International symposium on social services for older adults

The University of Illinois at Chicago and the Chicago & Shanghai Social Services Exchange will hold a symposium on community-based interprofessional care and health services for older adults. The symposium will showcase global best practices and lessons learned in optimizing health and well-being of older adults in the U.S. and China, with a special focus on the sister cities of Chicago and Shanghai.

WHEN:
Friday, Aug. 24
9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE:
UIC College of Medicine Moss Auditorium
909 S. Wolcott Ave.

Speakers will include:

Theresa Mah, 2nd District, state representative, Illinois House of Representatives
Lisa Kohnke, director of strategic partnerships and global affairs, City of Chicago
Neal R. McCrillis, vice provost for global engagement, UIC
Dr. Thomas Cornwell, director, Home-Centered Care Institute, UIC family medicine House Calls Program

UIC symposium co-chairs are: Dr. Memoona Hasnain, UIC College of Medicine; Valerie Gruss, UIC College of Nursing, and Naoko Muramatsu, UIC School of Public Health.

In 2014, the Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau reached out internationally for ideas and ap­proached Chicago Sister Cities International (CSCI), requesting an exchange focused on aging services. Chicago is one of Shanghai’s sister cities, and the CSCI nonprofit manages citizen diplomacy for Chicago. The Chicago-Shanghai Sister Cities Exchange is the first of the sister cities to focus on social service approaches to older adults. The Chinese American Service League, a local agency providing aging services in Chicago’s Chinatown, along with CSCI staff and its China committee, invited interested experts in aging and formed the CSCI Shanghai/Chicago Social Service Exchange Committee. The first delegation from Shanghai visited Chicago in 2014. The following year, a del­egation from Chicago traveled to Shanghai, establishing a yearly exchange.