The fall 2008 newsletter of the Gerontological Health Section is a little spare. It must be the busy lives of our Section members, who are hit with many responsibilities as summer ends and a new academic or project year begins. Most of us are feverishly preparing for APHA or GSA, perhaps rushing to submit a grant proposal or two, and generally trying to keep our heads above water. It didn’t help that the deadline for the newsletter was a little tighter than usual.
APHA has a strong showing of papers on aging and public health. If you search the online scientific sessions tab on the APHA Web site and select “Gerontological Health,” over 21 pages of entries appear, each with 10 entries per page, or 210 posters, presentations or sessions. This only includes entries sponsored by our section. The first page of the online view gives a good sense of the large area covered by GHS. Here is a snapshot of some the first entries that appear:
Promoting cognitive health: A formative research collaboration of the healthy aging research network
Correlation between Blood Pressure MEASUREMENTS and Adjustment of Hypertensive THERAPY in Elderly Nursing Home Residents
Decision making at the end of life in Mexican American Aged: Preliminary findings
Age-based disparities in clinical trials: Barriers and multi-level policy solutions
Assessing the subjective method of nursing observation to monitor pressure ulcer healing through the use of quantitative measurements (PUSH) in nursing home residents
Translating Research to Practice: Applying the RE-AIM Framework to Caregiver Programs and Policies
Health Promotion for Older Workers
Economic evaluation of palliative care at the end of life
Trends in the utilization of healthcare services and cancer screenings for older African Americans in Detroit
Role of Social Support and Social Networks in Successful Breast Cancer Survival: The International Dragon-Boater Experience
Behavioral Approaches for Risk Reduction in Midlife Women with MetS: A Pilot Study
Impact of coronary artery bypass graft surgery on the physical functioning of the aged
Fall Prevalence Data and Three Intervention Models to Reduce Falls Among Older Adults
Thinking Globally, Acting Locally: Generating Elder Friendly Urban Environments
Health care seeking behaviors among elderly: Japan - US comparative study
A cost-effective strategy to create a stimulating cognitive, physical, and social environment in a multi-ethnic older adult housing complex
Environment, health and aging: Promising new directions
The range of these research and programmatic efforts is impressive and shows once again the multidisciplinary quality of research on healthy aging.
Given the pressure to get this Newsletter out, updates and announcements regarding the San Diego meeting will likely come by listserv, so stay tuned.
I wish you all well for the new academic year. Thanks again to Celeste Petruzzi for helping put the newsletter together.
Regards,
Steven M. Albert, PhD, MSPH
Department of Behavioral & Community Health Sciences
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
A211 Crabtree, 130 DeSoto St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15261
smalbert@pitt.edu