The Wealth & Poverty theme at Ohio University presents Dr. Graham Rowles discussing “Growing Old in Rural Appalachia: Looking Back and Thinking Forward” on Thursday, Feb. 9 from 3-4 p.m. at Alden 319.
This event is part of Wealth & Poverty Week: Rural America.
Dr. Graham D. Rowles
Abstract
Against the backdrop of demographic change and a baseline of empirical research conducted in the 1980s, this presentation revisits the experience of growing old in rural Appalachia and poses the question: “How has the situation of older adults and the nature of their lived experience changed over the past 35 years?” Trends in poverty, health status and health care, service access, family relationships, social support and the culture of growing old are considered in the context of identifying key themes in the evolution of older adults’ relationship with place. While the resilience of culture has meant that much has remained the same within the region, new influences on the lives of rural Appalachian older adults ranging from the negative impact of a drug abuse epidemic to the potentially positive effects of new communication technologies are transforming the experience of growing old in the region.
Speaker Bio
Rowles is Professor of Gerontology and was Founding Director of the Graduate Center for Gerontology at the University of Kentucky. He earned his B.A. in Geography and M.S. in Social Sciences at the University of Bristol (England) and his Ph.D. at Clark University (Massachusetts). He spent nine years on the faculty at West Virginia University before coming to the University of Kentucky in 1985. An environmental gerontologist, his research focuses on the lived experience of aging. A central theme of this work is exploration, employing qualitative methodologies, of the changing relationship between older adults and their environments and the implications of this relationship for health, wellbeing and environmental design. He has conducted in-depth ethnographic research with elderly populations in urban (inner city), rural (Appalachian), and nursing facility environments. Recent research has focused on long-term care and the meaning of place in old age. A Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, Rowles has served as president of the Southern Gerontological Society and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. He is currently Chair of the Commonwealth of Kentucky Institute on Aging.
More Rural America Events
Appalachia’s New Rural Economy: Industry, Employment, and Economic Well-Being
- Friday, Feb. 3 – Dr. Cynthia Anderson (Sociology and Anthropology) 1-2 p.m. at Alden 319
Rising Tides and Leaky Boats: Economic Development Strategies That Work for Those That Need Help Most
- Monday, Feb. 6 – John Molinaro (Appalachian Partnership for Economic Growth) 3-4 p.m. at Alden 319
A Home on the Range and a Range in the Home: Farm Women’s Acquisition of Modern Household Technology
- Tuesday, Feb. 7 – Dr. Katherine Jellison (History) “A Home on the Range and a Range in the Home: Farm Women’s Acquisition of Modern Household Technology,” 9-10 a.m. at Alden 319
Comprehensive Patient Navigator Program for Rural Appalachia
- Wednesday, Feb. 8 – Dr. Elizabeth Beverly (Family Medicine) 2-3 p.m. at Alden 319
The Little Cities as a Classroom
- Friday, Feb. 10 – Dr. Rachel Terman (Sociology and Anthropology) and John Winnenberg (Sunday Creek Associates) 1-2 p.m. at Alden 319
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