| Indiana University Center for Aging Research |
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News at IUCAR
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| Read recent news about the IU Center for Aging Research, the IU Geriatrics Program, and their faculty and staff members. For additional news items, read the IU Geriatrics E-news. |
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IU-CAR Publishes Annual Report
The Indiana University Center for Aging Research has published its 2006-2007 Annual Report entitled "The Economics of Research."
A message from Center Director Dr. Chris Callahan recalls remarks by IU-CAR’s Inaugural Visiting Professor Dr. George Maddox from Duke University. His 1997 lecture identified IU-CAR as a "Center with a Future." The report confirms this prediction by describing the ten years of economic growth as well as the Center’s success in recruiting faculty geriatrics researchers to Indiana University.
The annual report is available online at http://iucar.iu.edu/news/annual2007.pdf. |
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Healthy Aging Brain Center Serves Patients and Caregivers
Researchers and clinicians from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research, the Regenstrief Institute, and the IU School of Medicine celebrated the opening of the Healthy Aging Brain Center on February 22, 2008. The Center builds upon a care model they developed and tested over the past 7 years, one that focuses on two groups -- patients with cognitive disorders and their caregivers.
"When we make the lab from which we develop treatments and the clinic into one entity, we are constantly learning from our patients – what works for them and what does not. Our approach to memory care is on the fast track because…we compress the long timeline traditionally needed to go from discovery to treatment. For us and for those we treat, both those with memory problems and their caregivers, this means that they will be receiving the support and care they need now," said Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, an IU Center for Aging Research investigator and geriatrician (pictured 2nd from right).
Dr. Greg Sachs (pictured 2nd from left), also an IU Center for Aging Research investigator and geriatrician, joins Dr. Boustani in providing care in the Center. Stephanie Munger, BS (pictured right), IU-CAR project manager, coordinates research activities.
The Healthy Aging Brain Center is located in the IU Center for Senior Health at Wishard Health Services. For more information, call 317-630-8790. |
Read about the Healthy Aging Brain Center
in the
Indianapolis Star
February 22, 2008, and in the IU School of Medicine news release.
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JAMA Publishes GRACE Outcomes
Most older adults obtain their health care in the offices of busy primary care physicians or in the case of those without physicians in even busier hospital emergency departments. In either location seniors often don’t receive the recommended care for preventive services, chronic disease management, and geriatric syndromes.
A study published in the December 12, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association reports on GRACE, the largest ever randomized clinical trial of a health system and home-based geriatrics care concept designed to improve healthcare for community-dwelling low-income older adults.
“Rather than concentrating on individual diseases, we focused on the many issues faced by aging low-income adults – access to needed services, medications, mobility, depression, transportation, diet, as well as other health issues of aging,” said study leader Steven Counsell, MD, Mary Elizabeth Mitchell Professor in Geriatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine.
GRACE, short for Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders, was developed by researchers from IU Geriatrics of the Indiana University School of Medicine, the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. |
Read GRACE news release by
IU School of Medicine and GRACE Outcomes published in JAMA (pdf). |
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Research Will Develop Comprehensive Dementia-Specific Nursing Home
Quality Indicators
Nursing home quality indicators measure how well nursing homes care for residents in categories like physical restraints, pressure sores and decline in mobility. They are widely used for regulation, public reporting and quality improvement. Yet there are no indicators that are specifically designed for residents with Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias.
In research funded by the Alzheimer’s Association in 2007, Principal Investigator Gregory W. Arling, PhD, and colleagues are developing dementia-specific quality indicators that can assist consumers in evaluating nursing homes, help regulators target problems and reward homes that provide better care. The group is using existing data from nursing homes in Minnesota to determine which quality indicators are most relevant for people with dementia and will also create new dementia-specific indicators. The project builds on a five-year quality assessment project the team conducted for the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and the new findings will be translated directly into public policy.
Known locally as “CoNRAD - Comprehensive Nursing home Resident Assessment for Dementia,” the project was awarded $238,464 over three years. Malaz Boustani, MD, MPH, is a co-investigator. |
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Dr. Torke Named Scientist at Center for Aging Research
Alexia M. Torke, MD, joined the IU Geriatrics faculty as assistant professor of medicine and the IU Center for Aging Research as a center scientist in July of 2007.
An IU School of Medicine graduate and Indianapolis native, Dr. Torke is interested in the ethical and communication aspects of medical decision making. She has conducted research on patients’ preferences for end-of-life care and currently focuses on the topic of surrogate decision making, or making major medical decisions for patients with dementia, delirium or other conditions that impair cognitive function.
Dr. Torke was also named a research scientist with Regenstrief Institute and is the associate fellowship director at the Charles Warren Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics at the IU School of Medicine.
Prior to returning to Indiana, Dr. Torke’s medical and research career had taken her to the Emory University School of Medicine where she was assistant professor of medicine and a clinical ethics fellow and to the University of Chicago where she was a physician in their primary care group and a fellow in medical ethics and general internal medicine. |
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Center for Aging Research Moves to HITS
On April 30, 2007, scientists and staff members of the IU Center for Aging Research turned on the lights and computers in their new offices at the Indiana University Health Information and Translational Sciences (HITS) building.
The 166,000-square-foot building houses health science researchers from nine divisions affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and Regenstrief Institute, Inc.
The Center for Aging Research continues its close ties with the Regenstrief Institute and is located within the Institute’s expansion of offices to HITS.
The new mailing address for IUCAR is:
IU Center for Aging Research
410 West 10th Street, Suite 2000
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3012
Follow this link to view new phone numbers, effective April 30, 2007. |
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