News & Highlights
Apply By 2/29 To Be A Senior Leader
The UNC Institute on Aging is accepting applications through February 29, 2008 for the 2008-2009 Senior Leadership Initiative, open to North Carolina residents 60 and older. Learn how to apply.
NCCOA 2008: Sponsor/Exhibitor Update
Sponsor and exhibitor information for the 2008 North Carolina Conference on Aging is now available to view on the NCCOA web site. In addition, April 7, 2008 is the deadline to submit presentation proposals to add to a diverse program of seven conference tracks around the theme, "Healthy? Wealthy? and Wise?- Growing Older in North Carolina". Learn more about the tracks...
2008 DeFriese Award Winners
The UNC Institute on Aging is pleased to announce the 2008 winners of the Gordon H. DeFriese Career Development in Aging Research Awards. This year's faculty award goes to Lea C. Watson, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine. The doctoral student recipient is Cherie A. Rosemond, PT MS GCS, a student in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in the School of Public Health. Read the entire news release.
North Carolina Colleges Aging Network Launched
February 22, 2008 marked the inaugural meeting of a network to link gerontologists in North Carolina’s small independent colleges. NCCAN, the North Carolina Colleges Aging Network, became a reality, with ten colleges participating in the launch. Read more...
Dr. Mary Altpeter Celebrates IOA and UNC-CH Anniversaries
On March 1st, Dr. Mary Altpeter, IOA Associate Director for Program Development and UNC-CH Adjunct Lecturer in Public Health, will celebrate her 10 year anniversary with the Institute on Aging and her 15 year anniversary with UNC-CH. Dr. Altpeter joined the Institute on Aging in 1998 as the Associate Director of Operations after serving for five years as the Program Manager of the NC Breast Cancer Screening Program based at the UNC-CH Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Happy anniversary, Mary, and thank you for your many years of dedicated service!
Good News For NC Colleagues
IOA Senior Research Scientist Malcolm Cutchin, PhD, is the Principal Investigator of a new, $314,560 NIA-funded project entitled, "Feasibility and Effects of Preventive Home Visits." The project is a large pilot of an occupational therapy intervention intended to allow at-risk older adults to remain in their homes and maintain quality of life. IOA Research Scientist Judie Svihula is serving as Project Manager, and the Orange County Department on Aging is a major partner in the study.
Silver Alert System For Dementia Patients
The NC Department of Crime Control and Public Safety has implemented the Silver Alert Program to help protect North Carolina's citizens who suffer from dementia or cognitive impairment. In instances where these individuals become missing and endangered, a Silver Alert will quickly disseminate descriptive information, but not health information, about the person in order to try to locate and restore them to their caregivers and residences.
Citizens with Medicare Urged to Call SHIIP Before Making Changes
The Partnership for Medicare Education in North Carolina today announced a new advertising campaign aimed at encouraging seniors and other Medicare beneficiaries to seek expert advice before making any changes to their Medicare plans. Citizens in North Carolina who have any kind of question about Medicare or Medicare Advantage plans can call SHIIP at 1-800-443-9354 for free, unbiased assistance. Visit the SHIIP web site.
One Book, One People Initiative
One Book, One People, is sponsored by NC Hillel, and attempts to bridge the generational divide that exists between college students and the elderly. During the months of March and April, 75 college students and 75 seniors across North Carolina will read a book (The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer) and meet several times with an intergenerational partner to discuss. Individuals with questions about the initiative or who want to register can contact roseae@email.unc.edu. The deadline to sign up is March 5.
Manuscript Submissions Welcome for JAG
The editorial office of the Journal of Applied Gerontology is currently located at the IOA, staffed by Editor-in-Chief Malcolm Cutchin, PhD, and Research Assistant Beccy Aldrich. Please consider submitting a manuscript. See http://jag.sagepub.com/ for more information about the Journal.
Conference Proposal Submission Opportunities
April 30, 2008 is the deadline to submit abstracts for IFA's 9th Global Conference on Ageing (Montreal, September 4-7, 2008). April 30 is also the early registration deadline.
Submitted symposia proposals for the scientific program of the 19th IAGG World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, scheduled for July 5-9, 2009 in Paris, are being accepted around the themes of biological sciences, health sciences and geriatric medicine, behavioral and social sciences, and social research, policy and practice. The submission deadline is June 15, 2008. Learn more...
