“This recognition affirms my commitment to address health equity by continuing to foster relationships between underserved communities, academia, and practice. I’m grateful for my mentors and UArizona Nursing for supporting my passion to reduce health disparities and promote health equity by evolving a nursing workforce in partnership with diverse communities," ~ Timian Godfrey, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC

Dr. Godfrey, teaches in the College’s advanced practice DNP-FNP program, has more than 18 years of health care experience within the fields of hospice, gerontology, emergency medicine, medical/surgical, telemetry, cardiac intensive care, pain management, and orthopedic spine surgery. In addition to being faculty with UArizona Nursing, Dr. Godfrey is advanced practice clinician with TribalHealth, a healthcare leadership company that works with government and tribal health programs.

“It is a tremendous honor to be selected as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing,” Dr. Godfrey said. “This recognition affirms my commitment to address health equity by continuing to foster relationships between underserved communities, academia, and practice. I’m grateful for my mentors and UArizona Nursing for supporting my passion to reduce health disparities and promote health equity by evolving a nursing workforce in partnership with diverse communities. As a Fellow in the Academy, I hope to strengthen my capacity to provide a rich future-oriented perspective on what is possible, practical and important to having a diversified nursing workforce and healthy, sustainable working and learning environments that are enrichingly diverse and inclusive.”

“As the American Academy of Nursing’s President, it gives me great pride to announce the largest class of Fellows since the organization began nearly 50 years ago,” said Kenneth R. White, PhD, RN, AGACNP, ACHPN, FACHE, FAAN. “At a time when investments in, and policy to address, health equity, innovation, and access are paramount, the Academy is thrilled to welcome these dynamic and courageous nurse leaders who will support our collective vision of healthy lives for all people. Induction in the Academy is a powerful moment in a nurse’s career. When we gather this fall, to award the Fellowship credential, I look forward to celebrating each Fellow’s incredible accomplishments that have improved the well-being of communities across the globe.”

Through a competitive and rigorous application process, the Academy’s Fellow Selection Committee, which is comprised of elected and appointed Fellows, reviewed a record number of applications, representing a 30% increase from the previous year, ultimately selecting the 2022 Fellows based on their contributions to advance the public’s health. Induction into the Academy is a significant milestone in which past and current accomplishments are honored by their colleagues within and outside the profession.

“As midwives, we have a strong emphasis on caring for the emotional and social or spiritual health of the person in addition to the core physical aspects. All of these factors play into the pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience and supporting them all will benefit the transition to motherhood or any other reproductive health experience," ~ Elise Erickson, PhD, CNM

What drew you to a career in nursing?

My interest in nursing was instigated from a course I took as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan -- a women's health course taught by a certified nurse midwife. I had not really considered nursing and had no exposure to midwifery prior to this point, but light bulbs were turned on for me during that course. I transferred into the school of nursing, intent on pursuing midwifery, and I haven't looked back since.

What drew you to enter the nurse-midwife field?

During this course, I learned a great deal about the intersection between healthcare related to pregnancy, birth and reproduction, and women's health broadly, with political and philosophical concepts rooted in feminist and social justice principles. I did a lot of reading about the history of pregnancy care, the midwifery approach to health during pregnancy and birth and found that it resonated with me on multiple levels. I had a desire to pursue biological or health sciences but didn't feel that medicine was calling me. The focus of midwifery is on health maintenance and prevention rather than a focus on pathology and attention to the whole person is really a core principle of the philosophy. As midwives, we have a strong emphasis on caring for the emotional and social or spiritual health of the person in addition to the core physical aspects. All of these factors play into the pregnancy, birth and postpartum experience and supporting them all will benefit the transition to motherhood or any other reproductive health experience.

Can you tell us more about your research interests/focus?

Very broadly, I'm interested in the physiology of the labor and birth processes and understanding the reasons it may deviate from a healthy path to giving birth. In conjunction with this, and with the midwifery philosophy of care, I'm looking at ways that the social environment could influence birth outcomes, positively and negatively, by causing the body to work differently through epigenetic differences, epigenetic aging, stress, or other mechanisms. We have a crisis of maternal morbidity/mortality and severe disparities between racialized groups in the United States. One factor in poor outcomes could be rooted in how social disadvantage takes a toll on the body, causing changes early in life that influence the reproductive process, even in young people.

