North Carolina Healthy Aging Network (NC-HAN) Receives 5 More Years Of CDC Funding

Spearheaded by the IOA (Mary Altpeter, Principal Investigator) and in collaboration with the Center on Aging and Health of the UNC-CH School of Medicine (Becky Hunter, Co-Investigator) and the UNC Prevention Research Center, the NC Healthy Aging Network was awarded a five-year, $375,000 grant to continue to work with national and state partners to optimize healthy functioning of older adults in NC and in the nation. Building on the creation of the NC Healthy Aging Coalition, the NC Falls Prevention Coalition and the NC Healthy Aging Roadmap, the NC-HAN will continue to support community-based aging and public health research, translation and dissemination of research findings and work products to impact policy and program change, and development of educational tools and materials for extending workforce capacity to address healthy aging.

2009 Aging Exchange Poster Award Winners Announced

The Institute on Aging is pleased to announce the poster presentation winners from the 6th Annual Aging Exchange. Through the generous support of our co-sponsors, we were able to award first prizes of $250 and second prizes of $200 to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. A third prize of $150 was also given to a graduate student.
Graduate student poster winners: 1st Prize, Amber Collins, MS, Biomedical Engineering; 2nd Prize, Monique D. Cohen, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management and UNC Institute on Aging; 3rd Prize, Emmeline Chuang, Institute on Aging and Health Policy and Management.
Doctoral fellow poster winners: 1st Prize, Kathryn Remmes Martin, PhD, MPH, Thurston Arthritis Research Center; 2nd Prize, Michael A. LaMantia, MD, MPH, Center for Aging & Health and Institute on Aging.
ICARUS Award, best interdisciplinary poster: Ashley Leak, RN, MSN, School of Nursing, Gabe Byars, BS, MS, Division of Occupational Science and Joseph Hoyle, BSPH, MPH, School of Public Health and School of Medicine.
Carol Woods Retirement Center Award, recognizing the poster that best reflects campus-community collaboration and/or care transitions: Carolyn Johnson, PT, DPT, Human Movement Science. Read more about the Exchange, and the poster topics and co-authors.

Nursing Seminar Will Address Older Adult Research

The UNC School of Nursing will offer the doctoral seminar, Proseminar- Issues in Gero Research, for Spring 2010. This elective is designed to enhance the student’s knowledge of relevant issues researchers face when planning, designing, and implementing research with an older adult population.

SGS Call For Presentations

The Southern Gerontological Society has issued a call for presentations for its annual meeting scheduled for April, 2010. The deadline to submit a proposal is December 1, 2009. The conference theme is Applied Gerontology as Community Engagement.

NC Health Disparities Fellowship- Apply By 10/21

The North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF) invites applicants for the 2010-2011 NC Health Disparities fellowship, a 2-year program engaging talented public health and social work professionals in ongoing efforts to help close the health disparities gap in the state.  HWTF is partnering with the Duke Global Health Institute to manage the fellowship.The program aims to increase awareness of health inequalities in North Carolina by enabling a group of mid- to senior-level public health or social work professionals to effectively design, implement and evaluate interventions that address these complex issues. Get more information.

IOA Launches A Fan Page On Facebook

The UNC Institute on Aging now has its own fan page on Facebook. If you want to visit but are not a Facebook member, use the link from the IOA home page. If you are already a member of Facebook, become a fan. (Either search for UNC Institute on Aging when you are logged in to Facebook, or use the IOA home page link above.) We have started using the page for event and news updates. We'll be adding more features soon.

PHI Blog Mentions WIN A STEP UP

The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) Quality Care Through Quality Jobs blog, which highlights news about the direct care workforce, noted the effectiveness of WIN A STEP UP and other long-term care workplace quality improvement initiatives.

Quoting The Experts

On September 21, 2009, IOA Associate Director Ellen Schneider, UNC Professor Carol Giuliani and ECU Associate Professor Jane Painter were quoted in a News & Observer article, Seniors Get Help Stopping Falls.
On September 16, 2009, the Island Gazette Online (Carolina Beach, NC) published the official news release regarding Falls Prevention Awareness Week, which quotes UNC Professor and IOA Associate Director Dr. Jan Busby-Whitehead.

