Continuing education
Second Annual Four Workshops on Aging
A continuing education activity presented by the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work, through support from the Virginia Center on Aging, for social workers and other professionals who work with the geriatric population in Virginia.
- Workshop A – Aging in Place
- Workshop B – Helping the Elderly Griever Heal After Loss
- Workshop C – Understanding Dementia and its Impact on Families
- Workshop D – Psychotherapy with Older Adults
Workshop locations
Cost and registration
Workshop A – Aging in Place
Course description and objectives
According to AARP research over 80 percent of older adults prefer to age in a place in their own homes in the community of their choice. As older adults experience the losses that come with aging, the community is challenged to respond with understanding, support and resources to ensure the highest level of independence possible. The development of this understanding, support and resources helps protect an aging population’s quality of life and at the same time preserve the need for costly intensive nursing home services. This workshop will address the concept of aging in place, identify the assessment process necessary to determine the appropriate resources, and identify the factors that lead to successful outcomes. Examples of program models already in place to support older adults will be presented.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Understand the concept of aging in place from a bio-psycho-social perspective
- Recognize predictors of success and failure
- Understand the components of the assessment process to determine individual safety and enhance the quality of life of older adults in the community
- Become familiar with program models that support older adults aging in place and increase quality of life and independence
Category I contact hours: 2 contact hours for each workshop or 8 contact hours for all four workshops.
Continuing education units: 0.2 for each workshop or 0.8 for all four workshops (available upon separate CEU registration).
About the facilitators
Jane Kallio, M.S.W., L.C.S.W., C-ASWCM received her M.S.W. from Virginia Commonwealth University, Northern Virginia Campus. She served the Northern Virginia community in various roles over the years as a social worker at Goodwin House, a Continuing Care Retirement Community; as admissions director at Dominion Psychiatric Hospital; and as a psychotherapist for Kaiser Permanente. Since moving to the Richmond community in 2002 she has worked with Jewish Family Services as the Care Management Department Director. She is presently working on special projects with Jewish Family Services while seeking advanced training in psychotherapy.
Joyce Jackson, B.S.W., M.S.W. is currently Vice President of Community Social Work at Better Housing Coalition in Richmond, Va. Jackson has more than 25 years experience in housing and community social work. Her past work has included implementing innovative permanent and transitional housing programs for the homeless, people with mental illness, elders and other special needs populations in New York City. Her current interests include developing effective service models for senior housing to accommodate aging in place. She received her B.S.W. at Southern Connecticut State University and her M.S.W. from the Columbia University School of Social Work.
Date/Time
Aug. 5, 2009
10 a.m. to noon
Workshop B – Helping the Elderly Griever
Heal After Loss
Course description and objectives
The older adult population faces many challenges in coping with loss. How do we assist elderly grievers with their physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs? How do we engage them in the process of healing after a loss? What are the spiritual issues that arise around aging, dying and death? How do we empower caregivers to care for themselves in order to continue to provide care for others? This session will reflect upon the issues of loss specific to the older adult population and will consider assessment issues, barriers to care among the elderly, appropriate interventions, the role of faith and care of the caregiver.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- Explain the interface between the medical and health care needs and the emotional needs of elderly grievers
- List strategies to engage older adults in the process of healing after loss
- Identify spiritual issues related to aging, death and dying
- Identify strategies for self care to be utilized by caregivers, even as they care for others — a parallel process
Category I contact hours: 2 contact hours for each workshop or 8 contact hours for all four workshops.
Continuing education units: 0.2 for each workshop or 0.8 for all four workshops (available upon separate CEU registration).
About the facilitators
Karen Reynolds Gill, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. received her M.S.W. from VCU in 1995 and her L.C.S.W. in 2000. Gill joined Nelsen Funeral Home as the Director of Grief Support and Education in June 2006. She works with families, groups, individuals and community organizations offering resources, support and education. She has a 14-year history of employment in hospice care as a medical social worker, bereavement coordinator and community services coordinator. From 2004 through 2006 she wrote a bi-weekly column related to caregiving and grief issues published in The Progress Index and The Colonial Voice. She organized the Crater Caregiver Coalition in 2002 and she has been the leading force since 2005 in having April named Virginia’s Month of the Grieving Child. Gill also serves as a field instructor for social work students at VCU.
