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Bay Area Workshops

The Eldership Dinner Co-Hosted by EBALDC & SPUR

Date: January 24, 2018 

Time: 6pm – 8pm 

Location: SPUR Oakland, 1544 Broadway, Oakland CA 94612 

Cost: FREE, RSVP Requested.

RSVP to Join Us: Contact Elana- Email Elana today

You’re invited to a fun & friendly discussion about aging!

We all do it (age), but how do we really feel about it? It’s a tough topic for lots of adults. Let’s talk it out over dinner and entertainment; with friends!

By 2030, one in five Alameda County residents will be older than 65, and by 2050 the county will have nearly 100,000 residents over the age of 85. This demographic growth represents a profound shift, and one that requires revisiting how we design our cities and systems. Join us for dinner and an open discussion about our own perceptions on aging and what infrastructure, political will and policies are needed to give older adults the opportunity to age in place. Co-presented by the Center for Elders’ Independence, East Bay’s Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.


Guided Discussion Led by Nader Shabahangi, Ph.D.

Renowned aging and elder care expert; author and CEO of AgeSong Senior Living Communities; and founding Trustee of CEI’s Foundation Board, FEI.

We’ll discuss:
Our perceptions of aging. To start change the key is “changing our perceptions of aging!”

What we can do to make our communities better for seniors.

The demographic changes in the number of Bay Area seniors.

Hear about “Age Friendly” policies & solutions to keeping seniors living well and independently in our communities.


Schedule:
a. Aging Intro: why this topic?
b. Age-friendly – starts with our own mindset -changing our perceptions of aging.
c. What is your mindset? Discuss our feelings about aging – be open and talk about your idea about aging, about yourself – no abstraction, your own innermost feelings.
d. Ideas about how to become age-friendly ourselves.
e. Do you know how much effort it takes to pick yourself up after tragedies? How much effort it takes not to throw in the towel? See that when you see an older person: he/she has not thrown in the towel! 

stagebridge logo with address and photo of actors on stage doing dance movements
Entertainment by Stagebridge!

“The nation’s oldest and most renowned theater company of older adults”  will have guests laughing in their seats as we ease into a joyful discussion.

The Hosts, Co-Sponsors and Co-Presenters!

Co-Hosted by SPUR

SPUR is a member-supported nonprofit organization. Through research, education and advocacy, SPUR promotes good planning and good government in the San Francisco Bay Area. SPUR brings people together from across the political spectrum to develop solutions to the big problems our cities face. With offices in San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, SPUR is recognized as a leading civic planning organization and respected for our independent and holistic approach to urban issues.

Find out More on SPUR's Calendar
Co-Hosted by EBALDC

East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC) is a non-profit community development organization with over 40 years of experience in building healthy, vibrant and safe neighborhoods in Oakland and East Bay. EBALDC addresses the specific needs of individual neighborhoods by connecting the essential elements of health and wellbeing through their Healthy Neighborhoods Approach.

Find out more about EBALDC
Co-Presented by The Center for Elders' Independence

The Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI) is a not-for-profit organization that works to improve the total environment of older adults in the East Bay. CEI provides high quality, affordable, integrated health care services to the elderly, which promote autonomy, quality of life and the ability of individuals to live in their communities.

Find out more about CEI

Recent Workshops

All-Staff Workshop at Center for Elders' Independence

Wednesday, May 10th, 2017

Center for Elders’ Independence, Oakland, CA

The workshop opens with Nader reviewing the power of language to create reality. Working with the group they come to the appreciation of our ability to use non-pathologizing language. (See the Language of Eldercare.) The group works together on interactive, experiential exercises with the goal to develop a curiosity of the elder’s life and world(the true meaning of person-centered care) rather than assuming one knows(see the It’s Not About The Shoe article.)

About CEI

Center for Elders’ Independence is the premier provider of community-based, long-term senior care services in the East Bay. We provide a creative team environment where member’s quality of life is raised to the highest possible level. We are a compassionate, ethical, reliable and trustworthy organization that anticipates and responds to member’s needs.


