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- Staying Engaged As We Age: A Roadmap
Loneliness, social isolation and lack of social engagement are serious public health problems. People seek happiness, a sense of community with others, and a life that matters. Many life transitions such as becoming a caregiver or retiring can make it difficult to see how one matters, to find happiness, or to avoid losing connections with others. Research suggests that tools exist to help people recognize the degree of their loneliness as well as how to address it by promoting healthy relationships and friendships and joining in activities that strengthen a sense of fulfillment.
To provide perspectives on developing strategies to stay engaged throughout adulthood, ClassACT HR73 will present a forum on Aging, Loneliness, and Isolation. The distinguished panel will include Dr. Laura Carstensen, Professor of Psychology and the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy Director at the Stanford Center on Longevity; Dr. Robert J. Waldinger ’73, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of the best-selling The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness; and Dr. Prentiss Taylor ’73, a pulmonologist who is the Regional Center Medical Director at Advocate Health Care. Dr. Vivian Lewis ’73, Professor Emerita and former Vice Provost at the University of Rochester Medical Center, will moderate the discussion.
Please join us for this forum that will focus on feelings of being disconnected to feelings of fulfillment and greater satisfaction in life. Save the December 11 date!
OUR PANELISTS
MODERATOR VIVIAN LEWIS '73, MD
Retired Academic Physician
Dr. Vivian Lewis (HR’73) has spent her professional career as a practitioner, educator and researcher the field of women’s health, most recently at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry where she is professor emerita of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has long been interested in the role of reproductive aging and menopause in overall health. She has served as a reviewer for the National Institute on Aging and worked to raise awareness among physicians about the importance of women’s health as they age through several professional organizations, including American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology the National Medical Association and NYS American College of Physicians.
LAURA L. CARSTENSEN '73, PhD
Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy
Professor of Psychology
Director, Stanford Center on Longevity
Laura L. Carstensen is Professor of Psychology at Stanford University where she is the Fairleigh S. Dickinson Jr. Professor in Public Policy and founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity. Her research on the theoretical and empirical study of motivational, cognitive, and emotional aspects of aging has been funded continuously by the National Institute on Aging for more than 30 years. Carstensen is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She served on the MacArthur Foundation’s Research Network on an Aging Society and was a commissioner on the Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity. Carstensen’s awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Kleemeier Award, The Richard Kalish Award for Innovative Research and distinguished mentor awards from both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Psychological Association. She is the author of A Long Bright Future: Happiness, Health, and Financial Security in an Age of Increased Longevity. Carstensen received her B.S. from the University of Rochester and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from West Virginia University. She holds honorary doctorates from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the University of Rochester.
PRENTISS TAYLOR '73, MD, FACP
Chief Medical Editor for Oakstone Continuing Medical Education
Physician on staff at Advocate Christ Hospital in Metro Chicago
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Prentiss Taylor MD, FACP currently serves as Chief Medical Editor for Oakstone Continuing Medical Education. He is also an attending physician on staff at Advocate Christ Hospital in Metro Chicago, part of Advocate Health, one of the largest health systems. He was selected recently to serve on the committee rewriting the American Heart Association 2025 Hypertension Treatment Guidelines for this decade.
He was awarded the Unsung Hero Award by WGN-TV for his volunteer work at a free clinic. Prentiss has volunteered as guest lecturer for the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential Eight program, has spoken to church groups, and has appeared on local radio stations in support of Hypertension Awareness and Control. He is five years into leading two Hypertension urban population health initiatives in Atlanta and Detroit through the American College of Preventive Medicine, Henry Ford Health System, and Grady Health System. He has most recently served as Vice President for Medical Affairs for Doctor On Demand/ Included Health, a national telehealth and care navigation company.
Prentiss is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and the Kellogg Business School and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, board-certified in Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine.
ROBERT J. WALDINGER '73, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Director, Harvard Study of Adult Development, MGH
Dr. Robert Waldinger is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and Zen priest. He is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and directs the Harvard Study of Adult Development, one of the longest-running studies of adult life ever done. Dr. Waldinger is the author of numerous scientific papers as well as two books. He teaches medical students and psychiatry residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and he is a Senior Dharma Teacher in Boundless Way Zen. robertwaldinger.com.
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