Healthy Aging laB
Everyone living in the Circumpolar North should have the opportunity to live a long and healthy life. However, we live in an environment that can be challenging as we get older. The physical environment may be difficult to navigate (extreme weather, changing climate, high costs of living, etc) but it is important to remember that the social environment also changes for us as we age. As more adults are choosing to age-in-place and retire at home here in Alaska, we are noticing real gaps in our knowledge about what healthy aging means to our elders and how we can achieve it in our Arctic environment.
The Healthy Aging Lab at UAA works to understand the shifting sociocultural landscape for aging adults and identify service needs to facilitate healthy aging-in-place. We do this in a variety of ways, from Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) projects, to community-engaged courses in health sciences, to individual service-learning projects—our work aims to benefit not only the student (and future geriatric workforce), but the senior community as well.
FEATURED PROJECTS
NEWS & Stories
MSW student Keyshon China is dedicated to serving youth and underserved communities, gaining hands-on experience through UAA's School of Social Work and various extracurricular organizations.
College of Health students (Master of Social Work graduate Autumn Merrill, School of Nursing graduate Artie Gorash, Radiologic Technology graduate Agnes Brown, and dental program graduates) take part in Sunday’s ceremony.
Ever since she was six years old, Panikaa Teeple, B.S.W. Social Work ’21, knew that spreading love was her life’s purpose. Next year, Teeple will have the opportunity to spread love internationally as UAA’s latest recipient of the Fulbright U.S. Student Program grant, which provides students in more than 140 countries the opportunity to pursue graduate study and research abroad.
UAA's School of Social Work received a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to address the need for Alaska social workers in a K-12 setting. The School-Based Social Work Education and Network Development program (SSWEND) aims to graduate a cohort of 31 fellows by 2026 who will increase the amount of school-based mental health service providers in high-needs schools.
A Gala was held to celebrate the School of Social Work Spring graduates. About 100 people attended the event, filling the room with bustling conversation. Five students graduating from the Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work programs share why social work motivates them.
The UAA Healthy Aging Research Laboratory is partially supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under grant number 2P20GM103395. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of Alaska INBRE.
Upcoming Events
Contact Us:
Associate Professor Britteny Howell
Phone: (907) 786-6565
Email: bmhowell2@alaska.edu
UAA Professional Studies Building
2533 Providence Dr., Suite 204
Anchorage, AK 99508
Mailing Address:
UAA Healthy Aging Lab
3211 Providence Dr., PSB 206B
Anchorage, AK 99508
