News & Highlights

A Note From IOA Associate Director For Research Jennifer Craft Morgan

This month, the Showcasing Aging Research in North Carolina column features the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s Aging Research Services project and how it's put to work for the community. Directed by Dr. Rachel Seymour, ARS assists community agencies, businesses, and the scholarly community with data management, evaluation, and research related to the issues of baby boomers, older adults and aging. Read more...

Stimulus Grant Recipient Janet Freburger Receives NIH Funding

The first major success of the IOA's Research Stimulus Grants in Aging Program comes as we enter our third year of the program. Janet Freburger, PT, PhD, with her project entitled, “Disparities in Post-Acute Rehabilitation Care,” has recently received an R-21 from the National Institutes of Health (R21 HD057980-01). Read the press release.

Research Stimulus Grants Available For 2008

The IOA invites applications for the 2008 Research Stimulus Grants in Aging program. Proposals are welcome from any and all departments and schools at UNC at Chapel Hill. Letters of interest are due by May 5, 2008. Find out more about the program.

What’s Up on Campus? Gerontologists at North Carolina’s Independent Colleges

Alison Climo, NC-CAN Founding Chair
The newly formed North Carolina Colleges Aging Network (NC-CAN) was not even a twinkle in my eye just one year ago. Not until the Conference on Aging last September did it occur to me that the UNC IOA could help bring together others like me – namely, lone gerontologists scattered among North Carolina’s small college campuses. Within just a few months, Victor Marshall and I hatched our plan and the North Carolina Colleges Aging Network (NC-CAN) became a reality. Already our network includes nearly twenty gerontologists from a variety of disciplines, representing more than twelve small and/or independent colleges, providing a resource for connection, collaboration and mutual support among those of us who may be the only gerontologist on our campus. We have established a listserv and website and look forward to sharing more about “What’s Up on Campus” at the NC Conference on Aging in October in Greenville. NC-CAN's next meeting on May 7 at the UNC Institute on Aging will include exploration of plans for our workshop at the NCCOA. The workshop will highlight examples of aging-related research, teaching initiatives, service learning projects, and community collaborations on NC-CAN campuses. NC-CAN welcomes participation from all small independent colleges and universities in North Carolina. For further information, see the NC-CAN website or contact Dr. Climo directly at aclimo@warren-wilson.edu.

NCCOA Program Committee Works Its Magic!

The Program Committee for the NC Conference on Aging met on April 21st to review the responses to the Call for Presentations. Submissions included 28 papers, 10 symposia, 52 workshops, 5 roundtables, and 12 posters. The committee was impressed with both the quality and number of submissions in all categories. Presenters are currently being notified of the results of the committee's deliberations but one of the principles noted, "This is really the strongest pool of responses we have ever reviewed!" Mark your calendars for the NC Conference on Aging, October 28-30, 2008 at the Greenville Convention Center & Hilton Hotel, and check the link to the web site, above, for more information and future announcements.

IOA Creates Fact Sheet for AAA Carolinas Program

To complement its Smart Features for Older Drivers program, AAA Carolinas recently engaged the UNC Institute on Aging Information Center to prepare a fact sheet about the demographics of older drivers in North and South Carolina. The fact sheet is located on the IOA web site.

IOA Director Appointed Liaison to European Project on Older People and Information Technology

Victor Marshall, Director of the IOA, was recently appointed North American liaison to the project, “The Social, Ethical and Privacy Needs in ICT for Older People: A Dialogue Roadmap” (SENIOR). Sponsored and coordinated by the EU through its Center for Science, Society and Citizenship, SENIOR is part of a broader strategy established by the Lisbon Treaty to eradicate poverty and social exclusion. The goals of the larger program are to: ensure information communication technologies (ICT) accessibility for all; empower older people to fully participate in the economy and society; equip citizens with the knowledge and skills for life-long learning; foster inclusion of those in economically disadvantaged areas; and to increase public participation in democracy. The two-year project, launched in January 2008, will identify ICT services and solutions that avoid exclusion and promote inclusion of senior citizens and develop a roadmap to ensure that ethics and privacy principles can be incorporated into technology design. Dr. Marshall will give the keynote address at a SENIOR workshop meeting in Brussels in June.

