Jonathan Riggs

USC Leonard Davis School doctoral student Marguerite DeLiema served as the keynote speaker for Fresno’s “Elder Abuse Prevention Conference 2013: Protecting an Aging Population,” held on May 8.

“I was very pleased to present on our 2012 study on the prevalence and risk factors of elder abuse among low-income Latino elders,” DeLiema said. “The topic of elder abuse prevalence in the low-income immigrant Latino community is particularly important to senior service providers in the Central Valley, where, for example, the population of Fresno County is 51% Latino compared to 38% statewide.”

Other speakers for the all-day event included Jill McCarthy from Hinds Hospice, who discussed “Hospice and Palliative Care: Preventing End-of-Life Abuse” and Prescott Cole, the senior staff attorney for the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, who covered “Facility Abuse and Veterans Aid and Attendance Fraud.”

Hosted by Castle Keep Elder Abuse Prevention and California Central Legal Services, the event drew nearly 200 attendees, many of them professionals from disciplines such as nursing, innovative aging technology, home health, hospice, criminal justice and adult protection.

“Our hope is that our research will guide healthcare and legal professionals in responding to neglect and abuse in immigrant communities,” DeLiema said. “It was so inspiring to hear from fellow professionals and community members and to see how interested they were in learning more about all the research we’re doing at the USC Leonard Davis School.”

On a magnitude unthinkable to most Americans, China is rapidly undergoing a total transformation due to its population’s aging. The rest of the world looks to the east as these aging-related challenges and opportunities become reality in Asia.

Accordingly, as part of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA)’s ongoing initiative to increase collaborations between the United States and China, Bob Knight of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology was one of only four American faculty members sent to the Sino-US Forum on the Psychology of Aging.

“Like the rest of the world, East Asia is experiencing population aging. Many nations there have also experienced rapid economic development and social change, including varying degrees of Westernization,” Knight said. “These changes have disrupted traditional patterns of care for older adults and pose critical challenges for these countries.”

Although psychology as a science is fairly new to China and psychological practice even more so, officials and experts from all hemispheres are recognizing how important the field is, especially where it dovetails with gerontology.

“The focus on aging is even more recent and less developed yet. From the China side, collaboration can help develop these critical areas of research and practice,” Knight said. “From the US side, it provides a great opportunity to explore cultural differences in psychology of aging.”

Organized by GSA, Beijing Normal University and Tianjin Normal University, the Forum was founded to advance the twinned causes of psychology and gerontology in China, revealing universal similarities regardless of nationality or culture.

“The great majority of psychological disorders are similar across cultures, with some differences in prevalence rates and a few that are more specific,” Knight said. “As we have had more international research in psychological science over the last few decades, it has been somewhat surprising that most psychological processes are the same around the world.”

According to the World Health Organization, more than 360 million people around the world have disabling hearing loss, which includes one-third of all people over 65 years old and one-half of those older than 75.

To draw attention to this crucial area, the USC Emeriti Center, House Research Institute and USC Disability Services and Programs teamed up to present the 2013 Hearing Health Symposium at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology on Friday, April 19.

“No matter what your age, hearing clearly makes all the difference in quality of life. That’s why we held the USC Hearing Health Symposium: to showcase multiple perspectives discussing research, resources and how to find the best treatment for different types of hearing loss,” said Janette Brown, executive director of the USC Emeriti Center.

(l to r) James Boswell, CEO of the House Research Institute; Janette Brown, PhD, executive director of the USC Emeriti Center; Pinchas Cohen, MD, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School; John House, MD of the House Clinic and House Research Institute

“Today’s event represents a tremendous opportunity to engage so many in an incredibly important topic. In gerontology, we talk a lot about the spans—life span, health span, wealth span—but I’d like to coin a new term today: hearing span,” said Pinchas Cohen, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School. “Hearing loss is in essence, an age-related disease. We have to address this more closely in the gerontology community and I’m looking forward to a partnership with the scientists and attendees of today’s event.”

The three panel discussions—“Exploring Your Hearing Health,” “Latest Research, Communication and Effective Self-Advocacy” and “What’s New – Assistive Devices, Technologies, Community Resources”—were moderated by James D. Boswell, CEO of the House Research Institute, Charlotte Schamadan of the House Research Institute and Kenneth J. Lopez of the USC Thornton School of Music respectively. The panels, organized by Marilee Potthoff from the House Research Institute, featured such speakers as the House Clinic and House Research Institute’s John W. House, Katherine Hammons of USC Disability Services, John Orr of the USC Emerti Center/USC Retired Faculty Association, Ryan Epoch of Contacta, Inc. and Roberta Smith of California Telephone Access Program.

