Health issues ranging from arthritis to food will be the focus of the first spring series of seminars offered by the Association of MIT Retirees.
"Health information is a major topic of interest to retirees, according to their response to interest surveys," said Dorothy Bowe, who arranged the upcoming series. More than 80 percent of respondents to last summer's retiree questionnaire said they were interested in programs of health and medical information. "We hope they will find this first series to be enriching."
The first presentation will be "Beating the Blues--A Survival Action Plan" by Dr. Margaret Ross, psychiatrist, and Dr. Dawn Metcalf, social worker in the mental health service of the Medical Department. They will focus on achieving the sense of accomplishment in retirement that most people formerly found in their jobs and may now miss. The speakers will also offer tips on avoiding loneliness and isolation and finding the interest and initiative to stay involved with activities.
The leadoff program is scheduled for Thursday, March 6 at 11am in the Bartos Theater of the Wiesner Building. All of the seminars will be held at that time on Thursdays so retirees can meet at the seminar and continue on with friends or former associates for lunch.
The series was arranged in cooperation with the Medical Department's Health Education Service. Seminars are open to all members of the community, and those planning to retire are particularly welcome. Refreshments will be served before the programs.
Parking for the first program will be available in the CRA lot (corner of Broadway and Ames Street--enter from Ames) to those with an MIT ID.
Other dates and programs will be:
��������������������������� March 20: "Strength Training, Exercise and Aging" with Dr. Christina Economos, who is a frequent instructor in nutrition and exercise programs offered by the Health Education Service.
��������������������������� April 17: "What We Need to Know about Arthritis as We Age" with Dr. Michael Kane, an internist in the Medical Department who is certified in rheumatology.
��������������������������� April 24: "MIT Retiree Medical Benefits" presented by Julienne Castro, assistant manager of benefits. This program will inform retirees of choices available to them during the open enrollment period in May.
���������������������������������������������May 8: "Helpful Guidelines to Follow When Using Both Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications" with Patricia Kravetz, a registered pharmacist in the Medical Department pharmacy.
��������������������������� May 15: "Fabulous Foods for Modern Times" with Christina Economos.
In addition, two programs on aging successfully will be offered by the MIT Women's League as part of the Catherine Stratton Lecture Series. Topics will be prostate problems that affect older men and medical breakthroughs produced at MIT. The talks are scheduled for Thursday, April 3, and Thursday, April 10 at 9:30am in Wong Auditorium in the Tang Center (Building E51). Further details on these presentations will appear in future issues of MIT Tech Talk.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 12, 1997.
