Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work, July 2020
In This Issue

PLAN B FOR GSA CONFERENCE: EQUITY, JUSTICE, & INCLUSION
 
Stay tuned for an exciting Network webinar on the theme of Rethinking Justice, Equity, and Inclusion among Older Workers amid a Pandemic. Representatives of GSA are working with the Network after our proposal for a preconference was not included in GSA's annual meeting plans. The webinar, Plan B, will feature some of the same presentations and contributions that were planned for the preconference including keynote speaker Mary Gatta, author of  Waiting on Retirement: Aging and Economic Security in Low-wage Work , and other innovative and new research about life-long learning, older workers with mental health issues, and effective workforce development partnerships. We will also be planning other virtual and online events (see below) to feature other important work that was planned for the preconference. Details to follow soon!

SLOAN RESEARCH NETWORK PLANS FOR CONFRONTING COVID
 
As we are all well aware, the global pandemic has put the kibosh on gatherings and forced us to rethink how we can accomplish the aims and priorities of the Network. It has also had a profound impact on our work, the research that we do, making last year's research so last year. Your Steering Committee  has been working long and hard to respond to this new reality and is in the process of planning a series of virtual events during which we can take a breath and think together about what we know now about older workers in this environment, what we need to know, how we are going to get the information, and then, how can we use it to support older workers. In the words of one SC member, "It's time to stop talking about older workers and find ways to support them" (Philip Taylor). This is especially true now. So, again, stay tuned for town halls, dialogues, other discussions and interactive formats, that will be scheduled on Zoom so that we can converse, not about polished research, but with our best imaginations and our questions about what are the most important steps we can take at this moment in time to address these dramatic changes in the context of aging and work.

CALL FOR PAPERS FOR PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY SPECIAL ISSUE AND INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIAL ISSUE
 
PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY
Special Issue editors (also Network members) Margaret Beier, Rice University; Ruth Kanfer, Georgia Institute of Technology; Dorien Kooij, Tilburg University; Donald Truxillo, Kemmy Business School, University of Limerick and Network members invite you to contribute to a Special Issue designed to address the challenges associated with an aging workforce and lower workforce participation among older employees. This Special Issue focuses on mid-life and older adult workers and age-differences in the workplace. The goal is to highlight empirical work that offers insights into research on phenomena related to age at work; proposes and tests new theory; and/or integrates existing work to explain the role of age in employee attitudes, motivation, behavior, well-being, and retirement and how organizations and societies can enhance these outcomes for workers across the lifespan. Studies may use an array of methods including field methodological designs (e.g., longitudinal, multilevel, within-person, qualitative methods, and interventions), meta-analyses, and experimental methods. More information can be found here.
 
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 
Network member Karen Fortuna, the editor of the  Journal of Participatory Medicine , invites you to  consider submitting an article for a special issue of the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that focuses on Epidemiology and Mental Health among Older Adults.  Older adults with mental health disorders are at greater risk of functional and physical decline, disability, early mortality, and numerous other poor health outcomes. Moreover, poor mental health may adversely affect the course and treatment of other chronic mental and physical health conditions, leading to increased healthcare use and expenditures. These effects are compounded by the under-identification and under-treatment of mental health problems among older adults.  This  Special Issue  is intended to inform the development of policies and interventions to promote optimal mental health in aging, through population-based studies of the distribution and determinants of mental health in older adults.


 
As always, I want to remind you that this is your Network. I welcome suggestions for topics or people to facilitate some of these discussions. 
 
With best wishes,
Jackie
 
Jacquelyn James
Director, Sloan Research Network on Aging & Work
Boston College 
 
Network Steering Committee:  Cal Halvorsen,  Kendra Jason,   Ruth Kanfer, Christina Matz-Costa, Phyllis Moen, Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Sara Rix, Harvey Sterns, Philip Taylor,  Johanna Thunell