Sep 13, 2018 By: yunews
Dr. Irit Felsen, adjunct professor at , continues to focus her work to provide trainings to healthcare providers and mental health care professionals about the role of prior trauma in the lives of elderly survivors.
Dr. Felsen noted that 鈥渢he proportion of older adults in the general population is expected to constitute 20 percent of the U.S. population within the next 15 years. This change requires more healthcare research and identification of needs and services that are necessary for older adults. One area of particular interest may be the effects of traumatic exposure in this age group, which is an area of personal significance to me, as a child of Holocaust survivors.鈥
On Thursday, September 13, Dr. Felsen gave a webinar for the Alzheimer鈥檚 Foundation of America entitled 鈥淧rior Trauma, Aging and the Experience of Care Recipients.鈥 In her presentation, she reviewed the immediate and long-term effects impact of extreme trauma aging trauma survivors and their families. 鈥淭he research shows,鈥 she noted, 鈥渢hat trauma during earlier times in life influences the way one ages. My presentation aims at familiarizing people with the symptoms and signs of trauma in elderly individuals, which may differ from those exhibited by younger individuals and which may be missed due to a multitude of other complicating factors when dealing with aging individuals.鈥
On Thursday October 18, she continues her work by participating in a panel symposium aimed at 鈥淎dvancing Trauma-Informed Response to Elder Abuse: Practice, Research, Education and Policy鈥 organized by the , which is planning/hosting this symposium with colleagues at .
