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OLLII's Spring Catalog Available Online
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OLLI's mission is to foster accessible lifelong learning, individual growth, and social connection for mature learners age 50+ by providing stimulating opportunities to enrich the intellectual, social, and cultural lives of members, regardless of educational background.
OLLI has more that 64 courses, 40 brown bag presentations, and special events.
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| Pension Action Center: Persistence
Pays
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Pension councilors at the Pension Action Center assisted an 80-year old retired sheet metal worker from Chicago through the Illinois Pension Assistance Project. He was one of 589 retirees in the multiemployer plan sponsored by Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 73 who were notified in the summer of 2013 that their pensions had been miscalculated and overpaid for years; in many cases, over a decade. Our client had retired in 1996 and had been receiving the incorrect amount since 1997, when a temporary supplement should have ended, but did not. The Plan asserted that the client had been overpaid by $16,259, which he should repay with interest of $12,242, for a total recovery sought of $28,501. The plan had lowered his benefit to the correct amount, further reduced it by an additional 25% to recover the over payment, and asked him to pay back a lump sum of over $10,800, as it did not expect to recover the full amount over his life expectancy.
Pension councilors assisted this client in appealing the over
payment, requesting waiver on equitable grounds and challenging the Fund's actions as a breach of fiduciary duty. Councilors also assisted the client in compiling and filing a Financial Hardship waiver application that had been promulgated by the Fund and that required extensive financial information from the client. The client's annual income is approximately $24,000, and he has liquid assets of about $68,000, and regularly contributes to the support of his 98-year old mother.
In November, the Fund denied our appeal requesting waiver on equitable and other grounds (as it has done in the case of every retiree whose case we are aware of). However, in December, we received notification that the Fund had waived the entire over payment based on the client's significant financial hardship. The Fund adjusted the client's ongoing benefit back up to the corrected amount without the 25% reduction, returned the amount it had already recovered, and waived the full amount of the over payment along with its claim for interest. The client was relieved of the burden of an over payment claim of over $28,500. |
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| From the Director | 
This winter, as I was shoveling heavy snow, I had a realization that I could have a heart attack shoveling (I did not). I have shoveled snow all my life, but this was the first time I worried about the risks. I am "of that age."
It was probably on my mind because during the last snow storm my younger neighbor offered to shovel a part of my very long sidewalk. I accepted the offer.
With temperatures colder than normal and snow and ice in areas that seldom experience winter conditions, we are reminded that the risks older people face are greater in the winter. Elders are more apt to hurt themselves when they fall on ice; they are more vulnerable to the cold; and they have trouble getting around. While we recognize that the risks are greater for older individuals, they are risks faced by people of all ages. Creating an environment and policies that reduce these risks benefits everyone.
Much of the work we do in Gerontology@UMass Boston is investigating conditions at local levels to assist communities to develop age-friendly environments. By examining local-level data, we are able to provide communities with guidance concerning what services would be beneficial, what policies could assist vulnerable individuals, and where a town, county, or state should target its limited resources. The recent Healthy Aging Report is one example of data collection designed to help local communities identify and address problems of older individuals in those communities. Another example is our needs assessment reports for communities in Massachusetts. Another is the Elder Index, developed with Wider Opportunities for Women, which examines costs at local levels.
Contact us for more information about any of these initiatives and how we can help provide information that meets your community's needs. By gathering and analyzing data at the community level, policies can be targeted and community involvement is encouraged. Providing information that communities can use is one of our goals.
--- Ellen Bruce
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In this report, researchers have created a custom profile of nearly 100 healthy aging indicators for every city and town in Massachusetts including the 16 neighborhoods of Boston (367 Community Profiles). Each Community Profile is designed to help community residents, agencies, providers, and governments understand the older adults who live in their cities and towns - their ages, living arrangements, health status, strengths and vulnerabilities.
