WOODLAND HILLS : Forum to Address New Issues of Aging

More and more middle-aged people are working double duty: raising their own families and providing care for their aging parents or other relatives.

Dubbed the “Sandwich Generation,” these people have a lifestyle that experts say will become increasingly common as the average life expectancy in the United States continues to increase.

“People are living longer and living healthier,” said Michael S. Turner, director of public relations for the Jewish Home for the Aging.

To help families understand how to handle the added responsibilities, Jewish Home for the Aging is sponsoring the “Sandwich Generation Symposium” on Sunday at the Warner Center Hilton in Woodland Hills.

“One of the challenges is being able to maintain a balance in your life,” Turner said. “We’re hoping the symposium will be a part of a continuing education for people to increase their awareness of what they need to do to provide care, love and attention to their family, their aging relatives as well as themselves.”

The symposium will address issues related to aging and to the caretakers of the elderly. Topics include dementia, “end of life decisions,” how to choose a nursing home, and Medi-Cal and other public assistance programs, Turner said.

Doctors and other health-care workers, advocates for the elderly and legal aide workers will make presentations.

“Hopefully we will give people some answers and some understanding,” Turner said. “Also, just as important, the feeling that they are not alone, that there are also other people facing these problems.”

The symposium is free to the public and will run from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) will open the meeting.

After the symposium, the home will hold its second annual Gerontology Awards, Turner said. The cost for the luncheon is $35.

Joyce T. Berry, former commissioner for issues regarding aging in the federal Department of Health and Human Services, will be the keynote speaker.

“The Gerontology Awards recognize individuals for professional excellence on a national level and encourage the scientific, social, academic and psychological inquiry into the field of gerontology and aging,” said Leah V. Granof, the event’s co-chairman.

This year’s recipients are: Sandra King, Los Angeles Jewish Family Service; M. Powell Lawton, Philadelphia Geriatric Center; Charleen Siegler, Century City Hospital; Arthur Flemming, former secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare; Hugh Downs of ABC-TV, and T. Franklin Williams, former director of the National Institute on Aging.