Message from the Director, Margaret Beth Neal, Ph.D.:
Dedicated to enhancing understanding of aging and facilitating
opportunities for elders, families, and communities to thrive.
Welcome to the Institute on Aging!
Part of the School
of Community Health within the College of Urban and Public Affairs, the Institute
on Aging is committed to a mission of teaching, research, and community
involvement. We support learning through the lifespan with an educational mission
that extends from the first years of college to the later years of life.Our educational programs include undergraduate
and graduate courses as well as special programs for continued professional
development and learning for those of retirement age.The inter-disciplinary team of researchers at
the Institute are leaders in national and international work motivated to
improve the lives of older adults locally and globally, breaking new ground on
topics such as housing, transportation, long-term care, caregiving,
age-friendly communities, and social relationships.Members of our Institute are actively
engaged in projects that benefit older adults through enhancing health, improving
housing and transportation, planning the urban environment, and helping to
build care systems internationally.
Within the next two decades, nearly one in
three Americans will be aged 65 or over. Globally, the older population is
expected to double over the next three decades.The impact of these demographic changes on the health, economics, and
quality of life of societies worldwide will be unprecedented.We need to be ready for both the
opportunities and the challenges that these changes will present.The place to begin is to expand our understanding
of life in our later years and develop programmatic and policy responses.
Thank you for visiting the Institute on
Aging.We look forward to meeting you!
