What graduate opportunities are available?

Through the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Public Health, students can pursue concentrations in aging for the following degrees:

M.P.H.
M.S.P.H.
Ph.D.
Dr.P.H.

Post-graduate opportunities are also available through the California Geriatric Education Center at UCLA.

Why a concentration in aging?

A public health approach to aging addresses some of the central challenges faced by today's elderly population, such as:

• How do gender, race, class and culture affect aging and health in our society?
• How will growing responsibilities for caregiving affect both the health care system and the lives of informal caregivers?
• Will the health status of the aged change in response to the changes in personal health behaviors, medical technology and the environment?
• What is adequate quality of care and how does it affect the quality of life?
• How will we organize and pay for health and long-term care services for current and future generations of elderly?

What does the course work include?

Students can pursue a concentration in aging within three departments of the School of Public Health Community Health Sciences, Epidemiology and Health Services. In addition to the non-aging courses required by the School of Public Health and individual departments, students complete electives in health and aging. They work with faculty advisors to identify a multi-disciplinary course of study that meets their interests and fulfills the requirements for the concentration in aging.

Courses in health and aging are offered every quarter by one or more of the departments within Public Health. Students may take electives from courses offered by any of the departments, including the following:

• Aging and health behavior
• Aging and long-term care
• Aging, health and society
• Epidemiology of aging
• Health policy and the elderly
• Injuries in the elderly
• Interdisciplinary practice in multicultural gerontology
• Minority aging and health
• Social epidemiology of chronic illness
• Women, health and aging policy issues.

What are the research opportunities?

Students gain valuable experience working with research programs that focus on the elderly. Current research projects in the School of Public Health include:

Chronic illness, which explores the psychosocial consequences of arthritis and the effectiveness of programs designed to improve quality of life. Nursing homes, which evaluates the effect of nursing home insurance on out-of-pocket expenses. Also examines the use, cost and economic burden of nursing home care. Minority long-term care service use, which analyzes patterns of institutional and community service used by Latino and African American elderly. Also assesses the care needs of older Asian Americans. Home care health workers, which examines the employment conditions of home care health workers and the impact of those conditions on the quality of care. Cross-national study of older Asians, which compares the well-being of three different nationalities in parts of Asia and Los Angeles.

Where are the typical field placements?

Several departments require a field practicum for master's degrees in Public Health. Placement sites involving the elderly include:

• Asian-Pacific Health Care Venture Los Angeles metropolitan area. Serving Pilipino, Chinese, Japanese, Southeast Asian and Korean populations.
• AltaMed Health Services, Senior Services East Los Angeles. Serving disabled older Latinos.
• Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project San Francisco. Serving a low-income population.
• Huntington Memorial Hospital, Senior Care Network Pasadena. Serving a multi-racial, multi-ethnic population.
• Senior Health and Peer Counseling CenterSanta Monica.
• Supplying health promotion and preventive services.
• Project Safety Net Los Angeles. Supplying community-based screening and comprehensive geriatric assessment.

What are the requirments?

Students interested in pursuing graduate studies in Public Health with a concentration in aging must meet all admission requirements of both the UCLA Graduate Division and the School of Public Health. Also, they must apply to a department within the School of Public Health, as specified in the current School of Public Health Announcement.

How can you get more information?

If you have access to the internet, you can get a listing of current courses, recent faculty publications and other information about health and aging at the School of Public Health on the GeroNet server (gopher//gopher.ph.ucla.edu). Open the GeroNet folder and then the Health and Aging at UCLA folder for up-to-date information. You can also request information about opportunities for graduate study in aging and public health by contacting

Steven P. Wallace, Ph.D.
Department of Community Health Sciences
UCLA School of Public Health,
Box 951772
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772

Telephone (310) 206-3578
Fax (310) 825-5960
e-mail: swallace@ucla.edu

What campus resources are available?

The UCLA School of Public Health works closely with other campus units to provide a multidisciplinary aging and public health curriculum. These campus units include: The UCLA Academic Geriatric Resource Program. This consortium of Public Health, Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry and Social Welfare promotes education in geriatrics and gerontology. The UCLA Center on Aging This center works campus-wide to foster education, research and community awareness on aging issues. Campus ethnic and international studies centersThe Afro-American, Asian American, Native American and Chicano studies centers and the Latin American and Pacific Rim studies centers co-sponsor research projects with the School of Public Health and provide joint course offerings. Nationally recognized research centers Public Health faculty perform research within renown research centers such as the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Older Americans Independence Center, the Multipurpose Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disease Center and the Borun Center for Gerontological Research.

Public Health Faculty

• Emily Abel, M.P.H., Ph.D.
  Associate Professor, Health Services
• Ronald Andersen, Ph.D.
  Professor & Wasserman Chair of Health Services
• Carol Aneshensel, Ph.D.
  Professor, Community Health Sciences
• Emil Berkanovic, Ph.D.
  Professor, Community Health Sciences
• Lester Breslow, M.P.H., M.D.
  Professor Emeritus, Health Services
• Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, R.N., M.N., Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor, Community Health Sciences
• Gerald Kominski, Ph.D.
  Associate Professor, Health Services
• Roberta Malmgren, Ph.D.
  Adjunct Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
• Thomas Rice, Ph.D.
  Professor, Health Services
• John Schnelle, Ph.D.,
  Professor in Residence, Community Health Sciences
  Director, Borun Center for Gerontological Research
  Stuart Schweitzer, Ph.D.
  Professor, Health Services
• Steven Wallace, Ph.D.
  Associate Professor, Community Health Sciences
• Affiliated faculty
  Rosina Becerra, Ph.D.
  Professor, Social Welfare
• A.E. "Ted" Benjamin, Ph.D.
  Professor, Social Welfare
• James Birren, Ph.D., Associate Director
  Borun Center for Gerontological Research
• Harry Kitano, Ph.D.
  Professor Emeritus, Social Welfare
• James Lubben, M.P.H., D.S.W.
  Professor, Social Welfare
• Geraldine Padilla, Ph.D.
  Professor, Nursing
• David Reuben, M.D.
  Associate Professor, Medicine
• Fernando Torres-Gil, Ph.D.
  Professor, Social Welfare

Last Updated: March 3, 2006 © 2000 UCLA GeroNet