aging

Looks as if New York will be setting up playgrounds specifically for use by older adults: NYC Seniors Get Their Own Playground. Neat idea!

This month I successfully proposed my dissertation project to my committee (now the real work begins!). As suggested by the title, my project will investigate the way in which low feelings of belongingness and high feelings of burdensomeness interact to increase suicide ideation among older adults. The study is based on a theory developed by Thomas Joiner, PhD and his students at Florida State University.

Thanks to my committee for their very helpful comments and suggestions: Daniel Segal, PhD; Frederick Coolidge, PhD; Sara Qualls, PhD; Molly Maxfield, PhD; and Aditi Mitra, PhD.

Note: Anyone experiencing a suicidal crisis can contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

One of the founders and leaders in the field of aging, Dr. Robert N. Butler, passed away over the week-end. Here are a few tributes to his life and his work:

changingaging.org

The New Old Age

At the end of May, I completed a practicum rotation in a long term care facility (aka nursing home). I discovered that I love working in that setting and its something that I hope to gain more experience with while I'm on internship.

Dr. Eleanor Feldman Barbara is a psychologist who works in long term care and writes a blog about her experiences. She recently wrote an interesting guest post on the role of psychology in treating mental illness in nursing home residents for McKnight's Long Term Care News.

Another great resource for those interested in the topic of mental illness in long term care is the group Psychologists in Long Term Care (PLTC). 

Today I attended the Innovations in Aging Summit, held in downtown Colorado Springs. The main goals of the summit were to "start a community conversation on how to make Colorado Springs a remarkable place to age" and to "lay groundwork for building a desired blueprint for aging in our community."

I participated in the urban planning and transportation breakout group. We came up with several ideas on how to more effectively use the existing transportation here and restructure our community to make it more senior-friendly. 

Among the ideas we discussed, two really jumped out at me, including better use of technology (e.g., developing an on-line transportation request system) and integrating people in the "aging" community with others who have difficulty with transporation (e.g., people with physical or mental disabilities, under-employed individuals).

Participating in the breakout group helped me to realize the potential role of psychologists in revamping transportation, not only in this region, but in the country as a whole. Specifically, once people are educated about different transportation options, psychologists can help to facilitate behavior change (e.g., getting a community to decide to walk to the store rather than drive).

I'm in Atlanta, GA this week-end for the annual Gerontological Society of America conference. All the presentations I've seen so far have been fantastic.

One of the best things about this conference is the interdisciplinary nature of the programming. Yesterday, I saw a paper presentation by Meldrena Chapin, Ph.D. who identifies herself as an Architectual Gerontologist (who even knew a field like that exists?). She spoke about culture-change in long term care, and her presentation will be uploaded to her website soon.

Thought I'd share this piece from the DailyOM about transitioning through life's phases. I especially love the last sentence about changing as we grow older: "When we anchor our identity in our spiritual nature, we understand that physical change does not change who we are, but only offers another perspective from which to experience, understand, and celebate life."

An interesting article from the New York Times about relationships between children of older adults and their parents.

An interesting, but also disturbing, article on the complex issue of dementia and sex.

The APA Office on Aging recently updated their on-line resource guide for Depression and Suicide in Older Adults. It features empirical journal articles, books, book chapters, and several links to resources for consumers.