Older Adults, Health Information, and the World Wide Web
02/15/99Registration Materials are now available. Older Adults, Health Information, and the World Wide Web A national conference hosted by The SPRY Foundation, Washington, D. C. and The University of Georgia Gerontology Center March 25 - 26, 1999 The Natcher Center on the campus of The National Institutes of Health Bethesda, Maryland
In just 10 years, one-third of the U.S. population will be age 50 or older. This "maturing market" is the fastest growing market segment and the fastest growing group of Internet users today.
We invite you to join nearly 250 leading academic, private, and government experts for a conference, "Older Adults, Health Information, and the World Wide Web" to gain a better understanding of the maturing market which will control an estimated 900 billion dollars in discretionary income. The conference is hosted by The SPRY Foundation, Washington, D. C. and The University of Georgia Gerontology Center. It will take place on the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, March 25 - 26, 1999.
Experts from the National Institutes of Health - National Library of Medicine, National Institute on Aging, The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, The Health Care Financing Administration, the Administration on Aging, the Centers for Disease Control and other government agencies, as well as universities, and private and corporate organizations such as AT&T, IBM, Pasteur Merieux Connaught - Rhone-Poulenc Group, Microsoft, America Online, Inc., Intel and others from around the country will meet to share effective strategies using the World Wide Web to reach older adults with important health care information.
The conference will be of particular interest to basic and applied researchers in cognition and aging, clinicians, senior marketing management for products and services for the elderly, communications managers, and website designers.
Conference Objectives:
1. Identify the "state of the art" work being conducted to increase the use of computers and the World Wide Web by older adults. Both (a) basic applied cognitive aging research in this area and (b) hands-on application through innovative demonstration projects focused primarily on the delivery of health care information and health care provision will be included in the discussion.
2. Isolate the current problems in health information delivery to older adults and their caregivers and construct models via the World Wide Web to alleviate these problems.
3. Identify key impediments which older adults currently face regarding use of the World Wide Web to access health information. Determine solutions to these impediments through a cross-fertilization of ideas between basic researchers in aging and computer use and health information providers.
4. Define specific areas of future research on older adults' use of the World Wide Web that will support functional independence.
5. Identify key individuals and institutions involved in developing these areas of work, thus encouraging communication on this topic among basic researchers and health information providers nationally and internationally.
Electronic Poster Boards
Two rooms in The Natcher Center will be set aside to accommodate up to 24 tabletop personal computers (PCs) that will be hooked up to the Internet via a T3 local area network (LAN) connection. We invite attendees to display current health information websites, particularly those that have been designed specifically with older adults as the target audience, in addition to other business or institutional Websites. There is a charge of $275 to display an electronic poster. This charge does not include registration for the conference.
Conference Organizing Committee
The conference organizing committee is co-chaired by Russell E. Morgan, Jr., Dr.P.H., President of the SPRY Foundation, Washington, D. C. and Roger W. Morrell, Ph.D., Assistant Director of the Gerontology Center at the University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Evening Networking Dinner
A reception and dinner for all conference attendees is planned for the evening of March 25th at the Natcher Center. One ticket is included with the Conference Registration fee.
For more information about registration for the Conference or registration to display an electronic poster, please contact:
SPRY Foundation 10 G Street, NE, Suite 600 Washington, D.C., 20002-4215 spryfoundation@pcpssm.org Telephone: (202) 216-8467 FAX: (202) 216-0779 or The Gerontology Center 100 Candler Hall The University of Georgia Athens, GA 30602-1775 rmorrell@geron.uga.edu Telephone (706) 542-3954 FAX: (706) 542-4805
Or visit the SPRY Foundation Website: http://www.spry.org or the UGA Gerontology Center Website: www.geron.uga.edu.
Roger W. Morrell, Ph.D. Assistant Director Gerontology Center The University of Georgia 100 Candler Hall Athens, GA 30602-1775 Phone: 706-542-3954 FAX: 706-542-4805 e-mail: rmorrell@omega.geron.uga.edu Ronald P. Abeles, Ph.D. Special Assistant to the Director Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health Gateway Building, Suite 2C234 7201 Wisconsin Avenue MSC 9205 Bethesda, MD 20892-9205 USA Voice: 301-594-5943 Fax: 301-402-0051 Mobile: 703-587-8605 E-mail: Ronald_Abeles@nih.gov
