Keeping Up to Date
The following newsletters and reports feature the latest information on issues in aging:

The Civic Engagement E-Newsletter is a bimonthly e-newsletter that informs readers about efforts to advance research, programs, and policy that support older adults as a civic resource. Click here for more information. The Gerontological Society of America ’s public policy branch, the National Academy on an Aging Society, has two Twitter feeds. For the latest updates, research, and resources on aging policy, follow @Aging_Society. For the most up-to-date news, trends, and reports on business and aging, follow @AgingMeansBiz.

CAAR (Current Awareness in Aging Research) is a weekly email report produced by the Center for Demography of Health and Aging at the University of Wisconsin-Madison that helps researchers keep up to date with the latest developments in the field. For more information, including an archive of back issues and subscription information see: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/cdha/caar.html

Lifelong is a print newsletter produced by the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) that provides a forum for information sharing between physicians and patients, serves as a credible source for synthesized physician-friendly analysis of current aging research, and helps improve the translation of this research into patient care applications. To subscribe to Lifelong and for more information, Click Here.

Research Highlights
The latest research news in aging.

Depression Screening in Medically Ill Homecare Elderly
In the past two decades, home health care services have become a valuable source of community-based care for more and more medically ill patients. Although depression plagues many older adults, it continues to go untreated largely due to a lack of detection in home-care situations. Dr. Zvi Gellis, a Hartford Faculty Scholar (Cohort III), wrote an article on his research, Depression Screening in Medically Ill Homecare Elderly, for the Lyceum Books Best Practices in Mental Health Journal, utilizing collaborative reseach and practice to diagnose and treat depressed older adults. Dr. Gellis concludes that ongoing training in depression screening methods for home care professionals and caretakers, patient follow-up interviews, and appropriate referral would greatly improve the quality of life of depressed elderly homecare patients.

Dynamic Interdisciplinary Team Presents Research on Older Adults Living with HIV/AIDS
A presentation at the American Public Health Association this November will feature research by a team of social work, nursing, psychology, and aging professionals focused on older adults living with HIV/AIDS. Stigma, depression, and medication self-efficacy are already known to influence medication adherence, but this team examined these interrelationships specifically in older adults living with HIV/AIDS. If you would like to learn more about this special paper presentation, please click here.

Home Care Aides' Voices from the Field: An Interdisciplinary Study on Home Care Worker Retention
Dr. Sandra Butler, Professor at the School of Social Work, and  Dr. Nancy Fishwick, Director and Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, are working together on the University of Maine Home Care Worker Retention Study (HCWRS), a three-year interdisciplinary project funded by the National Institute on Aging.  This Academic Research Enhancement Award R-15 funding mechanism is geared particularly for smaller institutions—often without medical schools—which have received relatively small amounts of National Institutes of Health funding in the past. Students of both disciplines have worked together on data collection and analysis with guidance from the Butler and Fishwick and methodological consultants, creating a very exciting learning environment, with each member contributing to discussions from his or her own area of expertise. Results from the first wave of the HCWRS can be found in the article “Home Care Aides’ Voices from the Field” published this summer in the Home Healthcare Nurse.  For further information contact Sandy Butler at sbutler@maine.edu.

Demographics
The following links contain statistical and demography information on aging populations.

Older Americans 2010: Key Indicators of Well-Being
The Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics has released the report Older Americans 2010: Key Indicators of Well-Being, a 155 page document that includes statistics on the number of older Americans, racial and ethnic minorities, marital status, education, living arrangements, veterans, economics, poverty, income, participation in the labor force, housing problems, health status, life expectancy, chronic health conditions, sensory impairments and oral health, depressive symptoms, obesity, use of time, health care services, and residential services, among others. To download this .pdf document, click here.

National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging
The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research has released the National Archive of Computerized Data on Aging. With funding from the National Institute on Aging, the ICPSR has the largest library of searchable electronic data in the United States addressing issues relating to aging.

Profile of Older Americans Available Online
The Administration on Aging now provides statistics and narratives with information on older Americans on their website. A Profile of Older Americans 2009 is only available online and can be found here, along with data sets from previous years.

Policy
The most recent updates on aging policy and legislative issues.

Senate Committee on Aging Releases Report on Social Security Modernization
The Senate Committee on Aging has released a report called Social Security Modernization: Options to Address Solvency and Benefit Adequacy. The committee offers many potential options for change, which include: increasing the contribution rate, modifying the social security tax cap, options to extend social security to all workers, raising the age for full retirement benefits. To learn more, download the report here: http://www.globalaging.org/pension/world/2010/socialsecurity.pdf.

Safe Disposal of Medications Legislation Moves in Congress
The House and Senate committees of jurisdiction for safe disposal of medication have taken the first steps to amend federal law to address the barriers to safe disposal of unused medications and controlled substances. On July 28th, the House bill passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee by voice vote, the Safe Drug Disposal Act of 2010, see http://energycommerce.house.gov/documents/20100722/HR5809_AINS.pdf . This bi-partisan bill allows local communities to create safe drug disposal programs providing consumers with a safe way to dispose of unneeded pharmaceuticals, including controlled substances. H.R. 5809 can be taken up by the full House. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee also passed by voice vote an amended S. 3397, The Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act. This bi-partisan bill also has the support of 41 state attorney generals. To view the amendment that was adopted go to http://judiciary.senate.gov/legislation/upload/JEN10791-Klobuchar-Mgrs-Am.pdf

Links to Policy and Advocacy Resources
For an annotated list of Links to Policy and Advocacy Resources, courtesy of SAGE-SW and the Council on Social Work Education, please click here.

This webpage was last updated on August 18, 2010