News & Highlights
WIN A STEP UP Recognized
WIN A STEP UP (Workforce Improvement for Nursing Assistants: Supporting Training, Education, and Payment for Upgrading Performance), a partnership of the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the UNC Institute on Aging, is under evaluation through a Better Jobs Better Care Research Evaluation Grant awarded to UNC-CH's Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. The Better Jobs Better Care Program has recently released new research findings on retaining long-term care workers, recognizing the project evaluating WIN A STEP UP, and other grantees, in providing innovative, cost-effective solutions to high job turnover rates in the long-term care field.
IOA Hires AARP-Funded Intern
With the support of AARP, the IOA is pleased to announce the hiring of Craig Owen as a summer 2006 intern. Mr. Owen is a doctoral student in the UNC-CH Department of Sociology. His research interests include stratification and evoloutionary sociology with an emphasis on the joint impact of aging and occupation upon individual status atttainment. Read more about the internship program.
IOA Appoints Senior Research Scientist
Effective April 1, Dr. Lloyd Edwards is the latest Senior Research Scientist named to the UNC Institute on Aging staff. Dr. Edwards is Associate Professor of Biostatistics at UNC-CH. He will also serve as a mentor in the CPHAR program.
CPHAR Fellows Move On
Cory Chen, CPHAR Doctoral Fellow, is completing his work at the Institute on Aging and moving on to
the position of Psychology Intern at New York University Bellevue Hospital. In that position, Mr. Chen will
be completing one of the final requirements to obtain his doctorate.
Dr. Chris Kelly, CPHAR Post-doctoral Fellow, will be Assistant Professor in the Department of Gerontology at the University of Nebraska
at Omaha beginning this fall. Dr. Kelly will teach Introduction to Gerontology and Programs and Services for the Elderly.
IOA Business Manager Welcomes New Baby
Robin Burke, IOA Business Manager, gave birth on April 24th to a daughter, Emersen Isabella Burke. Congratulations to Robin and her husband Tim!
AGHE Fall 2006 Internship
The Association for Gerontology in Higher Education is now accepting applications for a full-time, fall 2006 internship with stipend in its Washington, DC office. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2006. For more information or to apply, mail, fax or email a resume and cover letter to: Tony DiLorenzo, Deputy Director, AGHE Internship Application, 1030 15th St. NW, Ste. 240, Washington, DC 20005-1503; (fax) 202-289-9824; adilorenzo@aghe.org.
Tuition Break Available To A Gerontology Student
The Graduate Program in Gerontology at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, seeks an outstanding student for its Masters Degree program and a 2006-2007 Out-of-State Tuition Waiver. For program information contact Dr. Ed Rosenberg, Program Director, 828-262-6146 or RosenbergE@appstate.edu. For application information, please visit the graduate school web page.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Ed Rosenberg, director of the graduate gerontology program at Appalachian State University, has received the Gordon Streib Academic Gerontologist Award from the Southern Gerontological Society. Read more...
May Is Older Americans Month
"Choices for Independence" is the theme of Older Americans Month for 2006, sponsored by the U.S. Administration on Aging. Visit the OAM web page for an exploration of empowerment, health promotion and other issues affecting older adults' independent functioning as they age. In addition, visit the IOA's Older Americans Month in North Carolina web page for related resources and a list of regional activities. Please notify aginginfo@unc.edu if you have activities or events to add to that list.
Find Out What's Happening in Aging@UNC
Visit a new resource on the IOA web site to find out what's happening in aging at UNC Chapel Hill. The Aging@UNC Directory highlights aging research, education and service activities, providing a gateway to people and the study of aging across the UNC Chapel Hill campus.
NC Nursing Home Disaster Preparedness Questioned
On April 25, 2006, the News & Observer online published a story highlighting the fact that while nursing homes in North Carolina are required to create disaster plans, there is no mechanism in place to evaluate the plans, and no requirement that they be on file with emergency responders. Read the whole story.
