Professional Workshop Series
Reimagining Professional Education in Aging
“Core to CHAI’s mission is to offer educational experiences that fill crucial gaps in training for the aging services workforce and provide affordable options to providers and professionals working in the field. The relevance and applicability of the content, the convenient format and continuing education credits make our series accessible and meet the needs of the wide range of working professionals in aging services.”
CHAI’s “Professional Education in Aging” virtual workshop series is an applied education and training program designed for providers and professionals in aging services. Each session covers a relevant and timely topic in the field of aging. The curriculum balances academic content with practical tools and actionable strategies participants can apply in their work and organizations.
Back to Basics: Minnesota’s Long Term Services & Support Policies & ProgramsMay 8, 2024 | 11:30 AM – 1 PM CST |
Description
Join the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation for a comprehensive overview of Minnesota’s Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) policy landscape. Designed for staff, leaders, students and interns, board members, and volunteers the workshop will highlight funding, health care, and social service programs designed to support us as we age. Dr. Rajean Moone, a seasoned policy expert, will provide insights into the intricacies of these programs including eligibility criteria, service nuances, and the evolution of LTSS policies in Minnesota.
Instructor(s)
Rajean Moone, PhD, Associate Director of Policy
Rajean’s professional career is dedicated to eliminating ageism and working on age-friendly initiatives that support the inclusion of older adults in society. In the past Rajean worked with the state unit on aging, area agencies on aging, and Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging. He aided in the founding of Training to Serve (LGBTQ non-profit), the Minnesota Diverse Elders Coalition, and Finish Strong Funders Network for Aging Services. Academically, Rajean holds a BA in Psychology, a MS degree in Gerontology, a PhD in Social Work, and a MN nursing home administrator’s license and assisted living director license. Rajean joined academia full time in 2018 in a position spread across the University of Minnesota campus with roles in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, Center for Healthy Aging & Innovation (CHAI), and MN Northstar GWEP. Rajean is appointed to the Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota. He started in CHAI as the Associate Director of Education where he relaunched the Aging Studies Interdisciplinary Group organization for students studying aging, Graduate Minor in Gerontology, professional workshop series, and initiated the Age- Friendly University collaboration. He currently serves as CHAI’s Associate Director for Policy and serves as the lead for the Age-Friendly University Council. He serves on the board of the MN Association of Geriatrics Inspired Clinicians, Care Providers of Minnesota Foundation, Stevens Square Foundation, and FamilyMeans. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a lifetime member of the Minnesota Gerontological Society, Hartford Fellow, McNair Scholar, and a Health and Aging Policy Fellow.
Building Better Presentations
April 19, 2023 |12:00-1:30 PM CST | Zoom
Description
Presentations – whether in person or on Zoom, internal to our organizations or external – are important opportunities for us to build knowledge and excitement about our work, our program, and our issue. Too often, we sit through (or even give (!)) talks that may cover the ground, but are filled with too many slides and text and too few stories and memorable moments. This 90-minute, interactive session, run by John Beilenson, President of SCP, a socially conscious communications firm that works with many of the nation’s leading aging organizations and leaders, will be a minds-on, hands-on workshop for creating dynamic presentations that both inform and inspire.
Instructor(s)
John Beilenson
John Beilenson is President of SCP (formerly Strategic Communications & Planning), a certified B Corporation and socially responsible communications and public relations firm, which he founded in 1987. Mr. Beilenson has delivered more than 150 communications presentations, workshops, and trainings around the country, serves on the ReFraming Aging national advisory committee, and is a certified facilitator in ReFraming Aging from The Frameworks Institute in Washington, DC. He has been an instructor in communications studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and recently co-led a semester-long course on “Digital Storytelling” at St. Andrews University.
He has also written 18 books for Peter Pauper Press, including The Future Me: Authoring the Second Half of Your Life, an interactive journal for people considering retirement and other transitions in later life. He has contributed to several national magazines and journals, including Social Policy and Sports Illustrated.
Mr. Beilenson has an AB in history and literature from Harvard University and an MA in communications studies from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He is currently a member (and former chair) of the board of directors of Surrey Services in Devon, PA, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Health Equity and a board advisor to Generations Online, both in Philadelphia.
Back to Basics: Minnesota’s Long Term Services & Supports Policies & Programs
November 9, 2022 |12:00-1:30 PM CST
Description
What’s the difference between Medicare and Medicaid? Are they different from Medical Assistance? Are Elderly Waiver and Alternative Care the same thing? How does the Older Americans Act work? In this virtual workshop, we will explore common benefit policies and programs that pay for and/or fund health care and long term services and supports for older Minnesotans and their families. The session is intended as an introduction for beginners and will walk through what each policy does, how a person applies, and where to go for answers to questions.
Instructor(s)
Rajean Moone, PhD, Assoc. Dir. of Education
Rajean’s professional career is dedicated to eliminating ageism and working on age-friendly initiatives that support the inclusion of older adults in society. He aided in the founding of Training to Serve, the Minnesota Diverse Elders Coalition, and Finish Strong Funders Network for Aging Services. Rajean’s work is spread across UMN with roles in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, Center for Healthy Aging & Innovation, and MN Northstar GWEP. Rajean is appointed to the Faculty Senate, Campus Curriculum Committee, and Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota. Rajean teaches the University’s course on aging and disability policy in the School of Social Work.
