May Advances: Financial insecurity report released; new Healthy Aging Data Reports for MS, WY

GERONTOLOGY NEWS FROM UMASS BOSTON

May 2023

Summary infographic from most recent Connecticut Healthy Aging Data Report

Healthy Aging Data Reports expand scope, footprint with two new state reports

For more than a decade, a team of UMass Boston gerontology researchers has been producing detailed reports tracking data related to healthy aging at the town and sometimes neighborhood levels for New England states. Recently the researchers expanded their geographic footprint with reports for Mississippi and Wyoming, states with vastly different characteristics from New England's densely populated states.

"Everyone is hungry for local data," as Nina Silverstein, PhD, a research team member, notes.

Report: Most older Americans can't afford a financial shock such as long-term care

An analysis by the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston and the National Council on Aging finds that 80 percent of older Americans—47 million people—continue to be unable to sustain a financial shock such as needing to pay for long-term care services and supports or the loss of income due to divorce or widowhood.

“When you think about these potential costs and then look at the entire picture of what is available to people in terms of their own resources and government assistance, you realize that the most vulnerable here are middle income Americans, who have the most to lose,” says Marc Cohen, PhD, co-director of the LTSS Center and one of the report’s authors.

LTSS Center and Community Catalyst research leads to $20M for family caregivers

On May 1, 2023, the federal Administration for Community Living announced $20 million in new funding over five years in support of the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. That strategy is based on extensive outreach conducted by a team from the Leading Age LTSS Center @UMass Boston and Community Catalyst's Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovations. The researchers interviewed thousands of caregivers and stakeholder organizations.

PhD program graduates five this month

Congratulations to the five gerontology doctoral students who successfully defended their dissertations this spring and will be hooded on May 24, 2023, at UMass Boston’s graduate commencement ceremony.

“Were very proud of these five graduates,” says Kathrin Boerner, PhD, director of the gerontology doctoral program. “They each took a unique path of scholarly development and succeeded in carving out an inspiring area of research, with dissertations topics and findings highly relevant to the field of aging. We wish them all the best for their future endeavors and look forward to staying connected with them as colleagues."

Meet a researcher: Jacqueline Avila, PhD

Since joining the UMass Boston gerontology department in August 2022 as an assistant professor, Jacqueline Contrera Avila, PhD, has been busy getting up to speed on teaching graduate classes. She's also expanded her research on tobacco use among older adults, a focus of her interest in the social determinants of older adults' health. One project involves analyzing secondary data from large datasets globally. A second project involves gathering primary data, working with a Harvard Medical School professor and internationally known tobacco control expert.Text Link

Engaged Aging panelists cite research, lived experience on social engagement benefits

More than 50 UMass Boston alumni and friends attended a Beacon Discussion Series online panel in April 2023 featuring Gerontology Institute representatives talking about the concepts of productive and socially engaged aging. Thanks to Kim Blanton, who writes the Squared Away blog for the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, for her recap of the event, which includes a link to the recording of the discussion.

Miller joins global top-cited scholars list

Edward Alan Miller, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Gerontology, joins some three dozen UMass Boston faculty members who appear on the 2022 Stanford-Elsevier list of the world’s most-cited scholars. "It's humbling to see my scholarship cited so frequently," Miller says. "I hope my writing and research can make an impact on how we plan for and address issues of the aging population.

After running Boston, Miller looks to Chicago and NYC marathons to continue Alzheimer's fundraising

Gerontology Department Chair Edward Miller completed the Boston Marathon on April 17 and now plans to run the Chicago and New York City marathons in fall 2023. He has set his sights on running the six major marathons (they also include Tokyo, London, and Berlin) while continuing to raise money for Alzheimer's disease research.

Miller enjoyed greeting friends, colleagues, and family along the Boston course, including his wife, Jess, and three girls (at right).