TRENTON - The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services is hosting a two-day conference to solicit recommendations from national, state and local leaders on how best to improve the State’s senior nutrition program.

 

The conference, Mission Nutrition: New Directions for Senior Nutrition, will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 7, and Wednesday, October 13, 2004, at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center, 760 Alexander Road in Princeton.  More than 150 professionals are expected to attend.

 

Morning speakers on October 7 will include Elizabeth Sassen, Director of Community Operations for Mather Lifeways in Evanston, Illinois, who will discuss how to attract new customers to senior nutrition programs; Susan Wenberg of the Minnesota Board of Aging, who will discuss their revamping efforts; and Patricia Polansky, Assistant Commissioner of the New Jersey Division of Aging and Community Services, who will discuss the changing demographics of our state’s senior population.

 

Speakers on October 13 will include Jean Lloyd, National Nutritionist for the U.S. Administration on Aging, and Jim Coleman, a nationally recognized executive celebrity chef, who will discuss integrating multicultural flavors into meal planning.

 

Workshops both days will focus on developing a statewide strategy to ensure that senior nutrition services continue to meet the needs of New Jersey’s growing, diverse senior population.  Both workshops are open to the media.

 

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