GSA on Aging

The GSA Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization (ESPO) created and supports a limited podcast series called Talks With a Trailblazer. In this series, we invite leaders in the field of aging research, education, practice, and policy to share their experiences and wisdom to inspire up-and-coming GSA members and inform the general public about aging well. We will cover a variety of areas of interest, including career reviews, tips for people considering careers in aging, anecdotes from the featured trailblazers’ years of experience, and words of wisdom and practical pointers for people as they age.  

In this episode, the ESPO Chair, Dr. Brianna Morgan, interviews GSA Board of Directors Chair, Dr. James F. Nelson, about his career, experience with GSA, and advice for future scholars.

Download the Transcript

Guests:

• Tamara Baker, PhD, FGSA

Hosts:

• Kalisha Bonds, PhD, RN

This podcast episode is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund.

Click here to view our other Trailblazers podcast episode with Dr. Tamara Baker.

This edition of GSA Policy Profile Series highlights the latest legislative activity regarding the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act (TROA), which recently was voted out of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, an advancement that serves as a key milestone. Learn how TROA has evolved, its changes in Medicare coverage, what research has been used to advance and advocate for the Act, where TROA is headed in Congress, and what a final legislative act may look like.

Download the Transcript

Guests:

• Tracy Zvenyach, PhD, MS, RN, Director of Policy, Strategy and Alliances at the Obesity Action Coalition

Host:

• Patricia M. "Trish" D'Antonio, BSPharm, MS, MBA, BCGP, Vice President, Policy and Professional Affairs, Gerontological Society of America

Additional resources:

• GSA’s evidence-based KAER Toolkit for the Management of Obesity in Older Adults  

This podcast episode is supported by Novo Nordisk.

The dynamic interplay between research and policy affects geriatric/gerontology practice and research. Whether researcher, practitioner, or policy maker, understanding the context of each strengthens the reach of our work.  

This episode focuses on how policy influences research in geriatrics and gerontology. Experts with decades of experience address the “long view” of the critical interplay between policy and research.

Download the Transcript

Guests:

• Robyn Stone, DrPH, FGSA, FNASI

Host:

• Julie Gordon, DrPH

Developed by the GSA HS SRPP Joint Development Team: Carol Geary, Julie Gordon, Jolie Harris, and Anju Paudel.

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: Thailand [Episode 6]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Siriphan Sasat, PhD, RN, CPG

Host: Barbara Bowers, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, Emerita Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Nursing; Founding Director of the UW–Madison School of Nursing’s Center for Aging Research and Education

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: Ghana [Episode 5]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Diana Abudu-Birresborn, PhD

Host:

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: Ethiopia [Episode 4]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Nigussie Tadesse Sharew, MS

Host: Barbara Bowers, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, Emerita Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Nursing; Founding Director of the UW–Madison School of Nursing’s Center for Aging Research and Education

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: Caring for Palestinians Living in East Jerusalem [Episode 3]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Amal Abu Awad, PhD, RN, MSN

Host:

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: China [Episode 2]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Honglin Chen, PhD

Host:

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

Understanding Person-Centered Care for Older Adults in Six Developing Countries/Regions: Brazil [Episode 1]

Download the Transcript

The impact of population aging is universally recognized and has been extensively studied in wealthier, developed regions. But we know much less about how aging is experienced by low- and middle-income countries and populations and how these regions are responding to the challenges created by the aging of their populations. The rapid rate of population aging in many developing parts of the world—fueled by falling fertility rates and a shift in the predominance of chronic diseases rather than acute and infectious illnesses—has left little time to anticipate and prepare for the consequences of aging populations. 

The GSA Interest Group on Common Data Elements for International Research in Residential Long-term Care has developed a limited podcast series to provide insights into how culture, competing population health priorities, political conflict, and resource limitations influence older adults, their families, and paid/formal caregivers along a trajectory of development, including Brazil, China, East Jerusalem, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Thailand.

Guest: Patrick Alexander Wachholz, PhD

Host:

Moderator:

This podcast limited series is supported by the GSA Innovation Fund. 

This episode is part of a continued series that will provide insights into the experiences of GSA Policy Interns from various cohorts. Join former policy intern Bailee Brekke (’23) as she speaks with the 2021 interns, Lei Chen and Kaleigh Ligus, about their internship experience and how it has impacted their current work.

Guest Bios:

Lei Chen, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. She is a transdisciplinary and cross-cultural researcher whose work focuses on long-term services and supports, immigrants’ access to health care, migrant workforce, aging and health policy, aging and technology, and cross-cultural study. Dr. Chen is working on a National Institutes of Health–funded project that aims to advance research on the health care workforce that serves people living with dementia. She applies quantitative and qualitative methodologies to her research. Before joining UCSF, she worked on several research projects at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Health Policy Research and collaborated with the UCLA Human-Centered Computing and Intelligent Sensing Lab. Dr. Chen also engages in policy-related work such as assisting in developing and implementing the Master Plan for Aging in California.

Kaleigh Ligus, PhD, is a social science research analyst at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Her work includes developing, implementing, and evaluating new CMS patient care models aimed at improving Medicare beneficiaries’ health care experiences and health outcomes. Dr. Ligus currently works on the team for the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience Model. She has been dedicated to serving older adults living with chronic disease since 2015 during her experience at the University of Connecticut (UConn) Health Center on Aging. She earned her doctoral degree in human development and family sciences, with a specialization in adulthood, aging and gerontology, from UConn in 2023. During graduate school, she served as the Greg O’Neill Policy Intern for the Gerontological Society of America (summer 2021) and Health Policy Fellow at AcademyHealth (summer of 2022), working with like-minded community collaborators and political leaders to advocate for health policy change.