By Vincent Lim
William A. Vega, executive director of the Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging at the USC School of Social Work, gave the keynote presentation at the 2010 International Conference on Aging in the Americas.
The conference was held Sept. 15-17, during National Hispanic Heritage Month, at the University of Texas at Austin. Leading researchers in the field of Latino health and aging addressed key issues affecting a rapidly growing segment of the U.S. population.
Latino elders are the fastest-growing ethnic subgroup of elders in the United States, with the population of Latino elders 65 years and older expected to increase six-fold by 2050.
Vega discussed the issues surrounding “aging in place” for Latino elders in his talk. The term “aging in place” refers to the ability to retain an appropriate level of independent living in one’s community and place of residence for as long as comfortably possible.