In the News
The State Society on Aging in New York (SSA) held its 51st Annual Conference, “Aging: Embracing the Journey, Shaping the Future,” from September 30th to October 1st, 2024 at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs, New York. Dr. Danielle Gagne, SSA President, opened the conference with remarks on how this year’s theme addressed the increasing needs of older adults and their providers, pointing out the “evolving roles of caregivers and communities” in serving older adults.
Dr. Gagne thanked the SSA Conference Committee, co-chaired by board members christian gonzález-rivera, and Dr. Janna C. Heyman, Fordham Graduate School of Social Service Professor, Director and Endowed Chair of the Henry C. Ravazzin Center on Aging and Intergenerational Studies, for organizing the conference program that included sessions highlighting unique and underserved older populations, caregiver and community supports, policies and programs centered on the aging, and resiliency.
According to the World Health Organization, one in six people will be 60 or older by 2030. And while our aging population provides society with abundant wisdom, experience, and value—as we age, many older adults may need to lean on others for care.
However, we’re learning that the supply of caregivers is not meeting the demand of this population. This has resulted in what Colette Phipps, Director of Program Development at the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services, calls a “care crisis.”
Phipps provided the opening remarks for “The Livable Communities Caregiver Coaching Program,” an event held at Fordham’s Westchester Campus on Wednesday, June 5. The event was co-sponsored by Fordham’s Ravazzin Center for Aging and Intergenerational Studies and brought together professionals in the aging field and caregivers from across Westchester County to introduce the Livable Communities Caregiver Guide, a comprehensive document with critical information for caregivers.
As we learned more about the COVID-19 virus and its devastating qualities, the message became clear that older people were among the most susceptible to negative consequences. So, to prevent the spread to this vulnerable population, society entered a global lockdown.
And while social distancing did help as best it could, it left many older adults stranded in isolation. They couldn’t see their families, visit their friends, or share a room with anyone. The results were devastating.
But societal isolation of older adults has been a global problem even before the virus. And on April 12, 2023, Fordham GSS’s Ravazzin Center on Aging and Intergenerational Studies held a conference at the Westchester Campus to discuss this issue and find possible solutions. The conference was also co-sponsored by the State Society on Aging of New York and the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services.
History: The Ravazzin Center
Upon his death in 1992, Henry Ravazzin, son of Italian immigrants, World War II veteran and Catholic Relief Services worker, left a sizeable bequest to Fordham University’s Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) to be used for “the welfare of elderly persons.” The bequest led to the 1996 creation of the Ravazzin Center For Social Work Research In Aging, which has been honoring its benefactor’s wish ever since.
“Our mission is to increase social workers’ capacities to deal effectively with the needs of older people and their families, and to help communities meet the needs of an aging society,” said Irene Gutheil, DSW, Henry C. Ravazzin Professor of Gerontology and founding director of the Ravazzin Center. “Our nation is just not producing enough gerontologically trained social workers and we are facing a crisis of not having a workforce prepared to meet that need.”
Read the rest of the story in Inside Fordham.