News & Highlights
Save The Dates: NCCOA 2007
The dates for the 2007 North Carolina Conference on Aging have been set for September 10-12 at the M.C. Benton, Jr. Convention & Civic Center in Winston-Salem. The theme will be "Today, Tomorrow, Together!"
IOA Seminar Series Spring Offerings
The UNC Institute on Aging/Carolina Program in Health and Aging Research (CPHAR)/Ethnicity, Culture, Race and Aging (ECRA) seminar series for the Spring 2007 Semester will be held on Tuesdays, from 3:30-5:00 p.m. in the second floor conference room at the Institute on Aging, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill. All seminars are free and open to the public. See the calendar of events, below, for January's remaining meeting; the complete spring schedule will be available soon on the Seminar Series web page.
Research Stimulus Grants Program To Be Extended
With support from the office of the Vice-Chancellor for Research at UNC at Chapel Hill, the Institute on Aging will be extending its Research Stimulus Grants program for another year. Currently, four interdisciplinary research teams receive small grants and a structured mentorship program to assist them in developing grant proposals that will be submitted through the Institute on Aging. Proposals are welcome from any and all departments and schools at UNC at Chapel Hill. For more information, contact IOA Associate Director for Research,
Dr. Jennifer Craft Morgan, or see the
program web page.
'Bathing Without A Battle' Impact Studied
Approximately 4.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and the majority are difficult to bathe. Through a joint project of the UNC Institute on Aging and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Cecil G. Sheps Center Program on Aging Disability and Long-Term Care, with the Oregon Health Sciences University School of Nursing, Dr. Philip Sloane led the development of an educational package for nursing home staff on two research-based techniques for reducing agitation and aggression during bathing of Alzheimer’s patients. The CD-ROM/video was distributed to over 15,000 US nursing homes, and results studied by Dr. Diane Calleson (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Family Medicine), Dr. Sloane and Lauren Cohen (Sheps Center). Their article “Effectiveness of Mailing ‘Bathing Without a Battle’ to All US Nursing Homes,” published in Gerontology & Geriatrics Education (27(1): 67-79), revealed mostly positive short-term outcomes for the video’s dissemination, usage, and educational value. Long-term outcomes continue to be monitored. Funding was provided by the Retirement Research Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the HCR-ManorCare Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation, the Extendicare Foundation, Arjo Inc, the National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute for Nursing Research. To order a copy of the video (VHS or DVD format), visit http://www.bathingwithoutabattle.unc.edu/.
Try Something New: PubAlerts
PubAlerts are a service of the UNC Institute on Aging Information Center, created to help researchers keep up to date in their areas of interest. Each PubAlert lists new publications in a topical area, covering journal publications, grey literature, and general news. You may subscribe to any or all of three PubAlerts currently available on health promotion/healthy aging, older workers or frontline healthcare workers by visiting the PubAlerts web page.
New Annotated Bibliography On Aging And Health Policy
The staff of the IOA Information Center have created a new bibiliography of Reports on U.S. Health Policy for an Aging Population. It may be viewed in .pdf format.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Dr. Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, Director of the UNC IOA Center for Aging and Diversity, received the Gerontological Society of America Minority Task Force Mentor Award for 2006.
NCOA Donates Journals To IOA Information Center
The National Council On Aging has generously donated back issues of gerontology journals to the IOA Information Center, helping to fill-in some gaps in the existing collection, as well as adding some new titles. Library staff are in the process of adding these new titles to the Agelib Digital Library.
Kemble Lecture Scheduled
Dr. Carolyn Sampselle, PhD, RNC, FAAN, of the University of Michigan, will deliver the Elizabeth E. Kemble Lecture, scheduled for February 5, 2007, on 'Urinary incontinence in women: From palliation to prevention.' The lecture is sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing in honor of the first dean, Elizabeth L. Kemble, and this year it is held in honor of retiring professor Dr. Molly Dougherty. It will take place at 3:00 PM in the Chancellor's Ballroom at The Carolina Inn. Please RSVP by January 26, 2007 to Amanda Meyers, (919) 966-4619.
New Clearinghouse For LTC Information Announced
The US Department of Health and Human Services has just launched a web site called the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information: Own Your Future. The site is intended to help citizens understand and plan for the use and costs of long-term care. As part of the Own Your Future Long-Term Care Awareness Campaign, anyone interested may also order or download a long-term care planning kit.
