"SPRY Conference Participants June 18, 2006 Photo by R. Adler"
THE LONGEVITY REVOLUTION:
How Science Centers can Engage an Older America
On June 18-20, 2006 in Washington, D.C., the SPRY Foundation in partnership with the Association of Science -Technology Centers (ASTC), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the National Retired Teachers Association (NRTA) AARP's Educator Community, and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), together with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), sponsored a ground-breaking national conference to lay the foundation and stimulate the development of creative new strategic partners between seniors and science centers throughout the United States. The primary focus was on programs that would take place at the community level.
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"SPRY-ACT Master Training Session, 13 National Trainers, along with Senior Staff and Partner Organization representatives at July 28,2007 session in San Francisco, CA."
Aging and Communications Training (ACT) Project:
This collaborative project, funded by the Retirement Research Foundation, and initiated in 2006 is being planned and implemented by the SPRY Foundation, in partnership with the Baltimore City Commission on Aging and Retirement Education and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (N4A).
Click here to view background information.
Nature of Problem:
The project grew out of an awareness on the part of the SPRY Foundation that there would be an increasing need for training community-based direct care workers as the number of older Americans continues to increase and the demand for these (often low-paid or volunteer) workers expands. In some cases, there is a large gap between direct care workers and their clientele in terms of age, culture, language, and socioeconomic level. By training direct care workers about the basics of aging, communication with older adults (and key issues which arise), and stress management, this project laid the groundwork for training a core group of master trainers and spreading the curriculum through the n4a network.
Click here to view status report.
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