1

CLEVELAND: Josefina G. Carbonell, assistant secretary for aging at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will talk about her vision of the future in long term care for seniors at noon on Friday, May 9, 2008, at The City Club of Cleveland.

Confirmed as the assistant secretary in August 2001, Carbonell spent 30 years in aging community service in Florida, where she led one of the largest Latino community based long-term care organizations in the nation that provides health, nutrition, transportation, adult-day and personal care services through community partnerships, working with volunteers and intergenerational programs.

Carbonell’s strategic vision centers upon improving the capacity of the community-based Aging Network to help older adults live and age with the highest quality of life possible in their communities and to increase the health and vitality of America’s elders by improving access to quality care, emphasizing prevention for improved longevity and fostering consumer choice.

Some of the Administration on Aging’s accomplishments under Carbonell’s leadership are: mobilization of the Aging Network in community education events and personalized assistance to Medicare beneficiaries on the new benefits under Medicare; broad-based efforts to modernize access to long-term care through Aging and Disability Resource Centers; community-based consumer use evidence-based chronic disease and disability prevention programs; improved long-term care partnerships among many organizations both public and private; and, most recently, the 16th reauthorization of the Older Americans Act.

Tickets are $18 for members and $30 for non-members. Lunch is included. They can be purchased by calling The City Club at 216.621.0082 or visiting the website at www.cityclub.org.