Improving the Aging Experience for All
UMass Boston Gerontology 2021-2022 Impact Report

Above: Older adults and their parents who were interviewed for UMB Professor Kathrin Boerner's Boston Aging Together Study.
Photos by Gretjen Helene

Adapting and responding to challenging times
In the fall of 2021, the University named Jan Mutchler and Edward Alan Miller as director of the Gerontology Institute and chair of the Department of Gerontology, respectively. Here they share their perspectives on 2021-2022.
UMASS BOSTON GERONTOLOGY
2021-2022 BY THE NUMBERS

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Voices of Impact
Click the video links to watch six stakeholders—partners, board members, and a doctoral student—share their perspectives on the value of UMass Boston Gerontology's work.
Elizabeth Chen
Alumna, Aging Policy Leader
Secretary
Mass. Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Kim Brooks
Nonprofit Partner
Chief Operating Officer
Hebrew Senior Life
John Cheney
Lifelong Learner
Board Member
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Nidya Velasco Roldán
Doctoral Student, Researcher
Doctoral Student, Research Assistant
UMB Department of Gerontology
Sandra Harris
Age-Friendly State Partner
President
Massachusetts AARP
Neil Downing
Pension Recovery Champion
Tax Consultant and
Former PAC Board Member
Our Year in Highlights
We offer a small sampling of our activities over the past year—learn more by clicking the links. Find more news and features on the Gerontology Institute blog.

Heidi Whear, director of the Swampscott, MA, Senior Center, helps deliver grab-n-go lunches in 2021. The CSDRA at UMass Boston conducted a survey, focus groups, interviews, and more to help Swampscott assess the needs and interests of its older population. Photo: David Sokol/wickedlocal.com
Responding to COVID-19
The second year of the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the social, financial, and health crises often experienced by older Americans. The crises also helped to spotlight the critical work of UMass Boston gerontologists.
Our pandemic responses include:
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publishing a second double issue of the Journal of Aging and Social Policy, then collecting those articles in a book, The COVID-19 Pandemic and Older Adults
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doctoral program pivoting back to in-person by spring 2022
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CSDRA Director Caitlin Coyle, PhD ’14, helping to create the Massachusetts Task Force to End Loneliness and Build Community
Our Partners
Thanks to these organizations for their support of UMass Boston Gerontology:
AARP
AARP Foundation
Anne Tumlinson Innovations, LLC
Bacon Trust
Borchard Foundation
City of Boston
Colorado Department of Health Care Policy & Financing
Community Catalyst, Inc.
Dignity Alliance
Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley
Grantmakers In Aging, Inc.
Hebrew Senior Life
Henry & Marilyn Taub Foundation
Jewish Healthcare Foundation Pittsburgh
LeadingAge
Massachusetts Councils on Aging
Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs
Montachusett Regional Transit Authority
National Council on Aging
National Institutes of Health
New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Planning Office for Urban Affairs Inc.
Point32Health Foundation
Research Triangle Institute
Rutgers University
RRF Foundation for Aging
The SCAN Foundation
The Silver Century Foundation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
University of Massachusetts Medical School