In addition, I've focused a lot of my career on how the hormone, and commonly used medication, oxytocin works during labor and the ways that our care practices might be causing more complications like postpartum hemorrhage. I also look at genetic differences in how oxytocin works in the body and am working toward understanding ways to use pharmacogenomic strategies to personalize the kind of care we provide people during labor, to minimize harm and maximize benefits of oxytocin. Finally, I have ongoing studies using a wearable device that can detect physiologic changes in the body. The goal of this study is to try to predict changes in the pregnancy state through real-time non-invasive wearable technology.

How are you building your research program?

Because I have several overlapping yet distinct areas of research, I feel like I spend a good deal of time just trying to keep all the balloons in the air. However, I have been lucky enough to receive a couple of training and early career grants from the National Institutes of Health, which have allowed me valuable time to focus on developing and conducting my studies, analyzing data, and then taking the next steps in the process. One of the most important building blocks has been developing and sustaining collaborations across campus, disciplines, and the nation. Most of my collaborators are in other departments like genetics, epigenetics, biomedical engineering, psychology, reproductive biology, pharmacy, and physiology. However, coming to UA, I have a strong desire to bring more students into my research program, people who are eager to tackle pieces of the puzzle I'm trying to put together.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe in collaborative active learning and facilitative leadership in the classroom. Depending on the topic, I think that working in teams can be a very valuable way to stimulate inquiry and solidify difficult content. I have used a lot of 'flipped' classroom approaches and am eager to try new ideas that stimulate genuine curiosity. For example, in learning embryonic and fetal development, I had students do a great deal of reading, discussion, visit a fetal development exhibit at a museum and then make various stages of embryos using different colors of Play-Doh. After all these steps, I could see students start to fully grasp this very difficult and nebulous subject, finally realizing the three-dimensions of human development. 

What do you like to do in your free time?

As a family, my husband, two boys and two dogs enjoy getting into nature, exploring with hiking and camping or riding bikes. As a busy mom and academic, my bike commute to and from campus is sometimes my most valuable, or only, free time. I’m looking forward to doing that here in Tucson.

“My first rotation was labor and delivery at University Medical Center, which made me realize how much I loved women’s health, loved everything about birth. I still remember standing outside the door. At that time, students could just look through the window...and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do,’" ~ Walidah Karim-Rhoades, DNP, CNM

Born and raised in Phoenix, Dr. Karim-Rhoades had strong nurse role models in the form of her grandmother and sister, making nursing a natural choice. As an undergraduate in UArizona Nursing’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) programs, she appreciated her instructors and the robust support she got from the College. Her community health courses got her to thinking globally about the importance of health care. “Those classes really led me to all the work that I’m doing now,” she says. “My community health nursing rotation showed me how nursing can influence community health and population health.”

But it was her passion for maternal/infant care that drove her further in her academic career. “My first rotation was labor and delivery at University Medical Center (UMC), which made me realize how much I loved women’s health, loved everything about birth,” she says. “I still remember standing outside the door. At that time, students could just look through the window. I remember seeing that birth and crying, and I thought, ‘This is what I want to do.’ I fell in love with everything birth-related.”

While working at UMC as a labor nurse, Dr. Karim-Rhoades noticed that the babies that were dying were predominantly Black. Concerned about the numbers she saw, she discovered that the statistics for Black births were severely lacking. That formative experience led directly to her desire to learn everything she could about infant mortality disparities across the nation.

After receiving her graduate degree, she worked as director of an infant mortality program in her native South Phoenix, and eventually earned her Certified Nurse Midwife credentials, before moving east to North Carolina. There she also became involved with an infant mortality reduction program, currently serving as board president. “My work is framed by looking at community health and social determinants of health,” she explains. “Looking at how we provide that within the system of care that we provide now, so it’s more holistic versus external to the practice.”

As Executive Director of Cone Health’s Primary Care & Women’s Health, Dr. Karim-Rhodes led a team that created a two-story MedCenter for Women.  The Center is a sort of one-stop health facility for women, including high-risk obstetrics and a variety of different medical services, as well as a food market to help patients with food needs. “Providers or staff members are able to put a referral in, and the person can get groceries and learn about healthy food choices,” she says. “All of that is in this one comprehensive space, which is like a dream.”

