Career Development : Calendar

Global aging: A report from the World Economic Forum on key challenges, solutions & opportunities

02/27/13     Webcast

One key issue addressed at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) was the rapidly increasing global aging population; and how to prepare for its profound impact on global health, as well as the direct economic, social and political implications.

Global experts from the WEF Global Agenda Council on Ageing led this discussion in Davos and presented a new report outlining key challenges/opportunities associated with global aging, including how to improve healthy aging through the innovation of global health systems and investment in long-term health options; as well as specific initiatives to seize the social and economic opportunity created by the aging population.  

We would like to invite you to a webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. EST with the following leaders from the WEF Council on Ageing to discuss these topics and share specific outcomes from their discussion in Davos:

• Dr. John Beard: director, Department of Ageing and Life Course of the World Health Organization;  chairman, WEF Global Agenda Council on Ageing
• Dr. Linda Fried: epidemiologist and geriatrician; Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University; Member, WEF Global Agenda Council on Ageing
• Mr. Paul Hogan: co-founder/chairman of Home Instead Senior Care; vice chairman, WEF Global Agenda Council on Ageing
• Moderator: Liz Seegert, independent journalist

An open Q&A session will follow the webinar.

Please register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/187467521.

About the Presenters

John Beard, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., is an Australian physician who initially worked in primary health care, including several years as medical officer for an Aboriginal Medical Service. From 1991 he held a wide range of senior public health and academic roles in Australia, followed by three years as senior epidemiologist with the New York Academy of Medicine in the United States. In January 2009 he was appointed director of the new Department of Ageing and Life Course at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Beard's involvement in the health of older adults began during his time as a clinician. Later, the public health group he led was responsible for developing Stay on Your Feet, one of Australia's first and largest community based programs to prevent falls in older adults. A core aspect of this program was an intensive evaluation that demonstrated that not only did the intervention reduce hospital admissions for falls, but that it was extremely cost effective, conservatively saving over $20 for every $1 invested.

Linda P. Fried, M.D., M.P.H., is a leader in the fields of epidemiology and geriatrics. She has dedicated her career to the science of healthy aging, particularly the prevention of frailty and disability, and design of approaches that will strengthen the benefits to all of being an aging society. The latter includes the design of health-promoting activities and roles for older adults that solve major societal needs. Fried co-founded Experience Corps, a community-based senior volunteer program designed to support the academic success of children while also serving as a health promotion program for older adults. Fried's scientific career has defined the phenotype of frailty as a new clinical syndrome, provided evidence as to its causes and identified opportunities for prevention. Her research has also identified approaches to prevent cardiovascular disease and the loss of independence with aging. Fried is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the APHA Archstone Award, the U.S. national Bridge Builders Award, the Maxwell Pollock Award of the Gerontological Society of America, and has been named a "Living Legend in Medicine" by the U.S. Congress. She is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine and of the Association of American Physicians where she serves on the governing council. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council and Council on an Aging World and of the MacArthur Network on an Aging Society.

Paul Hogan is the co-founder and chairman of Home Instead Senior Care, the world’s leading in-home senior care company, and has dedicated his career to shifting negative perceptions that are associated with aging. Established in 1994, Home Instead identified and responded to an emerging worldwide need to provide affordable home care for the rapidly aging population. Home Instead’s model of privately paid non-medical home has established a new model of senior care and has become an integral component of the medical continuum. Hogan is also vice chairman of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Ageing, and was a contributing author to the Council’s report, Global Population Ageing: Peril or Promise. Hogan also is co-author of Stages of Senior Care (McGraw-Hill).

Liz Seegert is an independent journalist  who covers health, policy and lifestyle topics. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health, Media & Policy (CHMP) at Hunter College in New York. Her work has appeared in New America Media, The Atlantic online,
HealthCetera, Home Care Technology Report, Women Magazine, Practical Diabetology, Discovery Education, Healthwise Magazine and other news outlets.