Flu Information From The NC Immunization Branch

The NC Immunization Branch wants older adults and those who work with them to know some important information about seasonal influenza ("the flu") and swine flu ("the H1N1 virus"). It is important to get vaccinated against the flu as soon as possible. The seasonal flu vaccine does not protect against the H1N1 virus. See your doctor if you have questions about the separate H1N1 vaccine. The most important ways to protect against getting or transmitting either flu, other than vaccination, are hand washing, and (if you do get sick) staying home until your fever has been gone for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications. ImmunizeNC.com has additional information.

Job Opening- Pitt County; Apply By 10/7

The Pitt County Council on Aging/Senior Center seeks an executive director. The job description and application form can be found at: http://www.pittcoa.com under the heading, Announcements and Upcoming Events.

October Aging Observances

• United Nations International Day of Older Persons- October 1
• Gerontological Nursing Week - October 1-8, 2009
• National Depression Screening Day- October 8, 2009
• World Osteoporosis Day- October 20, 2009

New from NC Researchers

New from the Digital Library

Upcoming Events In NC

October 6, 2009
IOA Seminar Series
Patric Lane, UNC News Services, plus a small panel of UNC-CH social media experts
Using Social Media for Rapid Research Dissemination

October 13, 2009
IOA Seminar Series
Dennis Streets, MPH, MAT, Director North Carolina Division of Aging and Adult Services
Increasing Aging Awareness and Readiness in North Carolina

October 15, 2009
"Delirium in Older Patients"
Beth Barba, PhD, RN
12:00 to 1:00 p.m.  (Pizza will be available)
School of Nursing - Carrington Hall - Room 208

October 15, 2009
"Decision-Making at the End-of-Life"
with Case Study Discussion to follow
3:00 p.m.
UNC Memorial Hospital, 8 Bedtower Conference Room

October 16, 2009
Pre-Retirement Planning In The Workforce Symposium
9:00 a.m. - 5 p.m., Raleigh Marriott City Center
Registration deadline: October 6, 2009

October 20, 2009
IOA Seminar Series
Mike LaMantia, MD, Geriatric Fellow & CPHAR Fellow at UNC Institute on Aging
Transitional Care of Our Elderly Patients in the Emergency Department

October 20-21, 2009
Aging Boot Camp
Sponsored by the NC Association on Aging
Fayetteville-Cumberland Senior Center, Fayetteville, NC

October 22-23, 2009
Continuing Professional Education
UNC-CH School of Social Work Center for Aging Research and Educational Services
Information: http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/events2009-10.pdf
Register: http://ssw.unc.edu/cares/2009-10Registration%20Form.pdf

October 27, 2009
IOA Seminar Series
Betsy Sleath, PhD, Professor Pharmaceutical Outcomes and Policy, UNC Chapel Hill
Communication About Depression During Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient Visits

October 27, 2009
Aging Workforce Interest Group
Liz Needham, Title V Project Coordinator, Division of Aging and Adult Services and Roland Staton, Program Coordinator, The National Caucus and Center on Black Aged, Inc
What is SCSEP and Why You Need to Know About It: Creating Jobs for Older Workers in North Carolina
1:00-2:30pm, 2nd floor conference room, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill

Save The Dates

November 3,10,17,24, 2009
IOA Seminar Series

November 5-6, 2009
Age Wisely
Centralina Area Agency on Aging 2009 Annual Conference
Charlotte, NC

November 7, 2009
Workshop- Spirit, Service and Community in the Second Half of Life
Sponsored by Second Journey and the NCSU Encore Center for Lifelong Enrichment
8:30am - 4:30pm, McKimmon Center, Raleigh, NC
Early registration deadline is September 30.

November 17, 2009
Aging Workforce Interest Group
Speakers: Dr. John Scott, Professor, UNC Department of Public Policy and Research Scientist, UNC Institute on Aging, and Thomas Goldsmith, Generations Reporter for the Raleigh News & Observer
The Aging Workforce in North Carolina: Challenges and Opportunities
1:00-2:30pm, 2nd floor conference room, 720 MLK Jr. Blvd., Chapel Hill

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.