Above all, Dr. Karim-Rhoades treasures her ability to innovate the ways we provide care. “I have the ability to take what I’ve done in women’s health and ask, ‘How do we apply this lens to primary care?’” she says. “So now it’s pulling on that Family Nurse Practitioner experience and asking questions about how we address social determinants of health, and how we recreate health care to better support families. That’s what I love: The ability to be creative about how we deliver health care.”

Asked if she has any advice for nursing student seeking to follow in her footsteps, Dr. Karim-Rhoades encourages them to believe anything is possible. “Nursing is really a gateway for you to be able to affect change in a lot of different ways,” she says. “It’s not one set way for nursing, which I think is beautiful. I truly believe that my nursing degree is what helped me be a better leader, because I’m viewing things in a different, more holistic way.

“I am excited by the opportunity to collaborate with Eller on this interdisciplinary project and connect individuals with various skills to inform healthcare delivery and ultimately improve health of Southern Arizonans and related economic impacts. It will highlight the interconnectedness of technology, health, and economy in Southern Arizona," ~ Meghan Skiba, PhD, MS, MPH, RDN

The project, which will span the fall 2022 semester, will utilize public datasets and GIS mapping to characterize and predict mHealth usage specifically among Southern Arizonans. The hope is that the results from this research – including a white paper on the MAP dashboard that will be publicly accessible to anyone to inform their programs and policies -- will support future telehealth innovations in healthcare delivery in Southern Arizona. Once the primary research is published, a webinar hosted by Eller will present the results and engage with community members and the MAP advisory board.

Can you tell us about the genesis of this project?

This project originated out of filling a need for Southern Arizona through Eller’s MAP Dashboard. The MAP Dashboard site provides Southern Arizona with information on social and economic indicators in our local community that can inform programs and policies. As a researcher, I have seen a clear gap in our development of telehealth interventions and our understanding of who can access and reach these interventions, through this project we hope to create a bridge that will improve health locally.

Can you tell us about the roles that mHealth have played up to now in Arizona health care?

Currently little is known specially about mHealth use, including ownership and use of smartphones, health-related mobile applications, and wearable devices specifically for Southern Arizonans and it has been unclear if national trends are accurate for our unique environment. In the setting of COVID-19, telehealth utilization rapidly accelerated, and now more healthcare services are available through mHealth.

How will the results from this research support future telehealth innovations in healthcare delivery in Southern Arizona?

Completion of this project will provide guiding data and insights that can be used by University of Arizona researchers and community stakeholders in Southern Arizona.  This data will help with the implementation of novel approaches to address social determinants of health and chronic disease prevention using mHealth and connect academia, industry, clinician, non-profits, healthcare organizations, and public health professionals to develop precision mHealth. My hope is that the results from our study will be used to support the design of multilevel and holistic telehealth interventions.

How will you select the Nursing student and Geography student who will take part in the project?

A PhD student in Nursing, Carlie Felion, was connected with the project through a graduate course during the grant writing process and was involved in the submission process. As a Co-I on the project, she helped develop the proposal and throughout the project period she will support interpretation and communication of our results. Carlie was a great match for this project due to her interest in digital health and experience as a family and mental health nurse practitioner. For Geography, I am working with Andrew Grogan, the assistant director of the UArizona’s Geography Information Systems Technology program to develop a paid internship opportunity as part of their course requirements as well as reach out to their alumni network to match interests and skills to analytical needs. Andrew has been a tremendous ally in the realization of this project.

Can you share your hypothesis as you approach this project?

Our hypotheses are that mHealth use will have increased overtime in Southern Arizona, that social determinants of health will influence who is using mHealth and that mHealth users in Southern Arizona will engage in more chronic-disease preventive behaviors – for example, eating fruits and vegetables, being physically active, avoiding alcohol and smoking -- resulting in higher perceived health status.

Once this project is completed, are you contemplating next steps in the future?

After this project is completed, this information can be used to develop tailored mHealth multilevel interventions -- those that include the individual and their connections -- that considers and addresses social determinants of health to reduce health disparities. Engaging with community partners, this information may further shape local policies related to access of technology and healthcare. Future research can explore the relationships of mHealth and social determinants of health on cancer screening behaviors and chronic disease burden.

