The public is invited to attend the 12th annual Omaha Women’s Health and Wellness Conference, titled, “Aging Successfully While Caring for Others,” on Friday, Oct. 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Mid-America Center, One Arena Way in Council Bluffs.
The cost of the conference is $49, which includes breakfast, lunch, lectures, exhibits and health screenings. Registration deadline is Sept. 25.
Breakfast keynote speakers will be Jane Potter, M.D., professor and chief of the section of geriatrics and gerontology at UNMC. Her talk, titled, “Aging in America,” will discuss the key issues associated with a rapidly aging population and explain the scope and importance of the issues.
General session speaker will be Thomas Magnuson, M.D., assistant professor, UNMC Department of Psychiatry. His talk, “Beating the Blues: Depression in Older Adults,” will focus on depression in older adults and whether neurobiological changes that occur in aging play a role in depression. Treatment also will be discussed.
Luncheon keynote speaker will be Mary Maxwell, an Omaha humorist. Her presentation titled, “Aging: An Insider’s View,”will talk about the signs of aging and how older adults react to life’s changes.
Participants can choose two afternoon breakout sessions. Sessions available at 1:15 p.m. include the following.
“Legal Tools to Make Life Easier for the Caregiver,” will be presented by Mary Wilson, J.D., of the Buford Law Office. She will talk about power of attorney, health care power of attorney and living wills, and provisions in the Medicaid statutes which provide financial protection to spouses and adult children caregivers.
“Community Resources for Older Adults and Family Caregivers: What’s Out There to Help Me?” will be presented by Susan Murray, a social worker with the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics & Gerontology. She will discuss community programs and services and how they can help, as well as how to overcome a loved one’s resistance to accepting help.
“Better Eating for Better Aging,” will be presented by Lisa Nichter, registered dietitian, for The Nebraska Medical Center. She will talk about overcoming barriers of living alone and chronic conditions that can make maintaining a healthy diet difficult. She also will talk about foods that may be beneficial in aging.
Sessions available at 2:15 p.m. include the following.
“Collaborating with the Elderly Driver,” will be presented by William Roccaforte, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry, UNMC Department of Psychiatry. He will talk about the risks faced by the elderly driver and methods to evaluate functions. Counseling, adaptive strategies and community resources will be discussed.
“Safe Medication Use in the Elderly,” will be presented by Linda Farho, Pharm.D.,
UNMC College of Pharmacy. She will talk about safe medication use in older adults and identify medications considered potentially inappropriate for use in the elderly. She’ll also discuss risk factors for adverse drug events in the elderly.
“Green Fitness: Exercising without Harming the Environment,” will be presented by David Corbin, Ph.D., professor, University of Nebraska-Omaha Health Education/Public Health
and Women’s Studies. His talk will discuss things to use for exercise that are free, don’t cost much and don’t leave a big carbon footprint.
The closing session is titled, “The Complete Caregiver: Body, Mind, and Soul,” and will be presented by Lyn Holley, Ph.D., assistant professor, University of Nebraska-Omaha Department of Gerontology.
Low cost screenings including lipid, glucose and complete blood count, will be available for $15, and a thyroid-stimulating hormone test will be available for $5. Nursing credit is available for $35. For more information about the conference or for a registration form, call the Olson Center for Women’s Health at (402) 559-6345, or logon to www.olsoncenter.com.
The conference is sponsored by the Olson Center for Women’s Health, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, The Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the Wellness Council of the Midlands.
Gold sponsor of the conference is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.