Aging with Passion & Purpose: Age-Friendly Communities

Related Resources
BONUS CONTENT - AIDING THE AGING-Gross Catholic Engineering Team Video
Characterizing Risk Factors for Burden in Caregivers to Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia-Naomi Adjei, student in the UNO Gerontology Doctoral Program
Light, Color, and the Built Environment and how to design for the elderly-Cassidy Kennedy, Interior and Product Design undergraduate student at UNK
Additional Resources
4M's Age Friendly Model of Care - Deborah Conley, Service Executive Geriatrics Methodist Hospital
GALOP-Lessons for Public Health and the Age-Friendly Agenda-Dr. Roger O'Sullivan, Director of Aging with the Institute of Public Health in Ireland
Creating Livable Communities for People of All Ages-Shannon Guzman, Director, Housing and Livable Communities, AARP Public Policy Institute
Lifestyle Factors and Healthy Aging, Steven Wengel, MD
Health-Conscious Foods with Ethnic Roots, Anthony Warrior, Chef-Warrior's Palate
arCurtecture-Aging Friendly Homes for Aging Friendly Communities

Aging with Passion & Purpose Conference

2026 CONFERENCE

MARCH 27, 2026
8:30 A.M.-4:30 P.M.

Hitchcock Humanities Bldg
Criss Auditorium
Bellevue University Campus
1040 Bruin Blvd
Bellevue NE 68005

The target audience for this conference is older adults and their families, friends, and care partners as well as multidisciplinary providers of care, researchers, and educators. The conference is free.

Keynote Speaker: Jack York

Purposeful Living in Aging

OTHER PRESENTERS:
PURPOSEFUL SPIRITUALITY-PASTOR BRIAN MAAS
PURPOSFUL WELLNESS- NUTRITION AND FITNESS-ASHLEY CICCARELLI LAZAROWICZ
PURPOSEFUL LIVING IN RETIREMENT-RETIREMENT TRANSITION-AMY HANSON, PhD, UNO Department of Gerontology
PURPOSEFUL LIVING IN RETIREMENT-VOLUNTEERISM-MARY PARKER
PURPOSEFUL MEDICARE-MIKE CARSEY
PURPOSEFUL PLANNING-LEGAL AID-
PURPOSEFUL COMMUNITY-AREA AGENCY ON AGING

About the Aging with Passion & Purpose Conference

The first biennial Aging with Passion & Purpose Conference was held in 2007. Each year's conference has a unique theme reflecting a trend in aging. The theme of the inaugural conference was “Spirituality and Creativity Programming for Older Adults;” the focus highlighted cutting edge efforts to address the needs of older adults utilizing alternative and complimentary strategies within the arts and spirituality arenas that have been shown through research to improve older adults quality of life. In 2009, the conference theme was “Social and Spiritual Dimensions of Aging and Caregiving” and emphasized support efforts for caregivers that aimed to better the quality of care provided to older adults and self-care of the caregiver. The 2011 theme of "It Happens" reflected the reality that the first of the baby boomers were turning 65 and entering retirement. The 2013 theme of "Aging Well in the Age of Technology" brought participants together to learn about the growing field of gerontechnology and its impact on the quality and way of life of aging individuals. The 2015 theme of "Generations Working Together" helped participants better understand the unique characteristics of each generation and how they manifest in the workplace. The 2017 theme was "Next Generation Services" and introduced attendees to new ways of doing business in a new age. 2019 brought the theme of “No One Left Behind,” which focused on the unique needs of diverse populations of older adults. 2021 covered the timely theme of "Unmasking Covid 19," which addressed the important needs of caring for older adults during the pandemic.

The conference is organized and conducted by a team of planning partners representing a wide range of organizations concerned about aging issues and is hosted by UNO.