“Maybe one reason kids become a future doctor or nurse is that they’re exposed to this information at a young age. I hope the series will produce a lot more nurses because we have a nursing shortage," ~ Michael Dow

Nurse Florence, Dow’s fictional nurse instructor, debuted the week he received his RN license. Titled “Nurse Florence, Help I’m Bleeding” the book informed readers about blood clotting and how to put pressure on a wound. “It’s very basic information, but that book won a Nautilus Silver Book Award,” he says. “That really encouraged me that maybe I was onto something.”

Since then, the Nurse Florence series has expanded to 24 books and won multiple additional awards for two other books, including the 2022 Independent Press Award, a Next Generation Indie Book Award, and a National Indie Excellence Award. Dow has trademarked Nurse Florence in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia and trademarks are in the works for New Zealand, Ireland, and Canada. Translated versions of the series are also in the works for Spanish and French readers. Long-term, Dow sees many opportunities for growth for Nurse Florence. He envisions an animated kid’s series and possibly a live-action movie.

In the spirit of inclusivity, Dow also imagines a line of Nurse Florence dolls that represent every race and ethnicity. “A unique thing about the series is that each Nurse Florence in every single book is different,” he explains. “Already we have Nurse Florence as an African American, a Hispanic, an Asian and a Caucasian.  I can imagine little girls going to Walmart and saying, ‘Mommy, I want that Nurse Florence doll.  She’s like me, and I can be a nurse too.’ I want to help inspire kids, give them the confidence to follow their dreams.”

Inspiring future nurses is one of Dow’s major motivations. “That’s another thing that was in my mind for all these years,” he says. “Maybe one reason kids become a future doctor or nurse is that they’re exposed to this information at a young age. I hope the series will produce a lot more nurses because we have a nursing shortage.”

Early on, Dow made the decision to keep the Nurse Florence franchise in-house, where he can maintain creative and financial control of his creation. He publishes the series himself and offers illustrators royalty percentages for their contributions. Although he hopes to ultimately recruit a book publicist in the future, Dow’s strategy appears to have paid off. “We are about to partner with our first children’s hospital in Ohio,” he says. “I’m told they’re going to have Nurse Florence for checkout on their book cart. The medical librarian there plans to share the info about the series with all her associations, which could be a big next step for us.”

So far, young readers and their parents are appreciative.  “This was a great informational, easy-to-read and understand book!” a recent GoodReads review says. “My nine-year-old great niece loved it. She was fascinated with the illustrations and the manner with which Nurse Florence presented the facts about how we hear things. I highly recommended it to share or give as a gift to elementary or middle school students interested in the human body, science, biology and the amazing sense of hearing.”

Such accolades are music to Dow’s ears, letting him know he’s on the right track. He counts UArizona Nursing as a major factor in his success – not only as a nurse, but also as an author. The jacket copy on each Nurse Florence book says, “Sometimes it seems only a nurse can bring technical information down to an understanding that an ordinary person can grasp,” which turns out to be Dow’s mission statement for each book in the series. It’s an iteration of a statement he first heard from two of his MEPN instructors, Heidi Kosanke and Karin Blasko. “They would tell us in our clinicals and during class, ‘Don’t be afraid to talk to your patients to try to re-explain things, because sometimes only a nurse can bring it down to their level.’ The UArizona MEPN program has such great instructors. In the dedication page of every book, I do give a shout-out to the University of Arizona stating that I’m very grateful for the outstanding instruction that I received.”

Find out more about the Nurse Florence book series here.

“It has been a great experience and I felt I learned a lot. I was in a program previously, that I felt did not have the rigor required of a PhD program and definitely found that University of Arizona had it, which was very important to me," ~ Jerrol Wallace, DNP. CRNA, FAANA

Why did you choose to pursue a career in nursing?

When my first daughter was born, she needed surgery and a female came up to me and introduced herself as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and took great care of my daughter. It was at that moment I told myself that I was going to become a CRNA. I went to nursing school, then became a critical care nurse, and then went to anesthesia school. I have been practicing now for over 15 years as a CRNA. I also help multiple positions at the national and state level to include the president of the Virginia association of nurse anesthetists. I recently started a new job as the director of the simulation center at Naval Medical Readiness and Training Center in Portsmouth Virginia, the Navy's largest medical center.

What drew you to apply to UArizona’s PhD program?

I searched long and hard for a program with a great reputation in online academia and was recognized within the colleges of nursing. It was important to me that there was a CRNA program there and had a robust program of study. It was also a plus that there was a DNP to PhD bridge program. What sold me was that I had a two-hour conversation with the program director that made me feel very comfortable and showed me that I would be supported.

