UMBC Center for Aging Studies researchers receive $1.4 million grant for work to enhance the well-being of older adults.

There are nearly 5,000 adult day care centers in the United States, but estimates from several health organizations make the case there should be at least double that number. Why is there such demand for these facilities and how are they different from other assisted living centers for older adults?

Robert Rubinstein and a team of researchers from UMBC’s Center for Aging Studies (CAS) recently received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging for the study “Adult Day Services (Adult Day Care): Cultural Contexts and Programming Effects.” Rubinstein, professor of sociology and anthropology, director of the Center for Aging Studies, and principal investigator for the study, says the goal is to understand how adult day services (ADS) programming affects clients’ health and well-being, something that hasn’t been examined closely before.

“If you imagine care for older people on a continuum, is it better for somebody to stay alone in their home all day, or is it better for them to go out to some kind of group that does activities?” Rubinstein says.

The Center for Aging Studies plans to study six ADS facilities throughout Maryland to better understand the daily life of clients and their families, to inform service providers, consumers, policymakers, and health care professionals of the benefits and concerns that affect quality of life and care in ADS centers.

“It’s apparent…if you even spend ten minutes in one of these facilities, the people there for the most part love it and it really brings them out of their shells. Part of that social relationship that they have with other people really is a cognitive function to get their minds active and invested in something,” Rubinstein observes.

The CAS team of researchers is using ethnographic research methods to observe and interact with clients and staff at adult day care centers to gain an understanding of what takes place on a daily basis. A second phase of the research will involve more formal interviews with a set of guiding questions to further understand the benefits and effects of programming and decision-making at ADS centers for clients, families, and staff.

The ADS project, which is a four-year study, is one of more than 20 multi-year studies, totaling over $20 million in funding, that the Center for Aging Studies has conducted since 1997. Recent projects include “Autonomy in Assisted Living” and “The Subjective Experience of Diabetes among Urban Older Adults.” Faculty and staff conduct this interdisciplinary research through close collaboration with graduate and undergraduate students who are committed to furthering a comprehensive approach to the study of aging.

A major overarching goal of the center is to demystify aging and help people realize that older adulthood is an important stage of life. Rubinstein reflects, “For me, the reason I do this work is that it’s so important that we come to know older peopleas people because there’s so much unconscious discrimination.” This ongoing challenge motivates Rubinstein and the new generation of aging researchers he is training through his center’s ongoing work.

(5/14/2015)

(Reposted from http://umbc.edu/window/aging_studies_research)

SmartCEO has published a feature-length profile on UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski. In addition to an overview of the President’s career in academia and his approach to education, the article dedicates much of its length to Dr. Hrabowski’s role in the bwtech research park and his encouragement of alumni entrepreneurship.

Several UMBC alumni now either work for companies based in the research park or run them, and the ones interviewed for this article point to their UMBC experience and connection with Dr. Hrabowski as positives in their entrepreneurial journey. According to the article, companies “[draw on] help from UMBC faculty and doctoral students to help in solving complex problems,” and many alumni who have gone on to start their own firms cite Dr. Hrabowski as a mentor.

“I literally don’t make any major life decision without checking in with him first,” says Delali Dzirasa ‘04, computer engineering, CEO of the software company Fearless Solutions.

SmartCEO also had some UMBC alumni working behind the scenes on the article. Mitro Hood ’89, visual and performing arts (photography), photographed the President for the feature, and Erica Wood ’00, visual and performing arts, art directed the piece.

In a separate article for SmartCEO, Dr. Hrabowski contributed his own thoughts on Baltimore’s present and future to the #CEOsLoveBaltimore initiative, which began in the wake of civil unrest over the death of Freddie Gray:

What gives me hope is the honest look we are all taking at our city’s most pressing problems — from academic achievement gaps to health disparities — and our willingness to embrace these struggles. We understand that business development and community development are inextricably linked, and we know we have the brainpower and the passion to build a better future for all Baltimore residents. We are all Baltimore.

Learn more about Dr. Hrabowski’s involvement with and contributions to the university.

Why Light Point Security is all about ‘isolation’

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Taken Directly from MyFitnessPal’s Featured Recipes- June 4, 2015