PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONIES

President's Opening/Keynote Session Featuring Robert N. Butler, MD, President and CEO of the International Longevity Center - USA Friday, November 16, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm The Gerontological Society of America is pleased to announce that Robert N. Butler, MD will present the keynote address at the President's Opening Session.  Dr. Butler is currently the President and CEO of the International Longevity Center-USA in New York. Dr. Butler's presentation titled, "The Seven Continents: Preparing for Longevity and the Triumph of Survival" will focus on how the aging of the world's populations represents a historic demographic shift for which governments, business and the civil society are not prepared.  Some politicians, economists and pundits gloomily predict that nations cannot afford old age, that intergenerational conflicts and economic stagnation will ensue.  Moreover, HelpAge reports that the situation of the world's older population is growing worse, due to enormous poverty and disease.  For awhile, the developed nations became rich before they grew old, the developing nations are growing old while they are still poor. However, rather than promote the corrosive view that longevity is a destructive force, those of us in the developed world who enjoy the benefits of added years of life must ask:  What contributions can the diverse disciplines of gerontology, medicine, economics, and research make to promote our understanding of the complex problems developing nations face? What economic strategies can be developed? What research paradigms explored? What health-promoting programs promoted? Can we outline an agenda for action?   Time is short and the world is waiting. Please join us for a reception welcoming Dr. Butler and featuring the Art with Elders exhibit and live classical entertainment immediately following the Opening/ Keynote Session.  Come enjoy the music and mingle with your GSA colleagues! Closing Session Featuring Eric Dishman, General Manager and Global Director of Intel¡¦s Health Research & Innovation Group Tuesday, November 20, 9:45 am - 11:15 am Technology and Transformation:  Addressing the Global Age Wave Moderator:  Susan Ayers Walker, Leading Technology Journalist for AARP.org and Founder of SmartSilvers Alliance We are on the edge of demographic challenges; our global society is aging rapidly and will double the number of people over the age of 60 to more than 1.2 billion by 2025.  Globally we are faced with enormous challenges: how do we improve the quality of life for double, maybe triple the number of seniors while decreasing the costs of healthcare? The answers lie in not continuing the healthcare approach we take today which is based upon reaction-to-crisis, hospital settings, and late-in-the-game intervention.  It is imperative that we transform our healthcare systems from reactive to proactive, from population-based to personal, from intervention to prevention, and from hospital to home. Proactive and preventive healthcare systems and technologies will speed the delivery of information, treatments and care to patients in the home.  Many believe new health care systems and technologies will not only assist patients, but also health care professionals and caregivers, in meeting the challenges imposed by our rapidly aging population.

PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIA AND SESSION HIGHLIGHTS

STATE-OF-THE-ART: PRESIDENTIAL INTERDISCIPLINARY SYMPOSIA Stem Cells and Aging Saturday, November 17 - 10:00 am - 11:30 am From Mice to Men: Translating Basic Science to Improve Vaccines for Older Adults Saturday, November 17 - 11:45 am - 1:15 pm Global Aging: Challenges and Opportunities, Part I (International Participation) Saturday, November 17 - 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm Developing International Gerontological Research Projects and Educational Programs: Logistical Considerations Saturday, November 17 - 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm Cross-Cutting International Issues in Medication-Related Problems in the Elderly Sunday, November 18 - 8:00 am - 9:30 am Is the Compression of Morbidity a Worldwide Phenomenon? Sunday, November 18 – 1:15 pm – 2:45 pm Global Aging: Challenges and Opportunities, Part II (International Participation) Sunday, November 18 - 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm Global Aging and Pension Policy: Alternative Goals, Alternative Models Monday, November 19 - 8:00 am - 9:30 am Families, Living Arrangements, and Caregiving Around the World Monday, November 19 – 10:00 am – 11:30 am Global Labor versus Elder Workers: The Specter of Elder Uselessness Monday, November 19 - 11:45 am - 1:15 pm International Migration of the Long-Term Care Workforce  Monday, November 19 - 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm SESSION HIGHLIGHTS Listed below is a small sampling of the more than 400 sessions organized by the Society's Program Committee. Please check GSA’s Conference Program module for a more complete listing of sessions and for any schedule changes. Biological Sciences ~ 2007 NIA Symposia: Research Advances, Initiatives, Funding and Training Opportunities at the National Institute on Aging ~ Aging Biology for the Non-Biologists ~ Comparative Gerontology ~ Stochastic and Epigenetic Effects on Aging ~ Environmental Health and Aging: Activity, Exposure, and Biological Models to Improve Risk Assessment and Health Promotion ~ Gender Differences in the KLAS Database - Clues to Differences in Life Expectancy? ~ Genetics of Exceptional Longevity ~ Global Aspects of Biological Aging ~ HIV and Aging ~ Hormonal Dysregulation and Aging: Data from the InCHIANTI Study ~ Minority Issues in Gerontology: Celebrating 20 Years of Research ~ Parkinson's Disease ~ Screening for Aging Interventions ~ The Disability Process: Towards General Principles ~ The Genetic Epidemiology of Human Longevity: Healthy Aging Around the Globe ~ TOR Regulation of Nutritional Sensing ~ Use and Misuse of Biology: Hormesis versus Homeopathy Behavioral and Social Sciences ~ Anti-Aging Science and Medicine: The Making of a Field and Its Professionals ~ Asking the Experts: Older Adults in Assisted Living Speak About Quality ~ Beyond Culture Change: Creating Caring Communities by Promoting Capacities of Elders ~ Beyond Racial Differences in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study:  Explaining Health Disparities in Late Life ~ Developmental Disabilities Interest Group Symposium: Outcomes of the UIC RRTC’s State of Science Conference: Aging and Neurodevelopmental Conditions and Family Support and Intergenerational Caregiving ~ Facing Challenges in Adulthood: A Focus on Dyadic Relationships ~ Interpreting the Word and the World:  Humanistic Perspectives on Global Aging ~ Mental Health Practice and Aging Interest Group Symposium: Living Longer, Living Better—with Serious Mental Illness? Current Services, Assessment, and Interventions for Older Adults with SMI ~ Man Management: How Older Men Maintain Control in Adversity ~ Physical Environments and Aging Interest Group Symposium: Assessment of the Environment ~ Qualitative Research Interest Group Symposium: Focus Groups as Qualitative Research – Uses and Misuses ~ Religion, Spirituality, and Aging Interest Group Symposium: Cultural and Sectarian Dispositions of Religiousness and Spirituality Measures: A Religion, Spirituality and Aging Interest Group Symposium ~ Surviving in the Academic World of Gerontology ~ The Bloodiest Generation:  Perspectives on the Impact of the Second World War on European-Born Elders ~ The Culture of Food in Assisted Living Facilities ~ Transportation and Aging Interest Group Symposium: Transportation and Aging: A Cultural Comparison ~ Variability and Developmental Change Across Adulthood and Old Age: A Systemic Multivariate Perspective Health Sciences ~ Addressing the Needs of Community Dwelling Older Schizophrenic Persons: The New York City Aging and Schizophrenia Study ~ AGHE Sponsored Symposium: Geriatric/Gerontological Education in a Global Society ~ Assisted Living Interest Group Symposium: Physician Services in Assisted Living ~ Decline in the Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems Contribute to Mobility Impairment in Older Adults Residing in the Community ~ "Guided Care": Implementing the Chronic Care Model for Frail Older Persons ~ “Its like dust – it just accumulates.”: Reframing Memory Loss and Behavioral Change As Alzheimer’s Disease ~ Managing Environmental Factors to Enhance the Well-Being and Function of Frail Older Adults: Addressing the Global Imperative ~ Nursing Care of Older Adults Interest Group Symposium: Lessons in Global Aging: Research, Health, Creativity & Social Engagement ~ Nutritional Status as a Predictor of Function, Life-Space Mobility and Mortality ~ Epidemiology of Aging Interest Group Symposium: The Body has a Mind: Linkages between Physical and Cognitive Function ~ The Results of Randomized Trials Targeting Muscle Power and Mobility: An International Perspective ~ The Road Less Traveled, Alternate Pathways to Functional Loss: Continuing Insights from Health ABC ~ Treating Sleep Disorders In Aging, State-of-the-Art: Should Sleep Be A Vital Sign? Social Research, Policy, and Practice ~ Dementia, Primary Care, and Community-Based Care:  Prospects and Challenges in the United Kingdom and the United States ~ Do Spiritual Beliefs and Practices Impact Decision Making for Caregivers? ~ Economics of Aging Interest Group Symposium: Economics of Consumer Choice for Wellbeing at Older Ages ~ Empowering Workers and Empowered Work Teams in Long-Term Care ~ Encore: Baby Boomers, Civic Engagement, and the Next Stage of Work ~ Implementing Management Practice Interventions to Improve Direct Care Workers' Jobs: The Experience of Providers in Better Jobs Better Care ~ Informing State Policy Through Needs Assessment ~ Ollie Randall Symposium: The Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit: Policy Controversies, Impact on Beneficiaries, and Future Prospects ~ Research in Quality of Care Interest Group Symposium: Implementation Models to Programmatic Success in Long-Term Care: An Interactive Symposium ~ The Role of Students within the Larger Society: An Examination of the Preparation of a New Generation of Gerontologist in Canada and the United States ~ The Senior Behavioral Heath Service: A Model for Moving Evidence Based Practice Into Assisted Living ~ Understanding How State Policies and Practices Influence the Availability and Quality of Palliative Care/Hospice for Long-term Care Recipients