April 23
4 pm to 6 pm
Wong Auditorium, Jack C. Tang Center (E51)

Wong Auditorium in MIT's Jack C. Tang Center will be the venue for the 21th Annual Catherine N. Stratton Aging Successfully Lecture on April 23 from 4 to 6 pm. A collaborative project of the MIT Medical Department and the MIT Women's League, this year's lecture will focus on the effectiveness of exercise as we age with particular emphasis on the benefits of strength training.

Popular media, alumni magazines and our health providers urge us to exercise regularly, to do "aerobic conditioning" with some vigor so that this recurrent exercise benefits our cardiovascular systems, enhances mobility and general well-being. Current evidence would add strength and weight training to our exercise agendas with additional proven results. Increasing muscle mass and strength may improve balance, promote agility, reduce the fear and tendency of falling - and thus fractures - and take some pressure off inflamed joints.

Each of our distinguished panelists has vast experience in the effectiveness of exercise and strength training for older adults in all settings. They will share their research, clinical stories and how to's on improving our mobility and trying to avoid unnecessary frailty as we age.

Moderator:
William M. Kettyle, MD, Director of MIT's Medical Department, Internist, Endocrinologist and Geriatrician, will employ his award winning teaching skills to outline our topic, and assure a lively discussion on the various research and practical outcomes of strength training as well as cardiovascular-focused exercise.

Panelists:
Anne Fabiny, MD, Chief of Geriatrics at Cambridge Health Alliance, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School (HMS), will discuss the issues and realities of strength training for the older adult. Her research on falls, assessment of their contributing factors and fall prevention, illustrates the value of muscle strengthening, balance training and walking to help prevent falling initially, and repeated falls as well.

Jonathan F. Bean, MD, MS, MPH, Medical Director of Spaulding Cambridge Outpatient Center; Director, Research Training and Education at the HMS Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, is a physiatrist conducting research-based assessment and treatment for neuromuscular and rehabilitative issues in older adults. He will present the science behind his clinically-tested investigations and interventions to rehabilitate older adults with mobility problems.

Evelyn O'Neill, BS, is the Manager of Outpatient Exercise Programs at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center, and one of the developers of the Fit for Your Life exercise program used internationally. An expert in strength training and exercise for the elderly, she teaches health care providers the importance of the correct method of "how to do" these exercises in any setting. She will illustrate her talk with images from her work.

A question and answer period will follow the presentations.


The Aging Successfully Lectures strive to encourage those attending to become their own well-informed health advocates.