Grand Valley hosts conference on aging

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Baby boomers have changed society in every age they have attained. As they approach retirement, there is a new push to engage them in volunteer activities by those who see a connection between volunteer service and a healthy old age.

Marty Martinson, director of the California Senior Leadership Project at the University of California-Berkeley, will discuss research on older adult volunteerism and its effects on health at the 3rd annual Art & Science of Aging Conference sponsored by Grand Valley State University.

The conference, with the theme, “Civic Engagement in the Second Half of Life,” is scheduled for February 22, from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., in the DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton St., on Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus.

Martinson’s speech, titled, “From Healers to Historians, Gray Panthers to Working Grandmas: The Many Faces of Civic Engagement in Late Life,” explores the dimensions of civic engagement. Martinson will question whether civic engagement is about volunteerism, or whether political activism, family caregiving and other activities have a place.

Sessions following Martinson’s keynote address will focus on various topics including, models of civic engagement, family legacy, therapeutic recreation, older adults and alcohol problems, music and health and rewards of civic engagement.

“We believe this conference has something for everyone, and we are particularly pleased to have collaborations with the Grand Rapids Community Foundation and the Geriatric Education Center of Michigan, featuring programs that showcase civic engagement on one hand and the role of the arts in well-being in later life on the other,” said Priscilla Kimboko, dean of Graduate Studies & Grants Administration at Grand Valley.

Registration for the conference is recommended and can be done online at www.gvsu.edu/gsga under Gerontology Workgroup/Conference or by calling (616) 331-7105. Details about the sessions, speakers and parking are available online as well. The cost of the conference is $15, which includes lunch. Students and those 60 and over pay $10.

For interviews with Marty Martinson call (510) 219-2405 or e-mail her at [email protected]. For interviews with Priscilla Kimboko, call (616) 331-7105.

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Marty Martinson is the director of the California Senior Leaders Program, a project of the University of California, Berkeley’s School of Public Health designed to recognize and support the often invisible and diverse roles of older adults in healthy aging advocacy and community building efforts.
 
With 25 years of experience in physical education and health education, Martinson has taught in high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations, promoting health and well-being for people aged 10 to 100. She received a master’s in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master’s in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
 
She worked with the Pennsylvania Department of Aging and UC Berkeley’s Health Research for Action to develop a curriculum on how to keep low-income, older adults in rural Pennsylvania from falling. Currently working on her doctorate in Public Health, Martinson is examining diverse experiences of civic engagement among older Californians, as well as the ethical implications of promoting normative ideals of healthy aging that may exclude or devalue sub-populations of older adults.