Karl Netting, M. Div. is currently serving as staff chaplain with the Bon Secours Hospice of Richmond, Va. He is an ordained United Methodist Minister. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory and Henry College and a Master of Divinity degree from the Duke University Divinity School. He received chaplaincy training at Children’s and Grant Hospitals of Chicago. Post seminary he served 10 years as the pastor of churches in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The next 10 years he ministered as a hospital chaplain in Scottsdale, Ariz., and for the last 15 years he has served as a hospice chaplain. He enjoys the balance between direct practice and teaching.
Date/Time
Aug. 5, 2009
1 to 3 p.m.
Workshop C – Understanding Dementia and its Impact on Families
Course description and objectives
Dementia is a general term for loss of memory and other thinking abilities, such as language or judgment, severe enough to interfere with daily life. It is the umbrella under which all dementia diseases are categorized. Differential diagnosis is important in order to identify specific causes and initiate appropriate and timely treatment. This workshop will focus on early signs and recognition of symptoms, cultural factors that impact recognition and responses to disorders, resources for treatment, and the impact on family of the person with dementia.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- List the dementia illnesses
- State their impact on society
- Recognize the early signs and symptoms of dementia
- Understand the impact of culture on recognition and responses to symptoms
- List current medical treatments available for dementia and related behaviors
- Understand the impact on the family of the person with dementia
- List resources to assist the person with dementia and his/her family or care partners
Category I contact hours: 2 contact hours for each workshop or 8 contact hours for all four workshops.
Continuing education units: 0.2 for each workshop or 0.8 for all four workshops (available upon separate CEU registration).
About the facilitators
Sultan A. Lakhani, M.D., M.P.H. is the Associate Medical Director and an assistant professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the VCU Medical Center. He is a specialist in geriatric psychiatry and has practiced in the Richmond area since 1995. Since 1996, he has served as Community Geriatric Psychiatry director at VCU Medical Center and is a consultant psychiatrist with numerous area nursing facilities. Lakhani has been on faculty at the VCU Medical Center since 1996 when he completed a fellowship in Geriatric Psychiatry at VCU Medical Center. He completed his psychiatric residency in 1995. In addition to his medical degree, Lakhani holds a Master of Public Health degree from The Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of Karachi, Dow Medical College, Pakistan.
Sherry E. Peterson, M.S.W. received her M.S.W. from VCU and has been the Chief Executive Officer and Director of the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Richmond Chapter since 1998. In that time the chapter has grown from a one person staff with a $100,000 budget to a staff of 13 with a $1,000,000 budget. Peterson has more than 10 years experience working with persons with dementia and presenting programs on topics such as: When is Forgetfulness a Problem?, Dementia: What is it?, Partnering with Your Physician, and Maintain Your Brain.
Date/Time
Aug. 12, 2009
10 a.m. to noon
Workshop D – Psychotherapy with Older Adults
Course description and objectives
Clinicians who do not have experience with the elderly often find the transition to this population difficult. Similarly, those who have treated the elderly often find the elderly population in long-term care (LTC) very different than an outpatient elderly population. This seminar will adapt current psychotherapeutic theories (e.g. cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, psychodynamic) to the LTC population and will introduce other theories (e.g. brief psychotherapy, health and behavior interventions, validation therapy) that are more specific to this population.
By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
- List common presenting issues with oriented residents
- List common presenting issues with disoriented residents
- Understand the purposes and key adaptations of current treatment strategies (e.g. cognitive-behavioral, client-centered, psychodynamic, brief psychotherapy, group therapy, family therapy, health and behavior interventions) to the LTC population
- Understand the purpose of validation therapy and its use with disoriented adults
- Identify common ethical issues in work with older adults
- Identify termination issues specific to work with the older adult
- Know the components and protocol for assessing suicidal risk
Category I contact hours: 2 contact hours for each workshop or 8 contact hours for all four workshops.
Continuing education units: 0.2 for each workshop or 0.8 for all four workshops (available upon separate CEU registration).
About the facilitator
John C. Colletti, Psy.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist and president of Chapman Senior Care, a facility-based mental health services organization. He is responsible for initiating clinical programs in long-term care facilities throughout Virginia as well as providing clinical expertise in evaluation, psychotherapy, training and working with individuals diagnosed with dementia. He is a licensed continuing education provider and has lectured in the Department of Gerontology at VCU. He was instrumental in setting up the Validation Training Institute’s Authorized Validation Organization at the Virginia Geriatric Education Center where he served as a teacher in the validation method, which addresses the needs of the elderly who are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Type Dementia.
