Conference to Help State, Nation Prepare for Aging “Boomers
Contact: Len Kaye, (207) 581- 3483, Leah Ruffin, (207) 581- 2299, George Manlove, (207) 581-3756
ORONO — With Maine’s population of aging “baby boomers” increasing at dramatic rates, a consortium of experts are gathering Feb. 2-3 for a conference in South Portland to examine ways the state and the nation should prepare for the impending population shift.
Speakers will discuss issues ranging from the threatened social security system to medical, healthcare, transportation and housing security for aging Mainers.
The conference, titled “At the Crossroads: Aging Policy in Maine,” is sponsored by the newly resurrected Maine Gerontological Society and is an official forerunner to the 2005 White House Conference on Aging — an October event that will help shape the way the nation provides for its elderly.
Conference supporters include the American College of Health Care Administrators, Cedars Nursing Care Center in Portland, LTC Financial Partners, Maine Association of Area Agencies on Aging, Maine Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, the Muskie School’s Institute for Health Policy, UNECOM MatureCare and the University of Maine’s Center on Aging in Orono.
Issues surrounding the increasing number of people classified as elderly are important for Maine, says Len Kaye, a Maine Gerontological Society board member and chair of the committee organizing the Crossroads conference, because Maine already ranks highest among states in the nation in terms of the percentage of the population over age 65. The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2002 that 14.4 percent of Maine’s population was at least 65 of age. It projects that the population will increase to more than 21 percent by 2025.
“Members of the public who want to stay fully informed and keep their finger on the pulse of policy issues confronting state government and older Mainers will want to attend this program,” says Kaye, who also is director the UMaine Center on Aging on the Orono campus.
Roberta Downey, director of the Eastern Agency on Aging and a member of the conference planning committee, adds that “the scope and breadth of this program goes beyond any previously offered on these particular topics. No issue or challenge has been left uncovered.”
The conference, being held from 8 a.m. to 5:30 on Feb. 2 and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 3 at the Sheraton Hotel in South Portland, begins with a welcome from Gov. John Baldacci, followed by two days of workshops and panel discussions led by decision-makers from public and private sectors.
Members of the public are invited to register on site and join policy-makers, administrators, physicians, clinicians, legislators, educators and opinion leaders in attending as many as 16 workshops.
“Baby boomers are rapidly edging toward retirement, and given that an older population creates many challenges, unpreparedness could be disastrous,” Kaye says. “We need to look at housing needs, healthcare and social service needs and affordable prescription drugs. At the same time, we need to consider how we can utilize the expertise and the wisdom that older adults bring to their communities as we think about the ways to buttress the Maine economy.”
The Maine Gerontological Society is a statewide, multidisciplinary association of doctors, nurses, social workers and other concerned individuals throughout Maine who work with older people or provide services for them.
Speakers include John Nicholas, Maine Health and Human Services commissioner, and Robert Blancato, a member of the policy committee of the 2005 White House Conference on Aging. Former Maine Sen. Mary Cathcart, now a senior policy fellow with the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at UMaine, and Kathryn Hunt, a research associate at the Smith Center, also will speak about how to communicate effectively with state legislators and strategies for developing policy recommendations.
Catherine Cobb, acting director of the state Bureau of Elder and Adult Services, chapter, Robert Mollica, senior program director for the National Academy for State Health Policy, and Galen Rose, acting state economist with the State Planning Office, also will share their expertise with their audiences.
Recommendations to be drawn throughout the conference will be Maine’s contribution to the official White House Conference on Aging, says Kaye, “which makes it clear that what happens in those two days in February in Maine can have significant influence on what happens on the national level.”
More information about the conference can be found on the UMaine Center on Aging website or by calling the center at (207) 581-3444. The Maine Gerontological Society contact person is Sharon Berz at the Aroostook Area Agency on Aging, (207) 764-3396.