Creating Surveys that Obtain the Best Data on Which to Make Decisions
February 24th, 2022 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM CST
Description
We all use surveys, whether online or paper, to solicit feedback from customers, program participants, and other stakeholders in our service delivery. Results from surveys are used to inform program development and implementation. But, are we creating surveys that are most impactful and avoid pitfalls that may compromise the information being collected? This applied workshop will help you craft the most impactful survey to collect data. For up to a month after the event, participants can take advantage of the University’s expertise by submitting a draft survey for feedback on questions.
Instructor(s)
Tim Beebe, PhD
Tim is a professor and division head of the Division of Health Policy and Management in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Tim’s primary expertise is in the field of survey methodology, where he has a 30-year track record of testing new data collection methods in both general population and physician samples. His other research interests focus on patient-reported outcomes measurement, developing and testing health measures, health care policy, health care access for vulnerable populations, and learning health systems research, a form of health services research that is defined by its embeddedness in health systems. Prior to joining the School of Public Health, he was the chair of the Division of Health Care Policy & Research and director of the Survey Research Center within the Department of Health Sciences Research at Mayo Clinic as well as the deputy director of research for the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery.
Gay and Gray: Applying LGBTQ Welcoming Practices in Your Work
January 26, 2022 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM CST
Description
LGBTQ older adults face significant health, economic and social disparities when compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, often the result of a lifetime of oppression and trauma. In this interactive workshop you will review the results of the 2021 Minnesota LGBTQ Aging Needs Assessment. Using data obtained from that study, you will explore a tool to assess your organization’s LGBTQ welcoming policies and practices and develop an action plan. For up to a month after the event, participants can submit questions regarding their LGBTQ policies and practices for feedback from experts.
Instructor(s)
Hannah McNamee, MPH
Hannah McNamee (she/her) is the Education Supervisor at Rainbow Health MN. Hannah received a BA in Psychology and Public Health from Beloit College and a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota. She has a passion for working to improve conditions for people living with HIV and LGBTQ+ populations in all spaces, particularly health systems and within the criminal justice system. Hannah loves working in an environment where she can thrive in her own queer identity, ultimately drawing from her personal experiences, research, and conversations with community to provide intersectional and impactful education. She loves training providers because it is a tangible and rewarding way to directly improve conditions for folks within these systems of care, ultimately creating systemic change for the better.
Rajean Moone, PhD, Associate Director of Policy
Rajean’s professional career is dedicated to eliminating ageism and working on age-friendly initiatives that support the inclusion of older adults in society. He aided in the founding of Training to Serve, the Minnesota Diverse Elders Coalition, and Finish Strong Funders Network for Aging Services. Rajean’s work is spread across UMN with roles in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, Center for Healthy Aging & Innovation, and MN Northstar GWEP. Rajean is appointed to the Faculty Senate, Campus Curriculum Committee, and Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota. Curriculum Committee, and Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Senior Care: Understanding the Data and Championing Quality
November 3, 2021 | 10:00 – 11:30 am CST
Description
While Minnesota is a great place to live and age, many of the factors that influence this “successful” aging are not readily available universally. Minnesota has some of the widest gaps between white and black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities. This interactive, virtual workshop will explore cutting edge data on health, economic and social disparities experienced by BIPOC residents of senior care communities. Attendees will develop actionable strategies within their organizations to mitigate these disparities. For up to a month after the event, participants can submit questions and strategies for feedback from experts.
Instructor(s)
Tetyana Shippee, PhD
Many factors determine how we age and our quality of life as we age. And as our population gets older and older, long-term care services and supports will become even more important. As a social gerontologist, Tetyana Shippee’s, PhD, work focuses on what really matters to people as they age, such as quality of life measures (like social interactions with others and meal enjoyment) in long-term care settings and the role of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities for older adults’ quality of life. Tetyana is an associate professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, at the University of Minnesota.
Shekinah Fashaw-Walters, PhD
Providing quality care for all, means dismantling structural inequities and providing equitable care for the most marginalized. As a health services researcher, Shekinah Fashaw-Walters’, PhD, work focuses on the relationships between health inequities in long-term services and supports and racism. She has research in the areas of both nursing homes and home- and community-based services. Shekinah is an assistant professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, at the University of Minnesota.
Combating Ageism: Transforming Your Organization through Language, Policies and Practices
October 20, 2021 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM CST
Description
Ageism is a pervasive form of bigotry and can find its way into everyday practices without our conscious awareness. Mitigating and eliminating ageism can begin with transforming your organization by utilizing age-friendly principles and practices you can easily implement. This interactive, virtual workshop will provide you with tools to assess your organization’s current policies and practices; develop an action plan based on the assessment; and evaluate your progress. For up to a month after the event, participants can submit questions and plans for feedback from experts.
Instructor(s)
Rajean Moone, PhD, Assoc. Dir. of Education
Rajean’s professional career is dedicated to eliminating ageism and working on age-friendly initiatives that support the inclusion of older adults in society. He aided in the founding of Training to Serve, the Minnesota Diverse Elders Coalition, and Finish Strong Funders Network for Aging Services. Rajean’s work is spread across UMN with roles in the College of Continuing and Professional Studies, Center for Healthy Aging & Innovation, and MN Northstar GWEP. Rajean is appointed to the Faculty Senate, Campus Curriculum Committee, and Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota. Curriculum Committee, and Governor’s Council on an Age-Friendly Minnesota.
