University to host conference on spirituality and aging

Posted by University News Service
July 29, 2009

An upcoming conference presented by Texas State University-San Marcos will examine the importance of spirituality to an aging population.

The conference, titled “Spirituality and Aging: The Journey of Life,” will be held Aug. 19-21 at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center in San Marcos. It is presented by the Texas Long Term Care Institute of Texas State’s College of Health Professions.

Target audiences for the conference include professional nurses, social workers, licensed professional counselors, clergy and lay ministers, health administrators and others interested in how spirituality and aging influence lives and communities.

Sixteen nationally recognized speakers will cover a wide range of topics, including legal and ethical aspects of incapacity, professional guardianship, challenges of spiritual elder care, the Alzheimer’s journey, holistic nursing in the 21st Century, balancing care giving and self care, dance therapy, spirituality and ethics, managing pain and suffering, and more.

Conference hosts are Oren Renick, professor of health administration at Texas State, Ruth Welborn, dean of the College of Health Professions at Texas State and Jan McCann, director of the Texas Long Term Care Institute.

For further information and for conference registration materials, call the Texas Long Term Care Institute at (512) 245-8234. Additional information and registration forms are also available online at http://ltc-institute.health.txstate.edu/