Experts on aging to address long-term care Oct. 24 at WUSTL's School of Social Work

Oct. 10, 2006 -- University of Minnesota professors Robert L. and Rosalie A. Kane will present "Long-Term Care Shouldn't Be This Way: Two Perspectives" from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the 2nd-floor Lounge of Brown Hall at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work on WUSTL's campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The Kanes are husband and wife and preeminent scholars in the field of aging. Together, they have devoted 60 years to the study of aging and have conducted pathbreaking research in geriatrics, health services and long-term care. They will speak about their personal experiences as caregivers for their own parents, drawing from the context of their scholarship and the larger national scope of long-term care reforms.

Robert Kane is a physician and professor and Minnesota Chair in Long-Term Care and Aging in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the School of Public Health. He is director of the Center on Aging and the Minnesota Geriatric Education Center and co-directs the University of Minnesota's Clinical Outcomes Research Center.

The author or editor of more than 30 books and 350 journal articles and book chapters, Robert served on the World Health Organization's Expert Committee on Aging. He has been distinguished with numerous awards including the President's Award from the American Society on Aging, which he shared with Rosalie, the Polisher Award from the Gerontological Society of America and the Enrico Greppi Prize from the Italian Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics.

Robert Kane, with his sister, Joan West, is the co-author of It Shouldn't Be This Way: The Failure of Long-Term Care, published in 2005 and based on their experiences of caring for their parents. That same year, he formed a national advocacy group, Professionals with Personal Experience with Chronic Care (PPECC).

Rosalie Kane is a professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health. She also serves on the faculties of the Center for Biomedical Ethics, the School of Social Work and the Center on Aging.

Her research centers on long-term care services, organization, policies and financing in settings that include nursing homes, assisted living and home care. A prolific author and past editor-in-chief of "The Gerontologist" and "Health and Social Work," Rosalie serves on several national task forces and committees on aging. She's been honored with the Kent Award from the Gerontological Association of America and a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator Award in Health Policy Research.

"This lecture comes at a time when health care policy is rising in national importance," says Michelle Putnam, WUSTL assistant professor of social work and an expert in aging and disability policy.

"Long-term care is a poorly insured and extremely expensive component of our system. Many of us are or will be engaging in care-giving activities in the future. These issues are relevant and critically important to us all."

For more information, call (314) 935-7573.