Some of these techniques are as old as time itself and others are so cutting edge we don’t even know how they work. Do you know how to stimulate your vagus nerve or how to practice emotional freedom therapy?  We will cover these along with some tried and true methods for building resilience. Come prepared to relax. 

Presenter

• Dr. Jenn Eldridge is from the blue-collar tractor town of Waterloo, Iowa. She has three degrees in health education, including a doctorate from the University of Iowa. She moved to Missouri to be a professor of health education at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, and currently enjoys her job as a nutrition and health education specialist with the University of Missouri Extension program. With this job she gets to be in the community teaching strength training, fall prevention, nutrition education, cooking classes and her favorite class is “Taking Care of You,” where she gets to teach resilience building. As much as she loves her job, her greatest accomplishment is her two teenage boys who are 16 and 18. Her oldest is a freshman at Mizzou.

Workshop description
As our state’s population ages, one of the greatest concerns is growing economic insecurity experienced by older adults. As we know, services in many of our communities are insufficient to meet this growing need. Missouri law provides counties with a tool for addressing the health, social services, transportation, meals and other essential services to benefit older Missourians. Called Senior Services Funds, these levies are enacted on a county-by-county basis with voter approval. Funding generated in the county stays in that county to serve older adults, based on local need. This session will present information about how citizens and stakeholders across Missouri are creating a shared vision for improved services for its older adults through passage of the senior levy's. We will have input from two local senior service funded-counties - Clay and Platte.

Presenters

• Tina Uridge, M.S., has been executive director of Clay County Senior Services Fund since 2005. She is the president of the Missouri Association of Levy Boards and Senior Organizations (MoALSO), serves on MARC’s Commission on Aging and is on the advisory council for Missouri’s Master Plan on Aging.

• Laura Loyacono is an policy consultant specializing in state and local government. She is working with MoALSO to provide support for counties interested in passing a senior levy. Loyacono also works with Missouri AARP, where she leads the Livable KC Coalition, a community initiative to help older adults age in place. She has helped lead several successful local ballot initiatives, including those establishing the Jackson County and Clay County Children's Services funds. Previous positions include: manager of public affairs at the Kauffman Foundation; senior policy director at the National Conference of State Legislatures; founding executive director of the KC STEM Alliance and director of education and community engagement at Kansas State University. Originally from Denver, Colorado, she lives in South Kansas City. 

• Debbie Gwin is a Kansas City Northlander and longtime public servant in the Clay County Public Administrator’s office. Gwin joined the Platte County Senior Fund as the executive director in 2019 from Arcare, Inc. a Kansas-based nonprofit, where she served as a court-appointed guardian or conservator for Kansas residents. A board member and past president of the Missouri Association of Public Administrators, her contributions were recognized in 2015 with the Public Administrator of the Year Award given by that organization.

  Beyond her work with the Missouri Public Administrators Association, she has been active in a number of other organizations and community groups, including Northland Professionals on Aging and the Northland Community Services Coalition, where she is a board member. Gwin is a MARC Commission on Aging member and is the current Chair of that committee. She also serves as Co-Chair for the Senior Falls Prevention Coalition of Clay and Platte Counties. Gwin was a past board member of the Missouri Association of Counties and is a Certified Guardian by the National Center for Guardianship Certification. She has been a member of the National Guardianship Association since 2004. She was recognized in 2013 with the National Certified Guardian Excellence Award and in 2016 received the Fred Kretz Cornerstone Award given by the Center for Guardianship Certification. 

  Gwin helped create a Children’s Memorial with the primary goal of creating a reflection/memorial garden for families to visit. A place where grieving parents can quietly reflect; somewhere that can be a place of beauty and peacefulness. The Butterfly garden at Hobby Hill West in Gladstone was dedicated in October 2018. The Children’s Memorial also provides scholarships to Northland High School seniors through the organization of special events at www.jjkkids.com.