In a new guest column for McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, Erickson School Dean Judah Ronch explores how technology can enhance relationships between older adults with dementia and their caregivers, and also clarifies misconceptions about technology as panacea for compassionate caregiving. He writes,

Technology is not valuable as an (expensive) electronic attendant to deterioration. It is a vehicle that can help the person restore, replace, and compensate for the assault on identity of self that is dementia through pleasurable experiences with others (remote and on site), and by experiencing the pleasure found in successfully meeting challenges through problem solving – like all people do.

Technology can be a partner in caring for the whole person by enhancing relationships that go beyond physical care giving and enabling the whole person to be present with others and experience joy, rich sensory stimulation and success. This use of technology will take us beyond caring for the person’s memory and provide care for the whole person.

Read the full McKnight’s column to learn more.

“How much do the Tampa Bay Rays boost their local economy?” asks the Tampa Bay Times. In arguments for building a new stadium, St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster estimates the team’s local economic impact at $100 million a year, but experts, including UMBC economics professor Dennis Coates, question the assumption that stadiums have a notable economic benefit to their home cities.

Coates explains that when a couple spends $100 for dinner and a movie, much of that money goes to waiters, ticket takers and other local workers and suppliers, who in turn spend their paychecks on rent and food, creating a positive ripple effect in the local economy. In contrast, argues Coates, “Spending that goes on inside a stadium tends to flow into the pockets of a relatively few, high-income individuals who live a large portion of the year outside the city,” so much of the money spent inside stadiums actually flows out of the cities where they are located.

2013 Service-Learning & Civic Engagement Conference
Community-Based Learning: Getting Real About Civic Engagement

Saturday, April 6th, 2013
8:30 AM - 4:00 PM
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (optional networking event)

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

On Saturday, April 6th, 2013, UMBC, the Baltimore Collegetown Network, and Maryland-DC Campus Compact, along with many other area colleges and universities, are partnering to present this unique day-long conference. This is the sixth annual "Service-Learning & Civic Engagement Conference" and will be attended by students, faculty and staff from colleges and universities, as well as community organizations in the Maryland - Washington, DC region.

The purpose of the conference is to share success strategies among students, faculty and staff at institutions in partnership with a community voice throughout Maryland and DC on the topics of community service, service-learning and civic engagement.

REGISTER TODAY: http://sixthannualslcec.eventbrite.com 

To learn more please visit http://www.baltimorecollegetown.org/events/service-learning-conference/