November workshop included plea for an age-friendly university
Professor Joseph Gaugler, director of the University’s Center on Aging, led UMRA’s November workshop addressing two topics: how to create an Age Friendly University (AFU), and how to keep our brains healthy.
Dr. Gaugler started with a pitch for Minnesota to join the AFU movement, which originated in Ireland. He defined an AFU as a university that gives older adults access to teaching and learning, supports intergenerational activities, offers encore careers, promotes aging research, partners with local retiree communities, and combats ageism. He discussed the AFU core principles and, working with UMRA, how he plans to lead Minnesota in these directions.
Importantly, the Minnesota Gerontological Society has just announced an initiative for Age Friendly Communities.
In the latter part of the workshop, Dr. Gaugler briefly discussed brain health and Alzheimer's disease, highlighting highlighting in his presentation an illustration (see slide No. 22) showing what modifiable factors may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. The most important things we can do to reduce the risk are participate in regular physical exercise, avoid obesity, manage hearing loss and hypertension, stop smoking, and avoid social isolation.
For those who serve as caregivers for someone with severe memory loss, Dr. Gaugler runs an annual day-long conference. You can join the email list for the June 27, 2020, conference by contacting Ann Emery at 612-626-9515 or [email protected].
—Ron Anderson, UMRA Cares Committee
November workshop: How to keep our brains healthy
Tue, November 19 2019, 1:03pm
Dale Shephard Room, Campus Club Fourth Floor, Coffman Memoirial Union
At our November workshop, Joseph E. Gaugler, PhD, will talk about keeping our brains healthy and our minds sound. Professor Gaugler holds the Robert L. Kane Endowed Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Division of Health Policy and Management. He is also the director of the school’s newly relaunched and redesigned Center on Aging.
An applied gerontologist, Dr. Gaugler has won numerous awards for his work on long-term care for those with Alzheimer’s disease and other chronic conditions.
Dr. Gaugler will summarize what we currently know about how the brain changes as it ages. He will then tell us about recent research on life course factors that are associated with the risk of dementia. From this research, he will offer suggestions for things we can do to help reduce our personal risk factors.
—Ron Matross, chair, Workshop Committee
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.