Gerontology Commons^™

Plenary Session Ii – Mobility Track: When The Wheels Fall Off, Jean Patel Bushnell, Lissa Kapust, John Paul, Don Blackburn

Older Driver Safety Summit: Planning a Safe and Mobile Future for Massachusetts

This session captures the consumer experience throughout the transition process, their struggle to maintain control and solutions to help them preserve independence and identity.

Plenary Session Ii – Policy Track: Policies That Work, Kathrin Boerner, Jake Nelson, Richard Marottoli, Tom Meuser

Older Driver Safety Summit: Planning a Safe and Mobile Future for Massachusetts

This session will describe policies related to medical fitness to drive and medical reporting. Jake Nelson will provide an overview of the research related to medical fitness to drive. Best practices will be highlighted by Dr. Meuser, and clinical geriatric issues will be discussed by Dr. Marottoli.

Plenary Session I – Medical Track: Identifying Medically At-Risk Drivers, Janet Jankowiak, Brian Ott, Ann Hollis, Elin Schold-Davis, Eugene Scanzera

Older Driver Safety Summit: Planning a Safe and Mobile Future for Massachusetts

This session will focus on assessing and identifying medical conditions that may impact one’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. The session will include information on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, changes in vision, reaction time, and cognition.

Plenary Session I – Mobility Track: The Transition From Driver To Passenger And The Role Of Senior-Friendly Transportation Options, Nina Silverstein, Jana Hunkler, Helen Kerschner, William Henry, Noah Berger

Older Driver Safety Summit: Planning a Safe and Mobile Future for Massachusetts

This session will explore the challenges faced by older adults as they transition from driving to transportation options; introduce the strategies of travel training and mobility management for senior transportation; present the concept of supportive senior-friendly transportation and the role of volunteers and volunteer driver programs in supporting that vision; and address risk management concerns in the provision of senior transportation.

Plenary Session I – Policy Track: Policies That Work, David Stevens, Marian Ryan, Kay Khan, Harriette L. Chandler, Patricia Jehlen

Older Driver Safety Summit: Planning a Safe and Mobile Future for Massachusetts

This session will discuss policy formation, implementation, and enforcement issues related to older driver safety. Policymakers Representative Khan and Senators Chandler and Jehlen will discuss the process of getting evidence-based laws enacted, while Middlesex D.A. Marian Ryan will describe enforcement issues and concerns. Moderator David Stevens will talk about advocating for socially just and evidence-based policies impacting older adults.

Aging In Place: Perceptions Of Older Adults On Low Income Housing Waitlists, Angela L. Lavery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many American older adults with low incomes wait years for affordable housing or housing assistance. Insight is needed on the concerns of older adults who need to move but cannot. In addition, within the study of aging in place, there is a paucity of research regarding older adults with low incomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of aging in place from the perspective of older adults with low incomes, and to understand the process in making the decision to move to agesegregated housing. The purpose incorporated an examination of potential oppressive factors that …

401(K) Plan Expenses, Anne Becker, Jeffrey Arnold

Pension Action Center Publications

Under a 401(k) plan, your benefit is your vested account balance. This account balance reflects the contributions you make to the plan, the contributions your employer makes to the plan on your behalf (if any), and investment gains and losses.

Many 401(k) plan participants are responsible for choosing how to invest their account balances. If you direct the investment of your 401(k) plan account balance, it is important to understand that fees and expenses may substantially reduce the growth of your 401(k) plan account balance over the course of your working life. The Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that paying …

What Does Living Alone Really Mean For Older Persons? A Comparative Study Of Myanmar, Vietnam, And Thailand, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel, Wiraporn Pothisiri

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Background: Rapid development and social change in Asia have led many to assume that the proportion of elderly people living alone is rising and that they tend to live in destitute situations. These assumptions often lack empirical validation. Objective: We address the trends and correlates of solitary living among older persons in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. We examine the extent to which this form of living arrangement equates with their financial stress, physical and social isolation, psychological distress, and met need for personal care. Methods: We analyze 2011-12 national surveys of older persons from the three countries. We employ descriptive …

Your Former Employer’S 401(K) Plan, Jeanne Medeiros Jd

Pension Action Center Publications

When you leave a job where you have participated in a 401(k) plan, you may have a number of different options about what to do with the money in that account. This fact sheet explains those options and offers guidance about the pros and cons of each option.

Here are some frequently asked questions answered in this face sheet:

Q. Can I leave my money in my former employer’s plan?

Q. What are my other options?

Q. If I decide to withdraw the account balance from my former employer’s plan, how do I do that, and how long should it …

Fall Prevention Among Older Adults Living In The Community, Clarissa Silva Lopez

Theses & Dissertations

Older adults are within the fastest population growth rate in the United States, and as the population ages, the potential for falls increases (DHHS, 2011). This was a mixed-method explanatory study that investigated the perceptions of older adults regarding the usefulness, adequacy, and positive experience of fall information among older adults living in the community when received from healthcare professionals during physician’s office visits. The research questions were: 1. What is the relationship among perceptions of usefulness, adequacy, and positive experience of fall information among older adults? 2. Is there a difference in the perceptions of usefulness and adequacy among …

