Most of my work to date has dealt with what most people would consider sad things; things we’d rather not think about. Generally, I study health and societal problems that primarily impact older adults. Chronic disease, disablement, dementia, and death are not easy topics of conversation. However, I find them tremendously important to write about,…
Tag: Aging
Aging Today: Does the Nightly News Accurately Represent the Participation of Older Americans in Social Movements?
This post is based on Aging Today’s Minutes and Moments segment. No. Television news does not always accurately represent the participation of older Americans in social movements. For example, survey research found that 29% of the individuals attending Tea Party events were between the ages of 50 and 64, and 21% of attendees were over…
Aging Today: Is it True that Younger People are More Politically Engaged than Older People?
This post is based on Aging Today’s Minutes and Moments segment. It depends on how you define political engagement. Take voting, for example. It is true that older Americans vote at higher rates than younger ones. According to the United States Census Bureau, 70.9% of individuals 65 and older eligible to vote cast a ballot…
Policy Pub: Bouncing Back: What the Science of Resilience Can Teach Us
This post is based on a webinar sponsored by Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. Resilience is defined by aspects, such as self-reliance, perseverance, and flexibility in difficult situations. While resilience is often thought of as being a psychological characteristic, or something innate, research tells us there are things that can be done…
Galentine’s Day has become a thing – why hasn’t Malentine’s Day?
This first posted on February 13, 2020. On Feb. 13, women will celebrate Galentine’s Day, a holiday trumpeting the joys of female friendships. The holiday can trace its origins to a 2010 episode of “Parks and Rec,” in which the main character, Leslie Knope, decides that the day before Valentine’s Day should be an opportunity to celebrate…
Ph.D. Spotlight: Social Relationships as Resources in Later Life: The Dynamics of Structural and Functional Support
The field of sociology has long acknowledged the importance of social relationships. Some of the most well-known research in sociology on relationships stems from the foundational work of Durkheim, who found those who were socially integrated were less likely to commit suicide than those who were socially isolated. Durkheim’s was among the first sociological studies to argue…
Ph.D. Spotlight: Managing Midlife: How Gender and Sexuality Influence Midlife Perceptions of Decline and Progress
This dissertation investigates how gender and sexuality shape people’s perceptions of aging in midlife. The study draws on two prominent narratives about aging discussed by aging studies scholars. The first narrative, decline, is a predominant aging narrative that constructs aging as an accumulation of irreversible losses. A second, less prevalent narrative constructs aging as progress—emphasizing the…
Policy Pub: The COVID-19 Effect: Tackling Racial, Economic, and Gender Inequity
This post is based on a webinar sponsored by Florida State University’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. Crises have a way of shining a light on issues that tend to get ignored when things are going well. Crises also create oppertunity to reflect, to adapt, to push for more substantive, transformative change. The…
Ph.D. Spotlight: The Disablement Process of Aging United States Veterans.
Being that military service was a normative part of early adult life for today’s older U.S. population, the number of veterans aged 60 and older in 2015 was estimated to be over 9.3 million. Older United States (U.S.) veterans are a population at risk for disability due to their early life experiences with military service…
Research Spotlight: How Does Advice to Women and Men Traveling Alone Reflect Gender Inequality?
Searching the internet has become almost a prerequisite for travel (though considerably fewer trips, of course, are happening during the pandemic). Online articles and blogs are appealing sources of information because they offer up-to-date travel advice, often drawn from personal experiences. Despite their widespread use, online travel articles have received surprisingly little research attention. Dr….
Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions 