The VCU School of Allied Health Professions' Department of Gerontology is pleased to announce the appointment of E. Ayn Welleford, Ph.D. (M.S. '93, Ph.D. '98), Department Chair and Associate Professor to Governor Terry McAuliffe's Community Integration Advisory Commission.  Dr. Welleford will join Governor McAuliffe's administration focused on finding common ground with members of both parties on issues that will build a new Virginia economy and create more jobs across the Commonwealth.
The mission of the Community Integration Advisory Commission is to:

• ·  Monitor the implementation of state and federal laws concerning community integration of Virginians with disabilities;
• ·  Study all matters that present barriers or challenges to full community integration of Virginians with disabilities;
• ·  Advise and make recommendations to the Director and the Implementation Team related to eliminating barriers and challenges to community integration of Virginians with disabilities and such other related matters as may arise in the performance of their duties;
• ·  Review and advise the Director and the Implementation Team on its strategic plan; and
• Report all recommendations to the Governor

Congratulations, Dr. Welleford!

Can you believe the Fall semester has started?  With the Summer behind us and the
Fall ahead of us, I am thrilled to report on many exciting initiatives with which
the Department of Gerontology and our students, alumni and community partners are
involved.
I am most excited to report about our productive summer here in the Department of
Gerontology.  We enjoyed a day-long Departmental retreat at Imperial Plaza where
 we engaged in a strategic visioning session to reflect on and evaluate our recent
growth in community engagement initiatives.  We evaluated our current mission statement
"Improving Eldercare through Education" and are thrilled to report that we are close
to introducing one that is new and improved to support our 80/20 vision for optimal
aging (and I know you are curious about 80/20...call me!  Let's chat!).
The Department of Gerontology also just enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of New Student
Orientation.  So many bright faces from diverse backgrounds!  Of course I want to
offer student scholarships to all who request assistance and this year I find myself
struggling to fulfill all of the requests.  Every dollar the Department invests 
in these students multiplies and I hope you will all help me brainstorm on new ways
to offer more of an investment in our future Gerontologists and Certificate in Aging
Studies students.
In our Summer edition of AgeWellVA, we spotlight the works of our fabulous graduates,
who are working to ensure innovation in evidence-based practice.  We continue making
strides with the Greater Richmond Age Wave Readiness Plan (three of our current 
students were just asked to present to the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission).
 We are looking forward to being a partner in Active Aging Week with Senior Connections
and the Arthritis Foundation (September 21 -27 and visit https://www.facebook.com/RVAActiveAgingWeek
for more information).  And I am especially thrilled to share that Dr. Gendron is
a finalist for the 2014 Ernest A. Lynton Award for the Scholarship of Engagement
 of Early Career Faculty.  Our own Jay White and the Division of Community Engagement's
Dr. Lynn Pelco worked together to nominate Dr. Gendron for this national award.
As always, there is so much more to share!  Please think about ways you can each
 support the mission of the Department of Gerontology.  I want to know!  Call!  
Text!  Email!  Facebook!  You know where to find me!

On Friday, April 11th, the VCU Department of Gerontology hosted its annual AGE Virginia Awards, honoring excellence in optimal aging, student scholarship and community engagement.  Nearly 70 faculty, students, alumni and community partners convened at VCU's Siegel Center.  VCU Alumni Awards recipients included, Alumna of the Year, Charlotte Arbogast for her work as Dementia Services Coordinator for the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services and as co-chair of the VCU Department of Gerontology's Alumni Engagement Committee.  Madeline L. Dunstan, Education Coordinator at Eastern Virginia Medical School, received the ACE Award for her Advocacy and Community Engagement in the field of Gerontology.  Residents of Covenant Woods Retirement Community were awarded the Commonwealth Award for their personification of optimal aging and generativity.  

Additional Award recipients included:

Master of Science in Gerontology Student of the Year

Jennifer Inker

A.D. Williams Award

Sierra Alewine

Marion Cotter King Award

Lindsay King

Iris A. Parham Award

TarShawn Amissah

Cathy Saunders Career Gerontologist Award

Ellen Phipps

All funds raised from the event will support student scholarships.  To view photos from the evening, please visit the Photos section on agewellva.com.

