FORT MYERS, Fla. (September 10, 2009) —Shell Point Retirement Community’s second annual Speaker Series will begin in January, according to Dawn Boren, director of resident life for Shell Point. The Series features Dan Buettner, World Renown Explorer and National Geographic Writer; Gary Small, M.D., Professor of Psychiatric and Biobehavorial Sciences; and Dr. Harold G. Koenig, Founding Co-Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. All residents of Southwest Florida are invited to attend, but tickets are required. This series will be presented during the following dates and times:
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Blue Zones: Unlocking the Secret of a Long Life
Dan Buettner, World Renown Explorer and National Geographic Writer
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Keeping Your Brain Young: The Intersection of Science and Lifestyle
Gary Small, M.D., Professor of Psychiatric and Biobehavioral Sciences
Thursday, February 25, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Religion, Spirituality and Health
Dr. Harold G. Koenig, Founding Co-Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health
“Our residents and visitors asked for years to have a Speaker Series at Shell Point, and after the success of the inaugural Speaker Series, we knew that we would make this an annual event,” said Boren. “The community enjoys the many opportunities they have to come to Shell Point and enjoy performances and presentations.”
The presentations will be held in The Village Church auditorium on the Island at Shell Point on three different nights, January through February. Tickets are sold as a subscription to the entire Speaker Series, and they are currently on sale for $75. To purchase tickets or receive additional information about the series, please call (239) 454-2067.
Shell Point Retirement Community is a not-for-profit continuing care retirement community located in Fort Myers just off Summerlin Road, two miles before the Sanibel causeway. Shell Point has received national accreditation from CARF-CCAC, and is a nationally recognized leader in the retirement industry. The community offers retirement living in a resort-style environment with an 18-hole championship golf course, deep water boating access, and recreational and fitness facilities. To learn more about Shell Point Retirement Community, visit us at www.shellpoint.org or call 1-800-780-1131.
Speaker Series Details:
Blue Zones: Unlocking the Secret of a Long Life
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
World renowned explorer and National Geographic writer Dan Buettner, and his team of researchers have traveled across the globe to discover Blue Zones – hot spots of human health and vitality.
Along the way he’s met people teaming with vigor at age 100 and beyond. Working with the National Institute on Aging, he identified four small populations with the world’s highest life expectancy. Then, working with a second team of scientists, he isolated the common denominator that explains extraordinary longevity. What is the optimal diet for making it to a healthy age 90? What about certain types of exercise and supplements? Does stress really shorten your life? Dan debunks the most common myths and offers a science-backed blueprint for the average American to live another 12 quality years. Join New York Times best selling author, Dan Buettner as he tells the stories of the four longest-lived cultures and shares the nine habits to put extra years into your life and life into your years. Buettner has appeared as a longevity expert on the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, ABC World News, CBS’s The Early Show and CNN.
Keeping Your Brain Young: The Intersection of Science and Lifestyle
Friday, February 12, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Gary Small, M.D., is Professor of Psychiatric and Biobehavioral Sciences, the Parlow-Solomon Professor on Aging at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Director of the UCLA Center on Aging and a leading expert on memory, aging, and the brain. Dr. Small’s team has developed brain imaging technology that allows physicians to detect the first signs of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease years before patients show symptoms.
Studies from his authorized scientific works, as well as several popular books on health, aging, and memory have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, London Times, Washington Post, Time, Newsweek, and numerous television programs (e.g. NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning American and 20/20 and CNN).
With this knowledge Dr. Small will share the latest medical and scientific evidence and how to protect our brain to live better, longer. You will hear the research-based evidence about the effect that lifestyle has on your ability to live with health, vibrancy, and cognitive sharpness.
Religion, Spirituality and Health
Thursday, February, 25, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Dr. Harold G. Koenig is board certified in general psychiatry, geriatric psychiatry, and geriatric medicine, is on the faculty at Duke University as Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Koenig is founding co-director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at Duke University Medical Center. His research on the connection between religion and health has been featured on national and international TV news programs; including ABC’s World News Tonight, The Today Show and Good Morning America; and nearly a hundred radio programs, newspapers, and magazines. Dr. Koenig has given testimony before U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives concerning the benefits of religion and spirituality on public health.
Dr. Koenig will examine with us the relationship of Religion/Spirituality and mental health in our lives and propose a model of how Religion/Spirituality may impact physical health through mind-body connections. He will then explore the relationship between religion and physical health, immune functioning, cardiovascular functioning and longevity.
