National Forum on the Affordable Care Act: A Way Toward Aging With Dignity in America 

Thursday, March 29 | 11:30 am–2:30 pm

Hosted by ASA’s Public Policy Committee and underwritten by a grant from The SCAN Foundation

No fee (Pre-registration required; open to first 200 registrants)

Drawing from the content of the Spring 2011 issue of Generations, this program explores the potential of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) for shaping a better long-term future for older Americans. Can the embattled law really help elders age with dignity, optimum health, and in settings of their own choosing? Though the future of the Affordable Care Act is far from secure, the presenters of this program believe ACA will bring about a brighter future for long-term services and supports.

The program will review traditional aging policy and its three domains of security for elders—economic security, health security and functional security—and why major changes in economic and health security have driven the need to address the third security: physical and cognitive function. Presenters will advance the discussion on a myriad of proposals and plans for improving the integration of services and supports as elders transition from health care services to community supports and more independent living under ACA.

Presenters:
Bruce Chernof, MD, President and CEO, The SCAN Foundation
Diane Justice, MA, Senior Program Director, National Academy for State Health Policy
Richard Kaplan, Peer and Sarah Pedersen Professor of Law, University of Illinois College of Law
Bruce Leff, MD, Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Carol O’Shaughnessy, Principal Policy Analyst, National Health Policy Forum
Kirsten Sloan, Vice President, National Partnership for Women & Families
Brenda Sulick, PhD, Vice President, Congressional Affairs, National PACE Association

Moderator: Cynthia Stuen, PhD, Senior Vice President, Policy, Evaluation and Education, Lighthouse International

National Forum on Brain Health

Thursday March 29 | 8:00 am–2:30 pm

Fee: $35 for the first 200 registrants; $75 thereafter (includes continental breakfast and lunch).
Pre-registration required; attendees must be registered for the Aging in America Conference.

This program is underwritten by a grant from the MetLife Foundation to further the dissemination of new information and data on brain health. The National Forum builds upon the significant work in brain health knowledge and information developed through the MindAlert program.

The program will be facilitated by Paul D. Nussbaum, PhD.

Brain health has emerged as a major focus of clinical research and consumer interest. Our understanding of plasticity and neurogenesis in the human brain has led to investigation of the relationship between lifestyle and brain health. Despite the increased interest in and understanding of how environmental factors may affect the health of the human brain, much remains inconclusive. This daylong forum will present an historical overview of insights and knowledge about brain health; outline the neurophysiological foundation of brain health; and describe lifestyle behavior that promotes brain health. The overall program objective is to provide consolidation and clarity around existing research, and its proper application for brain health.  

Participants in this National Forum will:

• Learn the history behind our developing understanding of brain health, and the neurophysiological foundation for brain health.
• Learn the basics of neuroanatomy and related behavior.
• Learn about recent research linking mental stimulation with cognitive health.
• Gain insights about the relationship between brain health and spirituality.
• Learn about socialization and social support as protective factors that promote longevity and brain health.
• Understand the capacity for brain plasticity with a focus on the impact of physical activity on brain health in late life.
• Learn important nutrition lifestyle tips to support optimal brain health.
• Gain insights from this year’s MindAlert Award winners who offer successful programs designed to enhance cognitive fitness in older adults in diverse communities.

• Brain Health: An Overview of an Emerging Field of Study and Application
• Lifestyle and Brain Health: Promoting Brain Health Through Spirituality, Socialization and Mental Stimulation
• ASA-Metlife Foundation MindAlert Awards: 2012 Program Winners
• Lifestyle and Brain Health: The Effects of Nutrition and Physical Exercise on Brain Function

Kirk I. Erickson	Andrew Newberg
Robert S. Wilson	Stephen Ristau	Julia Turner

National Forum on the Future of Aging—Going Deeper Into the Future

Friday, March 30 | 8:30 am–3:30 pm

Richard Adler

Fee: $35 (Open to 200 registrants; pre-registration required; includes coffee)
Program Chair: Richard Adler, Research Associate, Institute for the Future; Principal, People & Technology

The long predicted age wave has begun to arrive. More than 10,000 Americans are now reaching the age of 65 every day—a trend that will continue for the next two decades. As 78 million U.S. baby boomers move from mid-life to later life, this country’s older population will be the only age group that will grow substantially.

The unprecedented growth in the country’s senior population is taking place at the same time that concern has emerged about the ongoing solvency of the country and the need to limit expenditures. As a result, the old pattern of dealing with social problems by creating new government-funded programs to “solve” these problems seems increasingly unrealistic. Instead of relying on large-scale top-down programs, we need to pay more attention to finding innovative, entrepreneurial solutions in both the public and private sectors.

