|
 |
CURRENT ISSUE | BACK ISSUES | SUBSCRIBE | ABOUT |
 |
|
Winter 2005-6 Our Guest Editor
My mother suffered a debilitating stroke at an early age and ended up in a nursing facility,” says Keren Brown Wilson, this issue’s guest editor. “At the time, there were no meals on wheels or other community services. A nursing home was the only option. She wanted so much to live at home, and she could have done so if appropriate support had been available.” The frustration that Wilson and her family experienced sparked an interest in aging and long-term care and led to a career that’s earned Wilson an international reputation as a leader in the area of assisted living and other forms of supportive housing for older people. After twenty-five years in the field, Wilson’s academic and professional activities include teaching, research, and program design and implementation. But, she says, it is personal experience that is at the heart of every aspect of her work. How older people can get the help they need where they live is what this issue of Generations is about. Our guest editor has gathered together the experts in the field to address this basic and challenging concern. Wilson has a doctorate in urban affairs and received Title 4 funding for studies in aging. “At the same time as my mother showed me the issues, the government happened to see a need for gerontologists,” she says. Wilson is now recognized as the architect of the trailblazing “Oregon model” of assisted living and as a pioneer in the movement to make such combinations of housing and services affordable and appropriate for all. A major focus for Wilson is populations with specialized needs, including underserved ethnic/racial groups and rural and urban low-income elders. Her Oregon-based assisted-living companies have provided development and management to projects in many states. As a researcher at the Institute on Aging at Portland State University, Wilson has conducted studies that began with two of the earliest ever done on assisted living. Currently, her research focuses on regulation and quality in assisted living and on long-term care across international settings. “We are at a turning point now with the aging of society,” Wilson says. “How can we have quality of life for everyone, using what we have? We haven’t done well for people with greater need or fewer resources at any age.” Some of the answers, she says, will come from a look at different cultures. As president and ceo of the Jesse F. Richardson Foundation, dedicated to improving care and lives of elders internationally, Wilson currently serves as an advisor on long-term care and housing for the Pan American Health Organizations and a number of countries, including China, Canada, Uruguay, Nicaragua, the British Virgin Islands, and Brazil. “In spite of all the money we spend,” Wilson says, “we’re not doing as well as some countries that are extremely poor. What can we learn? As they age, people everywhere long to be with family, to be useful, to be respected, as my mother did. How do we allocate our resources to the best use, as a society that truly values all of its people?”- Mary Johnson From Generations Winter 2005 issue, 29(4): 4. © 2005 American Society on Aging
|
