| David A. Paterson Governor |
Two Empire State Plaza Albany, New York 12223-1251 |
| Michael J. Burgess Director |
|
| NYS Office for the Aging Website |
Dear Colleagues:
The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is very pleased to be partnering with the State Society on Aging of New York (SSANY) on the important topic, Working with Older Adults: Charting the Future of Workforce Training and Education. Between October, 2006 and October, 2007, NYSOFA staff and members of the SSANY Presidents Circle traveled across New York State to host a series of eight Listening Sessions to talk about future education and training issues for working with older adults in urban, rural, and suburban locations.
The Listening Sessions were very successful in bringing together people in the community with people from academic, planning and service, local and state government, and advocacy groups to clarify and provide focus to the critical issues we face in workforce training and education for individuals working with older adults, and to outline strategies to further this agenda. I want to thank the SSANY Presidents Circle members who have been our collaborative partners in this project. Thank you to Dr. Deborah Heiser, Current President, Dr. Patricia Brownell, Immediate-Past President, Dr. Judith Howe, Dr. Beverly Horowitz, Dr. John Krout, and Dr. Robert Maiden, for working together with us and sharing their expertise, passion, and dedication to the successful completion of this initiative. I am very pleased that our agency and the State Society on Aging are jointly issuing this Report, Working with Older Adults: Charting the Future of Workforce Training and Education: Listening Sessions in New York - Summary and Next Steps.
It is our mission at NYSOFA, in partnership with the network of 59 local Area Agencies on Aging and other public and private organizations that serve our older population, to assist older New Yorkers to be as independent as possible for as long as possible through delivery of high quality, person- and family-centered, cost-effective programs and services. Our efforts to address the challenges presented by a growing older population are rooted in the deepest principle of our aging services philosophy: to promote the independence of seniors by serving them where they want to be served and where it is most cost-effective to serve them - in their homes and communities. Preparing a workforce to work well with older adults is vital to achieving our goals.
It is my hope that this Report will foster further discussion, deepen interest, and lead to appropriate actions in education, labor, and the health and human services sectors in order to address the education and training needed to best prepare our workforce to interact with and serve older adults. It is my commitment that NYSOFA will continue to actively participate in fostering dialogue and solutions to address these important issues into the future.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Burgess
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