About the Healthy Aging Council

In 2008, a group of local citizens began to learn about a very significant and exciting resource for senior adults here in Fort Worth, Texas. These individuals were already highly involved in the community and saw a need for additional resources that could improve the health status and quality of life for seniors. In some cases, these citizens were already engaged in caring for aging parents themselves and knew firsthand the challenges that can go along with connecting seniors with top quality health resources. They wondered where they might turn to secure specialized medical care for their loved ones. They were also aware of the suffering and hardships experienced by many families facing the sobering realities that accompany a diagnosis of dementia such as Alzheimer's disease.

At the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC), the civic leaders found a caring and talented team of scientists, physicians, and staff actively working on finding a cure for these diseases and providing world-class geriatric care and education. Right here in Fort Worth was an organization that not only shared their same goals and concerns, but also possessed the resources and outstanding faculty leadership to help achieve them. A strong relationship of trust and partnership began to develop between these individuals and the UNT Health Science Center. These citizens developed an immediate realization that many of the crucial, world-class resources for older adults that they had been looking for were right around the corner - literally at the corner of Montgomery and Camp Bowie!

Led by Michele Reynolds of Fort Worth, the Healthy Aging Council was formed. Its leaders were amazed to find that not only they, but so many of their neighbors, friends, and colleagues were unaware of the exciting things happening at the UNT Health Science Center:

• UNTHSC is the home of the highly regarded "Institute for Aging & Alzheimer's Disease Research" (IAADR) - one of the nation's premiere scientific laboratories working on a cure for dementia, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and other neuro-degenerative diseases;
• UNTHSC is the home of the nation's top osteopathic medical school in the nation (Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine/TCOM), and within TCOM is housed one of the strongest geriatric training and education programs in the country. Its medical school is conducting a unique approach to ensuring that graduating physicians have special training in providing medical care to senior adults;
• UNTHSC has specialist physicians who provide quality medical care in their clinics for older adults.

These early discussions lead to the establishment of the HEALTHY AGING COUNCIL. Civic and faculty leaders at the UNT Health Science Center realized that only by joining forces, could the program achieve its fullest potential. The synergy of combining the well-known civic pride of people in Fort Worth with the scientific research, education, and medical resources of the UNT Health Science Center could lead to a strong vision and effort to benefit older adults and help them achieve a better quality of life.

The Healthy Aging Council was created as a civic council of the UNTHSC Foundation. The Council is comprised of leaders in the community who share the Health Science Center's three-part mission: to ensure a high quality of life for seniors through direct care, by improving geriatrics education and training, and by finding a cure or the means to prevent the devastating impacts of Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. The Healthy Aging Council helps educate the public about the progress happening at UNTHSC and functions as a vehicle for getting involved, providing important input and taking positive action in the area of healthy aging.