Reframe AgingMinnesota
Join a community of statewide leaders learning and practicing how to communicate better about aging issues!
As we age, each of us is redefining the norms for what it means to live fully in our communities. Yet all too often, the way people think and talk about aging remains stuck in outdated narratives and ageist messages. This is keeping obsolete policies, practices, and programs in place.
The research-based principles we use as part of Reframe Aging Minnesota are an antidote to this toxic thinking!
Grounded by research from the National Center to Reframe Aging, we know that when we expand the public's accurate understanding about aging, society will improve its attitude, value us as we age, and increase the supports needed.
As leaders in the aging sector, this change starts with us. Together, we must lead this transformation in thinking and communicating!
Reframe Aging Minnesota is
co-led by the Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation at the University of Minnesota and the MN Leadership Council on Aging, guided by a dedicated Steering Committee.
Free Framer Fridays!
We are pleased to invite you to this series of free, virtual, one-hour conversations:
MAY 9, 2025
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Flip the Script on Aging
In this session, we welcome you to celebrate national Older Americans Month by kicking-off a powerful new approach to help each of us improve how our state perceives, talks about, and approaches aging.
Co-hosts: Rajean Moone and Adam Suomala
JUNE 6, 2025
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Pop Culture and Aging
In this session, we will explore how to recognize and respond to the pervasive ageism that exists in the media. From ads to tv shows, we will practice how to identify common traps and reframe ageist narratives.
Co-hosts: Georgia Lane and Mimi Stender
AUGUST 1, 2025
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Gender and Aging
In this session, we will uncover the unique experiences faced by older Minnesotans across the gender spectrum. Together, we will discuss the strategies and opportunities for creating inclusive and equitable spaces.
Co-hosts: Meghan Redmond and Andy Brown
OCTOBER 3, 2025
10 a.m. - 11 a.m.
Successful Communications Strategies
In this session, we will explore three powerful communications frames that can be used to enhance your messaging: 1) collective responsibility, 2) what surrounds us shapes us, and 3) problems can be solved.
Co-hosts: Rajean Moone and Adam Suomala
Who Attends?
We welcome all Minnesotans who regularly communicate about aging, with a focus on leaders across the aging sector, including age-friendly communities, government, philanthropy, and our non-profit partners.
Our Purpose
We generate momentum for the Reframe Aging principles to accurately transform narratives on the experience of aging in Minnesota.
What to Expect
This is an informal, peer-to-peer learning experience. We use the ECHO model of "all teach, all learn" to create a space where we can share information about the Reframe Aging principles and work through a case study.
AGENDA
10:00 Welcome and Updates
10:05 Presentation and Case Study
10:25 Breakout Discussions
10:45 Large Group Review
10:45 Closing Questions and Next Session Preview
11:00 Adjourn
Our Approach
Our sessions are grounded in Project ECHO principles of amplifying scarece resources via technology and mastering complexity through case-based learning. Our interactive sessions include guided practice, peer-to-peer learning, case studies, and collaborative problem-solving. This inclusive, nonheirarchical philosophy is the heart of our approach.
By participating, you expand your own thinking as well as help build the capacity of fellow Framers from around the state. We collectively understand this is a learning experience and seek to create a space that explores a diverity of experiences and perspectives.
Group Norms
We commit to the following norms:
Sharing Content
- We will record only the brief presentations made by our guests with their permission; small and large group dialogue will not be shared.
Respecting Time
- We will start and end sessions on time, even if the discussion feels incomplete.
Stay Engaged
- We will all try to stay present and involved throughout the discussion.
Lean Into Discomfort
- We will accept that discomfort is going to happen and will be open to it, acknowledge it, and lean into it.
Speaking Our Truth
- We will commit to being open and honest, speaking our truth from our own positions, using “I” statements.
Step Up + Step Back
- We will step into the space to share ideas, encourage others to do the same, and resisting the urge to interrupt - realizing we may not get a chance to say everything we'd like to.
Expect and Accept Non-Closure
- We will hang out in uncertainty, recognizing the goal isn’t to finish the conversation by the end of our time together, but to start it for you.
Words Matter.
We know that the everyday language we use makes a difference. Check out and share these #agefriendlymn videos as a creative way to start a conversation with people in your personal or professional worlds. Together, we can role model better language choices in Minnesota. While these may seem like small examples, we know that big societal change grows from the small, everyday moments that add up over time.
Videos made possible thanks to Duluth Aging Support
Our Strategy
Minnesotans are problem-solvers. When we see an opportunity, we figure out how to seize it, and when we see something that isn't working, we rethink our approach. This statewide initiative is providing accessible tools and strategies that each of us can use in developing acurate and productive messages about aging. Working together, we are advancing three core strategies.
Shared Learning
Trusted Supports
We need your help!
Communication experts know that repetition matters, and only by working together as a coordinated sector can we achieve consistent repetition of tested strategies and narratives to reframe aging and shift the dialogue among opinion leaders.
Is this for you?
Yes! Our work is open to all, at no charge. We focus on leaders across the aging sector as well as communication experts and professionals who regularly talk or write about aging across healthcare, public health, government, the media, or social services.
Reframe Aging Minnesota Steering Committee
Georgia Lane
Aging Services Planner
Arrowhead Area Agency on Aging
Mimi Stender
Founder
Duluth Aging Support
Tanya Rand
Clinical Faculty and
Coordinator of Aging Services
University of St. Thomas
Andy Brown
Vice President of
Communications and Engagement
Trellis
Meghan Redmond
Associate State Director - Community Engagement
AARP Minnesota
Melissa Lyon
Community Development Specialist
Central Minnesota Council on Aging
Coordinators
Reframe Aging Minnesota is brought to you by
The Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation at the University of Minnesota and the
MN Leadership Council on Aging. Contact us today to learn more:
Executive Director
MN Leadership Council on Aging
Co-Convener
Finish Strong Funders Network
Faculty Director, LTC Administration and
Associate Director of Policy,
Center for Healthy Aging
and Innovation
University of Minnesota
National Leadership
In 2024, Minnesota embarked on a journey of shared learning and supports by offering a series of highly interactive and informative sessions. Watch this free one-hour introductory session, led by the National Center to Reframe Aging, to learn the foundations of our work.
GENERATIONS WORK: AN INTRODUCTION TO REFRAME AGING
National Resources
Our work is done in alignment with the National Center to Reframe Aging. Learn more about their work online. Join their caravan newsletter and check out some of the many free resources they are making available across the country. More at https://www.reframingaging.org/