News from 2002 & Earlier

Leadership in Aging Award goes to Policy Office of Alzheimer’s Association
On Thursday, November 7, 2002, the Duke Long Term Care Resources Program presented its Leadership in Aging award to the Washington Office of the Alzheimer’s Association for leadership in mentoring the next generation of leaders in aging. Accepting the award for the Alzheimer’s Association was Bonnie Hogue, Director of Federal and State Policy for the Washington Office. For complete story click here.

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2002 Maddox Award Presented to Senior Services
On October 29, 2002, at the North Carolina Conference on Aging the 2002 George L. Maddox Award was presented to Senior Services of Winston-Salem, NC, with director Richard Gottlieb accepting on behalf of Senior Services. At the awards banquet, Dr. Maddox was honored for the influence he has had on colleagues in aging. Susan Harmuth, of the NC Office of Long Term Care, moderated the panel composed of Linda George, PhD, and Deborah Gold, PhD, Duke; Robert Clark, PhD, NCSU; and Thelma Lennon, Duke Senior Leader Alumna and past AARP State President. For complete story click here and for scenes from the conference click here.

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Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards Community Partnerships For Older Adults Grants To Communities
Princeton, N.J., August 1, 2002 - The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded development grants in 13 communities in ten states to improve long term care and supportive services for vulnerable older adults and their caregivers. The grants were awarded through the Foundation's Community Partnerships for Older Adults program, a new initiative to promote better lives for vulnerable older adults through broad local partnerships among health care providers, social service organizations, local leaders, nonprofit and public agencies, private businesses, and older adults and their caregivers and families. To view complete release, click here.

The Community Partnerships for Older Adults program is based at the University of Southern Maine's Muskie School of Public Service. The Duke University Long Term Care Resources Program provides technical assistance for the program, under the direction of George L. Maddox, Ph.D. More information about the Community Partnerships for Older Adults program is available on the program's Web site http://partnershipsforolderadults.org.

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Leadership Interns Receive Awards For Post-Baccalaureate Study
Two outstanding Leadership Interns who graduated from Duke in May 2002 have received prestigious awards for post-baccalaureate study: Julie Linton, the first Chut Intern, summer of 2002, has received a Fulbright Award to study in Panama. Juliessa Pavon, a Gabel Intern, summer of 2001, has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Academy as an Intramural Training Research Award Fellow. Both completed Leadership Internships with Lisa Gwyther, Director of the Duke Family Support Program, and plan to attend medical school after their post-baccalaureate year of study.

For her project, entitled, "Community Outreach and Conservation in the Coiba National Park," Julie Linton will conduct interviews with the residents of fishing communities on the Pacific coast of Panama. She will explore the residents' attitudes about marine conservation, with the ultimate goal of contributing to the development of conservation programs that are sensitive to the needs of local Panamanians. Throughout this project, she will collaborate with her mentor, Dr. Todd Capson, a researcher at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama City. The purpose of the Fulbright Program is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and those of other countries.

Juliessa Pavon will be working with mentor Dr. Tamara Harris at the Geriatric Epidemiology Lab at the National Institute on Aging. Using statistical analysis, she will review the Health, Aging, Body Composition Dataset looking at the impact of physical activity on disorders in late-life. During the Fellowship, she and other student members of the Academy will also participate in weekly seminars covering topics related to health disparities, and have the opportunity to present their research work at NIH conferences. The purpose of the NIH Academy is to promote research dedicated to addressing domestic health disparity issues.

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Linton Named First Chut Intern

At the Leadership in an Aging Society Seminar on March 21, 2002, Julie M. Linton was announced as the recipient of the first Chut Internship. Frank J. Chut, Sr, Esq., and Dr. Louise Chut created the "Louise C. Chut, PhD, MPH, Endowment Fund for the Study of Aging and Human Development" in November 2001 to support an undergraduate intern with strong leadership potential each year.

Julie Linton is a Duke senior Psychology major with pre-med interests who also is pursuing a certificate in Human Development. Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a junior, she has compiled a notable career at Duke in both academics and service. In recommending Julie for the Leadership in an Aging Society Program, Dr. Deborah Gold, director of the Human Development Program, characterized her as, "one of the hardest working, most creative students who has ever done research in the Human Development Program." For complete story click here.

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Four Gabel Interns Announced For 2002

The Duke Leadership in an Aging Society Program has named four outstanding Duke undergraduates as Gabel Interns for the summer of 2002: Alicia Mecklai, Jennifer Matro, Sona Chikarmane and Eva Wilkinson. Dr. George Maddox, Program Director, noted that the new Gabel Awardees have strong academic and service backgrounds along with demonstrated potential for leadership in care for frail older and disabled adults.

The Gabel Family Endowment was established in 1998 by the family of Frederick D. and Kathleen Roberson Gabel to support mentored internships opportunities and leadership development for Duke students who have the potential to be the next generation of leaders to address the complex issues facing an aging society. Those issues include care and services for older adults with Alzheimer's Disease. For complete story click here.

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Busse and Maddox Receive State's Highest Honor

(L to R) Busse, Gottovi, Maddox

At the annual North Carolina Division of Aging Awards Banquet on March 19, 2002, Ewald W. Busse, MD, and George L. Maddox, PhD, received the state of North Carolina's highest honor, The Order of the Long Leaf Pine. The awards were bestowed by Karen Gottovi, Director of DoA, on behalf of Governor Mike Easley, in recognition of the distinguished careers and service to the people of North Carolina by Dr. Busse and Dr. Maddox.

The banquet marked the tenth year that Dr. Busse and Dr. Maddox have presented awards named in their honor by the state. The Busse Award went to Bonnie Cramer, currently with the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management and former director of the North Carolina Division of Aging, to honor her efforts to improve the health of older adults, particularly those who are most vulnerable. The Maddox Award went to the Senior Financial Care Program of Consumer Credit Counseling to recognize its pioneering efforts to provide financial counseling to frail and vulnerable older adults in Forsyth County.

Also honored at the banquet were Ashe County Services for the Aging with the Ernest Messer Award and Rachel Deal, Duke Senior Leadership Initiative alumna, with the Margaret H. Hardee Award for advocacy given by the North Carolina Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

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Duke Long Term Care Program Joins National Initiative to Enhance Community Efforts for Older Adults
Duke University’s Long Term Care Resource Program announces its participation in Community Partnerships for Older Adults, a $28-million national grant program. The program will improve the systems delivering long term care and supportive services to vulnerable older adults and their caregivers by promoting local efforts to increase coordination and communication.

Community Partnerships for Older Adults is sponsored by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation of Princeton, New Jersey, the nation’s largest private health care philanthropy. The initiative’s National Program office resides at the University of Southern Maine’s Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service in Portland, Maine. The Muskie School draws on the Duke Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development’s national leadership in long term care policy and service development. For additional information please visit the Community Partnerships for Older Adults web site at http://partnershipsforolderadults.org.

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A Long Term Care Plan for North Carolina
The report by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine's Long Term Care Task Force to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services was released on March 15, 2001. The task force, co-chaired by Robert A. Ingram, Chairman, GlaxoWellcome, Inc. and the Honorable H. David Bruton, M.D., former Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services, was charged with developing a long term care system that provides a continuum of care for elderly and disabled individuals and their families. Copies of the report may be obtained from the NC Institute of Medicine at their website www.nciom.org.

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