Brandeis University
National Center on Women and Aging
www.heller.brandeis.edu/national
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[Return to Index of Expertise] Last updated 07/23/02
Address, Phone, & Fax:
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Mailstop 035
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA 02454
Phone: 781-736-3866
Phone 2:
1-800-929-1995
Fax: 781-736-3865
E-mail: natwomctr@brandeis.edu
CENTER DESCRIPTION
The National Center on Women and Aging at Brandeis University seeks to enhance the security, health, and dignity of women in their later years. The center is committed to improving the lives of mid-life women and older women through policy analysis, learning about mid-life and older women's lives through research, and sponsoring community education programs that empower women to take charge of their lives. The center also directs national attention toward the unique problems of women as they age and work to develop strategies and resources to improve the lives of older women.
AREA(S) OF EXPERTISE
Aging; cultural, racial and ethnic diversity; economic literacy; economic and social status of women; employment; equity issues; family; health and health care; poverty; rural women; social security; work and family.
RECENT PROJECTS AND ACTIVITIES
Hearing Older Women's Voices: A National Poll of U.S. Women 50+. The U.S. Administration on Aging has funded a project aimed at drawing national attention to the evolving issues that confront women as they age. The national poll of women 50+ will survey one thousand women about their opinions, attitudes, and expriences on a range of issues both personal and policy related. This will be the first of what will be a widely recognized annual poll of midlife and older women.
Women and Asset Development Summit. In April 2003 NCWA, in partnership with the Asset Development Institute (ADI) at Brandeis Center on Hunger and Poverty, will convene a two-day, one-of-a-kind national summit of 100+ women and men who are leaders at the local, state, and/or federal level in work that promotes the economic security of women. The Women and Assets Summit will be the launching event for a national initiative aimed at creating improved access and utilization of wealth generating vehicles and policies. The summit will accomplsih the important first step of bringing the asset development framework to the field. This project is also funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging.
Survey of Massachusetts Women Seeking Financial Education. NCWA is working with the Massachusetts State Treasurer's Office on a project to educate women planning for their financial security. Day-long conferences are being conducted at various locations throughout Massachusetts. NCWA has surveyed approximately 2,000 conference attendees (a) to assess the amount of unmet need in obtaining information regarding planning for financial security and (b) to identify the most effective delivery mechanisms for that information. Survey collection for this project is complete while data entry and analysis is dependent on funding.
POWERCenter Project. With the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), and supported by the U.S. Administration on Aging, the Center has created the POWERCenter (Program on Wmoen's Education for Retirement) to serve as a national focal point for research, education, and policy analysis on women's preparation for retirement. Workshops to train interested community members and professionals to lead basic financial workshops for women planning for their retirement are being offered and evaluated in a number of states. The Center has published several consumer publications, the most recent of which is titled Women & Money: Resources for Women Planning for Their Financial Security. The Tips, Tools, & Tactics website (www.heller.brandeis.edu/bestresources), another product of this project, is an interactive directory that links users to the best resources in seven areas of personal financial management, including credit and debit, investment and savings, and life transitions.
Older Women and Temporary Employment: Examining the Experience of Low-Skilled Women Workers. Funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Center has undertaken a project to explore the experiences, training, and expectations of low-skilled female temporary workers. In a comprehensive literature review, we examined the extent to which an increase in human capital, through formal or informal training, affects these women's securing better jobs and/or higher wages in the future.
Staying on Track, Planning the Future: The Role of "Family Shocks" in Retirement Planning. Funded by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, this study addresses a common feature of the 21st Century American family, family transitions. The relationship between transitions in marital status (e.g. divorce, death, remarriage) and serious family "shocks (e.g. job loss, second families, caregiving, education) will be examined in order to determine their influence on individuals' retirement planning activities. By understanding how life events affect planning activity, programs, policies, and products to encourage planning can be created and implemented, ultimately contributing to economic security in retirement.
Health Literacy and Patient Doctor Communication. Under an unrestricted research grant from Eli Lilly, the Center is studying the interactions between midlife and older women, particularly women of color, and their health care providers. Using a series of focus groups to assess health literacy, the study examines how health literacy might be related to treatement compliance, unanswered health needs, and concerns of Latina, African American, and White women over age 50.
Taking Steps & Making Choices: A National Project to Promote Health Education and Awareness Among Aging Women. Based on the overwhelmingly successful June 2000 conference at Brandeis University, the NCWA will offer day-long conferences in venues across the country that will present developments in research and practice that are altering the views of women's health after 50. The conferences will bring together local and nationally recognized experts in women's health with consumers, members of the media, and professionals in aging and health. The first conference of the national tour took place in Chicago in November 2001.
