Regardless of their major, concentration or subsequent career, students at Washington University in St. Louis will experience age-related issues in both their personal and professional lives. Issues in aging span every academic discipline. Policies, products, and services still often focus on 20th century needs, when life expectancy was much lower.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 25% of the population will be age 65 in the next 20 years, or more specifically, the oldest population among us is experiencing the fastest growth. New academic and community approaches will need to reflect the growing diversity in the health and general needs and interests of older adults. This will present a myriad of opportunities and challenges.
To help prepare students for population aging, the Friedman Center is offering course enhancement awards to support the incorporation of aging-relevant topics into new and existing courses at Washington University. Instructor proposals chosen for this program will receive a $250 award that can be used for course materials, guest speakers, field trip expenses, or other resources needed to support the incorporation of aging-relevant material into your course. Consultation from the Friedman Center is also available to help you develop lectures, activities, and assignments, as well as connect to community resources.
Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. Contact centerforaging@wustl.edu to learn more.
View a list of available resources that can be incorporated into curriculum.
The Institute for Public Health Summer Research Program is open to students who seek challenge, research and experience along with the opportunity to explore and grow academically in a diverse environment.
The eight-week Summer Research Program enables students from any university to develop expertise in the Aging and Neurological Diseases Track.
Aging-related Publications
View the latest publications from our center’s team.
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Palliative care (PC) is a specialty medical service that aims to address the bio-psycho-social-spiritual needs of patients with serious illnesses and their […]
- The number of psychologists prepared to work with older adults falls far short of the demand. In the face of perceptions of a worsening geriatric […]
- CONCLUSION: Persons with neurologic illnesses and their caregivers use different question types to obtain information about symptoms and treatment during initial palliative care appointments. Results […]
- Demographic shifts and the growth of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are occurring simultaneously on college campuses. This study seeks to understand their intersection […]
- This essay argues for a fuller integration of ageism and age discrimination into the productive aging framework. We briefly review the productive aging scholarship and […]
- This study examined the moderating mechanisms of generative concerns (perception of making contributions to others) between generative civic activities and mental health among middle-aged and […]
- CONCLUSION: The environment plays an important role in stroke survivors' functioning at home. Future studies should further examine how the environment impacts activity performance upon […]
- CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with preclinical AD are more likely to demonstrate significantly greater DTC in postural sway than those without preclinical AD. Dual tasking should […]
- Falls are the leading cause of injury, disability, and injury-related mortality in the older adult population. Older adults with Alzheimer disease (AD) are over twice […]