Read Related Article- The Language of Eldercare[PDF]
At Center for Elders' Independence Dinner in March, 2017

Recent Presentations

Eldership events and presentations. 

Eldership Dinner w/ Dr Nader Shabahangi

 Please join us for a light supper as we explore perceptions about aging. 

Come away with a new understanding of: 

What is life like as an older adult? 

How can we help our loved ones as they grow older?

Thursday, March 9, 2017 
6:00PM – 8:00PM 

Betti Ono Gallery 
1427 Broadway
Oakland, CA 94612


Guest Speaker: Nader Shabahangi, PhD 

Renowned aging and elder care expert 

CEO/Founder of AgeSong Senior Living Communities


Eldership Presentation Description from Dr Shabahangi:

As many a philosopher and sage have pointed out, what is nearest is often the hardest to see. Particularly in our so-called adult life, it is seldom a simple matter to take a step back and evaluate how we are living. How often do we reflect on whether our ways of living are really our choice or are instead heaped on us by external influences, ranging between mainstream values, education, family, social, and cultural norms? Do these resonate with our own inner inklings and desires? Are we simply following the herd?

These questions make sense when we can see available alternatives. Moreover, new alternatives seem to be emerging. As our society ages demographically, we begin to re-evaluate the arc of life from the point of view of the mature elder. Many life philosophies and thought traditions are available to us. In a sense, we start taking a rear view perspective of our lives, looking at the values we have followed as adults mirrored by those who have long life experience.

Watching any news or informational program on television will give one a good idea of the values held by a given culture. Throughout the global north, and increasingly in the south, a common set of adult values is quite well known to us. Yet these values are seldom questioned unless something happens in our lives, perhaps a tragedy, heartbreak, or misfortune. At such a crisis, we may come to a stop, wonder about our approach to life and our attitude to people, review our direction, and even change course.

I will give a brief synopsis of dominant values in order to contrast them with a different, elder-informed set of values. Those values form part of what I call the foundation of an attitude towards life I call Eldership.

Humans are meaning-making beings. We need purpose to feel fulfilled. What is our purpose when we get older, old, and very old? How do we make sense of our accrued years within societies that have done away with the role of elders and forgotten about eldership? Clearly, the world needs elders and the values they bring to the fore. Even a cursory view of the world today and the many issues needing to be tackled shows that people and planet are not well served by our dominant adult values. Elder values can augment these adult values with a more sustainable approach to these challenges. For this to happen our aged population, our elders, need to start valuing themselves, to appreciate what their life journey has endowed them with.

It is the very process of aging that allows a person to ripen into full humanity, to develop into the elder who is able to guide and mentor the next generation. In this way, elders are to be understood as stewards of society and the planet—as has traditionally been their role. Would we not rather have the most experienced and wise leaders guiding us, especially during troubled times?

Hosted by:

Center for Elder Independence
Fund for Elder’s Independence

Space is limited. Dinner and Presentation free -RSVP required to attend.
RSVP by Thursday, March 2, 2017 to Elana Sissons, Development Associate
Email: esissons@cei.elders.org

Past Conferences

Aging and Eldership Conferences 

2011 Poetics of Aging Conference

The Poetics of Aging conference was a grassroots gathering to celebrate elderhood and value aging as the basis for depth and wisdom. AgeSong Institute, in collaboration with leading Bay Area universities and organizations, organized a four-day get-together for people interested in exploring the beauty and depth of life at any stage and age. The conference mission: to counter the mainstream understanding of aging as decline and/or disease with a more expansive, humanistic, and creative vision and approach.

Interested in Hosting an Eldership Workshop?

Dr Nader Shabahangi can come to your organization and present your members with an engaging and insightful presentation or workshop on eldership. 

Contact Nader today about speaking to your group!

Email: Elders@eldershipacademy.org

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