News & Highlights
A Note From IOA Director Victor Marshall
I thought I might share with you some of my hopes for the future of the Institute. The IOA has as its general mission, “To enhance the well-being of older people in North Carolina by fostering statewide collaboration in research, education, and service.” I will focus here on the research aspects of our mission, although we see research as being in the service of education and service.
Read Dr. Marshall's entire column...IOA Appoints Two New Research Scientists
The Institute on Aging announces the appointment of two new Research Scientists. Dr. Tiffany Shubert will strenghen the Institute's Program in Healthy Aging, and Dr. Peter Stein will serve in a newly created position as Assistant Director for Workforce Aging Initiatives.
Statewide Advisory Council Meets June 29th
As noted in an earlier newsletter, the IOA has reconstituted the Statewide Advisory Council for the Institute, after a hiatus of a few years. While smaller, the new SAC membership is more strategically composed, representing the business sector, state legislature, the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, AARP, and university partners. The focus of the Council’s mandate is to advise the director and the IOA concerning the Institute’s statewide mission, therefore its members come from as far west as Asheville and as far east as Elizabeth City and Wilmington. Its inaugural meeting at the Institute on June 29 will be chaired by Professor Charles Longino of Wake Forest University, a distinguished member of the gerontological community, the immediate past president of the Gerontological Society of America and a past president of the Southern Gerontological Society and the Association for Gerontology and Higher Education.
Senior Leader Class of 2007 Graduates
On May 24th the Institute on Aging hosted a commencement luncheon at the Sheraton Chapel Hill for the 2006-2007 Class of Senior Leaders. Dick Bloom, Barbara Bryan, Peggy Conway, and Elizabeth Hansen have just completed the 15 month Senior Leadership Enhancement Program. The luncheon speaker this year was Bob Jackson, Executive Director of AARP-NC, who spoke about leadership and volunteerism.
Florence Soltys, Professor And Aging Advocate, To Retire
Florence Soltys, Clinical Associate Professor in both the School of Medicine and the School of Social Work at UNC at Chapel Hill, and an influential figure in local and statewide aging advocacy, will retire on June 30, 2007, after more than 21 years at the University. Read more in the spring issue of Contact, the news magazine of the School of Social Work, starting on page 12.
WCU Names Dean For Health, Gerontology
Linda Seestedt-Stanford has been named the founding dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences at Western Carolina University. Seestedt-Stanford is currently assistant dean of the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions at Central Michigan University; she will begin her new appointment at Western Carolina on July 1. Seestedt-Stanford will undertake a leadership role in the planning and oversight of a $46 million, 145,000-square-foot School of Health and Gerontological Sciences on property adjacent to the main campus. Planning money for the facility was secured from the General Assembly during a previous state funding cycle.
Disability And Elderly Emergency Management Forums
At seven locations throughout the state during June and July 2007, a series of community forums will be sponsored by the Disability and Elderly Emergency Management Initiative. DEEM is a multi-agency endeavor of the NC Departments of Health & Human Services and Crime Control & Public Safety, the NC Divisions of Emergency Management and Aging and Adult Services, the Governor’s Advocacy Council for Persons with Disabilities, the NC Association of Area Agencies on Aging, and the Triangle J Area Agency on Aging.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Mairead Moloney has been awarded the Beth B. Hess Memorial Scholarship, sponsored jointly by Sociologists for Women in Society, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and the American Sociological
Association. The award is based on: commitment to teaching, research and/or activism in social inequality, social justice, or social
problems, with a focus on gender and/or gerontology; service to the academic and/or local community, including mentoring; and high quality research and writing in the proposal and letter of application. The scholarship includes a stipend of $3500, membership in SWS, and support to attend the Annual Meeting of SWS, ASA, and SSSP.
Ms. Moloney is currently supported as an NRSA doctoral fellow in the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and is a graduate student member of the Workforce Aging in the New Economy
project of the Institute on Aging. Her doctoral studies advisor is Victor Marshall, Director of the IOA.
Karen Gottovi, former Director of the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, will be honored as a recipient of the 2007 Wells College Alumnae Award for a distinguished career in public service, her commitment to the environment and her outstanding leadership.
Ilene Siegler of Duke University, also a Senior Research Scientist at the UNC Institute on Aging, has won the 2007 Developmental Health Award from the American Psychological Association (APA), recognizing her research contributions to the fields of health and aging. Dr. Siegler is Principal Investigator of the UNC Alumni Heart Health Study, a long-running longitudinal survey of UNC graduates. She will give an invited address at APA's annual meeting in San Francisco in August.
Quoting The Experts...
This new section will run whenever the news media feature comments from scholars and professionals in aging in North Carolina.
On May 15, 2007, Victor Marshall, PhD, Director of the UNC Institute on Aging, was quoted in an article, "More senior citizens choose work over retirement," a Fresno Bee story picked up by Myrtle Beach Online.
