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August 2012

Congratulations!

By Featured

Lifelong Trojan and USC Leonard Davis School mainstay Linda Broder won the Staff Monthly Recognition Award from USC’s Staff Assembly and Staff Club.

The award, given to individuals who exhibit constant and dedicated service while making a genuine contribution to the quality of life at USC, comes during an auspicious time for Broder, who celebrates her 40th year at USC and her 37th at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology/Andrus Gerontology Center.

“I am grateful for and humbled by this recognition,” Broder said. “It has been my honor to serve the students, staff, faculty and friends of the USC Leonard Davis School, and I look forward to many more adventures at this wonderful institution.”

A key support staff member who is frequently the first point of contact for anyone getting in touch with the School, Broder is also the coordinator of the Andrus Volunteers, a group of older adults who are committed to promoting and enriching the study of aging by offering their perspectives, time and support.

“Linda Broder is always available for help and doesn’t give up until she finds an answer for anyone who comes to her,” said Andrus Volunteer Muriel Rothenberg. “She brings empathy to her position. We all know and appreciate Linda for her support.”

“Linda is the glue that has held together the efforts of the Center from its inception. She is an integral staff member with knowledge and ability that transcends generations,” said USC Leonard Davis doctoral student Patrick Beck. “Never has there been a person in the building with a bigger smile or warmer heart.”

“In many ways, Linda is the heart of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology,” said IT director May Ng. “It is a wonderful testament to her impact on so many lives that she is recognized with this award.”

At the next general meeting of the USC Staff Assembly, Broder will receive a check from the USC Staff Club and a framed certificate of appreciation signed by USC President C.L. Max Nikias.

According to colleagues and comrades-in-arms, Broder’s exceptional reputation and decades of selfless service made her a natural for this award.

“Linda Border is not only my supervisor, but also a dear friend,” said grad student and assistant coordinator of the Andrus Volunteers Elena Gonzalez. “I am in awe of all that she does for our School. She dedicates the overwhelming majority of her time to making others feel special and appreciated.”

“Although she never draws attention to herself and her countless good deeds, we are all proud to see Linda Broder honored,” said Pinchas Cohen, MD, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School. “Besides being a model employee, Linda inspires us all with her compassion, cheerfulness and tireless dedication to all the best USC Trojan ideals.”

Welcome, Students!

By Featured, Students

Faculty and staff gathered together to welcome students, returning and brand-new, to the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology on Thursday, August 23.

“I’m just as new as many of you freshmen—I’ve only been here six weeks. Our School is already fantastic, but I want to make it the greatest school ever,” said dean Pinchas Cohen, MD “I wish everyone good luck and a great beginning.”

Briefly discussing their research and classes taught, members of the faculty offered their own encouragement as well to the students.

“I want to teach you all how to advocate for your parents and grandparents after a hospitalization,” said John Walsh, PhD “The USC Leonard Davis School is a great launching pad for your next step, whatever it may be. We are all your advisors—we’ve all been there.”

“I work to address issues facing vulnerable elders who need support of some kind: social services, health care, wellness initiatives, economic security,” said Kathleen Wilber, PhD “ I study all the things we need to serve the aging society we have and how those get integrated to serve an individual holistically. I look forward to getting the chance to work with you.”

“It’s amazing for me to think I graduated from the first class offering the Master of Science in Gerontology in 1977, so in 1976 I was sitting out there in the audience just like you guys are today,” said Cheryl Svensson, PhD “Along with James Birren, PhD, I teach Psychological Development through Autobiography, which helps you find out who you are in the sense of where you’ve been and where you’re going by looking inside.”

After the faculty’s introductions, representatives from the Student Gerontology Association (SGA) and the School’s newest student organization, Gerontology, Allies and You (GAY) spoke.

USC Leonard Davis School Students Elena Gonzalez, Patrick Beck, and Morgan Levine

“Our goal is to explore issues unique to LGBT aging and to help raise awareness,” said GAY founder and grad student Brian Gilad Wilson. “We welcome LGBT members as well as our straight allies. I’d especially like to thank Associate Dean Maria Henke for helping us get started. Maria rocks!”

The program closed with Aaron Hagedorn, PhD, discussing several potential internship opportunities before all the students introduced themselves and spoke briefly about their interests.

Coming from Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Minnesota and California as well as from Jamaica, China, Japan and Thailand, the new students were united in their desire to help improve the quality of life for all the world’s older adults, and their enthusiasm to start the school year.

“Ever since I started working as a receptionist in an assisted living facility, I knew I wanted to make a difference for older adults,” said Sam Moghaddamfar, an incoming grad student. “I chose the USC Leonard Davis School because it’s the oldest and best school of gerontology in the world, and I’m so excited to begin.”

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

By Featured, Student Profile

While many students might consider summer a time to take it easy, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology PhD candidate Jeff Laguna spent his taking advantage of several prestigious enrichment opportunities.

Over the summer, Laguna received two high-profile awards, the first from the AcademyHealth/Aetna Foundation and the second from The Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology (SMEP).

“It’s a wonderful honor to receive recognition and support from SMEP and AcademyHealth,” Laguna said. “Both opportunities provided by these organizations are uniquely different, yet each further contributes to my development as an academic and as a health services researcher.”

For the first award, Laguna was chosen to be one of 15 national AcademyHealth/Aetna Foundation Minority Scholars who traveled to Orlando to attend the group’s Annual Research Meeting, a string of Methods Workshops and the Disparities Interest Group Annual Meeting.

