2010 Conference on Aging
Over 280 older adults, caregivers, and professionals across the state converged on Lynchburg College on June 8, 2010 to attend the annual conference on aging, "Aging Well in Mind, Body, & Spirit". Paul Hogan, author of the recent bestseller: "Stages of Senior Care" and co-founder of Home Instead Senior Care, one of the largest home health organizations in the United States, opened the conference by talking about the levels of care available to older adults. Dr. Peter Betz, local geriatric psychiatrist with Centra's Piedmont Psychiatric Center and sought-after speaker, shared how to boost mood and achieve an emotional balance as we age.
During the day, eighteen workshops on a variety of targets related to healthy aging, caregiving, and geronotology were also offered and over 40 exhibitors were on hand to provide information about their services and issues related to aging. The conference ended on a powerful note from inspirational speaker Brett Leake. Brett, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and cared for his father for years, was a former regular on NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and was PBS comedy Host for Laughing Matters with Brett Leake. He shared his stories and methods for coping with illness, caregiving and life.
