News & Highlights
A Note From IOA Director Victor Marshall
The North Carolina Aging Services Plan 2007-2011 was released in March with the sub-title, “Putting the Pieces Together”. This plan updates the 2003-2007 Plan and presents an agenda to help the state respond to its aging population. I’d like to describe how the Institute on Aging will be one of the many pieces being put together as we move forward. The Institute was one of many organizations consulted in the development of this plan, and we are pleased to be named in relation to several of the initiatives. Read Dr. Marshall's entire column...
Aging Exchange Winners Announced
Winners of the paper and poster prizes in the postdoctoral fellow and graduate student categories at the Fourth Annual Aging Exchange have been announced. They are Drs. Tiffany Shubert, Anna Song Beeber, Heather Kane and Michael Landry, and graduate students Tyson Brown, Kathryn Remmes, Linda Ko and Tasanee Walsh. Two new awards, the ICARUS Award and the Carol Woods Retirement Center Award, were also presented this year. Read more about the awards and individual honorees. The Aging Exchange is sponsored by the UNC Institute on Aging in collaboration with: the Schools of Dentistry, Information and Library Science, Medicine, Pharmacy, and Public Health; the Program on Aging of the School of Medicine; the Interdisciplinary Certificate in Aging Program; the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research; the Program on Aging, Disablement and Long Term Care; the Demography and Economics of Aging Research Program of the Carolina Population Center and Carol Woods Retirement Center.
DeFriese Awards:
2007 Winners Named,
2006 Winners Honored
The UNC Institute on Aging is pleased to announce that Dr. Kelly S. Giovanello and Mr. Tyson Brown are the
2007 winners of the Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Awards.
These annual awards honor Dr. DeFriese's thirty-year distinguished career in the conduct and development of research
to improve the quality of lives of older North Carolinians. The awards are given to one junior faculty/staff member
and one doctoral student from UNC Chapel Hill. Read more about the 2007 recipients.
The winners of the 2006 DeFriese Awards were recognized at the recent Aging Exchange.
The faculty/staff winner was Dr. Mary Roth, Assistant Professor in the Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy at the School of Pharmacy
and a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Geriatric Medicine in the School of Medicine.
The doctoral student award went to Tiffany Shubert, a fellow in the Carolina Program in Healthcare and Aging Research (CPHAR) training program at the UNC Institute on Aging, funded by the NIA.
Tiffany recently successfully defended and submitted her PhD in the Department of Human Movement Science.
IOA Appoints Record Number Of Senior Leaders
Congratulations to the six individuals selected as the Senior Leadership Initiative Class of 2008. They are: Betty Jane Caldwell, Alfred Keyes, Aaron McKeithan, Jr., Jeane Suddarth, the Reverend Henry Edmonds and Dr. Keith Garrison. More details about the new Senior Leaders will be available shortly.
Institute on Aging Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
The Institute on Aging celebrated its 10 year anniversary at a reception held at the conclusion of the Fourth Annual Aging Exchange. The IOA was created by the North Carolina General Assembly in August 1996 and placed under the general umbrella of the 16-campus University of North Carolina System. Since its inception, the IOA has grown from 1 full-time and 2 part-time employees to 13 full-time employees, 15 part-time employees, 2 predoctoral fellows, 2 postdoctoral fellows, and 11 graduate student research assistants. The IOA thanks its many academic, national, state, and community partners for collaborating with us during the past 10 years to enhance the well-being of older adults in North Carolina through research, education, and public service. Learn more about the IOA.
WIN A STEP UP Profiled In AAHSA Magazine
The March/April 2007 issue of Future/Age, the magazine of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, is devoted to Better Jobs Better Care programs and their benefits. WIN A STEP UP is featured in the article, "Workplace interventions for retention, quality and performance: how investing in direct care workers pays off."
Digital Carousel Updated And Expanded
The Insitute on Aging Information Center's Digital Carousel for gerontologists has been updated with some new presentations (including Older Worker Demographics), additional subject headings (including Aging Services, Employment) and new data (US Aging Demographics).
End Of Life Conference- April 25, 2007
A 1-day conference, Improving End of Life Care for the Underserved: Choices, Power, Action, will be held on April 25, 2007 in Winston-Salem, NC. This joint venture between several faculty members from Winston-Salem State University and the Community Partnership for End-of-Life Care will have support from the Duke Institute on Care at the End-of-Life. Register online. For additional information: 336-768-6157 x622.
Adult Center For Enrichment Conference
The Adult Center for Enrichment will present a 1-day conference open to the public on May 23, 2007 at the Empire Room, Greensboro, NC. Presenters include authors Tommy Hays and Joe and Terry Graedon. The conference theme is 'Finding Continued Meaning and Purpose As We Age'. More information is available from Sallie White, 336-274-3559.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Dr. Michael T. Gross, Professor in the Program in Human Movement Science at UNC Chapel Hill and recipient of an IOA Research Stimulus Grant, has been named a Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association. The Fellowship recognizes his contribution to lasting and significant advances in the science, education and practice of the profession of physical therapy.
Dr. Norman E. Sharpless, Assistant Professor, Medicine and Genetics, at the UNC School of Medicine has received one of 11 Clinical Scientist Awards in Translational Research from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The five-year, $750,000 awards are intended to support established, independent physicIan-scientists who are dedicated to translational research and mentoring physician-scientist trainees. Dr. Sharpless, a member of the Lineberger Cancer Center, will use the funds to support his research on the role of tumor suppressor proteins in stem cell aging.
Tiffany Shubert has been recognized by the UNC Program on Aging and the Division of Geriatric Medicine as a Donald W. Reynolds Scholar for contributing geriatric content to the medical school curriculum. In 2005, in the course of a four year grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to the Program on Aging and the Division of Geriatric Medicine, Dr. Shubert began working to integrate functional assessment and falls prevention into the medical school curriculum through a geriatric functional assessment course for second year students, and co-developed a comprehensive geriatric assessment lecture with Dr. Anthony Caprio and Dr. Jan Busby-Whitehead for third year students. Students successfully practiced tools taught in the class with volunteer residents from Carol Woods and Carolina Meadows. Dr. Shubert also contributed to a falls prevention skills assessment clinical exam for third year students, and is currently developing a geriatric gait assessment and falls prevention lecture for UNC's second and third year family practice residents.
IJAL Call For Papers
The International Journal of Aging and Later Life has issued a call for papers on the topic of baby boomers. Submissions are due by June 30, 2007.
Featured Web Site
United States Senate Special Committee on Aging
www.aging.senate.gov
The web site of the Senate Special Committee on Aging features the ability to access webcasts of Senate hearings, as well as archived hearing transcripts in .pdf format, and a resource list dedicated to links to federal information on senior issues.
This web site and others have been selected for inclusion in AgeLib,
the IOA's Digital Library of aging resources. Search
AGELIB now.
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.
Medicare physician group practices: innovations in quality and efficiency
view the record
Quality assurance for long-term care: the experiences of England, Australia, Germany and Japan
view the record
Residential care & assisted living: state oversight practices and state information available to consumers
view the record
The aging workforce: what does it mean for business and the economy?
view the record
New & Notable
Blazer, Dan G.; Sachs-Ericsson, Natalie; Hybels, Celia F. (2007). Perception of unmet basic needs as a predictor of depressive symptoms among community-dwelling older adults. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 62A(2): 191-195.
Dupre, Matthew E. (2007). Educational differences in age-related patterns of disease: reconsidering the cumulative disadvantage and age-as-leveler hypotheses. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48(1): 1-15.
Grzywacz, Joseph G.; Suerken, Cynthia K.; Neiberg, Rebecca H.; Wei, Lang; Bell, Ronny A.; Sara A. Quandt; Arcury, Thomas A. (2007). Age, ethnicity and use of complementary and alternative medicine in health self-management. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 48(1): 84-98.
