Nurturing Our Retired Citizens		Replication Guide

Health And Wellness Lectures

Mission

To educate seniors and their caregivers about health, wellness and other topics of interest.

This is a program of monthly educational lectures. The program helps seniors and their caregivers to access information about health, wellness and other issues of interest. Topics covered a broad range of subjects, from graceful aging to preventing scams.

Community Goals Met

• Educate residents and service providers about existing resources,
• Provide options for health promotion, exercise, volunteering and other vital aging activities.

Program Leadership  

• Suggests topics
• Gives recommendations on the lecture format and advertising.

• Coordinates contracts with presenters, venue representatives and TV professionals
• Plans and advertises the lectures through flyers, posters and newspapers ads
• Prepares evaluation form
• Gets talent release form signed by the presenter
• Prepares the Certificates of Appreciation and mails to the presenters
• Keeps updated files and list of tapes.
• Answers phone inquiries from the public

• Introduces speaker for audience and cable TV.

• Videotapes the lectures
• Prepares CDs of the taped programs.

• Makes presentation
• Answers questions

Impact

• Seniors in the community and their caregivers (attendance varied depending on the topic and the venue from 10 to 80 people)
• Local cable TV audience (around 1600 people according to the NORC survey results)
• Recipients of taped copies sent upon request – (approximately 5 per year) and those who view them together

Planning Timeline

Before the event

• Decide on topics and determine priority of presentation.
• Plan three to four months in advance for a new series of lectures (seasonal series) and venues. Contact each speaker regarding the lecture title, description, and equipment requirements. Prepare flyers and posters.
• One month ahead and then a week in advance, confirm contract with the presenter. Confirm with the venue contact person regarding auditorium and equipment requirements.
• Two weeks in advance, contact the TV team and the person who introduces the lectures and provide background on speaker.
• Two weeks in advance, send information to community calendars, community centers and other places to promote the event.

• Arrive early
• Bring evaluation sheets, flyers for the next lecture/s (other handouts if available).
• Check the venue set-up and equipment for presentation

• The week following the lecture, send a thank-you letter and certificate of appreciation to the presenter.

• Community calendar in local newspapers
• Community centers
• Senior apartment buildings
• NORC Web site
• NORC Newsletter
• Local cable TV.

Process and Outcomes

The information provided in the lectures helped seniors remain healthy and active in their communities. We started with lectures at one location, with a fixed day of the week and time of the day, but the attendance was smaller then we expected. We decided to move the lectures around the community to bring them closer to the seniors. We kept the same day of week (fourth Wednesday of the month). The location was important for the programs’ success. Having the lectures at one venue made it easier to coordinate and plan the lectures. Depending on the venue, we changed the time of the lectures from morning to afternoon to better fit with the activity schedule at the location. This considerably improved the attendance. However this change of venues created additional problems of coordinating and promoting the event. Special attention should be given to making it clear during the promotion period where the event takes place. It is also necessary to check the venues for seat arrangements and equipment availability for the presentation ahead of time. All the lectures were videotaped and then broadcast frequently on the local cable TV channel. NORC created a lending library to make these tapes available at four different locations. We also hand-delivered or mailed them to those people who were unable to pick them up. It proved to be more efficient to keep recorded lectures at only one location. We mailed copies (DVD or VHS) by request that people could keep. We created several templates to facilitate paperwork, events promotion and communication with speakers. See Appendix: Talent Release, Letter to the Speaker, Planning Form, Thank You Letter, Certificate of Appreciation and examples of flyers and posters.

Budget and Funding Sources

Summary

This educational program provided a forum for seniors to learn about issues affecting their health and wellbeing. These lectures promote a healthy lifestyle, encourage planning for long-term care, and help to connect seniors and their caregivers to existing resources and information. Broadcast of the lectures on the local cable TV station brings this information to homebound people and helps reduce their isolation by connecting them to their community.

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