The latter honor was a fellowship to enable Laguna to attend a quantitative analysis workshop at the Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis at the University of Kansas. It offered him further training in cutting-edge methodology and data analysis while also offering additional support for his research on healthcare disparities and hospice/palliative care.

“I’m excited to apply the skills, experiences and connections gained from these opportunities to my studies at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology,” he said. “What I learned this summer has already made a big difference in my research, development and perspective, and for that, I am truly grateful.”

Success Story

By Alumni, Featured

Finding a job, especially in this economy, can be daunting for many new grads, but thanks to his creativity, training and support from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, recent alum Peter Lancellotti is living his dream.

After graduating with his graduate certificate this past summer, Lancellotti started a new career in business development with Blue Marble Game Company, becoming the company’s resident gerontologist.

“We are creating an innovative, comprehensive and cost-savings digital health game ecosystem,” he said. “Our strategy is to combine the strengths of empirical evidence with entertainment to provide a low cost method of therapy for health and wellness.”

Part of what attracted Lancellotti to Blue Marble was their focus on creating fun video games that could serve as valuable cognitive and physical therapy tools, especially the development of a suite of games aimed directly at helping with fall prevention.

“Helping older adults age in place is paramount in my personal and career goals. Another aspect of my gerontological goal is a strong desire to help older adults obtain and maintain health/wellness, while improving their quality of life,” he said. “My education at the USC Leonard Davis School has also afforded me the opportunity to educate a software development company to ensure that the design matches the needs of older adults.”

Crediting his mentors at the USC Leonard Davis School for their assistance, particularly Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD, Lancellotti advised students and job-seekers to focus on networking proactively and creatively as a key element to making the sometimes-rocky post-academic transition.

“Talk to everybody about what you want and what you do,” he said. “For example, if it weren’t for Dr. Zelinski, I would have never met the CEO of Blue Marble Game Company.”

With more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing for the telecom and technology industries before he decided to return to school, Lancellotti was initially drawn to gerontology so that he could better understand the needs of his older partner as well as his mother. Born out of this interest came his increasing desire to help improve the health and wellbeing of all older adults despite the numerous limitations, obstacles and difficulties they may face.

“Blue Marble is working to provide solutions to all of these concerns by offering a method to provide low-cost healthcare through the use of video games that are highly motivating and thereby improving adherence, allowing remote access and easy communication with therapists after discharge,” he said. “Not to mention, the games are motivating and fun!”

With the opening of this new chapter, Lancellotti is proud to get one step closer to fulfilling his personal dream of reaching his full professional potential, and points to his alma mater as a crucial step in helping him achieve it.

“The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology has the best program in the U.S. and quite probably the world,” he said. “Having internationally renowned professors at the top of their field, I received the highest level of expertise and an educational experience unmatched by any university in an environment that fosters and cultivates creativity.”

Peter Lancellotti

Milken Institute Ranks Best Cities for Successful Aging

By Featured

Los Angeles metro ranks 30th overall in new successful aging index.

On July 31, The Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank based out of Santa Monica, California, released Best Cities for Successful Aging, described as a “first-of-its kind, data-driven index, which measures and ranks the performance of 359 U.S. metropolitan areas in promoting and enabling successful aging” according to a press release on the organization’s website.

“This report represents a critical component of the policy and advocacy strategy that needs to be undertaken to ensure that seniors nationwide have access to all of the fundamental services that they require,” said Pinchas Cohen, MD, dean of the USC Leonard Davis School. “It also sets the stage for future efforts to allow personalization of senior services according to individual needs. The Milken Institute should be commended for its commitment to the concept of successful aging.”

Unlike other lists that generally rely on household surveys to rank “best cities to retire,” Best Cities for Successful Aging is an index based on public data and utilizes 78 indicators that determine the overall quality of life for seniors to determine which cities are meeting the needs of older adult populations.

Although warm, sunny weather has long been synonymous with older adult communities, the index shows that health care, employment, living arrangements and financial factors are even more important when creating communities that enable successful aging.

“Seniors want to remain active and engaged and healthy and connected to their communities. Many want to continue to work throughout life,” said Paul Irving, Milken Institute’s senior managing director and chief operating officer, in an article from CNN.com. “They want and deserve great health systems. They want to have a voice.”

Additionally the study separates out two sub-populations, the 65-79 age group and the 80+ age group, noting that the needs of older Americans are not uniform and what may be important to a person 80+ years of age may not be important to a 70-year-old and vice versa. Thus, cities in the index receive three scores: an overall score and then separate scores for the 65-79 and 80+ age categories.

Los Angeles, California, which included nearby Long Beach and Santa Ana communities as part of the overall metro area, ranked 30th overall among the 100 large metro areas. It came in 27th for the 65-79 age group and 15th for the 80+ age group. Readers can visit the ranking calculator to see where their metro is falling short and how improvements in the indicators can improve a metro’s ranking. Currently, LA’s three lowest indicators are transportation at 69.12, health care at 62, and living arrangements at 51.31 points. If LA were able to raise each of these scores to 75 points respectively, its overall ranking would jump from 30th to 6th overall among large metro areas.

“We hope the findings spark national discussion,” said Irving, “and, at the local level, generate virtuous competition among cities to galvanize improvement in the social structures that serve seniors.”

The Milken Institute plans to update the index every two years. Where will your community rank?

Individuals can learn more about the Best Cities for Successful Aging and visit the “Ranking Calculator” at succesfulaging.milkeninstitute.org

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