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Center on
Aging
Center on Aging
Today, some 35 million Americans (13% of the population) are 65 and
older. By the year 2030 there will be 70 million older Americans. Much
like the nation, the state of Maine is experiencing an aging population
explosion. Increasingly Maine is serving as a haven for older adults and
within the next 20 years, 1 in 5 Mainers will be 65 and older. Given the
reality of a greying America and an aging Maine, is our health and human
services workforce going to be prepared to provide the resources and
programs required by both the growing numbers of vulnerable elders and
the swelling cohort of active and well older adults?
To respond to these unprecedented state and national trends and the
demands that will inevitably be placed on our workforce, the Center
on Aging has just been established, with programs to be implemented
in the fall of 2001. The center is under the purview of the School of
Social Work and the College of Business, Public Policy and Health. Its
tri-partite structure will enable the Center on Aging to embark on major
interdisciplinary initiatives in aging education, research and
evaluation, and service to the community. It represents a groundbreaking
initiative -- the first of its kind in the history of Maine's public
university system. The Center will be a critical resource for students,
providing opportunities both for those preparing for careers in aging as
well as for those whose disciplinary interests are more generally
affected by an aging society. The Center will play a unique role in
helping to prepare social workers and other allied health professionals
to serve the many faces of an aging America generally, and an aging
Maine in particular.
The mission of the Center on Aging is ambitious and multi-faceted. It
will promote and facilitate activities on aging in the areas of
education, research and evaluation, and community service to improve all
aspects of the quality of life of older citizens and their families in
Maine and beyond.
