Dear Editor:
The annual Healthy Aging Symposium, organized by HomePorts, is becoming a community tradition. Those who did not attend should be apprised of what they missed at the Kent County Middle School on April 15.
Dr. Walter Ettinger, MD, Chief Medical Officer, University of Maryland Medical System, bravely and articulately described our nation’s broken health care delivery. “We are skewed too far in the direction of making money,” he noted. He told us that health care is twice as expensive here as in any other country. And the quality we’re getting is nowhere near as high as in other developed countries. More people die from preventable hospital complications than from auto accidents. We don’t do death well. Most of us want to die at home, and most of us don’t.
Many of us are in denial about the fact that we are getting older. We do not want to think about it. I draw that conclusion after noting that many seniors in Kent County do not take advantage of the opportunity to attend these events. Do many of us think we already know all we need to know to age smartly? Dr. Ettinger emphasized how important it is to learn, consider our options, plan ahead, and communicate with family members. The most popular topic later in the morning was a speaker who described the need for each of us to have a Master Aging Plan. Attendees said, “Bring him back!”
Huge thanks are due to the sponsors, advertisers, and Kent County Middle School as well as to the very dedicated and capable Planning Committee. It is a big effort, reflecting a year of preparations, creation of materials by many exhibitors and seven expert speakers, acquisition and set-up of exhibits, and a commitment of valuable time by professionals graciously offering information and guidance. Comments on the evaluation forms were unanimously positive; examples: “good day!”, “great day”, “schedule an all-day conference”, “keep up the good work”.
If you have any thoughts or suggestions for 2015, please e-mail me at [email protected].
Muriel Cole
Healthy Aging Symposium Planning Chair
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