Travel Stipends Available For Summer Population Course
A limited number of travel stipends are available for the summer course, Integrating Biomarkers in Population-Based Research, to be held in June at UNC-Chapel Hill.
New from NC Researchers
Andrews, G. J., Cutchin, M., McCracken, K., Phillips D. R., & Wiles, J. (2007). Geographical gerontology: the constitution of a discipline. Social Science and Medicine, 65, 151-168.
Cutchin, M. P. (2007). From society to self (and back) through place: Habit in transactional context. OTJR: Occupation, Participation, and Health, 27, 50S-59S.
Cutchin, M. P. (2007). Therapeutic landscapes for older people: Care with commodification, liminality, and ambiguity. In A. Williams, (Ed.), Therapeutic landscapes: Advances and applications, (pp. 181-198). Aldershot: Ashgate.
Taylor, Miles G. (2008). Timing, accumulation, and the Black/White disability gap in later life: A test of weathering. Research On Aging 30(2): 226-50.
Wassel, Janice. (2008). The making of the senior sandwich. Aging Well 1(1): 12-13.
For a list of items recently published by North Carolina faculty, see New & Notable Publications.
New from the Digital Library
These are selected new additions to the AgeLib Digital Library. The links below will open a new window displaying the AgeLib record.
Arthritis in North Carolina / report
view the record
Health, economic resources and the work decisions of older men / report
view the record
Population at 2017: the many dimensions of population aging / report
view the record
Report to the General Assembly on the recommendations for a statewide aging study / report
view the record
Featured Web Site:
North Carolina Adult Day Services Association
Promotes the availability, accessibility, quality and cost effectiveness of adult day services in North Carolina. The site offers services links, publications and education and training opportunities.
Aging & Health Promotion News
Center for Aging and Health and Department of Allied Health Sciences Set Up Falls Prevention Classes, Screening Clinic, and PT Therapy at Chapel Hill's Seymour Center. The Center for Aging and Health and Department of Allied Health Sciences have received an “Investments for the Future” grant to focus on falls prevention in North Carolina. They have used money from the grant to create two programs at the department’s Wellness Clinic at the Seymour Center in Chapel Hill. Both of the new offerings focus on falls prevention, mood disorders, and memory impairment. The “Senior Wellness Clinic” which focuses on boosting “Mood, Memory, and Mobility” and the “Get Some Balance in Your Life” class are directed by UNC-CH geriatricians and clinical specialists in aging. Read more...
Upcoming Events In NC
February 28, 2008 IOA Seminar Series
The Quality of Medication Use in Older Adults
Mary Roth, Pharm D, MHS, Division of Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy
3:30-5:00pm, 2nd floor conference room, 720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill
February 28-29, 2008
Aging Boot Camp, sponsored by the NC Association on Aging
Chapel Hill, NC
http://www.ncdhhs.gov/aging/NEWSITEM/ncaoa_bootcamp.pdf
March 3-4, 2008
22nd Annual Joseph and Kathleen Bryan Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Conference
"Alzheimer's 2008: Genes, Environment, and Memory"
Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center, Research Triangle Park, NC
http://www.geri.duke.edu/service/dfsp/event.htm
Save The Dates
April 8-10, 2008
Priester National Health Extension Conference
"Building Healthy Communities, One Person at a Time", featuring a successful aging track
Sheraton Imperial, Durham, NC
http://continuingeducation.ncsu.edu/PNEHC/index.html
Early registration ends February 29, 2008
April 9, 2008
Aging Is Good Business: Silver Technologies- 3rd Annual One-Day Summit
Cone Ballroom, Elliott University Center, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
http://www.uncg.edu/gro/agingisgoodbusiness/index.html
Early registration and sponsor/exhibitor/advertiser deadline: March 1, 2008
October 28-30, 2008
7th Annual North Carolina Conference on Aging
Greenville, NC
http://www.aging.unc.edu/nccoa/index.html
View our complete events calendar at www.aging.unc.edu/events/.
Community Bulletin Board and Jobs in Aging
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. The Jobs in Aging web page lists notices we have received regarding statewide and nationally available positions.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.