Following up on last year’s highly successful Forum, this full-day program will take a deeper look at the challenges and opportunities facing an aging society. The Forum will be led by Richard Adler, a researcher at the Institute for the Future and guest editor of a special issue of Generations on the future of aging. He will be joined by leading scholars, writers and policy experts to explore how our society is likely to respond to aging and how aging will, in turn, reshape society.

Session topics will include:

• Moving Deeper into the Future: A Field Guide to Futures Thinking
• New Demographic Insights into the Future of Aging
• Housing and Community in an Aging Society
• The Future of Work and Retirement
• The Impact of Technology
• Aging, Demographics and Pax Americana: The Future of U.S. Preeminence

Presenters:

Richard Adler, Research Associate, Institute for the Future and Principal, People & Technology
Gary Arlen, President, Arlen Communications
Louis Colbert, MSW, Director, Delaware County Offices of Services for the Aging, and Chair-Elect, ASA Board
William Frey, Senior Fellow Brookings Institution
Thomas Kamber, Executive Director, Older Adults Technology Services (OATS)
Christine Kennedy, President, Institute for Age-Friendly Housing
Laurie Orlov, Principal Analyst, Aging in Place Technology Watch
Jeff Rosenfeld, Director, Gerontology Program, Hofstra University
Dallas Salisbury, President, Employee Benefits Research Institute
Louis Tenenbaum, Independent Living Strategist
Fernando Torres-Gil, MSW, PhD, Professor of Social Welfare and Public Policy and Director, UCLA Center for Policy Research on Aging, UCLA School of Public Affairs

Fernando Torres-Gil	Laurie Orlov
Jeff Rosenfeld	Thomas Kamber	Louis Colbert

National Forum on Building a Workforce to Care for an Aging Society

Friday, March 30 | 8:00 am–12:30 pm

Fee: $35 (pre-registration required; open to the first 150 registrants)

Underwritten in part by a grant from the MetLife Foundation

Program Chair: Robyn Stone, DrPH, Executive Director, Senior Vice President of Research, LeadingAge 

Over the next twenty years, the population of people age 85 and older will increase five-fold. America will need an additional 3.5 million health care workers by 2030 just to maintain the current ratio of workers to the older population. The development of a quality eldercare workforce is no longer a backwater issue. This program is based on the research and predictions of experts who contributed articles to the Winter 2010–11 issue of ASA’s journal, Generations. It will delve deeply into the policy implications, education and practice levels needed to build a workforce to care for America’s aging population. 

Participants in this National Forum will:

• Understand the urgency to develop a quality workforce of 3.5 million new health care workers to care for an aging America in the short and long term.
• Review the challenges of developing a quality long-term care workforce.
• Consider the workforce requirements for promising models of care to ensure high-quality, integrated, cost-effective service delivery.
• Advance the discussion on the need to make cultural differences of care workers and elders an asset rather than a handicap.
• Learn the implications and challenges of implementing the Affordable Care Act provisions and other policy changes for the development of a quality workforce to care for America’s elders today and tomorrow.

Presentations include:

• Caring for an Aging America in the 21st Century
• New Care Delivery Models: Visions of the Future for the Consumer-Directed, Behavioral Health and Geriatric Care Workforce
• A Culturally Competent and Immigrant-Based Long-Term-Care Workforce: Caring for and Working in a Diverse America
• Models of Education and Training to Prepare a Competent Eldercare Workforce
• Policy Implications and Considerations for Developing a Quality Eldercare Workforce 

Presenters:

Richard G. Frank, PhD, Professor, Harvard Medical School, Department of Health Care Policy
Cheryl Phillips, MD, Senior Vice President for Advocacy, LeadingAge
Susan Reinhard, RN, PhD, Senior Vice President and Director, AARP Public Policy Institute
Walter Leutz, PhD, MSW, Associate Professor, Heller School, Brandeis University
Vicky Parker, EdM, DBA, Associate Professor, Health Policy and Management, Boston University School of Public Health
Nancy Hooyman, MSW, PhD, Professor of Gerontology and Dean Emeritus, University of Washington School of Social Work
Steven Dawson, President, Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute
Jennie Chin Hansen, RN, MS, President and CEO, American Geriatrics Society
Faith Wiggins, Director, 1199SEIU Bill Michelson Homecare Education Fund, 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds.

Nancy Hooyman	Cheryl Phillips
Richard G. Frank	Vicky Parker