Throughout the event, a Hearing Health Awareness fair was held in the USC Leonard Davis School courtyard, which included samples of a proposed shell-shaped, universal symbol designed by Mary Lou Dauray to indicate hearing loss.

“The time is ripe for a symbol to identify those with hearing loss as well as those situations detrimental and dangerous for the hearing-impaired,” Dauray said. “Whether it is worn as a pin or posted in areas or on products, the ‘Hear I Am’ logo elegantly communicates crucial concerns. Hearing loss is an invisible disability we should make visible.”

With questions and answer sessions, networking opportunities and multiple booths, panelists and attendees alike were able to reaffirm their commitment to increasing awareness, advocacy, treatment and options for those affected by hearing loss. Just as important, however, was the story of how the symposium came to be in the first place.

“I’m especially proud that today reminds us that USC’s retired faculty and staff are invaluable contributors to the USC community,” Brown said. “Today’s symposium took place because of the interest of professor emeritus John Orr. Every day and every year, the USC Emeriti Center is enriched and changed based on the wisdom of our retirees, and I encourage everyone to consider adding their unique voice to ours.”

The event, which was closed-captioned as well as made accessible by a sign language interpreter and hearing assistance devices, is also available in its entirety online at the USC Emeriti Center website (http://emeriti.usc.edu).

The 33^rd annual meeting of the California Council on Gerontology and Geriatrics (CCGG) proved a time for paying tribute to the past while looking towards the future. Held at USC’s Davidson Conference Center on Friday, April 12, the meeting’s theme was “Aligning Workforce Development with Behavioral Health Care Needs of Older Californians.”

Associate Dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and president of CCGG, Maria Henke

“It is so inspiring to see how far we have come, as a field and as an organization,” said Maria Henke, associate dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and president of CCGG. “This Meeting is always an opportunity to honor the pioneers of aging while also shining the spotlight on the next generation of leaders.”

With multiple poster and networking breakout sessions, the meeting also featured five panels: “Future Trends in Maximizing the Health & Wellbeing of California’s Diverse Older Adult Population: What The Data Tells Us”; “A National Call to Action: The Institute of Medicine Report on the Mental Health and Substance Use Workforce for Older Adults”; “Making the Most of the IoM Recommendations for California”; “Policy Opportunities In a Changing Health and Behavioral Health Delivery System”; and “Using Evidence-Based Practices with Diverse Community Populations.”

With a distinguished group of speakers who included Laura Trejo of the Los Angeles Department of Aging; Gretchen Alkema of the SCAN Foundation and JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez of the California Geriatric Education Center, the meeting also showcased the work of researchers both at USC and around the state.

Tara Gruenewald, PhD, Phoebe Liebig, PhD, and Patrick Beck

USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Trojans were especially well represented when it came to the award recipients: Phoebe Liebig won the Lifetime Achievement Award, Tara Gruenewald won the Betty and James E. Birren Emerging Leadership Award and Patrick Beck won the David A. Peterson Student Achievement Award. In fact, Beck used his acceptance speech to salute the legendary 95-year-old gerontologist.

“Jim Birren: thank you for creating CCGG and the field of gerontology as well as serving as the founding dean of the USC Leonard Davis School. Without you, none of us would be here today,” Beck said. “The day that I decided to study gerontology changed my life, and I say now to all the students present: I hope today is equally life-changing for you.”

Honoring both Birrens became a theme of the event, with a special slideshow tribute to the late Betty. Also thanking the first couple of gerontology was Jolene Fassbinder, the previous executive director for CCGG, who was visibly moved to tears when Henke surprised her with an award.

“Thank you everyone. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Jim and Betty Birren,” Fassbinder said. “Betty Birren was executive director of CCGG for 30 years. I am proud to have followed in her footsteps for seven.”

Dean Pinchas Cohen, MD and Jim Birren, PhD

The highlight of the event came with Birren himself took the podium, receiving a standing ovation as the slideshow featured images of his and Betty’s 70-year-long marriage.

“It takes a long time to raise a husband,” he said. “Betty and I have always been so proud of this meeting and so impressed with the vigor and vision of gerontologists. As we say at USC: Fight On!”