How would you describe your experience over the course of the program?

It has been a great experience and I felt I learned a lot. I was in a program previously, that I felt did not have the rigor required of a PhD program and definitely found that University of Arizona had it, which was very important to me. I will admit that UArizona is not perfect, but it was the perfect program for me!

Has your experience as a CRNA educator and practitioner influenced your approach to your studies?

It has. As an academician I see it from both sides, meaning that when I get frustrated, I take off my student hat and see it from the perspective of the professor, which reduces some of the frustration. I do believe that transparency is essential and that professors should be ok sharing with the students, which will decrease frustration and make for a better relationship with the student-professor dyad.

What has been the most meaningful part of your studies?

I recently developed my own theory and a theoretical framework that I believe can be used in any interaction that may be affected by stigma.

What has been your greatest takeaway from the program?

My biggest takeaway was that you have to truly be committed to the process. Even if someone decides to go part-time, your body of research is a full-time entity and you have to be "all in" in order to create your body of research.

Tell us about your post-graduation plans.

The next three years I will finish up my career in the Navy and then transfer back to the University setting in the hopes of obtaining a position as a Program Director or as a Dean within a college of nursing.

“We want to preserve quality of life and living well as long as possible. We know that uncontrolled and undertreated hypertension has a deleterious effect on people’s organs including the brain, even in the absence of stroke. If we can protect people's ability to think and remember, they have the option of staying independent," ~ Kathleen Insel, PhD, RN, Interim Dean and professor, UArizona College of Nursing

The National Institute of Nursing Research-funded project, “Digital Technology to Support Adherence to Hypertension Medications for Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment,” is led by Dr. Insel and co-principal investigator Raksha Mudar, PhD, associate professor of speech and hearing science at the University of Illinois.

The goal is to adapt and evaluate the digital health intervention Medication Education, Decision Support, Reminding and Monitoring System (MEDSReM^©). It is designed to improve hypertension medication adherence and support self-management of hypertension medication for people with mild cognitive impairment.

MEDSReM changes the medication-taking process from one that is dependent on prospective memory to one more dependent on associative processes, which are relatively well preserved in aging and may be more available for people with mild cognitive impairment.

“The foundation of MEDSReM is very different from the foundation of medication-reminder apps that are available in the marketplace,” Dr. Insel said. “This is not a simple reminding app. You've got to encode the need to take the medication, store it cognitively in memory, and importantly, remember to do it at the time it needs to be done. You also need to pay attention to taking the medication, which becomes more difficult because it becomes a habit, so the act of having taken the medication today may not be well remembered. Therefore, you need to be able to check to see if the medication was taken as intended.”

The researchers will work with Ephibian Inc., a software development company with offices in Tucson, Arizona, Phoenix and Denver, to adapt the MEDSReM app and web portal.

“Previously we tested this as a behavioral intervention, and we improved medication adherence 36% among older adults who were taking at least one daily high blood pressure medication,” Dr. Insel said. 

“An important aspect of this study is that we will adapt the app by getting input from people with mild cognitive impairment and their care partners,” said Dr. Mudar, who studies the effects of normal cognitive aging and mild cognitive impairment on functional abilities. “We want to learn how to change MEDSReM to suit the needs of people with mild cognitive impairment. We will conduct multiple rounds of usability testing to optimize the app before we examine its efficacy to support medication adherence.”

Drs. Insel and Mudar will work with an interprofessional team that includes Jeannie Lee, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, FASHP, associate professor in the UArizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, Matthew Grilli, PhD, associate professor in the UArizona College of Science’s Department of Psychology, Mindy Fain, MD, co-director of the UArizona Center on Aging and professor and interim chair of the Department of Medicine in the UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, and Josephine Korchmaros, PhD, director of the Southwest Institute for Research on Women in the UArizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

“For me, the biggest thrill is seeing my students succeeding. Some of them are speakers on national circuits and they’ve really advanced in their leadership. I’m happy that I was a little part of their learning experience," ~ Lorraine Martin Plank , PhD, FNP-BC, NP-C, GNP-BC, FAANP, FNAP

“I’m very honored,” Dr. Martin Plank says. “For me, the biggest thrill is seeing my students succeeding. Some of them are speakers on national circuits and they’ve really advanced in their leadership. I’m happy that I was a little part of their learning experience.”

