UMaine Center on Aging

Employment is a social determinant of health for all of us as we age. Hear from workforce,
labor and aging experts about later life work as a factor in wellness.

What is the relationship between work and wellness?
What are the challenges for older workers, employers and health professionals?
What are the program and policy approaches to encourage work for those who want it?

Click HERE for the Official Program

Agenda Overview

8:30 AM | Opening Remarks |

Sandra De Urioste-Stone, MS, PhD, Asst. Vice President for Research, Professor of Nature-based Tourism, University of Maine

David Harder, PhD, University Research Professor and Director, Institute of Medicine, University of Maine

8:45 AM | Workforce Aging: Employer Practices and Worker Well-being   | Peter Berg, PhD, Professor of Employment Relations at the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University

9:30 AM | Resilient, Skilled, Essential: Older Workers at Work | Commissioner Laura Fortman, Commissioner Maine Department of Labor

10:30 AM | Healthy Workforces at Every Age: Supporting and Retaining Older Workers | Janine Vanderburg (Facilitates) CEO of Encore Roadmap and American Society on Aging’s 2024 Awardee for Success in Diminishing Ageism

11:15 AM | Working in Later Life: Older Workers Perspectives | Elizabeth Gattine (Facilitates), JD, Senior Policy Analyst & Cabinet on Aging Coordinator

1:00 PM | Breakout Sessions

• The Health Joys and Challenges of Unretirement | Richard Eisenberg, former Managing Editor of Next Avenue and former Executive Editor of Money Magazine
• Social Security: Past promises, Future Realties, and What It Means for You | Cal Halvorsen, PhD, Associate Professor at the Brown School of Social Work and School of Public Health and senior fellow at the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at Washington University in St. Louis
• Intersection of Aging and Disability at Work: Inclusion Strategies and the Americans with Disabilities Act | Susan Gatti, Employer Relations Specialist at MaineHealth providing education and strategic guidance to help employers promote Disability Inclusion

1:50 PM | No One Left Behind: Designing Employment Programs that Work for Every Older Person | Philip Taylor, PhD, Professor at the Institute of Employment Research, University of Warwick, UK

2:40 PM | Reimagining Older Adult Workforce Programming: Program and Participant Perspectives | Jennifer Crittenden (Facilitates), PhD, MSW, Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Maine and the Associate Director for Research at the University of Maine Center on Aging

3:35 PM | Closing Remarks | Noel Bonam, Maine State Director of AARP