On June 20, 2007 at 9pm, Dr. Marshall will be featured on UNC-TV's program, "NC Workers 50+: The Road Ahead." More promotional information on the show can be found at UNC TV's web site.
Journal Of Applied Gerontology Seeks Reviewers
Colleagues interested in reviewing submissions for the Journal of Applied Gerontology should contact editor Malcolm Cutchin. The Journal's editorial offices are currently housed at the UNC Institute on Aging.
New Aging Journal Has NC Editorial Connections
The Journal of Aging, Humanities, and the Arts, which will publish its first issue this month, has strong North Carolina editorial connections. Dana Burr Bradley, formerly of UNC-Charlotte and now Director, Center for Gerontology and Clifford Todd Distinguished Professor of Gerontology at Western Kentucky University, is a co-editor. The editorial board includes Charles Longino of Wake Forest University, Ron Manheimer of UNC-Asheville, and Barbara Frey Waxman of UNC Wilmington. It will be an official journal of the Humanities & Arts Committee of the Gerontological Society of America, with a special rate available to GSA members.
US Citizens Eligible For Postdoc Positions In Canada
The National Institute on Aging is sponsoring postdoctoral training in research on aging in Canada grants which are open to United States residents for the purpose of fostering collaboration between the two countries in identifying and developing postdoctoral-level investigators for careers in research on aging and health.
Free Online Journal On Aging Policy
Ageing Horizons: policies for ageing societies is a freely accessible online journal published by the University of Oxford Institute of Aging.
World Congress of Gerontology
The 19th World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics web site now lists the congress themes and key dates and allows participants, sponsors and exhibitors to sign up to receive updates. The Congress is scheduled for July, 2009 in Paris.
Featured Web Site
Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging
www.epa.gov/aging/bhc/
The principal goal of the "Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging" program is to raise awareness across the nation about healthy synergies that can be achieved by communities combining Smart Growth and Active Aging concepts.
A national recognition and award program contributes to this goal. The web site features numerous tools and resources related to healthy aging and smart growth.
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.
A blueprint for action: developing a livable community for all ages
view the record
Encyclopedia of health and aging
view the record
It's not your mother's retirement: a MetLife study of women and generational differences
view the record
The policy book: AARP public policies 2007
view the record
New & Notable
Koropeckyj-Cox, Tanya; Pienta, Amy Mehraban; Brown, Tyson H. (2007). Women of the 1950s and the "normative" life course: the implications of childlessness, fertility timing, and marital status for psychological well-being in late mid-life. Journal of Aging and Human Development 64(4): 299-330.
Manton, Kenneth G.; Lamb, Vicki L.; Gu, XiLiang. (2007). Medicare cost effects of recent U.S. disability trends in the elderly. Journal of Aging and Health 19(3): 359-81.
Markides, Kyriakos S., ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of health & aging. Los Angeles: Sage.
North Carolina contributors include: Dan G. Blazer, associate editor; Peggye Dilworth-Anderson, advisory board; John L. Beyer, Jonathan R.T. Davidson, P. Murali Doraiswamy, Deborah T. Gold, Harold W. Goforth, Judith C. Hays, Helen Hoenig, Celia F. Hybels, Andrew D. Krystal, William C. Logan, David J. Madden, George L. Maddox, Kenneth G. Manton, Erdman B. Palmore, Jana L. Purser, Brenda L. Plassman, Christine M. Ruley, Lorraine M. Stone, Philip D. Sloane, Ilene C. Siegler, Kenneth E. Schmader, Mughah Ekanath Thakur, Robin Trotman, Kathleen A. Welsh-Bohmer, contributors.
Schneider, Ellen C.; Altpeter, Mary; Whitelaw, Nancy. (2007). An Innovative Approach for Building Health Promotion Program Capacity: A Generic Volunteer Training Curriculum. Gerontologist 47(3): 398-403.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
EPA award available to communities. The US EPA is accepting applications for its "Excellence in Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging" awards. The awards will be presented to counties, municipalities and tribes demonstrating the best and most inclusive overall approach to implementing smart growth and active aging principles. Apply by 10/17/07.
Altpeter represents aging and public health field on report panel. Dr. Mary Altpeter, IOA Associate Director for Program Development, served on the expert panel for a new CDC report titled, Charting the Future of Community Health Promotion: Recommendations From the National Expert Panel on Community Health Promotion.
Save The Dates
September 10-12, 2007
North Carolina Conference on Aging
M.C. Benton, Jr. Convention & Civic Center / Marriott Hotel and Embassy Suites
Winston-Salem, NC
Pre-program and registration booklet now online.
Advertising deadline: July 16, 2007
November 1-4, 2007
Women in the Second Half of Life: Spirituality and Community
Wildacres Retreat Center, Little Switzerland, NC
Sponsored by: Second Journey
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.