As a teenager, Dr. Martin Plank initially considered pursuing a career as a history or English teacher, but when she was hospitalized for an acute event, her eyes were opened to the healing power of nursing. “I was just so impressed by the way that nurses cared for patients that I reconsidered,” she says. “I signed up to be a candy striper at the local hospital, and that’s how I got started.”

Dr. Martin Plank’s journey as an educator began early in her career. When she started the baccalaureate program at Villanova University, the only women on the male-dominated campus were nurses. Since there was no loan forgiveness program for nursing students, Dr. Martin Plank’s accountant father encouraged her to combine her interests in nursing and teaching to become eligible for student loans available to future educators. “My father said to me, ‘You like teaching; you love to practice; why don’t you combine practicing and teaching and then you’ll get the loan forgiveness?’ That’s how I got started in education.”

Dr. Martin Plank’s teaching has focused on advanced practice clinical courses, health policy, population health, OSCE and simulation, gerontological health and prescribing. Her scholarly contributions to her field have included books, journal publications, and dozens of presentations. She has a particular passion for her role as a mentor to up-and-coming NPs. “New Nurse Practitioners need a lot of support in the role,” she explains. “There are a lot of challenges in practice. The corporatization of medicine is very challenging, and the question is do we want to fit into that role model, or do we want to break out into more patient-centered holistic models? My goal is to get more people to do that.”

Dr. Martin Plank’s zeal for advocacy and health policy is a natural extension of that desire. In her home state of Pennsylvania, she has worked tirelessly to improve the working lives of NPs. She regularly writes advocacy letters, meets with legislators -- many of whom know her on a first name basis -- and attends annual lobby days at the state legislature to advance the cause of granting NPs full practice authority. Furthering her role as mentor, she often brings students and new NPs with her to model the kind of activism that is essential for political and social change.

As for the future, Dr. Martin Plank is in no mood to slow down. She sees each day as a blessing and is inspired by her ability to support her colleagues at UArizona Nursing by highlighting all the important ways they are influencing their students and their practice. “One of the biggest cornerstones of nursing is practice and advanced practice,” she says. “I work with so many wonderful people at the University and here in Pennsylvania, where I’ve been blessed with this recognition. I want to see that they also receive the recognition that they deserve for the remarkable work they are doing.”

“Some novel ideas for aging in place include senior co-housing where a group of like-minded seniors who want to live in a private home but desire the benefit of community living, come together to purchase, or rent a home with private living spaces but other shared responsibilities for home upkeep; some of these are also intergenerational."

Some novel ideas for aging in place include senior co-housing where a group of like-minded seniors who want to live in a private home but desire the benefit of community living, come together to purchase, or rent a home with private living spaces but other shared responsibilities for home upkeep; some of these are also intergenerational. Home-sharing occurs when an older adult homeowner rents out a living space to another senior or a younger person for reduced rent in exchange for duties such as shopping, cooking, or even caregiving. Recent advances in healthcare also favor frail older adults aging in place through House Calls programs which deliver ongoing primary health care at home for those with difficulty getting to a primary care office.  The Hospital at Home program triages older adults in the emergency department for eligibility for episodic, intense medical care in the home setting; if eligible, the patient is sent home and a team of acute care professionals are dispatched to provide care at home.  When the acute issue is resolved, the patient is discharged from the program back to the care of the primary care provider. Other programs that support aging in place for frail older adults include palliative care and hospice at home.

As we honor Older Americans this month and our steps into Spring, perhaps this is a good time for reflection. Think about what matters to you if you seek to age in place. Visualize what this looks like to you. Listen to the birds, chirp, the flowers bloom, the sun shining in, a good morning, a shared meal, or good night said. Let your aging wish come true.

Submitted by Dr. Debbie Williams and Dr. Lori Martin-Plank, Wildcat Interdisciplinary Geroscience Group (WIGG)

Resources:

Choi. (2022). Understanding Aging in Place: Home and Community Features, Perceived Age-Friendliness of Community, and Intention Toward Aging in Place. The Gerontologist, 62(1), 46–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab070

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/Strong-relationships-strong-health

https://brenebrown.com/book/atlas-of-the-heart/

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/health/senior-living-options.html#senior-cohousing-communities

http://www.hospitalathome.org/

https://acl.gov/oam/2022/older-americans-month-2022