ASU's McCabe part of nationally recognized study, 'Boomer-ANG'

March 21, 2007

Arizona State University’s James McCabe was part of a research team awarded the National Institute of Senior Center’s Research (NISC) award for 2007. The team received the recognition for its outstanding, innovative research in the senior center field. NISC presented the award during a joint conference hosted by the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging in Chicago.<separator></separator>McCabe, an assistant professor of Social Work in the College of Human Services, served as a research consultant for the <a href="http://www.npchf.org/boomerang/boomerang.htm">Boomer-ANG Project</a>, which conducted an extensive analysis, review, and assessment of 10 senior centers in Montgomery County, Pa. The research focused on the status, needs, and opportunities that exist for the leading-edge baby boomer generation and current residents who are 60 or older. <separator></separator>“With the number of baby boomers poised to swell to nearly 40 millions people within the next few years, senior centers are scrambling to refurbish and redefine their facilities and programs,” said McCabe. “To better serve the needs of this emerging population, we recommended, among other things, that senior centers establish a new 'identity' or 'brand' beyond their senior service focus. <separator></separator>“Today's senior centers offer many sedentary programs, such as knitting and bingo, which simply will not appeal to boomers.”<separator></separator>The project combined best practices from a variety of community development, business development and service delivery models. The goal was to identify specific programs and services senior centers or community-based organizations should provide in the next decade. Principal investigators for the study were John Migliaccio, president of <a href="http://www.aifg.org/aifg/migliaccio.cfm">Maturity Mark Services,</a> and Michael Marcus, principal of <a href="http://www.communityresourcenetwork.org/content/about_us/board_of_direc… for Community Resources</a>.<separator></separator>The project, investigated, at both county and regional levels, included a visioning and “asset mapping” process engaging businesses, faith groups, educators, civic groups, human services organizations, government, and citizens in each of Montgomery County’s five regions. It included consumer telephone surveys with baby boomers and older adults and researched best practices from a variety of service delivery models.<separator></separator>For additional information about the Boomer-ANG Project or the National Council on Aging visit <a href="http://www.ncoa.org/">http://www.ncoa.org</a>.

Humanities