The Department of Sociology and Anthropology (SOA) research series, organized by Dr. Aaron Pitluck, continued into the past school year with research talks by various alumni, professors, and guests. These are presented periodically throughout the year, and all are welcome to attend.
- Dr. Chris Wellin, Emeritus professor of sociology, facilitated a panel discussion of, “Campus and Community-Wide Initiatives Promoting Health and Social Integration among Older Adults in McLean County” with panelists Elizabeth Kosuth, project manager of the ANEW grant (Advanced Nursing Education Workforce) and Lakeesha James-Smith, elder services coordinator with Bloomington Housing Authority, September 9, 2022.
The gerontology program at Illinois State University is a multi-disciplinary program that includes both an undergraduate minor, and a graduate certificate program in social aspects of aging. The program has been nourished by faculty, courses, and partnerships across many programs on campus, in addition to those housed in SOA. Outside of the classroom, the gerontology program has been a resource or catalyst for significant initiatives that have enhanced the quality of life in the broader community.
These ties and achievements were on display in a panel discussion that was presented in September 2022, as part of the department’s speaker series. Wellin, who is also a former coordinator of the gerontology program, introduced Kosuth, from the Mennonite College of Nursing, and Lakeesha James-Smith, the elder servicescCoordinator for the Bloomington Housing Authority. These speakers reported on initiatives that were years in the making and yielded significant mutual benefits for ISU and McLean County.
From Kosuth, we learned about a major grant which was awarded to the Mennonite College of Nursing. She explained: “The Advanced Nursing Education Workforce (ANEW) grant supports family nurse practitioners students and preceptor education, but there are also funds for a project to support older adults, and that is what we have been working on. The objectives … are to improve coordination of resources and services for older adults in the surrounding community, including rural and underserved areas, and to help improve the physical and mental health outcomes of seniors, allowing them to safely age at home for as long as possible.
The language in proposal left leeway for implementation. We researched the most prevalent issues among older adults and the barriers to aging in place. Social isolation was a dominant theme, of course, because it is a social determinant of health and good health improves the chances of aging in place. These needs were all the more evident in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another theme was that older adults struggle with learning how to use technology as well as find value in it. However, for all its faults and pitfalls, the Internet can provide a means for older adults to stay engaged in the world both socially and culturally, thus reducing social isolation. Professor Jessica Sullivan—principal investigator on the grant—decided that providing technology training and developing a comprehensive website of resources for older adults was a good way to meet the objective of the grant. We call the live website the McLean County Senior Resource Center.”
James Smith serves residents in some three hundred apartments in Wood Hill Towers, part of the subsidized elder housing program of the Bloomington Housing Authority. Her residents face economic pressures, as low-income residents, and her goal is to expand and coordinate a wide range of services—including healthcare screening, transportation, digital literacy, and community engagement—for residents who often have faced life-long adversity. She has completed needs assessment surveys, with support from ISU colleagues; hosted student-interns who have learned more about how to serve this key segment of the older population; and opened her doors to social work and nursing students, who require supervised field experience and offer case management and healthcare support at low or no cost to the BHA.
These initiatives and achievements well-reflect the broader ISU commitment to community engagement, professional development and networking among students, and the highest ideals of public, higher education. They are merely glimpses of the great number and variety of connections that have enriched the educational rigor and relevance of ISU, while also meeting pressing public needs.
–Dr. Jim Skibo, state archaeologist of Wisconsin Curator of Archaeology and Emeritus Distinguished professor of anthropology, presented “What’s canoe with you? The discovery, recovery, and study of the Lake Mendota dugout canoes” on December 2, 2022.
–Dr. Charles Bell, assistant professor of criminal justice, presented “I Never Feel Safe: Exploring Black Students’, Parents’, and Teachers’ Experiences Navigating School Punishment and Violence” on February 3, 2023.
–Dr. Andrew Hartman, professor of history, presented “Karl Marx and the American Academy in the Age of the Culture War” on March 3, 2023.
