Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Honoring Older Workers

In celebration of National Employ Older Workers Week, Experience Works, the nation’s largest organization serving older workers through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), announced today that Hedda Bolgar Bekker 102, and Mazerine Wingate 101, are America’s Outstanding Oldest Workers for 2011.
Hedda Bolgar Bekker was born on August 19, 1909.  She received her PhD in psychology at the University of Vienna.  She fled to the United States in 1938 on the day Hitler marched into Austria.
In the 1970s Bolgar co-founded the Wright Institute of Los Angeles, a nonprofit mental health training and service center and co-founded the Los Angeles Institute and Society for Psycholanalytic Studies. The Hedda Bolgar Psychotherapy Clinic offers affordable service to limited income people.
Bolgar is dedicated to improving women’s roles especially poor women and those living in underdeveloped countries. She says, “Women must be agents of their own lives.”
With no plans to retire, Bolgar sees patients from 16 to 20 hours a week and gives lectures, appears in videos and writes.
A great-grandson of slaves and son of a sharecropper, Mazerine Wingate was born on September 20, 1910 in Lamar, S.C.  He quit school after completing the sixth grade to work on a farm.  Later he helped build roads during the Great Depression.
When Wingate began his career 40 years ago at the U.S. Post Office in Lexington Park, Maryland, most Americans were ready to retire.  He still drives to work, where he spends four hours a day, six days a week.
Mr. Wingate has lived to see the effects of segregation and the election of Barack Obama.   His secret to a long life is not smoking or drinking alcohol, attending church every Sunday and eating good food.  His secret to success in his career is ‘be nice to people – everyday’.
In these difficult economic times, the number of older workers who are going back to work is increasing.  The Experience Works SCSEP operates in 30 states and Puerto Rico, providing community service, training, and employment opportunities for low-income adults 55 and older.  The program helps older workers maintain self-sufficiency, and age with dignity. Source: Retirement Living.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Inequity to Equity: Promoting Health and Wellness of Women with Disabilities

Inequity to Equity: Promoting Health and Wellness of Women with Disabilities

We hope that you are aware of the upcoming conference, "Inequity to Equity: Promoting Health and Wellness of Women with Disabilities", sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA), the Howard University Women's Health Institute, and Gallaudet University, and taking place in Washington, DC on October 17-18, 2011.  We invite psychologists, other health care providers, researchers, educators, policymakers, women and girls with  disabilities, and advocates to join us as we work to develop an integrated health care agenda that will improve health outcomes for women with disabilities.  For more detailed information, see the email included below, or visit the conference website at: http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/disabilities-conference/index.aspx

Register online at: https://cyberstore1.apa.org/cyb/cli/casinterface1/women/ to attend, so that you can be involved in the development of research, practice and policy recommendations on behalf of women with disabilities

Thank you for your interest and your assistance in this worthy effort.  Questions regarding registration or donations should be emailed to Shari Miles-Cohen (smiles@apa.org) or Kari Hill (khill@apa.org).  Donations should be mailed to: Ms. Kari Hill, American Psychological Association, Public Interest Directorate, 750 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

9/11 Anniversary: APA teams with Nickelodeon to talk to kids




With the impending 9/11 anniversary, APA wanted to provide free resources and activity ideas for APA members and SPTAs to use within their communities if they so choose to engage in local public education activities.

As part of 9/11 Anniversary recognition activities, the APA partnered with Nickelodeon Channel to develop children’s curriculum materials to accompany the Nick News TV special, What Happened? The Story of September 11, 2001, scheduled to air on September 1st at 9 p.m. ET on the Nickelodeon channel.

The APA/Nick News curriculum materials will give parents, caregivers, and educators tips to understand and support children as they learn about the events surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which happened a decade ago. It will provide information about common reactions, including worries and anxieties, and ideas for helping children cope and build resilience when confronted with this difficult historical event. Psychologists can use these materials in local activities.

The following materials are available
· APA/Nick News curriculum materials
· Tip sheet on hosting community discussions
· List of additional online resources available on APA’s website
The TV special will be available online at the Nick News website following the initial air date, http://news.nick.com/.

The curriculum materials are only available electronically. They will be available on both the APA and Nick News websites prior to September 1st. We will notify you once they are posted and provide the direct URLs.

If you have any questions on how to use the materials, please contact Kathleen Ashton at ashtonk@ccf.org