The Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging convened a Hunter-wide symposium to honor Older Americans Month on May 18. In partnership with Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab and Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute, Brookdale’s executive director, Ruth Finkelstein, moderated a discussion titled “Older Adults in the Plague Year: Times of Resistance and Resilience.” Harold Holzer, Jonathan F. Fanton Director of Roosevelt House, gave introductory remarks.
Mark Brennan-Ing, Brookdale’s director of research and evaluation, spoke about “crisis competence,” the idea that older adults who have weathered storms may be better prepared to handle adversity.
Keith Chan, assistant professor at the Silberman School of Social Work, emphasized the need to speak out and act against anti-Asian racism and violence, which is often directed at older adults.
Elizabeth Gross Cohn, associate provost for research for Hunter College and the Rudin Professor and associate dean for research at the Hunter School of Nursing, presented interim findings from a project that surveyed people at particular risk for poor outcomes from COVID-19 to see whether they were able to follow public health recommendations and how they were faring.
