Rutgers Nursing Magazine - Summer 2021

Improving Late-Life Care SCHOOL OF NURSING FACULTY LEAD FUNDED RESEARCH ON AGING AND DEMENTIAS I If you’re not yet over 65, you may well be caring for someone who is. Over the last decade, the number of Americans 65 and older jumped from 39.6 million to 54.1 million, and it’s expected to reach 80.8 million by 2040. The predicted increase in Americans suffering from Alzheimer’s disease is equally dra- matic, projected to grow from 6 million to 15 million by 2060. All these numbers add up to a critical need for research into aging, particularly as it points the way toward achieving a healthier old age and a more peaceful end-of-life experience. Recently, three faculty researchers at Rutgers School of Nursing received grants—from the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer’s Association—supporting research on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. All three aim to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their caregivers. An Underutilized Insurance Benefit that Could Improve Late-Life Care Outcomes Both restorative and palliative care—support for patients with serious, sometimes terminal, illnesses—delivered at home, can make a tremendous difference in quality of life, especially if that care is provided by skilled home health care professionals. Unfortunately, home health care and home hospice are under- utilized among racial and ethnic minority populations, despite coverage by Medicare and Medicaid. With a four-year, $2.6 million grant (RO1AG066139) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging (NIH/NIA), a team led by Olga F. Jarrín Montaner (PhD, RN), assistant professor, has begun to investigate the ways in which skilled home health care can benefit those with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. When employed years before a patient’s final decline in health, this kind of care, says Jarrín, “can help overcome structural and systemic racism, which contributes to lower utilization of palliative and hospice care among the rapidly growing popu- lation of Black, Hispanic, and Asian older adults living with advanced dementia.” Building the Research Infrastructure to Answer Questions About Healthy Aging What factors contribute to healthy aging among people living with dementia? That’s the big question that School of Nursing Professor Haiqun Lin (PhD, MD); Olga Jarrín; and their inter- R E S E A R C H E X C E L L E N C E