NEWS INDEX 2002 2003 October

Alternative medicine, quality of life among topics at symposium Oct. 16-18

Melissa Mitchell, News Editor
217-333-5491; melissal@uiuc.edu

10/8/03

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Alternative medicine and quality of life issues are among the topics to be considered when world leaders in the fields of aging and measurement meet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Oct. 16-18 for the 10th Measurement and Evaluation Symposium.

"Measurement Issues and Challenges in Aging Research" is the theme of symposium, which begins with registration from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 16 in 314A and B Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The keynote address, at 7:25 p.m., is by Waneen W. Spirduso, the Oscar and Anne Mauzy Regents Professor for Educational Research and Development at the University of Texas. Spirduso will discuss "Measuring the Physical Domain of Older Adults: From Function to Consequences."

The symposium’s organizer, Illinois kinesiology professor Weimo Zhu, said the event is focused on the interests of aging researchers, measurement specialists, disability researchers, exercise specialists, personal and athletic trainers, physical therapists and health-care provider, among others. He noted that the symposium will feature an "expert vs. measurement specialist" interaction format designed to create "a unique forum for outlining and debating methodological and philosophical challenges when quantifying human behavior."

Zhu said the symposium is organized every three or four years by the Measurement and Evaluation Council, one of 12 councils/societies in the American Association for Active Lifestyles and Fitness; AAALF is one of six associations in the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Support for the symposium has been provided by the university, AAALF, the American College of Sports Medicine, Human Kinetics Publishers, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.