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Conference Session 3: Aging, Risk, and Resilience: Emergency Preparedness and Environmental Justice
Friday, October 23, 2026, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM PDT
Category: Conferences
Aging, Risk, and Resilience: Emergency Preparedness and Environmental JusticeAging in a Warming WorldPresenters:
Summary: Our population is aging as the Earth is warming. Older adults and people with disabilities are at an increased risk of harm from the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. This session will provide examples of evidence-informed actions you and your partners can take to support the health and well-being of our older adults. Participants will gain insights into research, program, and policy interventions, as well as community engagement efforts, to better support older adults and those who serve them amid increasing climate-related impacts. Specific focus will be on identifying unique challenges faced by older adults, as well as engaging older adults with varied life experiences and service providers in identifying solutions and evaluating efforts to ensure activities are making a difference. Learning Objectives:
Emergency Preparedness for Older AdultsPresenters:
Summary: Wildfires, severe weather events, floods and natural disasters can strike without much warning. Being prepared and knowing what to do before, during and after a disaster is vital. There are many resources available for general emergency preparedness but most of those resources do not consider older adults and their special preparedness needs. Transportation, accessible shelter options, vital medications, and medical equipment such as oxygen are some considerations that older adults must plan for, in addition to typical preparedness planning. This session will focus on identifying local hazards and specific needs for preparedness for older adults, while also sharing resources. Elements of a successful senior preparedness project in Douglas County including replicable activities and resources will be highlighted. Learning Objectives:
Continuing Education Credits Certificates of Attendance are available free of charge for anyone who attends the entire session. This is the third of four sessions of OGA's 2026 virtual conference. You can register for individual sessions or, at a discount, for the entire conference series. For an overview of all sessions, please visit the conference page.
Dr. Holly Dabelko-Schoeny, MSW, PhD, FGSA, is a Professor at the College of Social Work at The Ohio State University. Dr. Dabelko-Schoeny is a community-engaged social work scholar and educator committed to improving the lives of older adults and family caregivers through community-based interventions identified and developed with older persons, practitioners, students, and other faculty. She is the Director of Research for the Age-Friendly Innovation Center and strives to improve the service, social and built environments that support the inclusion of older adults. Her work is deeply collaborative, relying on multiple methods and community-based participatory research approaches. She is a team scientist and teacher who believes answers to our most challenging questions exist in the intersection between our empirical and theoretical understandings and the lived experiences of older adults, practitioners, and students. Dr. Dabelko-Schoeny’s work is influenced by her social work practice experience in the aging network, and the relationships she had with her grandparents. She comes from a family of social scientists who care about the well-being of all people and our planet!
Dr. Smitha Rao, Ph.D., works at the intersection of environment, development, and social policy and is informed by her interdisciplinary background in social work and human geography. Her research interests include: (1) extreme weather events and contextual vulnerability, (2) improving adaptive capacities among communities to deal with climatic and other stressors, and (3) effects of air pollution on environmental health and improving access to clean energy. Dr. Rao has over a decade of macro-practice experience spanning academic and not-for-profit settings. This included post-disaster community-based reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts, campaign strategy and design for local and international environmental organizations on climate change, phasing out toxins from industry, and promoting sustainable agriculture practices. Her current work encompasses social vulnerability in the context of disasters and disaster risk reduction to develop knowledge and inform policies centering underserved communities. Her interdisciplinary work touches upon climate change implications for vulnerable groups, energy poverty, anti-oppressive praxis, and ecological justice.
Marisa Sheldon, MSW, LISW-S, is the Director of the Age-Friendly Innovation Center and Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County. After completing her undergrad and graduate program at the Ohio State University College of Social Work, Marisa spent the start of her career with a focus on clinical services to older adults and caregivers at a local hospice and the Alzheimer’s Association. Marisa moved towards more macro focused social work, joining the Ohio State University College of Social Work Office of Field Education. This allowed her to expand her knowledge beyond the aging network and identified her passion for working with students. She joined the Age-Friendly Columbus and Franklin County team as the Assistant Director in 2018. This role allowed her to engage her passion for working with older adults, students, and community organizations. In her time at Age-Friendly she identifies one of her biggest achievements as her ability to inspire the next generation of those working in aging. She is dedicated to ensuring the voice of older adult’s ground community change to build more livable communities for all people. Marisa has two young children and believes building a better community for older adults will also mean a better community for her children. Teresa Mutschler has several decades of experience in emergency preparedness, including public health response. Teresa is currently the Executive Director and Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator for the local public health agency, Douglas Public Health Network. Teresa previously worked extensively in EMS, both as an Operations Manager and EMS Battalion Chief, bringing that experience to her emergency preparedness work in Douglas County. Teresa is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) and a Paramedic, licensed in Oregon and with the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians (NRP). Teresa integrates her vast EMS background with policy, planning and administration by providing coordination of Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs at the county level. Vanessa A. Becker offers over 35 years of experience in the non-profit and government industries. Her experience spans from grassroots nonprofits, executive government administration and a successful consulting business. Vanessa joined Douglas Public Health Network at the beginning of the pandemic, providing assistance as an Epidemiologist and Public Information Officer. Some of her most notable successes include several Executive Director positions, appointments to governmental based advisory boards, serving as a publicly elected trustee of a higher education institution and chairing multiple nonprofit boards. Vanessa has worked with organizations of all sizes and geographical focus areas but her passion has always been devoted to rural health. Platinum Sponsors for this session:
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