This reflection looks back on the two years of work done at UMB to respond to the interests and needs of our aging population.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) was designated an Age-Friendly University (AFU) in fall 2019. The designation means that as an institution we have endorsed the 10 AFU principles that resulted from the work of an international, interdisciplinary team convened by Professor Brian MacCraith, then-president, Dublin City University, to identify the distinctive contributions institutions of higher education can make in responding to the interests and needs of our aging population. The endorsement of the AFU principles means that we are committed to a culture of age-inclusivity in our programs and policies.
From the onset, we knew, however, that to be successful with this initiative we needed ongoing support from campus leaders. Therefore, we partnered with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), which received its AFU designation around the same time as UMB, to host an event to officially launch our institutions as AFUs in November 2019. In addition to the nearly 100 faculty, campus affiliates, and members of our surrounding communities in attendance, the chancellor of the University System of Maryland and both university presidents participated in the event.
Following the celebratory speeches and refreshments, we got right to work and asked attendees to assist us in developing the framework that would guide our AFU initiatives. A review of this data helped us to identify and describe the five themes upon which to focus our work:
- Support workforce development
- Broaden community engagement
- Expand aging research and dissemination
- Address barriers to physical aging on our campus
- Facilitate age-friendly efforts across the state of Maryland
Through this in-person event, we were also able to identify campus champions representative of the six professional schools and the Graduate School to serve on our AFU steering committee. We convened monthly in-person steering committee meetings beginning in January 2020 and then moved to a virtual format in April 2020 — the format that we continue to follow today.
Though the unexpected challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we conducted our meetings, it did not impact our momentum. We have been actively engaging in work related to our themes over the past 18 months. Examples of our work and engagement with the university leadership, government officials, and community partners are noted below with the following examples.
EXAMPLE 1: AFU Principle 2: “To promote personal and career development in the second half of life and to support those who wish to pursue second careers.”
UMB’s Age-Friendly Specialist Certificate of Achievement program is a non-academic program designed for anyone with a career or personal interest in the processes and effects of aging. Our innovative program has a twofold purpose: (a) broaden understanding of the processes of aging and the diversity of older adults’ needs and services required to support them, and (b) enhance skills important to interactions and working with older adults.
EXAMPLE 2: AFU Principle 4: “To promote intergenerational learning to facilitate the reciprocal sharing of expertise between learners of all ages.”
UMB offers an Interprofessional Care in Geriatrics Aging in Place course that has brought together students from the six diverse professional schools at the University for weekly engagement with older adults living in West Baltimore as they execute the goals of an age-friendly institution. Students provided education and resources for participating community members and learned from them as they worked in interprofessional teams to conduct screenings (e.g., blood pressure, falls, high-risk medications) as well as navigate psychosocial challenges to facilitate neighbors’ ability to age in place.
EXAMPLE 3: AFU Principle 6: “To ensure that the university's research agenda is informed by the needs of an aging society and to promote public discourse on how higher education can better respond to the varied interests and needs of older adults.”
The UMB AFU Steering Committee has a monthly column in our University’s online publication The Elm. Our column launched in September 2021 with an article titled “Advancing Age Inclusivity by Reframing Aging.” The intent of this monthly AFU column is to feature topical stories relevant to UMB’s themes to increase awareness and engagement of UMB faculty, staff, trainees, and community partners in this work.
EXAMPLE 4: AFU Principle 10: “To ensure regular dialogue with organizations representing the interests of the aging population.”
The April 8, 2021, edition of Virtual Face to Face with President Bruce Jarrell featured a discussion with Rona E. Kramer, JD, Maryland Secretary of Aging, and UMB faculty involved in the AFU initiative. The hourlong discussion focused on the role that universities like UMB can have in redefining aging and launched a partnership between the Maryland Department of Aging and UMB leading to the development of a transdisciplinary fellowship program.
These initiatives were made possible because of the intentional, systematic approach utilized by our steering committee to build interest in and develop meaningful collaborations in multiple domains across campus, including at the level of the president. We look forward to broadening and building the AFU movement at UMB and invite your active engagement with us.
To learn more about our age-friendly work, please visit our website: www.umaryland.edu/gerontology. For information on how you can get involved, please contact Diane Martin at diane.martin@umaryland.edu.
Finally, we invite you to join us Thursday, Nov. 18, 2021, from 4-5 p.m. for “Focus on Aging Research: Past and Future Demographic Changes and the Concepts of Active Life Expectancy and Compression of Morbidity.” After a presentation by Jack Guralnik, MD, PhD, MPH, professor of epidemiology and public health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, join one of four breakout discussion groups: Clinical Science; Social Science; Policy; and Biology/Basic Science.
Advance registration is required: https://umaryland.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpfuitqTgtGdAJUSV4S3Uuiv-3HNDMgktP
Diane Martin, Nicole Brandt, and Denise Orwig are co-chairs of UMB Age-Friendly University.
In photo: Members of the steering committee that guides the Age-Friendly University (AFU) partnership between UMB and UMBC gather with leaders of UMB, UMBC, and the University System of Maryland, and Amy Berman (fifth from left), program officer of the John A. Hartford Foundation, which supports the AFU concept.
Disclaimer: Elm Voices & Opinions articles reflect the thoughts or opinions of their individual authors, and may not represent the thoughts or values of UMB as an institution.