Category: Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

Written by Behnaz Sarrami, MS, PharmD, TL1 Predoctoral Clinical Research Program alumnus Older Americans Month (OAM) was established in 1963 to give recognition to older adults as invaluable members of our society. Older adults have gained much wisdom and experience as they have endured life’s many challenges. Many have already lived through one pandemic, the […]

April 19-25 marked 2020 Careers in Aging Week (CIAW). CIAW is hosted every year by the Gerontological Society of America to raise awareness about the diverse careers available in the field of aging. As people are living longer, populations are aging worldwide and the demands for professionals with expertise in aging grows, the Harvey A. […]

Written by Natalie Galucia, MSW, Center Manager, Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging & Meghan McDarby, M.A., Psychological & Brain Sciences Washington University has a variety of options available to students pursuing careers in aging. Across both the Danforth and School of Medicine Campuses, students are preparing for this field. To get a taste of […]

Written by Annie Wright, MSOT ‘20, School of Medicine I am currently an occupational therapy student pursuing a Master’s degree. My current goal is to work in a community setting on the population level, which includes all ages. I haven’t narrowed my passion down to a specific topic yet, but I’m hoping that my future […]

Written by Christine Hustedde, chief operating officer at Aging Ahead According to research by AARP Public Policy Institute, there were approximately 792,000 caregivers in Missouri in 2013 providing unpaid care for an adult, valued at an estimated $8 billion. Nationally, unpaid caregiving was valued at $470 billion. This is more than the worth of Coca-Cola […]

Written by Paul Weiss, PhD, president of Oasis Institute This March I had the opportunity to sit on a panel at the Aging in America Conference in San Francisco, along with Kate Hoepke, executive director of San Francisco Village, and Jim Emerman, executive vice president of Encore.org, to discuss purpose. Jim presented findings from recent […]

Written by Rey Castuciano, founder & CEO of Table Wisdom, Inc. So there I am, waiting to take my dad home from his weekly stroke therapy group, when I recognize someone I know. It’s Mary, one of the first participants in our intergenerational program. At first she didn’t recognize me, but after I reminded her […]

Written by Juliet Simone, MPH, MBA, national health program director, OASIS My dad was not the model of health by anyone’s measure. He had diabetes for 40 years, didn’t get much exercise, and had a heart attack accompanied by a valve replacement 25 years before he died. He was a lifelong smoker and an (almost) […]

Written by Sarah Z. Levinson, St. Louis NORC manager, Jewish Federation of St. Louis The desire to engage individuals who are isolated appears like the best goal possible. After all, loneliness and social isolation are correlated with increased health risks and decreased quality of life. But what about people who actually prefer to be alone? […]

Written by Pat Ginn, member of the Lifelong Learning Institute at Washington University in St. Louis For many people who are getting older, building a sustained life can be a daunting task.   Friends move away, you can become distanced from coworkers once you retire and don’t see them every day, an accident has posed physical […]

Written by Andrea Denny, JD, MSSW, outreach, recruitment and education core leader at the Knight Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis When I learned the theme for Older American’s Month was how older adults are taking part in activities that promote wellness and making a real difference in their communities, I […]

Written by Kerri Gallagher, development assistant for Aging Ahead (formally Mid-East Area Agency on Aging) While celebrating Older Americans Month, we should think about making strides to preserve older citizens’ right to vote by readily providing voting information, absentee ballots, and transportation to polling sites. Historically, older voters have the highest turnout rates. According to […]

Written by Kelly Connor, research assistant for the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies & MSW candidate, with support from Molly Tovar, EdD, director, Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School There is a saying in indigenous culture that “when an elder dies, a library burns.” American Indian elders in […]

Written by Leonard Adreon, facilitator, Lifelong Learning Institute, Washington University in St. Louis The year was 2005. I decided to hang it up after a long and relatively successful career. I started working at age 9 as an office boy for the St. Louis Cardinal Baseball team. I was drafted into the Navy during World […]

Written by David Marchant, Professor of the Practice in Dance at Washington University in St. Louis As we age, we instinctively move more slowly, cautiously avoiding situations and activities that challenge our balance. But what if we’re going about the problem in the wrong way? What if instead of avoiding risk of falls, we need […]

Written by Karen Backes, masters research fellow in aging, Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at the Institute for Public Health Thanks to decades of advances in technology, public health, and medicine, many Americans are able to live independently or semi-independently well into late adulthood, and the vast majority of older adults seem to prefer […]

Written by Nikki Goldstein, MSW, executive director, Crown Center for Senior Living All the lonely peoplewhere do they all come from?All the lonely peoplewhere do they all belong?  Beatles, Eleanor Rigby There are a myriad of programs, classes, events, and activities just waiting for someone to register; the list of options for involvement, connecting and […]

Written by Taylor R. Patskanick, master’s research fellow in aging, Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at the Institute for Public Health Evidence-based public health includes the use of proven approaches to improve population health. Historically, public health interventions were not always scientifically-based. And in today’s increasingly connected, yet resource-scarce world, public health practice has […]

Written by Cal J. Halvorsen, MSW, doctoral student and the William E. Gordon Research Fellow at the Brown School I recently conducted an on-the-spot focus group among my geographically dispersed, early-30s friends in our online group chat. I asked them to describe an entrepreneur, giving me their initial, gut reactions. Responses centered on the image […]

Written by Bailey Widener, graduate assistant at the Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging at the Institute for Public Health For many of us, our vehicles are essential to our daily lives. We use our cars to commute to our jobs, to run errands, to visit with family and friends, and to accomplish countless other […]

Written by Karen Berry-Elbert, manager at St. Louis NORC The vast majority of adults aged 65 and older still live in the homes in which they raised families and developed social networks. As the American population continues to age, more communities are home to growing populations of residents who have aged in place. In addition, […]

Written by Nikki Goldstein, MSW, executive director for Crown Center for Senior Living As we recognize May as older adult month, it begs the question, what is an “older adult”? Older than who? Older than what? Isn’t everyone over the age of 21 an older adult? Other than Benjamin Button, aren’t we all aging? As […]

Written by April Callen, strategy and outreach associate at Frameworks Institute We are a nation of problem-solvers. When we see an opportunity, we figure out how to seize it. And when we see that something isn’t working, we rethink our approach. We need to draw on our ingenuity so we can communicate more effectively about […]