Aging and Disability
Aging and Disability research at the IOG aims to improve quality of life for people with physical and cognitive impairments.
Current research projects:
Downsizing Possession for Residential Moves in Later Life
Co-PIs – WSU Site: Mark Luborsky, PhD & Cathy Lysack, PhD
Funder: National Institutes of Health
The goal of this project is to investigate possession management, disposition, and disposal as an adaptation to the vulnerabilities of age when people move to smaller quarters in later life. In this “Downsizing Households” study the specific aims are to: (1) Describe the strategies and emotions of household downsizing as perceived by those who accomplish a move; (2) Confirm the developmental character of such episodes by examining move circumstances; (3) Identify the heuristics—mental shortcuts—that people use to disband under constraints of limited time and knowledge; and (4) Describe self-representations and explore their role as resources for the accomplishment of downsizing and making a residential move. Investigators with expertise in the study of life reorganization are conducting this study in two-sites: in Lawrence, Kansas, and Detroit, Michigan. In-home interviews will be conducted within 100 households of older persons (age 65 and older) who have moved to smaller quarters in the last year. In addition, there will be interviews in another 50 households twice before and once after the move. The analysis of informants’ accounts will clarify how individuals motivate, execute, and evaluate these transitions. This project will generate practical information for the public and for health and social service professionals that can be applied to catalyze disbandment and facilitate residential relocation as a means to better self care.
Hip Fracture: Cultural Loss and Long-term Reintegration
PI: Luborsky, M.
Co-PI : Lysack, C.
NIH / National Institute on Aging (NIA)
2006-2010, $1,079,750
Today, the proven medical treatment for hip fracture’s physical breaks are not equaled by knowledge of how survivors seek to heal the fractured connection to valued communities and cultural identities after injury. The need is great: only 34% of the 31,000 annual hip fracture patients regain full mobility and function; mortality nears 50% after one year. The return to a valued life with physical disability is neglected in a literature dominated by studies of the acute injury phase. The goal of this study is to identify the social consequences of hip fracture and to evaluate the forms and meanings of community engagement and identifies perceived as meaningful after hip fracture. The study will select 144 adult men and women in the Detroit area with hip fracture in two main groups, newly injured and long-term, to explore the nature of social integration after injury. The study addresses a high NIH, public and scientific priority to identify the community conditions that predict long-term success at community life after disability.
Validation of the Integrating Mental Health into Occupational Therapy Practice with Older Adults Educational training Series
Co-PIs : Peter Lichtenberg, PhD & Cathy Lysack, PhD.
Funder: Retirement Research Foundation, Chicago
2010-2012, $207,000
This new study will build upon our RRF-funded, highly successful, educational and evaluation efforts on integrating assessment and treatment of mood disorders into occupational therapy practice with older adults. The original project produced a 7 DVD and 1 CD training series packaged as a box-set to educate and train occupational therapists working in clinical settings with older adults. An additional DVD, focused on strategies to effectively integrating new mental health practices into the real-life work setting was completed in 2009. In this study, we will test this educational intervention in a randomized controlled trial with n=60+ occupational therapists. Already an official CE project at AOTA, we are looking to further validate DVD style education to strengthen skills in related to screening and treating for depression in older adults.
Retrospective Analysis of Pre-Medicare Aged Patients (50-59) with Chronic Diseases to Evaluate the Health and Economic Costs of Medication Non-Adherence
PI: Gail Summers, PhD
Co-PI: Young Li
Funder: Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation
2010 - 2012, $124,704
This is a two-year award of $124,704 from Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation to study the long-term effects on health and finances when patients do not take their prescribed medications. Dr. Summers will first analyze whether persons who have chronic diseases in their 50s -- too young to qualify for Medicare -- take their medications as prescribed. Next she will study what happens to their health and personal finances when they do not take their medications. "Little is know about whether older adults skip doses of medication when their insurance is limited," Dr. Summers said. "My goal is to conduct studies that can inform future government policy and also keep older adults healthy."