Journal of Aging Studies Moves to UMass Amherst College of Nursing

AMHERST — The Journal of Aging Studies is moving to UMass Amherst from the University of Missouri.

Jaber Gubrium, professor emeritus of Sociology at the University of Missouri, is the editor of the journal. He was recently appointed as an adjunct professor at the College of Nursing at UMass Amherst. Over the course of his long career, Gubrium has been a leading researcher on issues such as institutionalization, dementia, and issues of interpretive practice. His theoretical interests center on links between cultural formations of late life and constructions of identity.

Gubrium originally described the everyday practice of caregiving in nursing homes in the now-classic research monograph Living and Dying at Murray Manor. The pioneering work examined the small- and large-scale social organizations within the nursing home and the patient and staff experience rather attempting to establish a single metric to measure quality of care.

Since then, Gubrium has published Oldtimers and Alzheimer’s: The Descriptive Organization of Senility and Speaking of Life: Horizons of Meaning for Nursing Home Residents, as well as other works.

With the Journal of Aging Studies moving to UMass, College of Nursing Professor Cynthia Jacelon has been named to the editorial board. Jacelon’s area of research and expertise is promoting dignity, self-management of chronic health problems, and independence in older adults.

“We are excited to have the Journal of Aging Studies based here at the College of Nursing,” said Dean Stephen Cavanagh. “Professor Jacelon’s appointment to the editorial board will benefit both the college and the journal. Her research on dignity changed the conversations that are taking place in senior homes across the country.”