Judy Metcalf and Collyn Baeder Present at Maine Summit on Aging

Faculty and staff of the School of Community and Population Health (SCPH), Judith A. Metcalf, APRN, BC, M.S., FMGS, director of the Maine Geriatric Education Center (MGEC), and Collyn Baeder, coordinator for SCPH and Master of Public Health student '16, were invited to present as part of a Creative Aging Panel at the Maine Council on Aging's 2nd Annual Summit on Aging on September 15, 2015.

The Creative Aging Panel was hosted by the Maine Arts Commission (MAC), and other panelists included Kathleen Mundell, the MAC Special Programs Director, and Annette Crosby, Resident Service Coordinator of the Park Danforth senior living community in Portland.

Metcalf presented on the MGEC's "Living Art, Living WellSeminar Series which explores how creativity affects the health of the body, mind, and spirit of older adults. As part of the seminars, elder Maine master artists from the MAC Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program demonstrate their craft and discuss the role of these activities in their lives and their relationship to healthy aging to an audience of health professionals, students, and faculty. 

Baeder presented on an interprofessional arts-based research project she and a team of other graduate students of public health and occupational therapy (Zoe Hull, Michaela Hoffman, Adrian Jung, Rebecca Masterjohn and Virginia Sedarksi) conducted with older adults called "Visual Voices: An Arts-Based Assessment of the Perceived Identity of Aging Maine Residents". The project used art activities and group discussions to explore social and developmental issues such as identity, perception, and aging.