Resilience Through Humor and Storytelling

Session Facilitator: Joyce DeMonnin

Part 1: Humor

Warm-up With Laughter Yoga
Sarah Rolerkite, MA, Certified Laughter Yoga Instructor & UX/UI Moderator at VGM

Laughing & Learning with Laughter On Call
Dani Klein Modisett, Founder & CEO, Laughter on Call, Los Angeles, CA

What’s so Funny? Humor Theory and Research
Ann McQueen, PhD, Community Services and Supports Manager, Aging and People with Disabilities, Oregon Department of Human Services, Salem, OR

Summary:

This set of presentations and interactive demonstrations is centered around the healing and protective power of humor. The first presentation will include a short "warm-up" and address how laughter yoga can help with depression, high blood pressure, and the management of chronic illnesses like cancer, and how laughter and breathing can be practiced with older adults. This will be followed by an interactive and fun workshop introducing you to simple comedians' tools like letting go of the moment before, paying attention to timing, and knowing your audience to create meaningful connections with older adults at all stages of cognitive decline. Part lecture, part interactive game playing, you will leave this presentation with a visceral understanding of the value of shared laughter for mitigating feelings of isolation for seniors and some practical tools for how to create it. The set will conclude with an engaging presentation focused on research supporting humor’s role in coping with life’s adversities and how humor contributes to an individual’s resilience in times of stress and strain. 

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the role humor plays in helping people cope with adversity
• Understand the science behind humor and laughing for joy and wellness
• Practice specific strategies to teach laughter yoga for older adults
• Understand the value of using simple improv tools for creating connection with elders

Part 2: Storytelling

Story Medicine – How Stories and Storytelling Entertain, Educate, and Build Stronger Communities and Resilient Individuals

• Tim Carpenter, Founder and CEO, EngAGE, Burbank, CA
• Will Hornyak, Storyteller/Educator/Facilitator, formerly Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, OR

Summary:

We all have stories to tell and a unique voice and style in which to tell them. Storytelling is an age-old way of weaving wisdom, knowledge, information and entertainment together in a way that touches the heart and inspires the mind. The stories we share reveal humor, ideas, feelings and the hard-won wisdoms we have gained over time: in short, the "medicine" we carry as individuals. During this session with two experienced storytelling facilitators, we will consider several ways to integrate storytelling into a wide variety of communities and practices. We will hear a variety of stories and gain tools and techniques for using this traditional art and craft in a professional context.

Learning Objectives:

• Learn how to tell compelling stories to advance your work and mission
• Learn how to use storytelling to battle ageism and advance a better narrative on aging
• Learn ways to teach storytelling to older adults

Continuing Education Credit: Each session has been approved for 2 CE credits (NASW Oregon Chapter) and 2 AFH training credits - that's a total of 8 CE credits if you attend the entire series. There will be a $5 fee per session for NASW credits. Regular Certificates of Attendance can also be issued. To receive a certificate, attendees must attend the session(s) for their entire length and complete a post-session evaluation survey.

This is the first of four sessions of OGA's 2021 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.

Register Here

Sarah Rolerkite, MA, is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader with a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and a Certificate in Complementary and Integrative Health. She has experience teaching students of all ages and loves to help bring out joy and happiness in others. Most recently, she was an instructor and advisor at Washington State University Vancouver in the Department of Human Development.

Ann McQueen, PhD, is the Community Services and Supports Manager for the Long Term Services and Supports Program within the Office of Aging and People with Disabilities (APD) Program at the Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS). She previously held the position of Administrator of the APD Safety, Oversight and Quality (Long-Term Care Licensing) Unit and served as APD's Research and Policy Integration Manager. Prior to that, she worked as a policy analyst, a college faculty member, in roles related to various local government programs for older adults, and as an administrator in assisted living/residential care/memory care communities. She is especially interested in the experiences of people living with dementia and in helping to create a world that affords them the respect, dignity, and companionship that all human beings deserve. Ann has a BFA in musical theater, an MS in Communication Studies, and a PhD in Urban Studies - Gerontology. She has presented at various conferences, both locally and nationally on topics related to aging, dementia and dementia care, and the role of humor in the lives of older people living in long-term care settings.

Dani Klein Modisett is a comedian/actor, instructor, and writer. She taught Stand-Up at UCLA for 10 years and is currently a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, as well as an invited speaker at The Stanford Graduate School of Business. In addition, she has developed laughter workshops and coached keynote speakers, business leaders, and Congressional candidates on how to use more humor, vulnerability, and interactivity in their communication. Her writing has appeared in outlets such as AARP, NY Times, LA Times, and Parents Magazine and she has also authored multiple books, including “Take My Spouse, Please.” (Shambhala Press, 2015) and “Afterbirth...stories you won’t read in Parents magazine” (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). After her own family’s experience with Alzheimer’s disease, Dani created Laughter on Call in 2018 to bring comedians to those facing Alzheimer’s disease. Laugher on Call programs have been hugely successful, running over 80 events for Fortune 500 companies around the world and serving as a case study for Harvard Business School.

Tim Carpenter founded EngAGE in 1999 to create community and change lives by transforming affordable senior and multigenerational housing projects into vibrant centers of learning, wellness, and creativity. The organization provides life-enhancing arts, wellness, lifelong learning, community building and intergenerational programs and events to thousands of seniors and hundreds of families living in California, Oregon and Minnesota. Tim catalyzed the creation of the Arts Colony model by co-creating the Burbank Senior Artists Colony, a first-of-its-kind senior apartment community with high-end arts amenities and programs, which has now become an all-ages flagship model of creative living for elders, families and children. Tim is an Ashoka Fellow, a James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award recipient, a Stanton Fellowship of the Durfee Foundation, a Next Avenue Influencer in Aging and an Encore Public Voices Fellow. He was appointed this year to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s task force on Alzheimer’s to create solutions in the aging arena in the state.

Will Hornyak, master storyteller, weaves a wide variety of oral traditions - from Irish legends and Russian fairytales to Mexican folktales and Greek myths - into engaging, well-crafted performances, workshops and keynotes. He works with the non-profit organization "Open Hearts, Open Minds" in Portland, Oregon, to bring theatre, storytelling and dialogue sessions to Oregon prison populations. Will works with a wide variety of organizations to assist in helping individuals and communities to identify, develop and share the stories that express their deepest values. He lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, but resides much of the time in his own imagination where facts rarely intrude upon a good story.

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