For Immediate Release

Date: December 22, 2005
Contact: Barbara Schoof Conant
barbaraconant@aging.state.ks.us
Director of Communications
(785) 296-6154

Kansans Among Delegation To Historic White House Conference On Aging

Washington, D.C. - Kansas was well represented at the recent 2005 White House Conference on Aging held Dec. 11-14 in Washington, D.C. Twelve delegates, two from the Topeka area, attended the event which occurs only once every 10 years. The historic 2005 conference was the fifth in the history of the U.S. and the first held during the 21st century.

Recommendations on national aging policies from the conference will be forwarded to the President, Congress and governors. The final report is expected to be released in June.

The approximately 1,200 delegates were selected by governors, members of Congress, the National Congress of American Indians and the WHCoA policy committee. Attending from Topeka were Pamela Johnson-Betts, Secretary of the Kansas Department on Aging and Annette Thornburgh, media and public relations specialist for the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, Inc. Johnson-Betts was selected as a delegate by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius; Thornburgh was appointed by Kansas Congressman Jim Ryan.

Delegates considered a number of resolutions during the three-day conference. Ten resolutions were prioritized as the most important for current and future generations of seniors. Strategies will be developed to implement those and other proposals designed to make a positive difference in the lives of seniors. The top 10 resolutions as voted on by the entire delegation were:

• Reauthorize The Older American Act within the first six months following the 2005 White House Conference on Aging
• Develop a coordinated, comprehensive long-term care strategy by supporting public and private sector initiatives that address financing, choice, quality, service delivery, and the paid and unpaid workforce.
• Ensure that older Americans have transportation options to retain their mobility and independence.
• Strengthen and improve the Medicaid program for seniors.
• Strengthen and improve the Medicare program.
• Support geriatric education and training for all healthcare professionals, paraprofessionals, health profession students and direct care workers.
• Promote innovative models of non-institutional long-term care.
• Improve recognition, assessment and treatment of mental illness and depression among older Americans.
• Attain adequate numbers of healthcare personnel in all professions who are skilled, culturally competent and specialized in geriatrics.
• Improve state and local-based integrated delivery systems to meet 21st century needs of seniors.

The 2005 WHCoA is legislatively mandated to focus on the seniors of today and tomorrow including 78 million baby boomers who begin to turn 60 in 2006. Dorcas R. Hardy, 2005 WHCoA policy committee chair, encouraged delegates to “envision the future” as they worked on how the resolutions they selected would be implemented. Delegates were also encouraged to include business, industry, private and non-profit sectors as well as families, communities and individuals - not just the federal, state and local governments.

The WHCoA sought input from an array of stakeholders during the past two years to develop the overarching agenda and plan for the conference. Emerging issues were identified and refined through public input received from approximately 400 events involving 130,000 people across the nation as well as general comments received by the WHCoA. The Kansas Department on Aging hosted two such events in Kansas during 2005.

Other members of the Kansas delegation were:

Rep. Bob Bethell, Alden; Jessie Bryant, Newton; David Geist, Dodge City; Rosemary Chapin, Kathy Greenlee and Debra Zehr, Lawrence; Julie Govert Walter and Barbara Withee, Manhattan; Colette Panchot, Overland Park; Janet Splitter, Lorraine.