Category Archives: Institute News and Events

Remembering Frank Caro: Inspiring Leader and Key Figure in Development of UMass Boston Gerontology Program

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Frank CaroBy Len Fishman and Jeffrey Burr

The field of gerontology has lost a pioneer with the death of Professor Emeritus Frank Caro, an inspiring and beloved figure at UMass Boston. He died on October 2, at age 84. Frank was an architect of one of the world’s most influential gerontology programs. More than that, he was its heart and soul.

Frank wore many hats at UMass Boston, a former director of the Gerontology Institute and chair of the Gerontology Department in the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. He also helped found the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UMass Boston and the Management of Aging Services Master’s program.

Frank is remembered as a consummate scholar-administrator in the field of higher education. He guided the Gerontology Department through its early years with a steady hand and a determination to make its educational programs excel. He deftly mentored many doctoral students and junior faculty members during his years on our campus. Beyond his many great professional achievements, he was known for his kindness, thoughtfulness and humility. Continue reading →

The Makings of a Mentor – Meet Ellen Birchander

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This article originally appeared on the UMass Boston News web page.

We all take different paths in life and, if we’re lucky, we have mentors guiding us along the way. As an undergraduate psychology major, 20-year-old Ellen Birchander was on track to fail her journalism class unless she completed an upcoming article assignment. She was directed by her professor to open the yellow pages and interview someone listed as a contact in the first advertisement she saw, which happened to be Greater Lynn Senior Services. Her assignment not only received an A but led to the first job she’d have in the field of aging.

Out of this serendipity came a passion for the work of aging that developed and evolved over the next 40 years. Birchander went on to lead the development of programs and delivery of services for the Executive Office of Elder Affairs, where she served as Assistant Secretary for Programs. Now, after making a career transition from public affairs to public education, she is teaching, mentoring, and co-directing the Management of Aging Services (MAS) Graduate Program in the Department of Gerontology. Continue reading →

UMB Gerontologists Tell Legislators Research, Preparation Keys to Helping Older Adults Deal with Impact of COVID-19

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Len Fishman, Elizabeth Dugan and Jan Murtchler

Left to right, Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman, associate professor Elizabeth Dugan and professor Jan Mutchler. Fishman, Dugan and Mutchler appear in photos below.

UMass Boston gerontologists offered legislators two suggestions for state government in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic: Help researchers better understand what has happened to older adults and get elder Massachusetts residents prepared for a more challenging future.

Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman, associate professor Elizabeth Dugan and professor Jan Mutchler all appeared individually at a May 15 virtual listening session hosted by the legislature’s Joint Committee on Elder Affairs. They joined a wide range of advocates, policymakers and other members of the public to describe the impact the pandemic has had on older adults and what state government should do to help. Continue reading →

Beth Dugan on COVID-19 in Aging Populations: “Older People are Part of the Solution”

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This conversation with Gerontology associate professor Elizabeth Dugan was conducted by the McCormack Graduate School and  first appeared on the UMass Boston News web page.

Q: Can we start by talking a bit about the aging population in Massachusetts and how it’s similar or different from other places facing the COVID-19 crisis?

Beth Dugan:  I would say overall, we have more positives to work with. Here in Massachusetts, we have more than a million people who are 65 and older, so we have more older people than other states. And one thing that’s interesting to think about is that longevity is a new experience in terms of human development. We’re about the first or second generation where most people could expect to live to old age. Continue reading →

How Healthy Aging Data Report Can Contribute to Fight Against COVID-19 in Massachusetts

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Beth Dugan, Nina Silverstein, Chae Man Lee

Left to right, associate professor Elizabeth Dugan, professor Nina Silverstein and post-doctoral assistant Chae Man Lee.

A research team at the McCormack Graduate School’s Gerontology Institute published its most recent edition of the Massachusetts Healthy Aging Data Report late in 2018. The report provided detailed information on the health status of older adults across the state. The team, led by associate professor Elizabeth Dugan, also collected a massive amount of local data contained in the report’s 379 separate community profiles.

The Gerontology Institute Blog recently spoke with Dugan and two other team members — professor Nina Silverstein and post-doctoral assistant Chae Man (Jay) Lee — about the report and how it could contribute to the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Here’s what they had to say: Continue reading →

Institute Director Len Fishman: Ease Direct-Care Health Workforce Shortage by Improving Jobs

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Len Fishman testifies before Legislative committee

Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman testifies Feb. 5 before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Elder Affairs

Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman offered a simple suggestion to state legislators wrestling with the critical shortage of low-paid direct-care health workers: Make the jobs more attractive.

