Smith Students Get Briefed on Ageing

On Oct. 6, 2015, undergraduates and alumni of the global fellows program at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, along with other Terps and local students, joined for a movie screening of ALIVE INSIDE and a discussion on ageing and managing four generations in the workplace. The event was presented in partnership with Helping Our Communities Honor Ageing (HOCHA) and the Alive Inside Foundation.

What does ageing have to do with business? Event organizer Patricia Cleveland, clinical professor of management and organization, said to the 100 attendees, “In a word — everything! Here in the U.S. and globally, rapidly ageing populations are creating huge markets for leisure, health care, medical devices and personal services — even as demand on our health systems is already increasing and changing as the Affordable Care Act rolls out.”

Cleveland said ageing populations also present major challenges for recruiting and staffing, and for managing many generations in the workplace — at the same time that labor shortages and loss of institutional memory are already looming in many industries and professions.  

“Ageing is all of us,” said Cleveland. “We hope for our loved ones and for ourselves high-quality, effective and humane care and services. Whether pursuing business opportunities to serve this burgeoning market or managing public service institutions — innovative methods such as those pioneered by Alive Inside and being extended by organizations such as HOCHA — promise great benefits.”

Jack Gates, a Smith School alumnus and HOCHA board member, and Luz DiMarco, founding director of HOCHA, introduced the film, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014.

Following the movie screening, Daniel Bauer, community engagement director at Alive Inside, gave a powerful performance. Bauer is a renowned escape artist and successor to Harry Houdini.

For more information about the undergraduate program at Smith, visit: www.rhsmith.umd.edu/undergrad.

For more information about Helping Our Communities Honor Ageing (HOCHA), visit: www.hochafoundation.org.

For more information about the Alive Inside Foundation, visit: www.aliveinside.org.

- Alissa Arford, Office of Marketing Communications