Social Research, Policy, and Practice

Policy Series: Health and Aging Policy Fellows: Connecting Experience to Policy

Chair(s)

• 

  Maureen Henry, JD, PhD (she/her/hers)

  Assistant Professor, Columbia Aging Center Senior Advisor, Health and Aging Policy Fellows
  International Longevity Center
  Columbia University
  New York City, New York, United States

Discussant(s)

• PL

  Pi Ju Liu, PhD (she/her/hers)

  Associate Professor
  School of Nursing
  Purdue University
  West Lafayette, Indiana, United States

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

• 

  Pamela Teaster, Ph.D., M.A., M.S. , NREMT (she/her/hers)

  Professor & Director
  Center for Gerontology
  Virginia Tech.
  BLACKSBURG, Virginia, United States
• 

  Courtney Polenick, PhD (she/her/hers)

  Associate Professor
  Psychiatry
  University of Michigan
  Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
• 

  Jane Lowers, PhD, MPA

  Assistant Professor
  Department of Family and Preventive Medicine
  Emory University
  Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• 

  Quratulain Syed, MD (she/her/hers)

  Geriatrician
  Medicine
  Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center
  Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• 

  Natalie Baker, DNP, CRNP, GS-C, CNE, FAANP, FAAN (she/her/hers)

  Professor
  School of Nursing
  University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing
  Birmingham, Alabama, United States

  Slides Handouts

For health and aging policy to be effective, it must link an understanding of how systems impact individuals to an understanding of how policy influences the systems. Systems such as health care and social service delivery, family caregiving, lifelong learning, zoning laws, and the housing market influence older people and their families. Policy can make these systems better - or worse - for supporting the health and wellbeing for older people. The Health and Aging Policy Fellows program provides experts with real-life experience the opportunity to learn how policy works so they can better support older people. This symposium will describe how current fellows are addressing federal policy within congress and administrative agencies, state policy through a non-profit organization comprising state aging officials, and across government through a non-profit organization focused on caregiving policy. The 2024 reauthorization of the Older Americans Act is an area of focus across all settings. Fellows are also working on care and payment models in primary care and geriatrics; assisted living facilities; direct care workforce; family caregiving policy and research agendas; elder justice, including Adult Protective Services, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, guardianship). During the symposium, fellows will discuss these and related topics the context of their fellowship experiences.

Presentations:

• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST

  Embracing Opportunities to Engage in Work on Policies and Programs on Elder Rights
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Pamela B. Teaster, Ph.D., M.A., M.S. , NREMT (she/her/hers) – Virginia Tech.
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST

  Advancing Family Caregiver Health as a Key Public Health Priority
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Courtney A. Polenick, PhD (she/her/hers) – University of Michigan
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST

  Deep Dives Into State Policy: Locating Levers to Improve Care for Adults Aging Alone
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Jane Lowers, PhD, MPA – Emory University
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST

  Learning About the Process of Revision of Policies Around Innovative Care Models at the VHA
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Quratulain Syed, MD (she/her/hers) – Joseph Maxwell Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center
• 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM PST

  Health and Aging Policy Fellowship: An Incredible Journey
  

  Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Natalie R. Baker, DNP, CRNP, GS-C, CNE, FAANP, FAAN (she/her/hers) – University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing