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IN THIS SECTION
|
 About
the Center |
| Mission
and Objectives |
| CreativityFocus |
| IntergenerationalFocus
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| Media Coverage |
| Key
References |
| Center
Staff |
| Dr. Gene
Cohen |
The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities
at The George Washington University Medical Center
About the Center
The Center on Aging, Health & Humanities, founded in 1994, stimulates, coordinates, and conducts sponsored research on both the problems and potentials of aging, with the goal of improving the quality of life for older adults and their families. It is located in the George Washington University Medical Center, with interdisciplinary partnerships throughout the university. Particular attention is paid to understanding and tapping creative potential in later life and to creative problem solving for social and health challenges associated with aging.
Emphasis is also placed on studying creative intergenerational interactions and opportunities among children, young adults, and older persons that can translate into innovative program development to benefit families and society as a whole. Research sites vary considerably, given the Center’s focus on the new Landscape for Aging in America (the Geriatric Landscape)—the growing number of settings where older adults both reside and receive treatment. Such settings include one’s home, retirement communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes, among others. Within these diverse sites, an interdisciplinary approach is taken to address the interacting dynamics of health and home—drawing upon a the health and humanities perspective.
Center activities and research projects are carried out by an interdisciplinary group of scientists and academicians, with linkages between the medical center and the rest of the university. Planning and projects may involve colleagues with very diverse backgrounds, ranging from geriatric medicine, to art therapy, to oral history, to health economics—again, reflecting the Center’s health and humanities orientation. Support is sought from federal and state government grants and contracts as well as from private foundations and philanthropies.
