The Planning Committee invites presentation/workshop proposals for the 14th Annual Art & Science of Aging Conference.

This year’s theme—Revisiting Relationships: Intimate, Intergenerational, and More—is intended to bring attention to the critical role that relationships play in healthy aging.  However, there are at least two glaring issues often overlooked or not addressed in our discussions of health and aging:  sexual changes and their effect on intimacy, and relationships between older and younger adults.  So with this theme, the conference seeks sessions that are grounded in evidence-based best practices that inform professionals working with older adults and older adults themselves about each of these issues and ways to more effectively address them.  We do invite all presenters to explore the impacts of ageism on their practice. Of course, we also welcome workshops on other contemporary issues and topics that relate to aging and professional practice, such as pain management, food justice, addiction, technology in the home and in health care, opioid and alcohol addictions and interventions, age-friendly and dementia friendly communities, interprofessional practice and collaboration, or person-centered care, among others.

You are invited to propose a session yourself, with a team of other professionals, or to send this request on to others who may be interested. Every presenter of the workshop should fill in the Submission Form. However, you're not required to provide the information about your presentation, if it was previously submitted by your co-presenter.  Just let us know your co-presenters names and the theme of your workshop presentation.

Each workshop is a 1-hour ‘breakout’ sessions that run from 10:30 – 11:30; 1:00 – 2:00; or 2:15 – 3:15 on the day of the conference. As a Presenter, you will be ‘registered’ free of charge for the conference and may attend the entire conference, if so desired. You may also obtain CEU credits for your profession, if offered. The entire conference runs from 8:30 to 5:00 with opening and closing plenary sessions. You will be notified if your workshop proposal is accepted, and, if so, the time and place that your session will be offered. Most sessions are accepted, but they may need to be slightly modified to meet the CEU expectations of our four professional bodies.

Keynote Speaker: Christina Pierpaoli Parker, MA
Date: February 22, 2019
Location: GVSU Richard M. DeVos Center
401 Fulton St W, Grand Rapids, MI

Proposals due by NOVEMBER 2, 2018.

To apply online, please fill in the 2019 Conference SUBMISSION FORM. You can download a copy of the form to review it prior.

We encourage you to email us at [email protected] with any questions. 

Please see below the list of topics, that last year's attendees who applied for a continuing education credit in Social Work were interested to discuss in future conferences:

• Advanced care planning
• Aging homeless
• Aging & Medications
• Aging Veterans needs
• Alzheimer’s/dementia
• Best practices for home visitors
• Effects of trauma on older adults
• Elder law
• Geriatric Care – changing families role of creativity in healing
• Grandparents rearing grandchildren
• Holistic health options
• How to access social service programs for older adults (SSI, Medicare, SS Disability)
• LGBTQ issues concerning older adults
• Michigan laws regarding guardianship, what types of guardianship and what that means in making medical decisions
• Obtaining guardianship for adults
• Pain Management
• Policy changes for aging population
• Post-loss caregiver life/ re-entry to own life
• Serving clients with chronic co-occurring concerns and/or high utilizers of emergency departments
• Suicide prevention/intervention
• Yoga for older adults