Upcoming Events
UCIPA - University Community Innovations for Positive Aging
APRIL 25, 2024 | 10:00 am - 5:30PM
Join us for free in-person as we work to promote positive aging and combat ageism within the University and the broader community.
Are you a student, nurse, caregiver, employee of a long-term care facility, community member or a physician who works or interacts with older adults? This conference is perfect for you!
We will begin with a health fair highlighting the many services Wichita State and other local agencies provides to community residents. This will be followed by lunch and then an afternoon conference program featuring talks and workshops on topics including the benefits of intergenerational teaching & autobiographical storytelling, and the brain benefits of participatory music making, and more. All programming seeks to shape research activities and projects that broaden our knowledge of aging and continue to make the university an increasingly age-friendly campus. You will learn cutting edge strategies for promoting positive aging and new and developing methods of promoting successful aging programming. Interact with knowledgeable experts and leaders in the field of aging research. Major themes this year include intergenerational teaching, the benefits of autobiographical storytelling, and the brain benefits of participatory music making.
The in-person conference will be held at the Eugene M. Hughes Metropolitan Complex at 5015 E 29th St N.
Lunch is provided at no cost for registered attendees. Registration information to be posted soon.
Past Events
Ageism Awareness Day: A Community Event
Nicole Rogers, PhD, professor and chair, Public Health Sciences, College of Health Professions, will
outline key determinants that contribute to the perpetuation of the last acceptable
“-ism”. Dr. Rogers
will share best practices guidance from evidence-based findings and strategies to
recognize, address
and support age-inclusive, bias-free language in personal and professional communications.
Findings from their project, Connecting Generations: Influencing Expectations and Attitudes Toward
Aging, has led Dr. Rogers and her public health sciences colleagues to conclude, “bringing
WSU
students and older adults together in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities positively
impacts
ageism and promotes greater understanding and respect between generations.”
Join us Saturday, October 7th to “Connect Generations”. This activity, for people of diverse ages, is
modelled after StoryCorps™, One Small Step, an initiative bringing strangers together
to learn about
each other and remind our community of the humanity in all of us, even those different
than we are.
Help us plan by RSVP by October 3rd
Music, Aging and the Sound Mind
Please join the RIA for another talk in the RIA colloquium and conversation series on Tuesday, February 23rd from 4 pm to 6 pm CST. The talk will be held in McKinley Hall room 107 followed by a reception in McKinley Hall room 102.
Nina Kraus is Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences, Neurobiology, and Otolaryngology at Northwestern University. As a biologist and amateur musician, she thinks about sound and brain health.
Her research has found that our lives in sound, for better (musicians, bilinguals) and for worse (concussion, hearing loss, language disorders, noise), shape how our brain makes sense of the sounds we hear. Her book OF SOUND MIND - How our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World, was written for the intellectually curious.
Kraus advocates for biologically informed choices in education, health, and society. See www.brainvolts.northwestern.edu.
Music, Health, and Aging Conversations and Colloquium
Please join the RIA for the Music, Health and Aging Colloquium from 3-5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21 in 102 McKinley Hall, Room 102.
National Ageism Awareness Day (October 7th)
Please click on the above text to be taken to the American Society on Aging where you can access tools and resources to help combat ageism. Please click here to sign up for their ageism awareness day information session.
2022 KPHA Annual Conference
University Community Innovations for Positive Aging (UCIPA) Conference
This conference will feature a variety of Keynote presentations and workshops covering innovative topics aimed at promoting positive aging across the university and greater Wichita/Kansas area. The conference will be aimed at care providers, researchers, faculty, and community residents interested in gaining a greater understanding of methods and strategies to promote positive aging.
Keynote speakers to include:
Joann Montepare, PhD, Director, RoseMary B. Fuss Center for Research on Aging and Intergenerational
Studies
Professor of Psychology, Lasell University/Lasell Village, Newton, MA
Marcia Ory, PhD., Regents & Distinguished Professor, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University,
San Antonio, TX https://public-health.tamu.edu/directory/ory.html 
Date: April 15, 2022
Earn up to to 4.8 CEUs for participating.
Strategies for Promoting Intergenerational Teaching At WSU: Promoting Age-Inclusiveness
Panel presentation featuring Dr. Joann Montepare, Director, RoseMary B. Fuss Center
for Research on Aging and Intergenerational Studies Professor of Psychology Lasell
University/Lasell Village,
Dr. Louis Medvene, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, Wichita State University
and Aliya Jankowski, Karl & Nancy Koenig presented student perspectives of intergenerational
classes
Date: November 15th 2021
Time: 4-6 pm
Location: Rhatigan Student Center (RSC), Harvest Room 142
Strategies for Promoting Intergenerational Teaching: Edited Video: https://vimeo.com/655100654
WSU-RIA Colloquium & Faculty Networking Event
The WSU Regional Institute on Aging (RIA) is hosted a colloquium and networking event in conjunction with its recently released RFP. This opportunity was aimed at facilitating the formation of interdisciplinary teams of researchers interested in similar issues.
Date: Thursday, December 5, 2019
Time: 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Location: Rhatigan Student Center, Lancelot Room
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Joseph Schlesinger, Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University
Presenting: “The alarmscape in the OR and ICU - Considerations for the aging clinician and patient”