Featured Web Site
Wake Forest University
Elder Law Clinic
law.wfu.edu/eclinic
The Wake Forest University School of Law operates an Elder Law Clinic providing free legal assistance to low and moderate income seniors
60 and older. Clients are seen only during the academic year, but may apply at any time to be added to the waiting list for assistance.
Cases are handled by second and third year law students under the supervision of North Carolina licensed attorneys. The Clinic web site offers
information on how to apply, what types of cases are accepted, how to request a speaker from the Clinic for a community group meeting, and links
to related agencies.
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.
Across the states: profiles of long-term care (2006)
view the record
Encyclopedia of gerontology: second edition
view the record
Health coverage for aging baby boomers: findings from the Commonwealth Fund survey of older adults
view the record
New & Notable
Haas, William H.; Bradley, Don E.; Longino, Charles F., Jr.; Stoller, Eleanor P.; Serow, William J. (2006). In retirement migration, who counts? A methodological question with economic policy implications. The Gerontologist 46(6): 815-20.
Hagestad, Gunhild; Uhlenberg, Peter. (2006). Should we be concerned about age segregation? Some theoretical and empirical explorations. Research on Aging 28 (6): 638-653.
Kelly, Christopher; Marshall, Victor W. (2007). Politics of aging. Invited article in J. Birren (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology, 2nd ed., pp. 370-9. London: Elsevier.
Marshall, Victor W. (2007). Spence, D.L. Biographical article in George Ritzer (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sociology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Marshall, Victor W.; Clarke, Philippa J. (2007). Theories of aging: Social. Invited article in J. Birren (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Gerontology, 2nd ed., pp. 621-30. London: Elsevier.
Sauer, Jennifer H. (2006). Caught in the NET: a survey of Raleigh-Durham area residents 40+ about online use and safety. Washington, DC: AARP.
Shumaker, Sally A.; Legault, Claudine; Coker, Laura H. (2006). Behavior-based interventions to enhance cognitive functioning and independence in older adults. JAMA 296(23): 2852-4.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
Call for creative and best practices in home safety. The National Council on Aging, in collaboration with the Falls Free Coalition, is seeking to identify and promote ten Creative and Best Practices in Home Safety Assessment and Modification that serve to address fall risks and that are linked to, or part of, a more comprehensive fall prevention intervention. Visit the NCOA Center for Healthy Aging web page during January, 2007 to make a nomination.
Call for papers: special theme issue of Preventing Chronic Diseases e-journal. The January 2008 issue of the CDC's Preventing Chronic Diseases e-journal will focus on issues related to older adult health. Areas of interest include emerging risk factors, health conditions, lifespan concerns, and global aging. The deadline for submissions is July 1, 2007. The guest editor, Dr. Jaya Rao, may be reached at jrao@cdc.gov or 770-488-5091 for more information.
ACTIVE Study shows mental exercise can maintain seniors' cognitive skills. Newly released research results from a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in the Dec. 20, 2006, Journal of the American Medical Association show that certain mental exercises can offset some of the expected decline in older adults’ thinking skills and show promise for maintaining cognitive abilities needed to do everyday tasks such as shopping, making meals and handling finances. The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) Study is the first randomized, controlled trial to demonstrate long-lasting, positive effects of brief cognitive training in older adults. The publication reference is: Willis, S.L., et al. (2006). Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults: The ACTIVE Study. Journal of the American Medical Association 296:2805-2814. The same issue of JAMA also features editorial comment on the study by Drs. Shumaker, Legault and Coker of Wake Forest University. Read the NIA press release.
Upcoming Events in NC
January 20, 2007
Arthritis Foundation Aquatic Instructor Certification Course
Sampson Regional Medical Center, Clinton, NC
http://ncarthritis.com/
January 23, 2007 IOA Seminar Series
Note: the complete spring schedule will be available soon on the Seminar Series web page
"Age Discrimination"
Julie McMullin, University of Western Ontario
3:30-5:00 pm, UNC Institute on Aging, 2nd floor conference room, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill
January 24-27, 2007
American Institute of Financial Gerontology course for AIFG designation
Dogwood, Sharpe, and Claxton Rooms, Elliott University Center, UNC Greensboro
http://www.uncg.edu/gro/news.html#Jan2007News
Save The Date
April 11-14, 2007
28th Annual Meeting, Southern Gerontological Society
Improving Elders' Lives: A Collaborative Enterprise
Greensboro, NC
Registration begins on February 1, 2007. Early registration ends on March 15, 2007.
http://www.wfu.edu/gerontology/sgs/
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 view current and past issues at any time, visit http://www.aging.unc.edu/news/newsletter.html 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.