Head of MIT AgeLab and Assistant Secretary for Aging to Keynote First Virtual Aging Conference in the COVID-19 Era

ARLINGTON, Va., June 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Council on Aging (NCOA), a trusted national leader working to ensure that every person can age well, today announced that Dr. Joe Coughlin, Director of the MIT AgeLab, and Lance Robertson, Assistant Secretary for Aging, will be the keynote speakers at the 2020 Age+Action Virtual Conference, June 8-11. 

Due to COVID-19, NCOA has transformed its annual event into a virtual experience to bring together over 1,200 leaders from community-based organizations across the country to discuss trends and issues that are impacting older adults during the pandemic and beyond. Topics will range from healthy living and economic security to innovation and diversity. 

Dr. Coughlin leads the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab, which strives to invent new ideas and creatively translate technologies to improve people's health and how we age. As a researcher, author, teacher, speaker, and advisor, Coughlin explores how global demographics, technology, and changing generational behaviors are transforming business and society. His keynote speech will explore his vision of longevity and aging well as the new endless frontier.

Robertson serves as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Aging and Administrator of the Administration for Community Living. His vision for ACL focuses on supporting families and caregivers, protecting rights and preventing abuse, connecting people to resources, expanding employment opportunities, and strengthening the aging and disability networks. Robertson will share how the aging network is quickly responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NCOA's Age+Action Conference will feature over 150 sessions and 100 speakers, and it will enable professionals to connect, learn, and share best practices to better serve older Americans in their communities. Other highlights include:

• COVID-19 Townhall: NCOA Making an Impact in the Communities
• Let's Talk Women & Money as We Age
• Honoring Aging Veterans: Helping Veterans Age in Place
• Today's Digital Divide for Older Adults: Why Conventional Solutions Won't Bridge the Gap

The full schedule of sessions and topics is located here. 

During the COVID-19 crisis, NCOA has been actively providing expert opinion and resources to help older adults, caregivers, and professionals in aging stay healthy and financially secure. These include:

• A COVID-19 Community Response Fund to raise and distribute funds to hard-hit community-based organizations that are directly serving older adults.
• A video showing the impact the pandemic has had on older adults and the organizations that serve them.
• A survey of how local organizations are struggling to meet the shifting needs of older adults.
• Analyses of how the COVID-19 pandemic will impoverish millions of aging Americans and how it will affect minority populations.

Press passes are available for the Age+Action Virtual Conference. Interested media should email [email protected] for consideration. For more information about the event, visit www.AgeAction.org.

About NCOA
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is a trusted national leader working to ensure that every person can age well. Since 1950, our mission has not changed: Improve the lives of millions of older adults, especially those who are struggling. NCOA empowers people with the best solutions to improve their own health and economic security—and we strengthen government programs that we all depend on as we age. Every year, millions of people use our signature programs BenefitsCheckUp^®, My Medicare Matters^®, and the Aging Mastery Program^® to age well. By offering online tools and collaborating with a nationwide network of partners, NCOA is working to improve the lives of 40 million older adults by 2030. Learn more at www.ncoa.org and @NCOAging.

SOURCE National Council on Aging