ODL 402: Building Resilience and Connection to Reduce Depression and Loneliness in Aging

1 Credit Hour: This 1 hour training reframes late-life mental wellness through the lens of resilience: the capacity to adapt to change and rebound from setbacks while maintaining stability and continuity. Participants will explore how resilience supports successful aging, with emphasis on meaning and purpose, agency, realistic hope (not “toxic positivity”), and sustained interpersonal connectedness. The session also addresses how ageism (including internalized stereotypes) can undermine mental health and engagement, and it offers practical, strengths-based strategies for clinicians and care teams to reduce isolation, identify burnout risks in caregivers, and promote possibility through achievable, values-aligned steps in daily life and care environments.