Jane Jensen, Human Development & Relationship Educator

Along with a team of other UW-Madison Extension Life Span educators Jane developed and facilitated a ten-part virtual series. The goal of the series was to connect participants while providing them with tools, resources, and skills during social isolation. The sessions focused on building resiliency, self-care, compassion, developing a connection, positive aging, organizing important documents, and distributing non-titled property.

A total of 492 individuals registered for the series. Participants were able to register for one or more sessions. Live participation ranged from 55 to 98 learners per session. Sessions were post-recorded, captioned for accessibility, and posted to the UW-Madison Division of Extension YouTube channel. Each session was viewed 30-80 times to date. One hundred percent of respondents attending four or more sessions agreed that they were connected to resources they were not aware of before attending the series while 85% said that attending the program made them feel more connected to others and 80% agreed that the series motivated them to reach out to more people and strengthen their connections. Ninety-six percent indicated that they will use at least one skill or tool they learned during the sessions. Over half of the respondents said that this was the first Life Span Extension program they participated in.

Quotes from participants:

• “The facilitators are a great group of presenters. I am grateful they are willing to put these presentations together. This one hour “boosts” my day, and I share what I learn with others. Thank you so much!”
• “This helps so much to have these virtual classes. They are social as well as informative and I need that at this challenging time.”
• “Connecting outside our bubble is beneficial.”