Michigan Society of Gerontology

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Michigan Society of Gerontology

• 50th Anniversary

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MSG

• Rooted in major historical changes

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Improved hygiene
Advances in healthcare
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Changing position of women in society
Advances in transportation and personal mobility
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The result

• People living longer
• Population growing older
• Increasing number of older adults needing care
• Fewer caregivers
• Older adults with few resources struggling to
  care for themselves
• Inadequate long-term care services

A Poor House
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A public support system created

• Great Depression
• Social Security Act of 1935 old-age homes began
  to be built
• Hill-Burton Hospital Survey and Construction Act
  of 1946
• National Conference on Aging in 1950

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The idea for MSG was formed

• As early as 1953, Professors from the U of Ms
  Institute of Gerontology, and others, saw the
  need for citizens to band togetheron behalf of
  older adults
• Led by Wilma Donahue, PhD, MSG was founded in
  1956
• The founding meeting was held at the Kellogg
  Center

Wilma Donahue, PhD 1900-1993
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Several early key members of MSG

• Wilma Donahue
• Jordan Popkin
• A. Hazen Price
• Frederick Swartz
• Minnie Oed
• Harry Kelley
• Katherine Reebel
• Norma Silver
• Herbert Rubenstein
• Vladimir K. Volk
• Charles Odell
• Woodrow Hunter
• Leonard Gernant

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How MSG grew

• The time was right. The country was recognizing
  the need to respond to an aging population
• The leadership was right. Wilma Donahue and
  others were experts, activists, connected locally
  and nationally, as well as tireless recruiters
• MSG formed connections with other groups
• Michigan Geriatrics Society
• Michigan Welfare League
• Michigan Health Council
• National Society of Gerontology
• U of Ms Division of Gerontology
• The Michigan Commission on Aging

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Early MSG activism

• 1958 MSG supported Bill 79 to establish a
  Michigan Commission on Aging. It was established
  2 years later
• 1959 MSG leaders prepared for the White House
  Conferences on Aging with a Michigan region study
  conference
• MSG had an active Legislative Committee that met
  with the MI Commission on Aging to discuss
  various issues related to policies and resources
  for the elderly

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Early MSG activism

• 1961 MSG members took part in the White House
  Conference on Aging in Washington, D.C.
• 1963 MSG recommended to Governor Romney that the
  Michigan Commission on Aging become a separate
  entity. He agreed.

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• 1963 MSG recommended to Gov. Romney that he
  allocate funds to pilot County Commissions on
  Aging. He agreed.
• 1964 Governor's Task Force on Aging was created
  with MSG support

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Early MSG Bridging Policy, Practice and Research

• 1965 MSG sponsored a conference on Better Care
  of Elderly Patients in Nursing Homes
• 1965 MSG members attended National Conference on
  Aging in Washington, D.C. Harry J. Kelley
  witnessed the signing of the Older Americans Act

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Michigans influence at the national level

• 1965 The Older Americans Act is passed. It was
  introduced in the Senate by Pat McNamara of MI,
  friend of MSG, who guided it to unanimous
  approval.

Patrick Vincent McNamara
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MSG activism continues

• 1966 MSG held a special event explaining federal
  legislation such as Medicare, Older Americans
  Act, and the War on Poverty
• 1968 MSG recommended to the state that it
  increase the food budget allowance for the elderly

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MSG Policy, Practice and Research

• 1971 MSG members took part in the state and
  national White House Conferences on Aging
• 1973 MSG formed the Michigan Seniors Coalition.
  The first event drew 600 delegates

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MSG Policy, Practice and Research

• 1974-75 MSG started a newsletter called
  Legislative-News Hotline which was followed by
  the 1975 OSA newsletter, Aging Alert, still
  published today
• 1976 The Haak-Lilliefors lecture series was
  established, featuring national leaders in the
  field
• 1977 MSG helped plan OSAs first annual Senior
  Power Day, still held in cities across the state

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MSG in the Early 1980s

• 1980 MSG sponsored the first combined
  federal-state public hearing on aging held in
  Michigan
• 1981 MSG members participated in the White House
  Conference on Aging

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• MSGs Legislative Committee was disbanded but
  active political dialogue and relationships
  continued
• Declining membership led to member surveys and
  soul searching to reexamine and reaffirm MSGs
  mission
• A student section of MSG was started in 1988. By
  1990 there were over 100 student members.

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MSG 1990 to now

• 1993 Letter to Hillary Clinton from MSG
  President Judith Walters which asked for support
  of national LTC policy
• 2004 Jennifer Mendez, MSG Board member, was
  appointed to the MI Medicaid LTC Task Force by
  Governor Granholm
• 2005 MSG Members served as Delegates to the
  White House Conference on Aging

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MSG Still Bridging Policy, Practice, and Research

• Conferences, forums, or workshops are held
  annually
• MSG awards are presented annually to recognize
  outstanding practitioners, educators, policy
  makers and students
• MSG now hosts the only statewide listserv
  dedicated to creating dialogue on aging issues
  across all arenas

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• The MSG Photo Gallery

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The 25th Anniversary Celebration, October 28,
1982, Kellogg Center, East Lansing, MI
Gordon Hannah, MSG President 1980-81 Katherine
Kumkoski, MSG President 1975-76
Larry Murray, MSG President 1981-1983
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Harry Wolf
Richard Colwell, MSG President 1976-77
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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MSG 28th Annual Meeting
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John Schonenberg
Beryl Zinn
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Judy Hollister
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(No Transcript)
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David Dekker, MSG President 1979-80
Maurice Beck, MSG President 1983-85
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Mary Ablan
Stewart White
Rev. Josephine Morgan
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Christine Hennessey
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Wilma Donahue
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I believe no state deserves more credit for
stimulating and realizing the new legislation
than does Michigan. Your own Society, perhaps the
foremost in the country, has contributed greatly
to an understanding of the needs and aspirations
of Michigans older people Jay B.
Constantine, Research Director of the U.S. Senate
Special Committee on Aging, 1965