Culture Shock: Exploring Ethnicity in the Nursing Home. A research project recently funded by the National Institutes of Health, this pilot study will explore racial relations in the nursing home environment, particularly among different levels of nursing staff, nursing supervisors, and certified nursing assistants (CNA's) and how those relationships affect job satisfaction and retention of frontline nursing home workers. At the completion of this pilot project, a larger proposal will be submitted to develop a training program for CNA's and nursing supervisors based on the needs identified by these professionals. The second phase of the proposal also will conduct a systematic assessment of the training program at a national level.
Cancer Prevention and Treatment Demonstration for Ethnic and Racial Minorities. Funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Center is aiming to develop an evidence report on methods that reduce racial and ethnic minority group disparities in cancer prevention and treatment. The project will identify models that have a high probability of reducing risk factors and improving cancer-related health and clinical outcomes, satisfaction, quality of life, and appropriate use of Medicare-covered services for African American, Hispanic, Asian and Pacific Islanders, and American Indian and Alaskan Native elders.
Can Technology Relieve Caregiver Stress? Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged. NCWA is collaborating with the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged to evaluate the potential benefits of technology in reducing employed caregivers' stress and burden. Caregivers will particpate in either a "low tech" internet support group, or a "high tech" group that will receive both the internet support group and Virtucare Technologies. The latter uses sensors to gather information about the frail elder's activites while the caregiver is at work. NCWA and its partners are designing the evaluation instruments at NCWA will be conducting the analysis of the data gathered over a two-year period.
PUBLICATIONS
Women & Aging Letter. Newsletter published four times per year.
Your Memory: What Changes and What You Can Do About It. A booklet examining the importance of memory in daily life, different types of memory functions, and ideas and exercises to help keep the memory sharp while aging.
Access to Mammography for Older Women of Color. A report presenting a 1996 study that evaluated factors influencing mammography utilization rates by women of color.
Speaking Out on Health: Reflections of Mid-life and Older Members of the National Black Women's Health Project. A research project collaboration with the National Black Women's Health Project on the experiences of NBWHP members in finding and using health care.
"I Fall Upward: Images of Women and Aging in Contemporary Women's Poetry," Nadya Aisenberg. A paper discussing the theme of aging in contemporary women's poetry.
The MetLife Juggling Act Study: This 11-page report presents the findings from a groundbreaking study conducted by the National Center on Women & Aging and the National Alliance for Caregiving that looks at how employed caregivers of elderly friends and relatives balance their work and caregiving obligations and the costs involved in reduced wages and benefits. This document is available for free through MetLife's Mature Market Institute; e-mail MetLife for a copy.
Pension Privatization Monographs: The NCWA monographs present a cross-national comparison of women's experiences in financial preparation for retirement in Australia, Great Britain, and the United States; all three countries now have histories of privitization activities that are assessed with regard to the impact on women.
Women and Money: Resources for Women Planning Their Financial Security: A POWERCenter publication highlighting materials that are easy to understand, concise, and relevant to the average woman.
Financial Challenges for Mature Women: Creating Financial Plans and Evaluating Financial Planners. A report presenting the initial findings from a 1998 study on mid-life and older women's attitudes and experiences with financial planning for retirement.
Proceedings of the National Conference on Women's Financial Planning for Retirement. Information from the NCWA's conference, Sitting Pretty or Sitting Ducks?
An Introduction to the Financial Planning Industry. An overview of the way in which financial planning assistance is provided, with emphasis on mid-life and older women as consumers.
Women and Aging: An Agenda for Action. Presents the proceedings of the October 1995 Invitational Conference on women's income security, health, caregiving, housing, and safety.
Women of Labor Speak Out on Retirement Finances, Health Care, and Caregiving. A joint project with the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW), this booklet contains information on the experiences, opinions, knowledge, resources, needs, and behavior of mature and older union women in three critical areas: financial planning and money management; health care and health status; and caregiving.
Housing and Living Conditions of Older Women. Discusses demographic trends and figures in the residential status of older women; housing concerns such as safety, accessibility, and transportation; and strategies for improving housing for older women.
The Handy Woman's Home Repair Book. A booklet containing tips for mid-life and older women on home maintenance, repair, and related problems.
Facts on Midlife and Older Women and Crime: Out of print but available on-line.
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