Division of Aging and Adult Services Recognized

The NC Association on Aging presented Dennis Streets, on behalf of the Division of Aging and Adult Services, with a special "Exceptional Service Award" at its recent annual conference. The award plaque reads, "Exceptional Service Award presented to the NC Division of Aging and Adult Services in recognition of exemplary dedication, support and assistance to the NC Association on Aging." Dennis Streets commented, “In presenting this award, the current NCAOA Board president Rick Eldridge of Rufty-Holmes Senior Center in Rowan County expressed eloquently and emphatically how very much the aging and adult services network appreciates the work of our Division and especially the way in which we relate and support the service network. I couldn't agree more and appreciate all that each and every DAAS staff member does to make this true."

Good News For NC Colleagues

Anne Leslie Vaughan successfully defended her doctoral dissertation in psychology on April 10th. Her doctoral thesis is “Executive Function in Daily Life: Age-Related Influences of Executive Processes on Instrumental Activities of Daily Living.”

Janette Dill has successfully passed the examination of her master’s paper in sociology, “Supervision, Job Satisfaction, and Retention among Nursing Assistants.” Janette’s research is based on qualitative and quantitative data from the Institute’s Win A Step Up Program. Janette will continue as a doctoral student in sociology, and as a research assistant in the Institute on Aging.

Professor Ed Rosenberg of Appalachian State University assumed the presidency of the Southern Gerontological Society at its annual conference in Atlanta, April 17-20. Professor Jim Mitchell of East Carolina University, and Associate Director for Inter-campus Initiatives of the IOA, was named president-elect.

Dr. Jeff Sekelsky, Associate Professor, UNC-CH Department of Biology and Program in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, and The Sekelsky Lab are the recipients of an unsolicited 2-year, $60,000 grant from the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research. The Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging is given to laboratories and investigators whose basic research in aging would benefit from an unsolicited infusion of funds.

Health And Aging Policy Fellowships: Apply By 5/27

Up to six fellows will be selected for the inaugural class of the Health and Aging Policy Fellows program, administered by the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and made possible by the support of The Atlantic Philanthropies. Visit the Program web site for more information.

6/2/08 Deadline For AGHE 2009 Abstracts

The abstract submission period for the 35th Annual Meeting of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education is now open. Go to www.aghe.org and follow links in the "Call for Sessions" box. The meeting will take place February 26 -- March 1, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas, around the theme "Deep in the Heart of Aging: Promoting Healthy Futures through Education and Training."

May Aging Observances

May is Older Americans Month and Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month. Visit the links for these events to download celebration and awareness materials. The Census Bureau has also prepared a "Facts For Features" special edition in conjunction with Older Americans Month.

New from NC Researchers

New from the Digital Library

Upcoming Events In NC

May 1, 2008 IOA Seminar Series
The Canary in the Mine: Results of the Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science Study
Joanne Gard Marshall, Ph.D., School of Information and Library Science and Senior Research Scientist, Institute on Aging
3:30-5:00pm, 2nd floor conference room, 720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

May 5, 2008
“Who moved my retirement?” Are You Ready For Changes? Expo & Conference
Sponsored by the Village at Brookwood
Siena Hotel, Chapel Hill, NC
Call 800.282.2053 to RSVP

May 7, 2008
NCCAN (North Carolina College Aging Network) meeting
10am - 3pm, UNC Institute on Aging, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., 2nd floor

May 9, 2008
Aging and Addiction Workshop
McLeod Center, 515 Clanton Road, Charlotte, NC, 8:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Registration: http://guest.cvent.com/i.aspx?1Q,P1,DA1BDE29-CBFD-444D-A82D-BC1E0AA990B2

May 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21, 2008
Community Conversations about Health Care and Financial Security
Various NC locations
Contact NC AARP for more information: 1-877-926-8300

Save The Dates

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

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.