Among aging parents (mean age = 65, "N" = 139) of adults with developmental disabilities, we examined the effectiveness of multiple forms of coping with caregiver burden. As expected, accommodative strategies of adapting to stress (secondary engagement), used frequently in later life, buffered the impact of caregiver burden, whereas…

With the growing number of older adults becoming a global concern, many countries have focused on education as a means of promoting successful aging. Although third age learning is gaining substantial ground in other countries, it is not well-established in the Philippines. The overall intent of this experimental study was to assess the…

As the elderly population increases, encouraging older adults to participate in lifelong learning has become a priority for many countries. Properly structured lifelong learning programs have consistently yielded numerous benefits to older adults; therefore, careful attention and effort should be exerted to ensure its effectiveness by involving…

Successful aging has been associated with adequate social support. However, impaired functionality, increased dependence, multiple comorbidities, and reduced social interactions place older assisted living community (ALC) residents at risk for poorer social support and less successful aging. This cross-sectional descriptive study used the revised…

In developed countries, healthy retirees can fulfill their life, but may fear growing old. Yet, there is little empirical data on the relationship between this fear and life satisfaction. This cross-sectional, correlational survey study tested whether a new, summated measure of Fears About Growing Old (FAGO)--derived from exemplifications of…

Measures of attitudes to ageing typically examine only explicit attitudes, treating attitude holders as a homogeneous group with regards to education levels. Implicit attitudes (i.e., the immediate attitudinal response before conscious processes amend that attitude to an explicit attitude) have been less commonly examined. The current study…

The impact of the global aging of the population on social, economic, political, and health care institutions is unequaled. Parallel to this, evolving developments in technology promise opportunities for sales and product development to support positive aging. Older adults are excited to utilize technologies that they perceive as practical.…

This article describes the development and evaluation of The Game of Late Life--a novel education activity for the psychology of ageing. The game was designed to provide transformational learning where students imagine themselves as older adults and move through late life via a game board, encountering various life events along the way. One of the…

This article describes the R15, Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) mechanism available through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for institutions that do not typically receive substantial NIH funding. Equipped with training received at the St. Scholastica National Institute on Social Work and Aging, I was able to secure AREA funding…

The Institute on Aging and Social Work (IASW) provides social work faculty with advanced training in aging research with the goal of mentoring individuals to develop National Institutes of Health (NIH) research proposals. The program offers an excellent opportunity for top-level training with nationally recognized experts in research methodology…

The Institute on Aging and Social Work (the institute) supported directed efforts to enhance the research capacity of academics in gerontology across the nation. Due to my participation in the institute, I received intensive training in aging research from distinguished professors as well as staff from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As a…

Considerable research highlights the value of mentorship to the professional development of early career faculty in academia, yet less research focuses on factors motivating individuals to provide formal guidance to junior colleagues. Given that new social work faculty, in particular, may not receive sufficient mentoring, understanding what…

In order to evaluate the gender differences on the experience of aging, 142 individuals 50 years of age and older completed an interview regarding experiences with another individual conveying the message that they were "old." Interviewees were asked about the type of situation, the age and gender of the response person, and the…

This article deals with the education of older adults in communities with different levels of well-being. We are interested in whether the educational offerings for older adults depend on the well-being of the local community. We also examine how the educational offerings differ depending on whether the community is primarily rural or urban. In…

Poetry and gerontology are often not viewed as congenial or likely companions. Yet these two approaches to communication, creativity, and health may have much in common. I would like to present some of my own work, five poems in fact, in light of my personal history and as a teacher/facilitator. My goal here is to reveal ideas and directions that…