Workshops scheduled on aging

Aging means experience, vitality and a new age that people should celebrate and appreciate, speakers at the sixth annual Conference on Aging will tell participants Thursday.

The conference will offer wisdom on near-death experiences, depression, the dying process, drug use among the elderly and much more at Red Lion Templin’s Hotel on the River in Post Falls. Three speakers and 11 workshops will explore forgiveness, suicide, managing dementia and the many cycles of life.

Barbara Jean Glodowski, a Benedictine Sister of the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, will speak about conscious aging and reclaiming the role of community elder. She’ll also lead workshops on how to review your life and the art of forgiveness.

Other presenters will include Steve Setter, who will address drug use among the elderly. Al Holm, Coeur d’Alene chaplain and counselor, will discuss suicide. Coeur d’Alene social worker Beverly Roots will explain how to manage dementia behaviors and local Dr. Susan Melchiorecq will discuss cognitive changes and dementia.