URI_Research_Magazine_2012-2013_Melissa-McCarthy

Addressing the Needs of Older Adults: Way Behind Where We Need To Be

Now that baby boomers are starting to reach age 65 in unprecedented numbers, the country has a big challenge to face – namely, the capacity of health care and human service systems to meet the medical and psychosocial needs of an aging population. The issue of aging is in the news more than ever before. “It’s about time,” says Phillip Clark, professor and longtime head of the University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Program in Gerontology. “Every day on average in the United States, nearly 10,000 people turn 65,” said Clark, citing a recent statistic to show the enormous impact the baby boom generation is expected to have on society and the economy. “That’s going to continue for the next 17 years,” he said. This graying of the population isn’t confined to the United States. “The whole world is aging,” says Clark, the result of advances in medical care that enable people to live longer. And yet, “health care professionals remain poorly trained in how aging affects the mind and body,” Clark said, calling into question the readiness of society to cope with this change. For example, he noted that it has only been in recent years that geriatrics has even been taught in some of our country’s medical schools. “We’re way behind where we need to be,” Clark said.

AHarvard educated professor of URI’s Human Development and Family Studies, Clark has devoted his 32-year career to studying the health related aspects of aging, while developing the university’s esteemed Program in Gerontology. Launched in 1958, when the field was still relatively new, the program today offers an undergraduate major, minor and graduate certificate and has received more than $15 million in state, federal and foundation grants over the last 25 years. Among the grants was $5.3 million from the National Institutes of Health to fund a 12-year study of older residents in East Providence, R.I. Called the SENIOR Project (Study of Exercise and Nutrition in Older Rhode Islanders), the study used a model of behavior change developed by URI’s Professor of Clinical Health and Psychology, James Prochaska, to see if older people could be persuaded to increase exercise and include more fruits and vegetables in their diet. More than 1,000 older adults were involved in the study, which ended in July 2012. “We were successful in changing both behaviors,” said Clark. But, he noted, it was easier to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables than it was to get them to exercise. Clark said he and his research team are working to get a follow-up grant to continue the research. But, in keeping with URI’s status as a land grant university, Clark said it is equally important that the Program in Gerontology seeks grants to support education and community

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