News & Highlights
NC Conference On Aging Rapidly Approaching
The sixth annual North Carolina Conference on Aging is promising to be another great success, as judged by the program, early registrations, and hotel bookings. The conference hotel room block has been filled. If you have not yet made arrangements, contact the Institute at (919) 966-9444 and staff will suggest other hotels in the area which may have rooms. The early registration date for discounted rates has now passed, but it is not too late to register.
Campus-Wide Aging Research Retreat Set
At the request of Tony Waldrop, UNC at Chapel Hill Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, a committee under the leadership of IOA Director Victor Marshall and UNC Center for Aging and Health DirectorJan Busby-Whitehead is organizing an aging research retreat for October 29th, 2007. The long-term goals of this meeting are to broaden the reach of aging research across the Chapel Hill campus and to stimulate interdisciplinary aging research. Read more...
Institute on Aging Seminar Series Rescheduled
The IOA seminar series for the fall term, 2007, will meet in the main conference room of the Institute, on TUESDAY mornings, from 10:30 until noon. This is a change from a previously announced day and time. The first seminar will be held on Tuesday, September 18. The schedule of speakers will be released soon on the IOA website and to our listservs.
2007 Research Stimulus Grantees Named
The Institute on Aging’s Research Stimulus Grants Program, now in its second year, provides structured mentorship experiences to foster research development. Recipients work with individual mentors or mentor teams and attend monthly workshops. This year's grantees are: Janet K. Freburger, PT, Ph.D., principal investigator for Use of Post-Acute Rehabilitation Care and Clinical Trajectories Following Stroke, Hip Fracture, and Joint Replacement; A.C. Hackney, Ph.D., CPH, principal investigator for Cancer Cachexia: Cytokines and Physical Exercise; Bonita L. Marks, Ph.D., principal investigator for Instrument Validation of a Falls Risk Home Self-Assessment Tool; and Alisa S. Wolberg, Ph.D., principal investigator for Clot Structure and Venous Thrombosis and Thromboembolism in the Elderly. Read more...
ICARUS Center Introduced At UNC-CH
UNC-Chapel Hill has been selected as one of seven institutions nationwide to be awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant for the development of the Interdisciplinary Center for Aging Research: Uniting Scientists (ICARUS), a new center focused on improving the health of older adults through innovative interdisciplinary research. The lead principal investigator is Sheryl Zimmerman, director of aging research with the Jordan Institute for Families and professor in the School of Social Work. Co-principal investigators are Mary H. Palmer, School of Nursing Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging, and Jan Busby-Whitehead, chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, and director of the Program on Aging in the School of Medicine. Read more...
Streets To Receive SE4A Award
Dennis Streets, Director of the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services, will receive the Jane Kennedy Excellence in Aging Award from the Southeastern Association of Area Agencies on Aging (SC4A). The award, recognizing outstanding contributions of individuals and organizations that promote the safety, welfare, and well-being of older persons in the Southeast region, will be presented at the AAA September regional conference in Savannah, GA. Dennis was nominated for the award by the NC Association of Area Agencies on Aging.
Fall Course In Gerontology And Family Life At NC State
This fall, Luci Bearon, PhD, will offer FCS 524, Applications of Gerontology to Family Life Education, at North Carolina State University. This graduate course presents multidisciplinary knowledge from gerontology to help educators work effectively with older adults and their families. The focus is on the social context, the experience of aging, and community-based services. Topics include the aging process, family issues, social engagement, economics, housing, nutrition, health, long-term care and end-of-life issues. Enrollment in the related degree program is not required in order to take the course.
New Falls Prevention Clinic In Chapel Hill
The UNC at Chapel Hill Division of Physical Therapy Faculty Practice has opened a Wellness and Falls Prevention Clinic at the new Seymour Center in Chapel Hill, providing a convenient new location for physical therapy, health promotion and falls prevention for older adults. A free drop-in clinic operates on Tuesday afternoons from 1:00pm to 5:00pm. Individuals are encouraged use this opportunity to have their balance screened, and ask questions about the benefits of exercise and physical activity.
Good News For NC Colleagues
Ellen Schneider, IOA Assistant Director for Communications and Program Relations, has been named Vice-President of the Board of Directors at the Center for Volunteer Caregiving. The Center is a non-profit organization that provides volunteer support to elderly and disabled Wake County adults to help them maintain independence, dignity, and quality of life. The News & Observer ran an article about the Center on August 9, 2007.
Sara Quandt, professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, is this year's National Rural Health Association "Outstanding Researcher", for her work directing research on the nutrition and health self-management of rural older adults.
Christopher M. Kelly and Ishan Canty Williams, former IOA CPHAR Fellows and now with the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Virginia, respectively, have co-authored an article published by the Journal of Applied Gerontology. Providing dementia-specific services to family caregivers: North Carolina's Project C.A.R.E. Program, appears in the August 2007 issue (volume 26, number 4, pages 399-412).
Second Journey Newsletter
The summer, 2007 issue of Itineraries, the newsletter of Chapel Hill-based Second Journey, is available to view on the web, with news about events and articles about elders as positive social change agents.
Featured Web Site
National Resource Center on Nutrition, Physical Activity & Aging
http://nutritionandaging.fiu.edu/
The Center, based at Florida International University, promotes active healthy aging by working to reduce nutrition risk among older adults, especially minorities with health disparities. The goals are to support quality of life, improve functionality, promote independence, and decrease early nursing home admissions and hospitalizations, through better nutrition.
The web site includes an extensive, topically arranged resource bibliography.
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.
Encore: finding work that matters in the second half of life
view the record
Genetics, social behaviors, social environments and aging
view the record
The health of aging Hispanics: the Mexican-origin population
view the record
Writing the NIH grant proposal: a step-by-step guide
view the record
New & Notable
Carlton-LaNey, Iris. African Americans Aging in the Rural South. Durham, NC: Sourwood Press, 2006.
Dilworth-Anderson, Peggye; Boswell, Gracie; Cohen, Monique D. (2007). Spiritual and religious coping values and beliefs among African American caregivers: A qualitative study. Journal of Applied Gerontology 26(4): 355-69.
Morrow, Daniel G.; Weiner, Michael; Steinley, Douglas; Young, James; Murray, Michael D. (2007). Patients' health literacy and experience with instructions: Influence preferences for heart failure medication instructions. Journal of Aging and Health 19(4): 575-93.
Shenk, Dena; Groger, Lisa (eds.) Aging education in a global context. Binghamton, NY : Haworth Press, 2006.
Sunil, T.S.; Rojas, Viviana; Bradley, Don E. (2007). United States' international retirement migration: the reasons for retiring to the environs of Lake Chapala, Mexico. Ageing & Society 27: 489-510.
Whitson, Heather E.; Purser, Jama L.; Cohen, Harvey J. (2007). Frailty thy name is ... phrailty? Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences 62A(7): 728-30.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
Aging & Health Promotion News
New web site supports active aging. The Learning Network for Active Aging recently launched its web site to serve as a focal point for information exchange in the U.S. EPA's Building Healthy Communities for Active Aging Initiative. The Learning Network is affiliated with the Active for Life initiative of the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health. Active for Life is one of several Active Living projects funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
New physical activity recommendations for older adults. The American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine released new joint guidelines in August for physical activity in older adults, as part of revised guidelines for all adults. The Heart Association web site offers additional information and links to the articles published in the journal Circulation explaining the guidelines.
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
October 29, 2007
Aging Research Retreat
1:00pm - 7:30pm, Bioinformatics Building, UNC-CH
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.