Philadelphia Corporation for Aging Training Catalog

Betty Friedan in her book, The Fountain of Age, notes that since life expectancy is nearly 80, we now can expect to live 1/3 to 1/2 our life after raising a family. She asks why we are not looking at age as a new, evolving stage of life ‑‑‑ not as decline from youth.

This full-day training will offer participants the opportunity to examine both personal and societal conceptions of aging in an exciting and experiential way. Unexamined assumptions can lead to erroneous conclusions about older people in many ways: their abilities, interests, physical well‑being and mental health. Most of us are not fully aware of what we believe about aging yet what we believe shapes how we feel about, think of and relate to older people. It also influences how we understand and experience our own aging.

Drawing on her background in gerontology, creative drama and teaching, Dr. M. Kathryn Jedrziewski has designed an engaging workshop which facilitates exploration of assumptions about older people. Through "hands-on" learning, role-plays, complex case studies, group discussions, and problem solving, Dr. Jedrziewski will help participants gain new appreciation of the potentials and complexity of aging as well as of the vitality and diversity of older people.