Date/Time
Aug. 12, 2009
1 to 3 p.m.
Workshop locations
Richmond
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
VCU Medical Center
George Ben Johnston Auditorium
305 North 12th Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219-2029
Parking: Parking managed by the university and open to visitors is available in the Eighth Street Deck. The cost is $5. Public parking managed by other entities is available at the Coliseum Deck ($13 a day) and the Visitor’s Deck ($2 an hour plus $1 every hour thereafter). Reciprocal parking for those who have a parking space on the Monroe Park Campus is at the N and D lots.
»View a map of all parking decks [PDF]
Lunch: There are various eateries about a half block from the auditorium in the Gateway Building, the Main Hospital and Hunton Hall.
Richlands (Southwest Virginia)
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
Southwest Virginia Community College – Russell Hall
369 College Road (U.S. Route 19 South, six miles south of Claypool Hill)
Richlands, Virginia 24641-1101
Phone: (276) 964-7315
(800) 859-1513
» View directions to Southwest Virginia Community College and view the campus map
Free parking: Dickenson Hall parking lot
Lunch: Lunch is available in Buchanan Hall and also a few minutes away off campus on Rt. 19 (Steelsburg Highway).
Franklin (Eastern Virginia)
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
Paul D. Camp Community College (Main Campus)
Room 129 – Distance Learning Room
100 North College Drive
Franklin, Virginia 23851
Phone: (757) 569-6700
» View directions to the Franklin Campus Workforce Center
Parking: Ample parking is available in front of the main campus. Please enter facility in the middle door with the large PDCCC sign over the door. This entrance also has handicap access.
Lunch: A variety of both fast food and full service restaurants are on Armory Drive, which is the “strip” between Interstate 58 and the college (right at college)
Manassas
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
George Mason University – Prince William Campus
Bull Run Hall Room 130
10900 University Boulevard
Manassas, Virginia 20110
Phone: (703) 993-8350
» View directions to the campus
Paid parking: Attendees may purchase a daily pass for $3 to $5 from the kiosk in the Occoquan Lot or from the parking office Occoquan Building, Room 122.
Lunch: Lunch is available on campus on the ground floor of the Occoquan Building.
Fishersville
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center – Switzer Building
292 Woodrow Wilson Ave.
Fishersville, Virginia 22939-3407
Phone: (540) 332-7000
» View directions to the center and more specifically directions to Switzer Building.
Free parking: Lot C (Overflow in Lot A or Lots E/F)
Lunch: WWRC Dining Hall in the Watson Building
Roanoke
Aug. 5 and Aug. 12, 2009 (see times for each workshop above)
Note: Due to unavoidable circumstances, the site for the Roanoke videoconference has been moved from the Roanoke Valley Workforce Center to the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center.
Blue Ridge Independent Living Center
502-B Williamson Road NE
Roanoke, Virginia 24012-5100
Phone: (540) 342-1231
Free parking: Ample parking is available on site.
Lunch: A variety of both fast food and full service restaurants are located nearby.
Cost and registration
Regular: $20 each or $60 for all four workshops.
Student: $10 each or $30 for all four workshops (with current I.D.)
Senior (65 and over): $15 each or $45 for all four workshops (with current I.D.)
VCU faculty and current School of Social Work field instructor: $15 each or $45 for all four workshops.
VCU School of Social Work Alumni Association member: $15 each or $45 for all four workshops.
» Join the VCU Alumni Association
Agency group of three or more: $15 each or $45 for all four workshops per registrant.
Please note: Lunch is not included with registration as food and beverages are strictly prohibited in the distance learning rooms. See information about nearby eateries above.
Please register online at www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/conf/socialwork/register.asp?cid=95.
Pre-registration is required. Registrations cannot be accepted on site. Registrations must be received at least one week prior to the day of the event to ensure availability of materials/handouts at videoconferencing sites (July 29 for Aug. 5, Aug. 5 for Aug. 12). Late registrants will be accommodated if space is available.
Participants may register for CEUs by completing a CEU registration form and making a check payable to the VCU School of Social Work in the amount of $15 on the day of the event. No cash or credit cards will be accepted for this purpose.
Questions?
Contact Angela Basmajian at (804) 828-0403 or Linda Gupta at (804) 828-3405 or sswce@vcu.edu.