By Lisa Watts
On July 1, the UMass Boston gerontology program moved to the university’s Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences, opening the possibility of new collaborations for the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.
The Boston office of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston is now part of UMass Boston’s Robert and Donna Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences. The LTSS Center moved to Manning College along with the university’s Department of Gerontology and the Gerontology Institute, where the LTSS Center’s Boston office is based.
LeadingAge and UMass Boston established the LTSS Center in 2017 as a joint venture to expand the capacity of both organizations to translate research into policy and practice. The Washington office of the LTSS Center remains at LeadingAge.
The Manning College also includes a Department of Nursing and a Department of Exercise and Health Sciences. The college will launch a Department of Urban Public Health this fall.
Before the move, the gerontology program was part of UMass Boston’s John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies. The gerontology academic programs and the work of the Gerontology Institute, its centers, and researchers will retain their focus on policy and practice, say Department Chair Edward Alan Miller and Gerontology Institute Director Jan Mutchler.
“I look forward to this opportunity to expand our capacity,” says Marc Cohen, co-director of the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston. “Given our focus on workforce issues, for example, we can work with Manning faculty members who are close to these issues. Faculty working in exercise and health science may be interested in partnering with providers to offer demonstrations or evaluations.”
Gerontology researchers are already collaborating with Manning College faculty, notes Mutchler. “We look forward to expanding partnerships in shared areas, bringing our expertise in aging, policy, and applied impact,” she says.
“We are delighted to welcome our gerontology colleagues,” says Bo Fernhall, dean of Manning College. “The intersection of health and aging is a natural fit. The contributions of our new colleagues, including their deep expertise in financial security, will help expand Manning’s focus on the social determinants of health and broaden our leadership on policy issues around long-term services and supports and other timely concerns.”
The UMass Boston gerontology program began nearly 40 years ago when the undergraduate gerontology program and the Gerontology Institute were established in the former College of Public and Community Service. In 2003, the Department of Gerontology and the Gerontology Institute became founding members of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies.
In addition to the LTSS Center, the Gerontology Institute includes the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI), and the Pension Action Center.