ISSUED: 27 April 2017
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Shepherd University psychology and social work departments are sponsoring the 9th annual aging well workshop, “Memory, Legacy, and Remembrance,” on Wednesday, May 10, from 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m. at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. The registration deadline for the workshop, which is funded by the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services, is May 5. It offers six continuing education units (CEUs) for social workers and is also open to members of the community, including elders and their families. The cost is $25 general registration, and $50 for anyone wanting CEUs.
The keynote speaker, giving an address titled “Normal Aging and Autobiographical Memory,” will be Dr. Lauren Chandler, a clinical neuropsychologist at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg. Chandler provides neuropsychological assessment and treatment to veterans with a variety of cognitive and neurological deficits and has particular interest in working with neurodegenerative and memory disorders. She is licensed to practice psychology in Virginia.
The morning plenary speaker, Jennifer Taylor, will give a talk titled “Guarding the Guardians,” where she will discuss issues that arise as baby boomers age, such as the prevalence of financial exploitation and how to protect against it. Taylor has served in the West Virginia House of Delegates, as assistant general counsel to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office, as general counsel to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, and is a member of Legal Aid of West Virginia. Taylor’s private law practice includes civil rights, abuse and neglect, estate planning, real estate, personal injury, and general litigation, and she is an administrative hearing examiner and certified mediator.
Workshops will include preparing for the tough topics through mediation, which may include medical, financial, and lifestyle decisions; Appalachian remembrance, a discussion of memory-making and legacy in Appalachia; how Shepherdstown Area Independent Living, a nonprofit corporation, enables area residents to stay in the community for their remaining years; Shepherd Village, a new co-housing community designed to embrace social, physical, occupational, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional wellness; and evaluating reminiscence and structured life review as effective counseling techniques in working with adults, especially dementia patients and veterans.
For more information, contact Sharon Earl, administrative associate, at 304-876-5332 or searl@shepherd.edu, or Dr. Heidi Dobish, associate professor of psychology, at 304-876-5214 or hdobish@shepherd.edu.
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