I hope you all had joyful holidays filled with connectivity.  Connectivity is on my mind as I recently had the great good fortune to hear Dan Buettner (Blue Zones) speak at the Richmond Forum.  Connections with family.  Connections with friends. Connections over good healthful food (and wine).  Connections to affordable, person-centered care.  And a connected community that supports lifelong engagement.  We need to be able to get to each other!  We support much of our connectivity through the worldwide web.  But I tell you. There is much to be said to those person-to-person connections in "meat space."  Buettner's findings recommend 6-7 hours of daily social engagement and point out that the "thrivers" engage in less than 30 minutes of social media time per day.    

My mission this semester is to spend more one-on-one time with our students, alumni and community partners.  I'm not talking about a hit-and-run conversation at a cocktail party where we share business cards and vow to do lunch.  I want to take these conversations to the next level where words mean action.  I want action toward age wave preparedness in the Richmond region.  I want action toward person-centered care initiatives.  And I want action toward the eradication of ageist humor and language.  It is time to strengthen our connections and band together formally and in person to achieve tangible, measurable results.  I am ready to redirect my energy toward positive opportunity!  It is time to be loud and proud about Positive Aging.  To heck with tsunamis, tidal waves and stereotypes. Ain't nobody got time for that!  Let's make RVa thrive!  Who's in? 

Congratulations to Dr. Andrew Heck, Clinical Director at Piedmont Geriatric Hospital,
and the American Board of Geropsychology board members for successfully establishing
and implementing a formal affiliation process with the American Board of Professional
Psychology (ABPP) to recognize the specialization of Geropsychology. The ABPP Geropsychology
Board is slated to receive its formal commission in early 2014.
The examination in Geropsychology, for Board Certification by ABGERO, has been developed
and is intended to certify that the successful candidate has completed the educational,
training, and experience requirements of the specialty, including a performance 
examination designed to assess the competencies required to provide quality services
in the specialty of Geropsychology. At this time, ABGERO board members are being
 screened and examined, and this process must be completed before the formal application
process begins for non-Board member candidates.
The primary objective of the ABGERO is to establish a Board Certification process
is to recognize, certify and promote specialty level standing in the field of Geropsychology.
Specialty level standing is conceptualized as higher than the basic level of competence
certified by jurisdictional licensure, but within the reach of most practitioners
of professional psychology who have the requisite education, training, and experience
in working with older adults.
Dr. Andrew Heck, a frequent collaborator and instructor with Virginia Commonwealth
University's Department of Gerontology, was one of the founding members of the group.
 He recently received his ABPP Geropsychology board certification after an intensive
and comprehensive examination.  This is Dr. Heck's second board certification, having
been certified in Clinical Psychology in 2005.  Less than 5% of practicing psychologists
nationwide hold a board certification.
Dr. Heck has taught Aging and Mental Disorders as well as Mental Health in Long 
Term Care with the VCU Department of Gerontology.  He, along with Piedmont Geriatric
Hospital, has been a frequent collaborator with both Dr. E. Ayn Welleford, MS (Gerontology),
PhD and Chair of the VCU Department of Gerontology as well as Tracey Gendron, MS
 (Gerontology), MA and Assistant Professor in the VCU Department of Gerontology.
  They have collaborated on scholarship related to "Improving Eldercare through 
Education" and older adults' mental health.
The first round of exams has been conducted to form the American Board of Geropsychology.
 After November, other geropsychologists will be invited to apply for board certification.
 Applications, instructions, and a list of required qualifications can be found 
at http://www.abpp.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3806
For additional questions about ABGERO, please contact the ABGERO President, Dr. 
Victor Molinari, at [email protected]

From E. Ayn Welleford, MSG, PhD

Where has the summer gone?!  We in the Department of Gerontology have been incredibly productive this summer in anticipation of our new and returning students this Fall.  As you read on, you will learn about the two-year grant Senior Connections and the DoG received from the Richmond Memorial Health Foundation to support our collaborative management of the Age Wave Readiness Plan.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the prospects associated with this new initiative as we create evidence-based tool kits to support increasingly engaged, livable, stable and well communities.  

