International Rural Aging Project

Invited Symposia

Lifelong Health and Fitness Programs to Include the Rural Elderly

Convener Sara Harris, Albany, New York, US
Executive Director, Center for the Study of Aging

Date Saturday, June 10
Time 3:30 – 5 p.m.
Location Parlor A, Civic Center

Abstracts
Throughout the world, personnel, services and equipment can not meet the health and medical needs for total care for the ill, the frail and disadvantaged as numbers of older men and women rapidly increase. Prevention through education, self-help, alternative medicine, greater service efficacy and innovative technology are on going trends of the future.

Papers will: 

1. evaluate current programs for physical and mental health for the rural elderly with special emphasis on health, health education, health promotion, screening and existing preventive measures;

2. indicate the needs for additional medical services now and in the new millennium; 

3. predict the development of new programs by government, private foundations, service agencies, community planners, and health providers. Such measures may include additional training for caregivers and health providers, and techniques for teaching older men and women how to take control of their own health and well-being by learning about the needs of their bodies such as improved nutrition, exercise, relaxation techniques, personal hygiene, and family life education; 

4. describe how programs and new innovative technology may bring to the rural peoples improved services, technology and a better quality of life; 

5. reconsider methods to train family members and neighbors to help one another; 

6. recognize the professional administrative approaches by a highly knowledgeable nursing home administrator in the involvement of service within rural areas along with the domains of ecology as they influence each other toward maximization of quality service for aging people in rural environments.

Introduction: Short Overview of the Topic; Health of the Rural Aged in the United States
Sara Harris, Albany, New York, US

Lifelong Health and Fitness Programs to Include the Rural Elderly in India
A. B. Dey, New Delhi, India

Characteristics of the Elderly Population in Brazil and Other Countries of South America
Andrea Prate, Brazil

Involvement of Nursing Home Administrators in the Long Term Health Care of Rural Elderly
Jerome Kaplan, Akron, Ohio, US

Continuing Education Credits
WV Social Work: 1.5 hrs
1.5 AMA Category 1 CME