The Maine Council on Aging is accepting registrations for its eighth annual Maine Wisdom Summit.
This virtual summit, scheduled to be held Tuesday, Sept. 21, will explore what it will take to build an age-positive culture in Maine with resilient communities planned to meet the new needs of older residents.
“The pandemic has shown us our ‘normal’ way of thinking about aging and older people is a narrative that needs to change,” said Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, in a news release from the agency. “There’s never been a more important time to adopt a more balanced view of aging, one that helps us build an age-positive culture in Maine and changes how we plan and fund our communities and systems.”
Louise Aronson, MD, a geriatrician and professor who wrote the Pulitzer Prize finalist book “Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life,” is the featured keynote speaker. She will speak on “Aging, Ageism & the Future of Elderhood.”
The morning session will feature a panel of leaders from different segments of the economy, including the media, discussing how age-bias plays out in their fields and the tools available to overcome bias to build more age-positive cultures.
The afternoon focuses on community resiliency, specifically on housing and the built environment. The afternoon keynote speaker is Environmental Gerontologist Emi Kiyota, PhD, founder of Ibasho. She is inspiring communities to take a principle-based approach to planning and design to build more inclusive and resilient communities.
Dan Brennan, director of MaineHousing, will kick off a conversation with other housing and planning experts to explore how to shift the way to plan, develop and build housing for older people.
“We have the power to build the kinds of communities we want to live out our lives in. Yet, our own age bias holds us back from building a Maine that meets the needs of our future old age. The Summit will explore what we need to do collectively to change this reality,” said Maurer.
Attendees will have opportunities to connect and network virtually throughout the summit. This is a live event including time to interact with peers. There will be live “lunch and learn” presentations with exclusive exhibitors, as well as a “Virtual Exhibitor Hall” to connect and engage with attendees.
Two pre-summit sessions are also scheduled. “Embracing Trends and Advances in Technology and Information Sharing to Support Healthy Aging” is to be held Tuesday, Sept 7.
“Embracing Job Quality for Maine’s Essential Support Workforce” is to be held on Sept. 14.
Both are intended for more targeted audiences and are focused on issues currently impacting the health and well-being of older people in Maine.
The Wisdom Summit is open to all who are interested, and may be especially useful for healthcare providers, social service and behavioral health professionals, legislators, municipal officials, including planners, building developers, advocates, and researchers.
To register and for more information about the council, visit mainecouncilonaging.org.
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