The Center for the Advancement of Rural Living in Caribou will sponsor a symposium on aging, Saturday, Aug. 8, at Caribou High School.
The event will focus on issues of aging and caregiving. The event’s two keynote speakers will be noted Maine psychiatrist Dr. Cliff Singer and AARP State Director Noel Bonam.
Singer is a Maine-based physician, trained in psychiatry and geriatric medicine. Before coming to Maine in 2010, he was on the faculties of psychiatry and neurology at Oregon Health and Science University and the University of Vermont. He currently leads the multi-disciplinary clinical, teaching and research teams of Northern Light Memory and Aging at Acadia Hospital in Bangor.
He is a Research Professor at the University of Maine Institute of Medicine and has collaborated with research scientists at the Jackson Lab, University of Maine, Maine Health, Massachusetts General Hospital and national research consortia for Alzheimer’s research.
He has received numerous awards for teaching, research and clinical work with older adults with dementia and has published numerous book chapters and articles on sleep, dementia and aging.
Bonam is the founder of The Global Institute worldwide. Bonam holds a master’s degree in public personnel management from Osmania University in India and a certification in diversity, equity and inclusion in human resources from Cornell University.
He is a graduate of the senior executive in state and local government mid-career program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He also is currently the chairman of the board of trustees of the Association for World Education, an international non-governmental organization specializing in lifelong learning with consultative status at the United Nations.
Previously, Bonam was director of the Maine Bureau of Multicultural Affairs and served as the chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Institute for Civic Leadership.
The keynote speakers will join some 20 different presenters at the symposium. Topics ranging from home safety, disaster preparedness, solo aging, loneliness and insurance benefits will be among issues to be addressed. Participants will be able to select which topics they wish to attend.
The symposium will open at 9 a.m.
The event is free and will feature informational handouts as well as lunch. For more information call the Center for the Advancement of Rural Living at 207-493-1223 or 207-551-5672.
The event has received grant support from the Maine Health Access Foundation.
