America is aging fast. With the Baby Boomer generation creeping toward the golden years, the number of elderly Americans will increase by millions within 20 years, and the demand for people trained to care for senior citizens will be higher than ever.The School of Social Work is attacking the concern proactively by developing a certificate program in gerontology — the study of aging — which will include in-depth courses, a research project and a field internship beginning fall 2010.The new program will train students in all aspects of dealing with an elderly person, said Christian Molidor, dean of the School of Social Work, who was one of 12 professors chosen to participate in the New York Academy of Medicine’s 2009 Leadership in Aging Academy.”What happens to [elderly people’s] brains?” Molidor said. “What happens when they lose a partner, lose mobility or have to go into a nursing home?” Finding the answers to these questions is important because of how many elderly people there will be in the future, said Scott Wilks, gerontology certificate program coordinator.”In the turn of the 20th century, we had a triangle: the base of the population was young adults, and as it got to the top it narrowed into a very select percentage of older people,” Wilks said. “In the next 20 years, the triangle will be flipped. There will be more older adults than younger adults.”The certificate program caters to a demanding field — the National Institute of Aging estimates a need for 70,000 workers by 2020, Wilks said.Wilks and Priscilla Allen, associate professor of social work, received prestigious Hartford Grants for their work in gerontology. They were the only two people in the history of Louisiana to receive the grant, Molidor said.One of the grants was a $100,000 faculty award for Wilks, and the other was a $10,000 grant for the certificate program.Allen said the certificate program is meant to teach that aging happens throughout life, not just in later years, and to promote the importance of gerontology.”In a youth-obsessed country, people aren’t always as enthusiastic about working with aging people as we should be,” Allen said.Pennington Biomedical Research Center is also jump-starting gerontology research. Pennington is one of eight sites conducting part of the largest healthy aging study ever held in the U.S.The portion of the study at Pennington will examine 200 people age 75 to 89 who are losing mobility, meaning they can’t complete a 400 meter walking test, said Tim Church, director of preventative medicine research.The subjects will be split into two groups — one will go through physical activity and resistance training, and the other will be educated about healthy aging. The study will try to determine the most effective ways to maintain the quality of life in the elderly.”It’s really no longer about how long you will live,” Church said. “What really matters is how long we live well. Can you go duck hunting in your later years? Can you chase your grandchildren, feed yourself or go up stairs?”Allen said the focus of gerontology is to address aging issues as soon as possible to prevent complications as people grow older.”We want to maximize people’s capacity,” Allen said. “It’s not just a retrospective or a process in which we are responding to problems.”- – – -Contact Ryan Buxton at [email protected]