living healthy longer

Jodi Waterhouse is the director of outreach programs at the University of Colorado Anschutz Multidisciplinary Center on Aging. Beyond creating programs for the Center, Jodi is also an advocate at the state capitol for issues facing older Coloradans. Here we talk with Jodi about two bills that aim to increase the number of medical providers for older adults in Colorado.

Read more about SB21-158: Loan Forgiveness for Geriatric-Trained Clinicians, and visit here to apply for loan forgiveness.

Read more about SB22-189: the Colorado Geriatric Provider Pipeline Program.

CHA director, Dr. Nicole Ehrhart, joins us to discuss regenerative medicine, a line of research that helps to repair or regrow damaged tissue and organs. Ehrhart discusses stem cell therapy as a foundation for regenerative medicine, and then explains a new, cutting-edge approach to addressing age-related diseases: extracellular vesicle therapy for sarcopenia.

Dr. Eric Chess is a physician, lawyer, and the Director of The Paul Freeman Financial Security Program at the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging at the University of Denver. Here, we discuss the intersection of financial security and cognitive health, research at that intersection, as well as signs you can watch out for to recognize financial fraud.

Dr. Gwen Fisher is a researcher in CSU's Occupational Health Psychology Lab, which studies issues of worker health and well-being and characteristics of the work environment that impact individuals and organizations. This conversation is all about the future of work: trends, gaps, and hot topics surrounding the older adult workforce.

Audrey Ruple is the veterinary epidemiologist on the Dog Aging Project, an open access data science study to understand how genes, lifestyle, and environment influence aging. In this episode, we discuss genetic similarities between dogs and humans, the underrepresentation of diverse groups in human and canine studies, and how big data is revolutionizing diagnoses in translational medicine.

Cancer and aging share seven of the nine hallmarks of aging, meaning that the molecular mechanisms that prompt aging often promote cancer, too. We talk to James DeGregori, a professor in the University of Colorado School of Medicine, to sort out why cancer and aging share such similarities. DeGregori describes his lab's theory of adaptive oncogenesis, which views cancer through the lens of evolution, to answer: If we slow down aging, do we also slow down rates of cancer?

Dr. Kelly Hall, an associate professor of emergency and critical care at CSU, discusses physical trauma: serious injuries to the body, and how companion animals are teaching us about humans’ capacity for healing into older age. We also learn about about the Veterinary Committee on Trauma (VetCOT) that is developing a database of animal trauma cases and a network of hospitals and trauma systems to improve veterinary patient care in critical cases.

The National Institute on Aging defines aging in place as "staying in your own home as you get older," though there are many barriers to aging in place, including affordability, disability, and home design.

Assistant Professor of Design and Merchandising, Maria Delgado, introduces us to universal design standards that aim to make homes more accessible, and we learn about the affordable, sustainable, and visitable tiny home that Delgado's students are building for a lucky older adult.

Delgado is looking for older adult (55+) volunteers in Northern Colorado to provide user feedback to her students about their tiny home design. If interested, email Maria Delgado at [email protected].

Dr. Jen Currin-McCulloch, a social worker at CSU, tells us about strategies for meaning-making at end of life: How do we pursue hope despite a debilitating diagnosis? How do we meaningfully reflect on our lives as time becomes more precious? Currin-McCulloch shares how we can communicate with ourselves, our loved ones, and our doctors as we reach the end of our lives.

Caregivers can find support resources at CSU's Aging Clinic of the Rockies, the Alzheimer’s Association, or the Larimer County Office on Aging.

Today's episode revisits every guest from Season 1 of living healthy longer and their best advice for healthy aging.

Our show will return for Season 2 in January 2022! Sign up for our newsletter at healthyaging.colostate.edu for updates in the meantime.