Message from Gary Mulcahy, UCC Campus Liaison Officer
Public Talk: Making UCC an Age Friendly University
Declan Whelan-Curtin and Dr. Suzanne Timmons
Creative Zone, Boole Library University College Cork
5pm, Monday 5th March 2018
Ireland has an aging population which means the proportion of people 65 years and older is growing rapidly and many people are now living longer and healthier lives. While this is something to be celebrated it also presents challenges and opportunities for society.
For many years UCC has been committed to widening access to education as well as being a University in the community, of the community and for the community. Following the success of fellow institutions such as DCU and Trinity, UCC will now begin the journey of becoming an Age Friendly University and take a leadership role in preparing society for the multi-faceted opportunities and challenges of an ageing demographic.
An Age-Friendly University sets a strategic direction to respond to the challenges and opportunities of ageing through its research agenda, curriculum development, online education, health and wellness activities, infrastructure, and arts and culture programmes. An interdisciplinary working group is being formed to identify contributions UCC can make in addressing the needs of older adults.
A presentation on UCC becoming an Age Friendly University will be made as part of UCC equality week on Monday the 5th of March 2018 at 5pm.
Who is involved…
Declan Whelan-Curtin
Declan Whelan-Curtin holds a B.A. (English and Psychology) a Master of Public Health, specializing in Health Promotion and a PostGrad Cert in Third Level Teaching and Learning. Declan has worked for many years in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health in various roles and has spent the past 12 months as Centre Manager of the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation where he has supported various projects in the areas of Dementia and Positive Aging. Most recently Declan has taken up the position of School Manager of the new School of Public Health where he intends to integrate the Public Health approach into the Age Friendly University initiative.
Dr. Suzanne Timmons
Dr. Suzanne Timmons qualified from UCC and trained in Ireland, the UK and the US. She is a geriatrician and Senior Lecturer in the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in UCC. She works 50% clinically, in the acute hospital setting and in rehabilitation. She is currently the Clinical Lead for Dementia for the Republic of Ireland. Her academic commitments include being programme coordinator for the MSc in Older Person Rehabilitation and the new MSc in Dementia, as well as the supervision of MSc and doctoral students. She has a keen interest in postgraduate interdisciplinary education and research. Her research interests focus on neurodegenerative disease in older people.