The Importance of Adult Sibling Relationships and Your Caregiving Journey
| Holly Tiret and Christi Demitz, Michigan State University | One thing you can rely on is that people change as they age, and so do their relationships with siblings. Some look at sibling relationships as an hourglass effect. Very close in the early years, slim to none in the teen and early adult years, […]
Do Your Part to Combat Ageism
My last post, Exploring and Overcoming Your Own Biases, reflected upon implicit or unconscious biases, how they are engrained in our brains, and how we can begin to overcome those biases – intentionality, learning about yourself and your biases, and putting yourself in uncomfortable spaces with the goal of learning and growing. I encourage you […]
Communicating about COVID-19
Kristin Litzelman, University of Wisconsin – Madison Leacey Brown, South Dakota State University Christi Demitz, Michigan State University As educators, one of our top priorities is to ensure that our classrooms and educational environments are healthy, safe, and inclusive. This has become increasingly complex and difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only have outbreaks […]
Exploring and Overcoming Your Own Biases
Ahhhh bias. It’s all the rage! Everyone is doing it! The problem is, bias can bring severe negative consequences and, sometimes, we don’t even know we’re doing it. That is called implicit bias (also called unconscious bias). Implicit biases are the unconscious beliefs we hold about various social and identity groups. They are engrained in […]
Celebrating Five Years of NCRAN: Telling our Story of Collaboration and Impact
As America’s population ages, there are increasing demands for educational content related to aging and older adulthood. While the importance of Adult Development and Aging Programs is recognized, many gerontology-focused Extension specialists and field staff work in isolation as they address the challenges and opportunities unique to the older adult population. In 2016, Extension […]
Responding to Social Isolation and Loneliness During the COVID-19 Pandemic
| Kristin Litzelman, PhD; Assistant Professor & Extension State Specialist; University of Wisconsin-Madison | The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the way that we interact with one another across the country and across the globe. Social distancing has been a powerful tool to help protect our families and communities, especially those with chronic health conditions or […]
Social Determinants of Health: What’s Happenin’ on the Hill?
| Dr. Erin Yelland | Kansas State University | I recently attended a Congressional Briefing on the Social Determinants of Health to learn more about what is happening at the national level regarding the social determinants (for a refresher course on the social determinants, see my last blog post here – federal policies are a big part […]
ELI5: The Social Determinants of Health
Dr. Erin Yelland | Kansas State University To answer your first question, ELI5 is text lingo for ‘explain like I’m five’ and, admittedly, ELI5 posts from various online sources are the only reason I know random things. Example 1: What color would DNA be to the naked eye if we could see it? Translucent, because […]
Experts on aging outline ideas for overcoming ‘implicit bias’
Quite often in life, without knowing or realizing it, many of us show our own bias; perhaps toward people, situations or even political contests. Erin Yelland says those are implicit biases. “An implicit bias is an attitude or a stereotype that affects our understanding, actions and decisions,” said Yelland, an adult development and aging specialist […]
Are mental health issues a normal part of aging?
|Roseanne Scammahorn, PhD, NCC – Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Darke County| |Lorrissa L. Dunfee, MS – Ohio State University Extension, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Belmont County| Over eight million U.S. adults 65 or older have a mental health or substance use disorder and 2/3 of this population do NOT […]