The Center for Gerontology’s Research Team on Caregivers for Persons with Memory Loss in Rural Appalachia presented the following papers at the Gerontological Society of America 2018 Annual Scientific Meeting:

Human Development doctoral students Shelby Borowski and Kevin Lancki; faculty members Rosemary Blieszner, dean and the Alumni Distinguished Professor, Karen Roberto, director of the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment and a University Distinguished Professor, and Tina Savla, professor; Anna Harris, Aubrey Knight, and Andrew Vipperman presented “Daily Use of Services and the Association between Stress and Negative Affect among Family Caregivers.”

Blieszner, Borowski, Harris, Knight, Lancki, Roberto, Savla, Pyrros Telionis, and Vipperman, were presenters of “A GIS Approach to Identifying Service Access Disparities in Rural Appalachia.”

Human Development senior Emily Hoyt, Blieszner, Borowski, Harris, Knight, Roberto, Savla, and Vipperman gave the presentations “Dementia Caregiving in Rural Appalachia: Culture Matters” and “Service Use and Barriers to Service Access among Family Caregivers in Rural Appalachia.”

Hoyt, Blieszner, Borowski, Harris, Lancki, Roberto, Savla, and Vipperman presented “For the Love of Land and People: Cultural Reasons for Providing Care to Family Members with Dementia.”

In addition, Blieszner, Human Development alumnus Aaron Ogletree, who earned his doctorate in May, and faculty member Laura Sands, along with Mark Brennan-Ing and Stephen Karpiak presented “Health Burden, Instrumental and Emotional Support Adequacy, and Depressive Symptoms in Older Men with HIV.”

The meeting took place November 14–18 in Boston, Massachusetts.