Fishman told the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Elder Services that two things – more money and a legitimate career path to better jobs – were overwhelmingly the most important factors that would attract more workers to the field.

“How can we convince more people to accept and remain in jobs that are physically and emotionally demanding, provide poor benefits, low wages and offer virtually no opportunity for career advancement? When you ask the question honestly, it answers itself,” he told the legislators at a Feb. 5 hearing. Continue reading →

Archive Video: Frank J. Manning and the Senior Power Movement

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The Gerontology Institute’s recent 35th anniversary symposium honored the contributions of elder rights activist Frank J. Manning, who began organizing older adults in the later 1960s to help lead a powerful political movement in Massachusetts and beyond.

During the symposium, Institute Director Len Fishman introduced an eight-minute clip from “Old warrior: Frank Manning and the senior power movement,” a documentary produced in 1994. The video recounts the beginnings of the grassroots movement Manning helped create, including a dramatic rally at Suffolk Downs that brought tens of thousands of older adults together to demand better treatment.

The video captures an important time in the history of elder affairs that contributed to many age-friendly developments, including the creation of the gerontology program at UMass Boston’s McCormack Graduate School.

 

 

Gerontology Institute Marks 35th Anniversary With Symposium Celebrating Past and Looking to Future

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Kathryn Hyer, Pamela Herd and Edward Miller

Speakers Kathryn Hyer, left, and Pamela Herd, right, who were introduced by Professor Edward Miller, center.

Any celebration of an important anniversary should honor the past and also look to the future. So it was at the Gerontology Institute’s 35th anniversary symposium held on campus last week.

A panel of founders and other past leaders of the gerontology program at UMass Boston described the formative years of the institute and the gerontology academic department. They were joined on the Snowden Auditorium stage by the current directors of four Institute centers, as well as two academic program leaders, who discussed their more recent achievements and current priorities.

Later in the symposium, two other speakers turned to the future of gerontology. University of South Florida professor Kathryn Hyer, the incoming president of the Gerontological Society of America, and Georgetown University professor Pamela Herd focused on issues they believed would be priorities for gerontologists in the years ahead.

Two videos of the symposium are available online. The first segment covers the initial panel. The second segment replays the comments and conversation of Hyer and Herd. (These files are streaming in a format not supported by Internet Explorer. Viewing with Chrome, Safari or Edge is recommended.) Continue reading →

UMass Becomes First University System to Join the Age-Friendly University Global Network

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BOSTON – In August 2019, the five-campus University of Massachusetts system endorsed the 10 principles of the Age-Friendly University, as defined by Age-Friendly University (AFU) Global Network at Dublin City University, joining an international effort intended to highlight the role of higher education in responding to the challenges and opportunities associated with an aging population.

UMass is the first university system to join the AFU Global Network, earning the designation for its campuses in Amherst, Dartmouth, Lowell and the UMass Medical School in Worcester. UMass Boston endorsed the principles and joined the network in 2017.

“I’m pleased that with the support of all five of our chancellors, UMass has received this designation as an Age-Friendly University,” said President Marty Meehan. “It reaffirms our long-held commitment to making a world-class public research university education accessible to all people in the Commonwealth, regardless of age.” Continue reading →

Video: Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman on Opportunities for Healthy Aging Technology

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As the population ages in the United States and around the world, technology will surely play a role assisting in the care of millions of older adults and help them lead productive lives. But how will that actually work?

Gerontology Institute Director Len Fishman joined a panel of medical and business leaders at Harvard Catalyst to discuss the role of technology in serving a rapidly growing population of older adults. A brief video highlights interviews with Fishman and other speakers at the event.

Fishman noted that people currently in their 60s are among the first in history to reach that age with an expectation of living into their 80s or well beyond, and they are planning accordingly. As a result, he said, “there’s an opportunity to have a conversation with people about how technology can help. The technology – some of it is disease-specific, some of it is more to help people stay well. You’re talking about almost 50 million people, that’s a huge market.”

The Harvard Catalyst event was held in June at the Countway Library of Medicine in Boston.