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About the Program for Women and Successful Aging
Director: Patty Adams, 402-554-2292, padams@mail.unomaha.
The Program for Women and Successful Aging was formed in response to statistics that began to take shape as baby boomers started reaching middle age.
Did You Know...
-
Every seven seconds, someone turns 50 The fastest growing segment of the
population is over age 50.
- More than two million people celebrated their 65th birthday
in 2002.
- Persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy
of an additional 18.1 years (19.4 for females and 16.4 for males).
- By the year 2030, the older population will more than double
to 71.5 million Older women outnumber older men - 20.8 million to 14.8
million.
- In Omaha, two-thirds of all residents over the age of 75
are women. In the Omaha area, 40% of women ages 65 and over live alone
compared to just 17% of men. In Douglas County, 9% of women 65 and over
live in poverty, compared to only 5% of men (Sources: Senior Thinking,
the U.S.Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Census Bureau).
The Program for Women and Successful Aging was founded in 1995 by Dr. Shirley Waskel, a professor of Gerontology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Dr. Waskel believed that active participation in creative endeavors would help older people live longer, healthier lives. Recent research indicates that Dr. Waskel was correct. Early results from a study conducted by the Center on Aging, Health and Humanities at George Washington University indicate that older people who actively take part in creative pursuits not only maintain their health, but actually improve it.
As one of the community outreach programs housed within the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Public Affairs and Community Service Department of Gerontology, PWSA works to provide a variety of creative outlets for women and men of all ages. PWSA is a membership-based, non-profit organization that serves nearly 200 active members and reaches out to hundreds of other elderly people in the community.
PWSA's mission is to create a climate that encourages an appreciation of the elderly, their wisdom, their cultural diversity, and the multiple aspects of their aging process. PWSA offrs a variety of professional and community education opportunities for older women and their service providers. Its members also work to improve the lives of women through community outreach activities.
OUR FOUNDER: DR. SHIRLEY WASKEL
Dr. Shirley Waskel joined what was then called the Gerontology Program at UNO in 1973 as a Continuing Education Associate, hired to do pre-retirement education. She ultimately developed educational packages entitled "Planning in the Third Age" that were marketed nation-wide. A particularly innovative approach she took was to develop one educational program as a "pre-retirement package for women religious." She had been a nun herself, having taught business at St. James School in St. Paul, Iowa, 1960 to 1962; business subjects in high school at St. Boniface School in Elgin, Nebraska, 1962 to 1963; business and English at St. Frances School in Randolph, Nebraska, 1963 to 1965; business at Ryan High School in Fremont, where she served as Principal, 1966 to 1970; and language arts at St. Robert's School in Omaha, 1970 to 1973.
Shirley graduated from Omaha South High School in 1953; she received her Bachelor's in Business Education from Alverno College in Milwaukee in 1964, and she received her Master's in Education in 1971 from UNO. She was made an Instructor of Gerontology in 1975, and she began a doctoral program in Adult Education at UN-L that year as well. She received the Ph.D. in 1979. Dr. Waskel worked her way through the ranks to become a full professor with tenure in the Department of Gerontology. She also held courtesy rank as a Professor of Vocational and Adult Education at UN-L and chaired several doctoral supervisory committees. She was the author of a number of articles in the professional research literature on older adults and problem-solving skills.
Shirley will probably be remembered best as the developer of the Program for Women and Successful Aging, the program that took most of her time with the Department of Gerontology during her final years at UNO. She began half-time retirement in 2001, and she died August 2, 2003, after a year-long battle with lung cancer. She will be remembered by her colleagues, and, as is the herirtage for life-long educators, by her many students over the years.
While many grieve her loss, we have all gained in a legacy she leaves behind. PWSA has life and bright future and we will continue to serve women in the spirit of which Shirley would be proud.