News Release

UNC to Host National Healthy Aging Conference in Conjunction with 2009 Aging Exchange

April 2, 2009

With ever increasing recognition of the importance of environmental factors to healthy aging, practicing professionals and academicians will convene in Chapel Hill September 15-16, 2009 to address challenges, research evidence, and promising strategies for practice and policy change. The conference, entitled Promoting Environmental and Policy Change to Support Healthy Aging, is the third in a series of research to practice symposia sponsored by the Prevention Research Centers-Healthy Aging Research Network, of which UNC is a member center. Local partners expect to take advantage of the opportunity to draw attention to issues pertinent to environmental and policy change in NC as well as the nation.

Heading up a stellar group of conference speakers is Larry Adelman, the executive producer of the award winning PBS documentary, Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick? Leonard Syme, Professor (Emeritus) of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, will open and close the conference. Other speakers represent diverse professional backgrounds including transportation engineering, architecture, public health, city planning, and aging. Among the many topics to be addressed: falls prevention, creating walkable communities, policy change, transportation planning, environmental assessment, universal design, and food access.

The UNC Aging Exchange will be held in conjunction with the conference, on September 15, as well as the quarterly meeting of the NC Healthy Aging Coalition. Posters and exhibits will feature the innovative work of students, faculty and organizations to find solutions to aging-related environmental and policy problems. Additional posters will be of general interest in aging.

The conference is supported by the Healthy Aging Program and Healthy Communities Program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is co-sponsored by numerous local partners, including the NC Healthy Aging Coalition, UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, UNC Institute on Aging, Carolina Geriatric Education Center, Center for Aging and Health and the North Carolina Institute for Public Health.

Attendance is recommended for professionals and academicians in public health, aging services, healthcare, business, planning, architecture, engineering, and recreation, as well as advocates for livable communities. A limited number of scholarships will be available. "We expect conference participants to take home an action plan to implement in their own communities or organizations," says Rebecca Hunter, co-investigator with UNC's Healthy Aging Research Network and co-chair of the conference. "There will be opportunities to build new partnerships and explore ideas, and subsequently to participate in follow-up activities."

The event will take place at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. For additional information and to register, visit http://prc-hanconferences.com/2009-conference