Health Promotion for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Older Adults

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost one in five Americans will be age 65 or older by 2030. Growth of this magnitude in this segment of the population will place an unprecedented demand on the health care system and aging-related services.

While the health of older adults in the United States is improving and people with long-term disabilities live longer, significant disparities exist in health outcomes and quality of life for minority older adults.

With a particular focus on African Americans and Latinos, the cluster for Health Promotion for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Older Adults will link research and practice to improve health promotion and outcomes for both older adults and adults with disabilities.

The new faculty hires will be based at the Center for Research on Health and Aging that fosters interdisciplinary research across the University and is based in the UIC Institute for Health Research and Policy. The work of this faculty group builds on the center’s previous track record of intervention research focusing on older minority adults that has been conducted with funding from the National Institute on Aging’s Edward R. Roybal Center program.

Co-Principal Investigators:

Susan Hughes
Professor, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
Co-Director, Center for Research on Health and Aging, Institute for Health Research and Policy

Tamar Heller
Professor and Head, Disability and Human DevelopmentDirector, UIC Institute on Disability and Human Development
College of Applied Health Sciences

Initiative Hire(s):

Deepika Laddu-Patel (2016)
Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy
College of Applied Health Sciences  

Uchechi Mitchell (2016)
Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences 
School of Public Health