Center for Aging Research and Education, UW-Madison School of Nursing

09/01/2026

"There were 37 grants awarded throughout Wisconsin to help fight loneliness and make communities more livable for older adults and people with disabilities. The Healthy Aging Evaluation and Summary report explores the outcomes and lessons learned. With a focus on grassroots initiatives, the report highlights how small-scale funding can create outsized impact to build meaningful social connection and improve well-being through creative, people-centered approaches."

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/arpa/hcbs-socialconnection.htm

08/25/2026

“The really core, essential component of ensuring that underserved marginalized populations get the care they need is trust, and empathy is core to building trust with patients and providers and interpreters,” says Maichou Lor, PhD, RN, FAAN. “And when that’s lost, that’s where you see a lot of disparities in care.”

UW–Madison researchers, including School of Pharmacy Professor Betty Chewning, are developing culturally sensitive tools to empower Hmong and other caregivers.

08/24/2026

The COVID pandemic shocked and strained healthcare providers. Yet, in spring 2020, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing researchers successfully partnered with hospital units to test their program to increase older patients' mobility.

Read what they learned about building trust, being flexible, and helping hospital patients walk more in the August 2026 issue of CARE Connections, the monthly newsletter of the Center for Aging Research and Education (CARE). Here’s an excerpt:

“We said, okay, we have to figure out what to do. The unit is in crisis. How do we move forward without burdening the unit even more?”

This month’s CARE Connections also includes a profile of CARE Affiliate Beth Fields, PhD, OTR/L; CARE's Geriatric Care Simulations Toolkit; and news and events related to older adult health and well-being.

https://app.explore.wisc.edu/e/es?s=1427524768&e=2527231&elqTrackId=6bf940c8fcbe4d2896cdc087ece57e37&elq=64c67a95851545118e44fb2a2cccf78d&elqaid=86494&elqat=1&elqak=8AF5C60AFC1BA9F3856C491A67F5D2A4713B22299F6293B1F31801B0EAC3EAF2D8D0

08/19/2026

It's the ! CARE has developed toolkits and manuals to help family, communities, instructors, and healthcare staff support older adult health and well-being. We've made these resources widely and freely available through our website.

Simply visit the "CARE Products" page, read the descriptions, and use the online form to request something -- from our Implementing Change in Long-Term Care Toolkit to our Engaging Older Adult Community Members as Advisors on Health Research Toolkit -- and more.

CARE also offers an Implementing Change in Long-Term Care Manual, which covers how to prepare your organization for changes that improve quality of care, to assist your staff in developing a sense of ownership, and to sustain changes over time. You can download the manual for free here, and the atta...

08/18/2026

Registration is now open for the UW-Madison Institute on Aging's Fall Colloquium, on October 14 on campus. This free event showcases research and resources on positive aging, with speakers, a poster session, and a health & resource fair.

Speakers for this year's event will address:
- "The Social Genome: How Connection Shapes Healthy Aging"
- "Bridging Alzheimer’s Disease and Autism Research"
- "Mindful Eco-Wellness: Steps towards Healthier Living for People and Planet"
- "Supporting Wisconsin’s Caregiving Future: Resources, Tools, and Policies that Help"

Since 1988, the IOA has hosted an annual event known as the Institute on Aging Colloquium. It is free and open to the public, and now attracts a full-capacity crowd each year from the campus and community. Local researchers showcase cutting-edge science in diverse aspects of aging through talks and....

08/17/2026

"An 86.7% skilled nursing occupancy rate does reflect meaningful recovery. But it may also reveal scarcity. Understanding which force is driving occupancy in each community is essential to protecting older adults’ dignity and ensuring that families retain real choices.

"The question is not simply whether nursing homes are full. It is whether every older adult can reach the right care, in the right setting, at the right time—and whether our system is measuring what matters enough to know the answer."

Occupancy in nursing care communities keeps increasing. Is that a sign of recovery or scarcity?

08/14/2026

Thanks to Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative - RWHC for being such a great partner!

For more on the CARE U program, check out the links in the comments.

08/06/2026

Currently, 42 states consider a parent’s disability as a reason to terminate parental rights. Lawmakers, says Kavanaugh, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, “don’t know how to wrap their minds around how to support a kid that’s not part of the foster care system.”

Another factor contributes to keeping these children under the radar: Identifying those who care for family members can also mean having to reckon with child labor laws. “If we are to acknowledge these children as caregivers, then we’re also maybe by default acknowledging that children are working,” Kavanaugh says. “And we don’t want that.”

The modern health care system requires the work of caregiving to fall to whoever else lives in a household — even if they’re kids.

08/04/2026

"Our clients are saying that they have a higher quality of life, that they feel more confident living at home, that they feel more connected to resources locally," Sanders said. "Those are three really big things for us."

Health risks associated with loneliness and social isolation are more common among the aging population of rural America. In North Dakota, the program Aging in Community aims to build connections among neighbors to help isolated rural seniors.

08/03/2026

Registration is open for the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Institute 24th Annual Update in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Conference, on September 18 at the UW-Madison Memorial Union!

The conference is designed for primary care physicians, psychiatrists, neurologists, nurse practitioners, nurses, psychologists, social workers, physician assistants, occupational and speech therapists, researchers, case managers, and other healthcare professionals who diagnose, treat, or manage people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias in diverse populations.

This annual, in-person conference is designed to enhance the diagnostic and therapeutic skills of healthcare professionals caring for individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The program features six evidence-based presentations highlighting innovative best practices and em...