Klemmack, David L.; Roff, Lucinda Lee; Parker, Michael W.; Koenig, Harold G.; Sawyer, Patricia; Allman, Richard M. (2007). A cluster analysis typology of religiousness/ spirituality among older adults. Research on Aging 29(2): 163-183.
Svihula, Judie; Estes, Carroll L. (2007). Social Security politics: ideology and reform. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences 62B(2): S79-S89.
Yancik, Rosemary; Ershler, William; Satariano, William; Hazzard, William; Cohen, Harvey J.; Ferrucci, Luigi. (2007). Report of the National Institute on Aging Task Force on comorbidity. Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences 62A(3): 275-80.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
Altpeter co-investigator on study to evaluate Walk With Ease.
Mary Altpeter, PhD, IOA Associate Director for Program Development, is a co-investigator of a 3-year study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Association of Medical Colleges
to evaluate the Arthritis Foundation's 'Walk With Ease' program.
The project goals are: 1) to demonstrate whether the program can increase PA and fitness levels in arthritic individuals; 2) to identify whether the program provides arthritis-specific benefits and 3) to evaluate the feasibility of disseminating the program through partnerships among the state health department arthritis program, the local chapters of the AF, the aging services networks and other community entities.
The principal investigator in the study is
Leigh F. Callahan, PhD, Associate Professor, Medicine, Orthopedics and Social Medicine, of the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at UNC at Chapel Hill.
NC agency lauded by NCOA for falls prevention. The Falls Free Coalition of the National Council On Aging has named the Pitt County Council on Aging 'SPICE For Life' program as one of 10 creative programs and practices in home assessment and modification that can reduce home hazards and help prevent older adult falls. The Coalition's Home Safety Workgroup conducted a nine-month national search for these creative programs and practices. Read more...
Health literacy tools from AOA. The Administration on Aging and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion of the US Department of Health and Human Services are pleased to provide members of the National Aging Services Network with an exciting new health literacy resource. Tools for Improving Health Literacy, designed to help aging professionals communicate effectively with older adults at all health literacy levels, can be accessed online at AoA's new web page on Communicating with Older Adults. To request a CD version, send email to aoainfo@aoa.gov with your name, organization and mailing address, and whether you desire follow-up information on health literacy.
Upcoming Events in NC
April 10, 2007
IOA Seminar Series
Negotiating health transitions in later life:
Older couples, adult children, and assisted living
Candace Kemp, Ph.D. Gerontology Center, Georgia State University, Atlanta
3:30-5 PM, 720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 2nd floor conference room
April 11, 2007
"Aging is Good Business: Residential Choices and the Boomers Coming of Age"
University of North Carolina at Greensboro Gerontology Program Annual Summit
Cone Ballroom, Elliott University Center, UNCG, Greensboro, NC
April 11-14, 2007
28th Annual Meeting, Southern Gerontological Society
Improving Elders' Lives: A Collaborative Enterprise
Greensboro, NC
April 17, 2007
IOA Seminar Series
Research in
Practice in the Gerontological Social Sector
Peter Reed, Senior
Director of Programs for the Alzheimer's Association National Office
3:30-5 PM, 720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 2nd floor conference room
April 20, 2007 Workshop
"Assisting Families with a Dying Elder Member: Practical and Interpersonal Issues"
Dr. Karen Smith
12:30-4:00 p.m., Trustee Room, Taylor Hall, Campbell University
Additional information: Shirley Hearn, 1-800-334-4111, Ext. 1638
April 24, 2007
IOA Seminar Series /ECRA
Bringing the Community to the Research Setting
Center for Aging & Diversity Community Advisory Board Members
3:30-5 PM, 720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., 2nd floor conference room
April 25, 2007
Improving End-Of-Life Care for Typically Underserved Populations
8:30am - 4:30pm, 850 Metropolitan Drive, Winston-Salem, NC
Save The Dates
May is Older Americans Month
"Making Choices for a Healthier Future"
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. Current and past issues may be viewed at any time at 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 include in this newsletter in the future, please send it to aginginfo@unc.edu at any time.