Careers In Aging: Increasing Interest And Investigating Career Paths, Paul Cunnington

Masters Theses

This qualitative study explored the perspective of young professionals on how to increase interest in choosing a career in the field of aging and how their own career path led to their current employment in the field of aging. Fifteen professionals in the field of aging, ranging in age from 23 to 34, participated in semi-­‐structured interviews. Data were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Results confirmed prior research that professionals working in the field of aging come from a variety of disciplines. Participants noted attractive aspects of a career in the field of aging, including flexibility and mobility. To increase …

Protect Your Retirement Income: Documents To Keep And Questions To Ask, Pension Action Center, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Pension Action Center Publications

No matter what kind of pension or retirement plan your employer offers, you should keep certain documents indefinitely to ensure that you receive the retirement benefits you have earned.

This fact sheet was produced as part of the Pension Action Center’s investor education program, made possible thanks to a grant from the Investor Protection Trust, a nonprofit organization devoted to investor education, and support from the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Data Mapping On Ageing In Low- And Middle-Income Countries In Asia And The Pacific, Bussarawan Puk Teerawichitchainan, John Knodel

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Population ageing is an increasingly important demographic, social, and economic issue for researchers and policy makers throughout developing Asia prompting a need for data to monitor change and formulate evidence-based policies. There have been increasing endeavors in the Asia-Pacific region to collect information specifically related to older persons through representative surveys. These surveys are either broadly comprehensive or focus on particularly important domains, especially health. However, there is no systematic accounting of what the datasets address; to what extent different sources overlap or complement one another; how comparable they; and what data gaps remain. In addition, other data sources not …

Reporting Practices, Knowledge And Opinion Of Policy Regarding Drivers With Dementia Among Arkansas Neurologists And Geriatricians, Erika Martin Gergerich

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: States have various policies regarding a physician's ability or responsibility to report at-risk drivers with dementia to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Some states have mandatory reporting policies, others have optional reporting policies and some have no policy regarding this issue. Arkansas has no reporting policy regarding drivers with dementia to the DMV. Therefore, physicians in Arkansas face the risk of liability if they report a patient against their will to the DMV in good faith. Neurologists and geriatricians are often in a position to diagnose and treat individuals with dementia. Research Questions: The following three research questions …

The Effect Of Balance-Based Torso-Weighting On Mobility, Gait, Balance, Postural Control, And Falls Efficacy In Mobility Limited Older Adults, Jennifer L. Vincenzo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exercise is a known intervention to prevent fall risk among older adults; however, adherence is poor. Therefore, it is of interest to determine if other interventions improve function and decrease fall risk among older adults. Balance-Based Torso-Weighting (BBTW) is a non-exercise intervention that improves functional measures among adults with multiple sclerosis, yet the effectiveness of BBTW has not been assessed among older adults without progressive neurological disorders. We conducted a double-blind, randomized study to analyze the effect of BBTW on functional measures and falls efficacy among community-dwelling, mobility limited older adults after 5 days of wearing BalanceWear® for 4 hours …

Food Insecurity & Aging Adults, Kimberly Morales

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

No abstract provided.

We Are Balanced In Ohio: What Shall Follow This Major Accomplishment?, Shahla A. Mehdizadeh

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

No abstract provided.

Older Adults And Technology: Adoption And Acceptance Comes From Relationships And Encouragement From Younger Generations, Casey Schonhardt, Kate Magsamen-Conrad

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

As technology progresses, older generations are being given ‘smart’ devices and are adopting these devices to keep up with daily life. Stereotypes posit that the different generational groups perspectives on each other and the digital divide prohibit older generations from adopting new technologies. At the Wood Country Center on Aging located in Bowling Green Ohio, the small group communication class of Bowling Green State University teaches tablet classes once a week to interested older adults. Classes were observed using the STAM (Senior Technology and Acceptance Model), specifically the acceptance phase, over six weeks with narrative and phenomenological research methods. Observing …

Closing The Gap Between Skipped-Generation Households And Available Resources And Services, Daniel Ruff

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

Purpose statement (objectives) This examination seeks, • first, to sensitize gerontologists to some of the adversities and prospects faced by grandparents raising grandchildren; • second, to provide an overview of current research and theory regarding the demographic through both a phenomenological and a life-course perspective—and a more recent theoretical lens of Generational Intelligence—for inter-generational work; and • third, to suggest implications for future interventions with skipped-generation families. Descriptive narrative of the presentation Generations United reports [Family Matters: Multigenerational Families in a Volatile Economy (2011)] that more than 51.4 million Americans of all ages (about one in six) live in multi-generational …

From The Ground Up: How To Effectively Merge Research And Practice To Build Impactful Community Programs, Sara E. Stemen

Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education Conference (2015)

The purpose of this presentation is to guide those interested in working in community non-profits through the program development process. Furthermore, this presentation highlights the importance of using an evidence-based eye when building programs--bridging what has been learned in the classroom with real world, hands on experience. The presentation will focus on the presenter's academic and professional journey to being responsible for building a program from the ground up--focusing on what was learned along the way. In this presentation, participants will be walked through the process that guided the development of Delaware County's Caregiver Program. Information will be shared regarding …