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Portland, Maine

Centers for Excellence in Public Health, Aging and Health host community workshop on pandemic-era aging

A room of workshop attendees views a presentation
The event, “Pandemic-Informed Initiatives: Nutrition & Wellness in Aging Adults,” was held on May 29.

The University of New England Centers for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH) and Aging and Health (CEAH) recently co-hosted a community dissemination workshop on aging in Maine during the COVID-19 pandemic at UNE North: The Center for North Atlantic Studies at UNE.

The event, “Pandemic-Informed Initiatives: Nutrition & Wellness in Aging Adults,” was held on May 29 and also acted as a farewell for Tom Meuser, Ph.D., who retired from his role as founding director of CEAH in May. Members of CEAH’s Legacy Scholars program, as well as UNE staff, attended. Roberta DiDonato, Ph.D. served as the event’s discussant, linking key themes and posing questions from the three featured presentations.

Megan Walton, executive director of the Southern Maine Agency on Aging (SMAA), opened the event by sharing observations and lessons learned from the pandemic. Meuser presented findings from CEAH’s Wellness Scales Project, which included data collected from the Legacy Scholars about their wellness experiences and attitudes. 

Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.P.H., professor of public health and director of CEPH; Mary DeSilva, Sc.D., M.S., M.S.F.S., associate director for research in CEPH; and Margaret Gamble, B.A., research assistant and current Master of Social Work student at UNE, presented their latest research titled, “A university-low-income-housing partnership to support food security, healthy shopping, eating, health and wellness among older adults in rural Maine.” 

The project, led by Polacsek, evaluated the impact of an innovative, pandemic-responsive nutrition education program titled Enhanced-10 Tips for Adults (e-TTA), a three-year project on food security, socialization, and perceived health and well-being of residents in a rural low-income senior housing setting in Maine. 

The research project was supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as part of a financial assistance award totaling $1.2 million, with 75%, or $900,000, funded by ACL/HHS and 25%. or $300,000. funded by non- governmental source(s). The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor are an endorsement, by ACL/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.