Researchers from the Institute for Social Research are conducting an innovative field experiment designed to improve the lives of older, lower-income people.
The study is funded with an $886,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation.
“We’re adapting a program called Masterpiece Living for use in affordable housing communities. Two communities in the Los Angeles area will serve as our intervention groups, and another nearby retirement community will be our comparison group,” says U-M psychologist Toni Antonucci, the principal investigator of the project. Antonucci is the Elizabeth M. Douvan Collegiate Professor of Psychology and professor of psychology, LSA; research professor, Survey Research Center, ISR; and associate vice president for research — social sciences and humanities, Office of the Vice President for Research.
The two-year study will examine how the program’s suite of services affects residents’ quality of life, physical mobility, medical and behavioral risk factors, productive activity, and use of medical services.
The Masterpiece Living program is based on principles identified in the book “Successful Aging,” co-authored by ISR researcher Robert Kahn and geriatrician John Rowe.
“Bob Kahn and Jack Rowe really pioneered the idea of successful aging,” Antonucci says. “Instead of focusing on the losses that come with aging, they identified the factors that allowed men and women to stay active and continue enjoying their lives as they aged.”
The Masterpiece Living program involves improving the quality of food in community dining rooms, providing nutritional information to residents, improving fitness areas, and regularly assessing residents’ gait, balance, and arm strength, among other factors. Participants also provide feedback on how they’re doing, and meet with trained staff to discuss what they are doing to stay active, and what improvements they can make. The pilot of this program showed considerable success.
“Over a three-year period, participants ranging in age from the late 60s to the 90s showed a pattern of stability and small gains. That might seem modest, but in old age, maintenance is an accomplishment,” Kahn says.
So now Antonucci and Kahn are adapting the Masterpiece Living program for use in affordable housing communities, trimming the costs of implementing the program without reducing its effectiveness.
Kahn is professor emeritus of psychology, LSA; professor emeritus of health services management and policy, School of Public Health; and research scientist emeritus, Survey Research Center, ISR.
