FLUSHING HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER
DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY AND
ADDICTION SERVICES
Presents

The Second Annual Behavioral Health Conference
The New Gerontology:
Towards an expanded vision of successful aging for psychiatrists and other physicians,clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, psychiatric nurses, school counselors, other mental health
professionals, and religious and other cultural leaders of the diverse
Flushing community

PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES:

The purpose of this conference is to promote a culture of
successful aging practices amongst mental and behavioral
health professionals in the Flushing and surrounding community.

The MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America lasted
a decade that ended in the late 1990s. The study’s major
conclusion was that lifestyle factors have a significant effect
on longevity, especially as one gets older. Earlier in life, biological
factors are more potent; lifestyle factors become more
potent as one ages. Furthermore, behavioral health factors
are more potent when they are learned early and are maintained
over many years throughout the life cycle.

The MacArthur Foundation Research Network’s main finding
was that diet, exercise, self-efficacy, the pursuit of mental
challenges, and social support contribute to living a long and
successful life. The study also suggested that society has a
responsibility to help individuals achieve successful aging by
creating structures and processes that support activities to that
end.

The findings of the MacArthur Foundation’s Research
Network on Successful Aging supported those of the Healthy
People 2010 initiative of the U. S. Department of Health and
Human Services. The Department’s Office of Disease
Prevention and Health Promotion manages the initiative.
Healthy People 2010 challenges all of us to take steps to
ensure that good health and long life are achieved by all
Americans and that disparities between cultural groups are
reduced. Leading health indicators are being used to measure
the health of the Nation. The health indicators include diet,
exercise, tobacco use and substance abuse, and mental
health, all of which are included in the MacArthur Foundation
Successful Aging findings.

Mental health and behavioral health go hand-in-hand in
helping individuals live long and successful lives. It is the
responsibility of all of us to help create structures and
processes that promote activities towards these ends.
The objectives of The New Gerontology: Towards an
Expanded Vision of Successful Aging Conference are to
increase participant’s skill (1) in conceptualizing factors that
contribute to successful aging and (2) in creating structures
and processes that support this goal.

The program consists of two parts. The morning session
focuses on the demographic challenge facing the American
society, as the population profile grows older, and the psychological
well-being needed by individuals who will have to
meet the challenge of living longer. The afternoon session
focuses on the specific mental and behavioral factors that
contribute to successful aging: diet, exercise, self-efficacy, the
pursuit of mental challenges, and social support.