September 2, 2008

Aging symposium focuses on issues for family caregivers

The theme for the symposium is "Family Relations and Late Life Health." It is free for Purdue faculty, staff or students and those 65 and older.

The registration fee for others is $40. For more information or to register, visit https://www.purdue.edu/aging/

The symposium will take place from 1-5 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 206, and features two speakers. Speech times and topics are:

* 1:25 p.m. "The Benefits of Collaboration for Problem Solving, Adjustment and Medical Adherence in Families Across the Lifespan," presented by Cynthia Berg, professor and chair of psychology at the University of Utah.

* 2:35 p.m. "The 'Relative' Efficacy of Involving Family in Psychosocial Interventions for Chronic Illness: Are there Benefits for Patients and Family Members?" presented by Lynn M. Martire, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and associate director of gerontology at the university.

At 3:30 p.m. Purdue faculty members from the Center on Aging and the Life Course will join the speakers for a panel discussion. Those professors are Melissa M. Franks, assistant professor of family studies; Kimberly S. Plake, assistant professor of pharmacy practice; Cleveland G. Shields, associate professor of marriage and family therapy; and Karen S. Yehle, assistant professor of nursing.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Families, which was established in 1994. The center has more than 30 faculty partners who participate in educational, research and outreach activities that support families.

The Center on Aging and the Life Course began in 1996 as the Gerontology Program. The center has evolved into a hub of interdisciplinary research at Purdue with more than 60 faculty and research associates from 17 disciplines across campus. The center-affiliated research includes aging and cancer, health promotion, health inequality, financial security, communicative disorders, and outreach programs for older adults. The gerontology program remains part of the center as an educational component that oversees a graduate certificate in gerontology, a multidisciplinary minor in gerontology, and a dual title doctorate degree in gerontology and a related discipline. There are 30 graduate students participating in the center's programs.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Margaret Favorite, assistant director of the Center on Aging and the Life Course, (765) 494-5404, favorite@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

To the News Service home page