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.
The UAA College of Health proudly celebrated the recent renovation of Sally Monserud Hall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony showcasing the new high-tech labs and simulation center, expanded allied health programs, growth of the WWAMI program and critical partnerships addressing Alaska’s growing health care needs.
The School of Allied Health celebrates its summer graduates with a memorable pinning ceremony on July 27, 2023, at the Edward & Cathryn Rasmuson Hall of the University of Alaska Anchorage.
How integral is Providence to Alaska? Not only does the hospital make up the second half of the namesake UMED District, but the organization is the largest non-government employer in the state, naturally resulting in the employment of a large number of UAA nursing and surgical technology alumni.
A new degree in surgical technology, launched this year, helps meet an industry need in Alaska while offering further academic options for College of Health students.
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.