Faculty Research Grants and Creative Activity
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Capital University Journal Help for Caregivers It seems simple—don't assume, ask. And when researchers from Sac State's gerontology program surveyed Baby Boomer and other caregivers about caring for elderly friends or relatives, they found their assumptions turned upside down. |
More than 90 caregivers from five Sacramento- area counties ranked issues that matter most in their efforts to care for a senior. Instead of more about disease or health costs, they wanted to know about staying healthy, says Cheryl Osborne, director of the gerontology program. “No one knew what caregivers in the Sacramento area want because no one had ever bothered to ask them,” Osborne says. “In this project, we are actually planning our programming and outreach based on the survey answers.”
Nationwide, about 25 percent of households are involved in caregiving for older persons.
In the Sacramento area survey, respondents said they wanted to hear about positive outcomes. Forty-seven percent wanted information on aging well, twice as many as were interested in disease.
Caregivers also wanted to know how to keep themselves healthy while involved in caregiving responsibilities. They weren't as concerned about rising health care costs as researchers had expected. Only 24 percent thought information about financial assistance was important.
The survey results will determine the topics for 28 informational radio spots to be broadcast on Sacramento's Capital Public Radio. Funding is from a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant. More: www.csus.edu/gero.
http://www.csus.edu/news/gerontology.html
As Gerontology Core faculty members are part time, they are not evaluated on their scholarly and creative activities but their activities are noted in informal discussions and seen in changes in their course content. Their scholarly creative work is however, considered in the part time hire process as part of their ability to teach the course for which they are hired. The Vitas of Interdisciplinary Core faculty members are periodically reviewed when the department hires a new individual or at the time of Program Review.
All Gerontology and Interdisciplinary Core faculty members have well documented currency on their vitas (available upon request). Many attend multiple seminars and conferences as participants as well as make regular presentations at local, regional, national and international conferences. As previously noted many are involved in the CSUS TUT, Service Learning, or other university sponsored institutes, and several have received grant in their areas of study. A sampling of scholarly and creative activities from some of the vitae are noted below:
a. many published articles both in specialty areas and in teaching methodologies
b. research: “The 2003 Annual Survey of Public Opinion and Life Quality in the Sacramento Region.” (Liu)
c. service learning institute (Nelson, Osborne, Schier-Anzelmo)
d. co-investigator, “Assessment of Teaching and Learning at CSUS” (Nelson) e. research and development of a guidebook for developing an effective internship program (Osborne) f. research: “Older Mexican Communities in Sacramento” (Rios).
