News & Highlights
IOA Establishes Statistical Support Unit
The Institute on Aging has established a Statistical Support Unit, headed by Professor Lloyd Edwards of the Department of Biostatistics. The unit will support statistical aspects of Institute on Aging research, including that of the Institute’s Center for Aging and Diversity, and Dr. Edwards will work closely with IOA Associate Director for Research, Dr. Jennifer Craft Morgan. The new unit will provide enhanced capacities and support for data management, research program management, and the Institute’s recently established Research Stimulus Program. Read more...
NCCOA: Coming In 3 Months!
Session abstracts for individual workshops and paper sessions, plus a list of roundtable presentations, have been added to the web site of the North Carolina Conference on Aging. The conference is scheduled for October 25-27th, 2006, in RTP, NC. Early registration ends September 29th, 2006.
NC NOVA Program Effecting Long-Term Care Change
North Carolina's Better Jobs Better Care demonstration project, NC New Organizational Vision Award (NOVA), has begun implementation of a star rating system for long-term care facilities, as approved by the 2005 NC General Assembly. Reviews of pilot sites are slated to be completed this month, and additional legislation has now been passed to begin statewide implementation of the program on a voluntary basis in January, 2007. The Institute on Aging is a member of the NC NOVA partner team.
IOA Co-Hosts Lifelong Access Libraries Institute
The first national Lifelong Access Libraries Institute, an invitation-only leadership and learning experience for public librarians, was co-hosted at UNC-CH by the UNC Institute on Aging and the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS). The Lifelong Access model is a new framework for public library services that promotes productive aging through learning and civic engagement. Institute on Aging presenters included Victor Marshall, Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Joanne Gard Marshall, Mary Altpeter, Danielle Borasky and Marlys Ray. One attendee at the IOA Information Center's session on 'Resources About Older Adults' declared the AgeLib Digital Library to be "better than Google!"
Schneider Completes Falls Prevention Training
Ellen Schneider, IOA Program Manager, recently completed an NCOA-sponsored 2-day course to become a Master Trainer in the evidence-based health promotion program "A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls." The program is designed to reduce the fear of falling and increase activity levels among older adults.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Cheryl Waites, EdD, of NC State University, has been named a Hartford Faculty Scholar by the Gerontological Society of America. The program annually inducts outstanding geriatric social work faculty, who receive professional development opportunities, and $100,000 in funding. IOA Associate Director Mary Altpeter will be mentoring Dr. Waites.
Dr. Bonita L. Marks has won the AFAR-NYAS-GE Healthcare Neuroimaging Prize for Junior Investigators. Dr. Marks completed the research leading to her prizewinning paper during her sabbatical post-doctoral training at Duke's Center for Aging, sponsored by NIH. She will return to UNC's Exercise and Sports Science Department this fall.
Drs. Lisa Gwyther and Kenneth Lyles, both of Duke University, have been chosen President-elect and CM Section Chair-elect, respectively, of the Gerontological Society of America, and will take office in November.
Dr. James Peacock, of the Appalachian State University Graduate Gerontology Program, has been elected Secretary of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Save The Date: Ethics of Aging and LTC Conference
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte will host The Ethics of Aging and Long-Term Care Conference on November 2nd and 3rd, 2006. Dr. Harry R. Moody will be the featured speaker on the subject of "The 122-Year-Old Man in the Year 2067" at 7:00 pm on November 2nd. The event is co-sponsored by the UNCC Gerontology Program, numerous other academic departments, and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Council on Aging.
New Online Gerontology Journal
The International Journal of Ageing and Later Life is a new online journal with free access. It serves an audience interested in social and cultural aspects of aging and later life development, and reflects an attempt to broaden the field of ageing studies.
Journal Of Aging Studies Call For Papers
The Journal of Aging Studies announces a call for papers for a special issue on masculinity and aging. For details contact Dr. Deborah K. van den Hoonaard. The deadline for submission of papers is January 31, 2007. See the “Guide for Authors” in the journal or at the journal’s website for instructions regarding preparation of the text.
FICCDAT Festival of Conferences 2007
The Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology will take place from June 16-19, 2007 in Toronto, Canada, and has issued a second call for abstracts in the following areas: growing older with a disability; the Second International Conference on Technology and Aging; advances in neurorehabilitation; caregivers- essential partners in care; and the 30th Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Conference: Improving Medical Device Usability.
Featured Web Site
Technology for Long Term Care
www.techforltc.org
Created by the Polisher Research Institute, this site is for for professionals engaged in planning,
designing, managing, researching, and caregiving in long-term care settings. It focuses on technologies
related to important care issues including: fall prevention/detection, wander management, assistance call
systems and incontinence management. Content supports the dual objectives of informing and educating both
long-term care providers and potential consumers about available technology products.
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.
Aging: nineteenth edition
view the record
Communities of care: assisted living for African American elders
view the record
Physical activity survey, 2006
view the record
The supply and demand of professional social workers providing long term care services: report to Congress
view the record
Work impediments at older ages
view the record
New & Notable
Lee, Shoou-Yih D.; Gazmararian, Julie A.; Arozullah, Ahsan M. (2006). Health literacy and social support among elderly Medicare enrollees in a managed care plan. The Journal of Applied Gerontology 25(4): 324-37.
Pathman, D. E.; Ricketts, T. C.; Konrad, T. R. (2006). How adults' access to outpatient physician services relates to the local supply of primary care physicians in the rural southeast. Health Services Research 41(1): 79-102.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
Active Aging Week coming in September. The International Council on Active Aging is sponsoring the fourth annual Active Aging Week from September 25-October 1, 2006. Host sites will feature programming to orient older adults toward an active lifestyle which includes physical activity and exercise options. Free classes, education seminars, access to fitness facilities, health fairs or activities such as community walks or tennis matches are some ways to reach out to this population. Read more about becoming a host organization.
Altpeter co-authors new NCOA issue brief on physical activity programs. Dr. Mary Altpeter of the UNC Insitute on Aging, and Carole Milas of the University of Pittsburgh Center for Healthy Aging, are co-authors of an issue brief, Recruiting Older Adults Into Your Physical Activity Programs, just released by the National Council on Aging. The report features a social marketing framework for developing a recruitment plan, and gives examples of successful recruitment strategies and communication techniques.
New toolkit for working with caregivers. The National Center on Caregiving at Family Caregiver Alliance has made available a new toolkit to facilitate the assessment of caregiver needs in health and long-term care settings. Caregivers Count Too! is for any professional who works with older and/or disabled adults, regardless of the setting.
Upcoming Events in NC
October 25-27, 2006
5th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging
Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center
Research Triangle Park, NC
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.