Mini-Seminar: Revolutionizing the Way Older Adults Engage with Literature and Each Other
Can individuals living with dementia create their own meaningful social experiences? Can they engage in lifelong learning? With the right support, the answer is a resounding yes!
Join us for this 30-minute online mini-seminar as we delve into the profound impact of age/dementia-friendly books. Witness firsthand how accessible reading enhances cognitive health, enhances the experiences of volunteers, reduces reliance on staff members, and best of all, nurtures peer friendships.
Participants will learn how public libraries can collaborate with faith communities, assisted living providers, community centers, and other organizations to enrich the lives of people impacted by dementia and their caregivers.
Let’s say goodbye to social isolation!
The webinar includes Susan Ostrowski, the Co-Creator of Reading2Connect® and, Teepa Snow, Founder & Owner, Positive Approach, LLC, as a Special Guest.
Speakers
Teepa Snow is a renowned dementia care expert and educator. Throughout her over-40-year career, Teepa has led numerous local, regional, national, and international aging initiatives. In light of the growing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia worldwide, Teepa has partnered with countless families, communities, healthcare organizations, and educational programs to address evolving needs in dementia care. Together, Teepa and her partners have made profound impacts on the lives of people living with the disease and their myriad caregivers locally and globally.
Bill Barberg, a co-founder of the Population Health Learning Collaborative, is the President and Founder of InsightFormation, Inc., a Minnesota-based consulting and technology company that helps communities, regions, and states address complex social and health issues that require multi-stakeholder collaboration. His deep background in strategy implementation has been featured in dozens of conference presentations, papers, and webinars.
Bill was selected to write the chapter on “Implementing Population Health Strategies” for the book, “Solving Population Health Problems through Collaboration” (Routledge, 2017). His recommendations for using strategy maps are featured as a core recommendation in the new report by the National Academy of Public Administration. Bill recently co-authored a paper for the Journal of Change Management on “Leading Social Transformations to Create Public Value and Advance the Common Good”.
Susan Ostrowski, Co-Creator/Owner of Reading2Connect®. With an MA in remedial reading and an MS in speech pathology from Columbia University, New York City, Susan Ostrowski has worked in a variety of senior care settings, from skilled nursing to day centers to homecare. Susan is co-creator/owner of Reading2Connect®, an organization devoted to bringing back the joy of reading to adults living with cognitive changes.
Writing on the relationship between reading and dementia, Susan has contributed to multiple publications, including the American Speech and Hearing Association Perspectives Journal and the Thieme Medical Publishers Communication Sciences Case Study textbook. Susan has received several national recognitions, including Mather Institute “Promising Practices,” Beryl Institute Patient Experience Grant, Dementia Society of America SMART Award, and the American Speech and Hearing Association Recent Clinical Achievement Award (2021) and Innovation Leader (2023).
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