GERONTOLOGY NEWS FROM UMASS BOSTON
March 2023
Gerontology doctoral student Adriana Hernandez with her parents, Alfonso and Sonia Hernandez.
Inaugural Caro Scholar aims to honor her immigrant parents through her research
"I have no option but to help people like my parents," says first-year gerontology doctoral student Adriana Hernandez. In the fall of 2022 she was awarded the first Frank Caro Scholarship for Social Justice in Aging, which supports a UMass Boston gerontology doctoral student who wants to prioritize underrepresented communities in their research. Alfonso and Sonia Hernandez immigrated to the United States with nothing and worked to give their three children opportunities in their new country, their daughter says. Hernandez, who plans to study Alzheimer's disease and other dementias and work with Latinx older adults, says her primary motivation is making her parents' sacrifices worthwhile.
BEACON DISCUSSION SERIES
Join us Wednesday, April 12, 4-5 pm, online for "Engaged Aging," a Beacon Discussion Series event featuring UMass Boston aging experts Jeffrey Burr, professor of gerontology; Mary O'Connor, board member of our Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; and Caitlin Coyle, director of the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging. Bo Fernhall, dean of the Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences, will moderate the panel discussion, which will be followed by questions from attendees.

Registration fee is $15. Proceeds benefit UMass Boston's Gerontology Institute and Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
New Elder Index report: Older adults face continuing economic insecurity
New estimates from the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston find that millions of older adults, especially those living alone, continue to live on incomes that fall below the Elder IndexTM, a county-by-county measure of the income needed by adults aged 65 or older to meet their basic needs and age in place.

Findings in a new report, “Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity and Older Americans, 2022,” show that half of older adults living alone in the United States, and one out of five older couples lack the financial resources to cover their basic needs.
LTSS Center researchers updating their findings on person-centered care
By analyzing recent data from the national Health and Retirement Study, researchers at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston are updating their two previous studies on the relationship between person-centered care and health outcomes. They’re looking to identify any changes in recent years and to determine if race and ethnicity, wealth and income, and disability disparities persist. Because the new data covers 2019 and 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers also will look into whether and how the use of telehealth—including accessing health providers through smart phones, tablets, computers, and land lines—influences receipt of person-centered care, and for whom.
Meet a researcher: Caitlin Coyle, PhD ’14
“I’ve experienced the paradigm of being considered young but feeling old at heart. Understanding how to maximize the growth and change that comes with age is my life’s work,” says Caitlin Coyle.

After earning her PhD in gerontology at UMass Boston, Coyle completed postdoctoral studies at the Yale School of Public Health, then returned to UMass Boston as a research fellow with the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging. In August 2022 the university named her the center’s director. Her work includes senior center innovations, social isolation interventions, and developing environments that ensure aging well is accessible to all.
Stam to present, earn award at ASA conference
Gerontology doctoral student Elisabeth J. Stam will be awarded with the Graduate Student Research Award at “On Aging,” the annual conference of the American Society on Aging, late this month. Her winning paper looks at oral health disparities for older adults in the United States.

Stam will also present at the conference on her work as an intern for Sages of Aging, a project that resulted in a book and two documentaries profiling 12 pioneering leaders in the field of aging
UMASS BOSTON GERONTOLOGY IN THE NEWS

"Biden wants more nursing home staff; owners say they need more funding," USA Today talks with Marc Cohen on the upcoming report on Medicaid reimbursement rates, March 3, 2023.

"A lifeline for seniors: As living costs skyrocket, senior centers can help those on fixed income find assistance," Daily Hampshire Gazette references Elder Index in a story on financial struggles of older adults, February 24, 2023.

"Do Americans need a retirement reboot?" retirement expert and author Mark Miller references Elder Index in a Q&A for Forbes, February 22, 2023.

"'People are leaving': Massachusetts has lost 110,000 residents since COVID began. Is life better out there?," Boston Globe cites Elder Index in talking about economic insecurity in the state, February 18, 2023.

"Cost of getting sick for older people of color is 25% higher than for white Americans—new research," Marc Cohen and Jane Tavares write about their recent disease cost burden research for The Conversation, February 13, 2023.

"Aging Matters: Women Unseen," Nashville Public TV documentary includes references, and footage, to the Elder Index and its measures of economic insecurity for women, February 13, 2003.