Staying strong

A new center tackles the issue of aging.

By Nancy Bartosek

As boomers push toward retirement, society in the U.S. moves into new territory: a population that is living longer and postponing the development of chronic and debilitating disease. And since Texas has the fourth largest older adult population in the U.S., the Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences has launched a Center on Healthy Aging to tackle the healthcare, social, and economic issues related to this demographic shift. The center's goals are to:

- Promote the health and well-being of older adults and their families through education and advocacy.
- Educate students, faculty, community professionals and the public at large about aging-related issues.
- Facilitate, conduct and disseminate interdisciplinary research that improves the quality of care of older adults and their families.

The center is an outgrowth of work already being done in Harris College. In addition to funded research in gerontology and caregiving by faculty in the nursing school, researchers in kinesiology focus on exercise in older women and the influence of sex hormones on exercise; and social work faculty research Mexican, lesbian, gay and other oppressed populations of older adults, as well as spirituality, forgiveness and resiliency of older adults.

Teams of students, faculty, and community practitioners will conduct interdisciplinary research, mentor students and junior faculty and educate the current and future workforce. This collaborative effort will generate new knowledge for the complex issues facing older adults and their families, and create innovative interdisciplinary models of service delivery to the university and community at large.

For more information, contact director Linda Curry at l.curry@tcu.edu.

Comment about this story at tcumagazine@tcu.edu