Women’s health and wellness conference focused on aging

Jane Potter, M.D., will be the morning keynote speaker at the 12th Annual Omaha Women’s Health and Wellness Conference on Oct. 2.

The public is invited to the 12th annual Omaha Women’s Health and Wellness Conference, titled, “Aging Successfully While Caring for Others,” on Friday, Oct. 2 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The conference will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the cost is $49, which includes breakfast, lunch, lectures, exhibits and health screenings. The registration deadline is Sept. 25.

The breakfast keynote speaker will be Jane Potter, M.D., professor and chief of the section of geriatrics and gerontology at UNMC, who will discuss the key issues associated with a rapidly aging population.

Conference sponsors The conference is sponsored by: The Olson Center for Women’s Health; UNMC; The Nebraska Medical Center; The University of Nebraska at Omaha; and The Wellness Council of the Midlands. The gold sponsor of the conference is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska.

The general session speaker will be Thomas Magnuson, M.D., assistant professor, UNMC Department of Psychiatry, who will focus on depression in older adults and whether neurobiological changes that occur in aging play a role in depression. Treatment also will be discussed.

The luncheon keynote speaker will be Mary Maxwell, an Omaha humorist whose presentation titled “Aging: An Insider’s View” will focus on the signs of aging and how older adults react to life’s changes.

Participants can choose two afternoon breakout sessions. Sessions available at 1:15 p.m. include:

• “Legal Tools to Make Life Easier for the Caregiver,” by Mary Wilson, J.D., of the Buford Law Office;
  
• “Community Resources for Older Adults and Family Caregivers: What’s Out There to Help Me?” by Susan Murray, a social worker with the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Geriatrics & Gerontology; and
  
• “Better Eating for Better Aging,” by Lisa Nichter, registered dietitian, for The Nebraska Medical Center.

Sessions available at 2:15 p.m. include:

• “Collaborating with the Elderly Driver,” by William Roccaforte, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry, UNMC Department of Psychiatry;
  
• “Safe Medication Use in the Elderly,” by Linda Farho, Pharm.D.,
  UNMC College of Pharmacy; and
  
• “Green Fitness: Exercising without Harming the Environment,” by David Corbin, Ph.D., professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha Health Education/Public Health and Women’s Studies.

The closing session is titled, “The Complete Caregiver: Body, Mind, and Soul,” and will be presented by Lyn Holley, Ph.D., assistant professor, University of Nebraska at Omaha Department of Gerontology.

Low cost screenings including lipid, glucose and complete blood count, will be available for $15, and a thyroid-stimulating hormone test will be available for $5. Nursing credit is available for $35.

For more information about the conference or for a registration form, call the Olson Center for Women’s Health at (402) 559-6345, or visit www.olsoncenter.com.