Our new cohort of Masters students has already hit the ground running by developing new curricula and actively engaging in community projects, such as Richmond's Centenarian Celebration, scheduled for September 28th.  Our returning students are actively honing their gerontological craft by speaking to community organizations on topics related to optimal aging, writing grants to support their academic and professional interests and collaborating with other departments and schools on service activities.

We are also thrilled to report that we have established an Alumni Engagement Committee.  Specials thanks to Dee Caras, Charlotte Arbogast, Jenn Anderson and Katie Young for their dedication to engaging alumni, students and community partners in collaborative networking activities.  To become involved in our Alumni Engagement Committee, please email [email protected].  We are also most thankful for our new collaboration with the VCU Alumni Association through our GeroSTAT program.  More hands make for lighter lifting and we are grateful for just how many folks support our mission of "Improving Eldercare through Education.

E. Ayn Welleford, MSG, PhD and Chair of the VCU Department of Gerontology with "Bud"

Vye, recipient of the Commonwealth Award. Also pictured are Cathy Saunders, MSG

and Advisory Board President and Sheryl Finucane, PT, PhD and Assistant Professor

in Physical Therapy

On April 6, nearly 100 Gerontologists, members of the aging services community,

students and their family members gathered to honor excellence in aging through

the Commonwealth.  Students presented posters on their community engagement and

research projects, awards were giving for student and alumna achievement as well

 as awards for community engagement, theoretical innovation and overall generativity

and optimal aging.  $10,000 was raised as a result of the event toward student scholars

and in support of the VCU Department of Gerontology.

Denise Scruggs, BSW '80 and MS '84, was honored with the VCU Department of Gerontology's

ACE Award for Excellence in Community Engagement and offered the following remarks

about the evening:

"I am honored to have been invited to VCU's April 6th gerontology award ceremony

 and to have been chosen for the ACE Award.  It was an unexpected validation for

 the work my Center has done over the years.  I especially enjoyed reconnecting

with fellow colleagues while meeting new professionals and former Lynchburg College

students and volunteers.  I left the event feeling energized, hopeful, and more

passionate than ever about what I am doing.

As we look to the future, collaboration will be the key to our success in meeting

the needs of our  aging population and staying afloat.  I look forward to working

with VCU's Gerontology Department as we launch a new Virginia Boot Camp on Aging

 and other educational initiatives that will improve the quality of care we provide

to older adults, their families, and their caregivers. In addition, I will also

continue to  refer Lynchburg College students to VCU's outstanding gerontology program."

Photos from the evening are available by click here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=pv86iqmab.0.0.9igtmqfab.0&id=preview&r=3&p=http%3A%2F%2Flizreese.smugmug.com%2FEvents%2FVCU-Ger%2F28865159_J4p4gD%23%21i%3D2452085292%26k%3DF2gd43m].

Contributions toward student scholarships may be made by clicking here [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=pv86iqmab.0.0.9igtmqfab.0&id=preview&r=3&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.support.vcu.edu%2Fgive%2Fgerontology]

and selecting "Gerontology Department Fund."

Join the VCU Department of Gerontology for our Annual AGE Virginia Awards.  They will take place on Saturday, April 6th from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm at the Hilton Richmond Hotel and Spa.

Tickets are free of charge, but we are asking for RSVP's to secure reservations.  We are also accepting event sponsorships to help support our student scholarship and continuing education iniatives.

We are also accepting awards nominations for the following awards in aging:

ACE Award

In recognition of excellence in Advocacy and Community Engagement in the Professional Field of Gerontology

Recipient: Dr. Patricia Slattum

Finalists:

Henry Simmons

Vivian Bagby

TIME Award

In recognition of excellence in Theoretical Innovation and Maintaining Evidence-Based Practice of Gerontology

Recipient:  A Grace Place

Finalists:

Senior Navigator

Lutheran Family Services

Piedmont Geriatric Hospital

Center for Excellence in Aging and Geriatric Health

Commonwealth Award

In recognition of a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia who is an inspiration in his or her optimal aging and generativity

Recipient:  Guy M. Kinman, Jr.

Finalist:

Charles Barker

Please submit nominees and a brief biographic sketch of how the individual or organization personifies the award to:  [email protected] or by fax to 804-828-5259.

For more information on ticket sales or event sponsorships, please call 804-828-1565 or email [email protected].