Georgia Tech scientists will design training systems to help older adults in using automated teller machines and public transportation, and in handling Medicare and Medicaid rules, procedures, and bills. Training will be designed so that it can be generally applied in a variety of potential problem areas. Researchers will be working with National Cash Register and other companies. Pillemer will investigate the role of social supports for caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Other center projects will study the transition to retirement and its implications for paid or volunteer work following initial retirement, and how transportation issues affect social integration of older people outside urban areas.
Researchers expect to work with several major corporations based in central New York.
The Institute's Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Centers test specific ways to prevent disability and promote physical well-being for older adults. The NIA is one of the 17 National Institutes of Health. It conducts and supports basic, clinical, epidemiological, and behavioral and social research on aging and the special needs of older people.