FIU hosts anthropological conference on “Health Disparities in Aging”

Health disparities in aging worldwide depend on many factors.

Health differences and inequities in the elderly worldwide depend on many factors. These include a person’s race, ethnic group, gender, economic status, education, even geography.

Understanding and studying these issues brought together international experts to FIU for the Association for Anthropology and Gerontology (AAGE) Conference on Health Disparities in Aging held at the Graham Center February 5-7.

Scholars who attended the event include authorities in the field, from four different countries: Sweden, Denmark, Canada, and experts from throughout the United States. Students who participated benefited from one-on-one mentorship from senior anthropologists of the organization.

Dr. Unni Karunakara, far right, was keynote speaker at the conference

Dr. Unni Karunakara, past international president of Doctors Without Borders, gave the keynote address on “The Neglect of Older People in Humanitarian Response.”
Special guest Marsha Jenakovich,from the Alliance on Aging, Inc., the local area agency on aging, spoke on applying anthropological research in the policy arena.

Iveris L. Martinez, Ph.D., president, AAGE.

AAGE is a global network of educators, students, scholars, researchers and professionals genuinely interested in one another’s projects and in helping each other contribute to understanding the aging process and the lives of older persons around the world.

The conference was organized by AAGE President Iveris L. Martinez, Ph.D., associate professor at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine.

“The goal of the conference was to encourage and motivate young scholars entering the field of aging,” said Martinez, an applied anthropologist with more than 18 years of experience in aging research. As president of AAGE she said she “would like to bring awareness to the important work that anthropologist do, particularly in the area of aging and the policy decisions that are made each day.”