On January 24, Professor Beth Dugan, principal investigator, presented the data report at the Tufts Health Plan Foundation Health Aging forum. The Healthy Aging Data Report was assembled by her, Professors Frank Porell and Nina Silverstein, and five doctoral students. Over 400 people from the aging network community attended the forum. Dave Stevens of the Mass Assoc. of Councils on Aging said it was the most useful tool he has ever seen.
The impressive amount of work our team put into this project is on display through an interactive website.
Never before has Massachusetts had such a comprehensive view of healthy aging indicators reported at this local geographic level.
The report benchmarks local indicators of healthy aging, which can be used by policymakers and aging service providers to assess the health status and health care needs of their communities. The report can be found on the Gerontology Institute website.
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In Memorium:
Beloved Lecturer in Gerontology
Marian Spencer
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Marian Spencer, 91, vibrant gerontology educator of Boston and Mashpee, passed away peacefully on Thursday, December 5, 2013, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Born in Wilmington, NC, to William and Julia Spencer on July 19, 1922, Ms. Spencer graduated from St. Francis de Sales Academy in Rock Castle, VA, before studying nursing at Boston City Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1943. Her love of country inspired her to join the Army Nurse Corps achieving the rank of second lieutenant. She served as operating room nurse in the Papago Park Prisoner of War Camp in Arizona and was awarded the American Campaign World War II Victory Medal.
After her military service she earned bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from Boston University and went on to become a nursing administrator at Jewish Memorial Hospital in Roxbury and an associate professor of nursing at BU. To add to her distinguished career, she began teaching at the University of Massachusetts Boston, in 1991, where she taught Gerontology until the age of 88.
Ms. Spencer believed in the potential and capacity of older people to have significant impacts in their communities and on their own lives. She was a walking testament to this creed. Having embraced life with vitality, she will be remembered for her community activism and energetic engagement with everyone she met.
Her dedication to the development of a productive aging society was through advocacy groups. Working primarily in Boston's African-American community, she was actively involved in the Urban League, Central Boston Elder Services, Council of Elders, Boston Aging Concerns, Mt. Pleasant Home, and numerous other organizations.
A Vibrant Living event honoring Marian was held at UMass Boston on April 23, 2010. Keep On Stepping: One Woman's Journey highlighted her life of compassion and courage as a dedicated nurse and educator, a powerful advocate, and a committed community activist.
Her legacy will live on though Spencer House, a residential housing community for elders in Roxbury, named in her honor. As Gerontology Institute fellow, Marian hosted an award-winning cable TV show that featured issues of concern to elders.
A lover of jazz, theater, and the arts, she especially enjoyed the annual fundraiser for the Dimock Community Health Center, and the treasured Boston musical event, Steppin' Out.
Contributions may be made in her memory to the Marian Spencer Scholarship Fund, University of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125-3393.
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Professor Nina Silverstein to Receive Mentorship Award from the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education
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Professor Nina Silverstein, Institute fellow, and director, Undergraduate Gerontology Program, has been selected as the 2014 recipient of the Hiram J. Friedsam Mentorship Award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. The selection by the awards committee was approved by the Executive Council. Silverstein was nominated by UMass Bos ton graduate and undergraduate alumni and current students including: Kelly Fitzgerald, PhD, Bei Wu PhD, Lona Choi-Allum, PhD, Robin Sherman, PhD candidate, Cathy Wong, PhD, Anita Souza, BA alum, Norma Fajardo-Huard (BA student), Fabiola Alvarez (BA student) along with colleagues and mentees across the country.
This award was developed to honor Dr. Friedsam, who was an outstanding teacher, researcher, colleague, and mentor to students, faculty, and administrators. AGHE recognizes Prof. Silverstein for her similar qualities and achievements in mentorship. She will receive the award and present a lecture at AGHE's 40th Annual Meeting and Educational Leadership Conference, to be held in Denver, CO, February 27 -- March 2, 2014.
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Health Plan Foundation.