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.
Coming soon.
There are a variety of programs, activities and groups across campus that focus on aging and older adults. View a list of all current student groups.
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.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has brought age bias and the unmet mental health needs of older adults into bold relief. Even before the pandemic, the psychological […]
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- Previous research suggests some psychologists may not consider academic careers because of doubts about their teaching competency, and this is especially true for psychologists interested […]
- INTRODUCTION: In the context of increasing numbers of older adults and an increased prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases, the early diagnosis of dementia has become an […]
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adult children collaborate with older parents on care needs, yet later-life families are often uncertain about how to approach these conversations. Using […]
- INTRODUCTION: Increasingly, older adults are turning to emergency departments (EDs) to address healthcare needs. To achieve these research demands, infrastructure is needed to both generate […]
- CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: This scoping review identified key gaps in ED-to-community care transition interventions delivered to older adults with cognitive impairment. Combined with a stakeholder […]
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent research has identified neighborhoods as an important contributor to later-life frailty. However, little is known about how neighborhood resources are associated […]
- OBJECTIVES: This study examined the association between patterns of social engagement and conversion from cognitive impairment, no dementia (CIND) to dementia. It also tested whether […]
- Villages are consumer-driven organizations that promote aging-in-place. This study documents the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Villages and explores variation in response by age […]
- Questionnaires are used to assess instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) among individuals with preclinical Alzheimer disease (AD). They have indicated no functional impairment among […]
- Pain, fatigue, and depression, considered aging with disability (AwD) symptoms, are known to be substantially higher among middle-aged adults with long-term disability compared to their […]
- CONCLUSION: The results confirmed previously identified facilitators and barriers. Two new areas, improved communication about individual test results and greater feedback about AD research, emerged […]
- CONCLUSIONS: Sociodemographics are associated with survey format choice in PAwLTPD. Findings largely support the existing understanding of digital literacy but also provide insight into the […]
- CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cohort study, a multicomponent safety intervention was not associated with reductions in falls within the first year after an elective […]