Featured Web Site
MindAlert
www.asaging.org/mindalert
The MindAlert resource center, sponsored by the MetLife and Archstone Foundations and
the American Society on Aging, is a web site with several features on mental fitness and aging.
A small database contains listings of articles and print media and links to websites and information
about mental fitness programs throughout North America. Annually, the MetLife MindAlert lectures on
a featured theme are collected and made avaialble to download in .pdf format. As a clearinghouse,
this site is intended to be useful to both consumers and professionals researching information and practice
on maintaining and improving cognitive capacity in aging.
New Library Resources
These are selected new additions to the AgeLib Digital Library. The links below will open a new window displaying the AgeLib record.
2005 national healthcare disparities report
view the record
Does working longer make people healthier and happier?
view the record
End of life in nursing homes: experiences and policy recommendations
view the record
Keeping current on research and practice in physical activity for older adults
view the record
Teaching/training modules in health and aging
view the record
New & Notable
Bryant, L.; Altpeter, M.; Whitelaw, N. (2006). Evaluation of programs to promote health in older adults: An introduction. Journal of Applied Gerontology 25(3): 197-213.
Quandt, Sara A.; Stafford, Jeanette M.; Bell, Ronny A.; Smith, Shannon L.; Snively, Beverly M.; Arcury, Thomas A. (2006). Predictors of falls in a multiethnic population of older rural adults with diabetes. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 61A(4): 394-8.
Reitzes, Donald C.; Mutran, Elizabeth J. (2006). Lingering identities in retirement. The Sociological Quarterly 47(2): 333-59.
Resnick, B.; Simpson, M.; Bercovitz, A.; Galik, E.; Gruber-Baldini, A.; Zimmerman, S.; Magaziner, J. (2006). Pilot testing of the restorative care intervention: impact on residents. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 32(3): 39-47.
Shuey, Kim M.; O'Rand, Angela M. Changing demographics and new pension risks. Research on Aging 28(3): 317-340.
Wilmoth, Janet M.; Longino, Charles F., Jr. (2006). Demographic trends that will shape U.S. policy in the twenty-first century. Research on Aging 28(3): 269-288.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
"Reconnect to Your Health!": A Joint Outreach Campaign for Women's Health. The Administration on Aging (AOA), the Office on Women's Health (OWH), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), have joined together to promote "Reconnect to Your Health!", a Women's Health Outreach Campaign. The purpose is to share information on women's health, including Medicare-covered preventive services and Medicare's new Rx coverage. Materials are tailored for dissemination on/before Mother's Day, May 14, 2006 and during National Women's Health Week (NWHW), May 14 -20, 2006. This is a multi-generational marketing campaign. The poster and the card are also appropriate for distribution by community aging service providers, such as Area Agencies on Aging, Senior Centers, Congregate Meal Programs and Meals on Wheels. These materials are available on the AoA website for the aging network and other partners to download, add their logos and contact information (if desired), print and distribute through their national, state and community networks.
Upcoming Events in NC
May 25-28, 2006
Reimagining New Orleans: An Experiment in Citizen Democracy
Second Journey May Council of Elders
Wildacres Retreat, Little Switzerland, NC
July 28, 2006
Creating Intentional Communities for the Second Half of Life
UNC-Asheville Reuter Center
http://www.unca.edu/ncccr/CIC_conference/index.htm
October 25-27, 2006
5th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
Research Triangle Park, NC
http://www.aging.unc.edu/nccoa/index.html
Community Bulletin Board
Don't forget to check the Community Bulletin Board for other aging-related announcements for seniors, educators, students and professionals.
Current listings include research studies in need of subjects.
View our complete events calendar at www.aging.unc.edu/events/.
Publication of this newsletter is announced via email listserv. To join one of our lists, please visit www.aging.unc.edu/news/lists.html for more information. If you have information that you would like to see included in this newsletter, please send it to aginginfo@unc.edu.