Margaret Neal, Ph.D.

Director

Office: URBN 470Q Phone: 503-725-5145 Fax: 503-725-5100 E-mail: nealm@pdx.edu

Interests

Global aging issues, particularly planning for aging in developing countries; the challenges and opportunities faced by individuals who are engaged in paid employment while providing informal care to aging family members; designing age-friendly communities and neighborhoods for healthy aging; transportation needs and alternatives for older adults; and older workers.

Projects

Much of Dr. Neal's research has focused on managing paid work while caring informally for older adults. She and colleague Dr. Leslie Hammer recently completed a book on working, sandwiched-generation couples, that is, couples caring both for children and aging parents. Another thread of research she has conducted concerns planning for aging populations in the U.S. and in developing countries. For the past several years, Dr. Neal and adjunct professor Dr. Keren Brown Wilson have conducted a service-learning course and research in Nicaragua involving planning for the needs of older Nicaraguans, and they are leading the global focus of the Aging Matters, Locally and Globally initiative. Dr. Neal and graduate student Alan DeLaTorre conducted a study in Portland as one of 33 cities in the World Health Organization's Age-Friendly Cities project. Currently, Dr. Neal is the co-principal investigator (with Dr. Jennifer Dill) of a study on the effects of "green streets" on active aging, which is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. She and Dr. Dill also recently completed two studies for the Association of Oregon Counties and the Oregon Department of Transportation, one focusing on the current and future transportation needs of older Oregonians and the other on present and future rural transit needs in Oregon. They, with other colleagues in the College, also conducted a study for Metro concerning aging-related shifts in housing and transportation demand.

Selected Publications

Neal, M. B., & Hammer, L. B. 2007. Working Couples Caring for Children and Aging Parents: Effects on Work and Well-Being. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Neal, M. B., Wagner, D. L., Bonn, K. J. B., & Niles-Yokum, K. 2008. Caring From a Distance: Contemporary Care Issues. In Martin-Matthews, A., & Phillips, J. (Eds.) Blurring the Boundaries: Ageing at the Intersection of Work and Home Life. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Neal, M. B., Hammer, L. B., & Morgan, D. L. 2006. Using Mixed Methods in Research Related to Work and Family. In Sweet, S., Kossek, E., & Pitt-Cassouphes, M. (Eds.) Handbook of Work and Family: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and Approaches. Mah Wah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Hammer, L. B., & Neal, M. B. (2009). Dual-Earner Couples in the Sandwiched Generation: Effects of Coping Strategies Over Time. The Psychologist-Manager Journal, 23, 205-234.

White, D. L., & Neal, M. B. (in press). Transportation and Older Adults. In Chun, A., Irmiter, C., & Schwartzberg, J. (Eds.) Geriatric Care by Design. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association.