WKU News

Members of the Over 50 Academy joined in celebration on Wednesday, March 27 to acknowledge their progress and to discuss next steps.

In previous years, Dana Bradley of the WKU Center for Gerontology worked in partnership with the City of Bowling Green to support this academy and help with initiatives to support the aging adult community in our city. Now, CASHA (Center for Applied Science in Health and Aging) is partnering with the City of BG’s Over 50 Academy to involve them in research that will help with initiatives to improve the quality of life in our community.

The event launched with a warm welcome from Karen Foley, the Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the City of Bowling Green. Foley works closely with City departments to deliver services to the citizens of Bowling Green via neighborhood groups. Her leadership and support has fostered dozens of partnerships to support hundreds within the aging community.

Dr. Crandall, Associate professor in Exercise Science & Kinesiology at WKU and Director of CASHA, offered remarks to celebrate the many wins for this organization and touched on some exciting new projects in the works from the CASHA research team.

Established in April 2018, CASHA (housed in the WKU Center for Research and Development) works to identify, develop and mobilize social and health innovations in applied research by enhancing the well-being and performance in the aging community. Through his research and creation of health promotion program Bingocize®, Crandall has discovered significant improvements in older adults’ quality of life. With collaborators, Drs. Jean Neils-Strunjas (Communication Sciences & Disorders) and Matthew Shake (Psychological Sciences), the team has secured over $1.6 million in grant funding and completed multiple studies of the program. This work continues to help and benefit the aging community of Bowling Green.

Other dignitaries in attendance include Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson, Interim Dean and Associate Dean of the College of Health and Human Services at WKU, Drs. Dennis George and Danita Kelley, Eric Evans and Charlotte Whitaker from AARP KY.

Because of this partnership between CASHA, WKU, the City of Bowling Green and AARP KY, our community has been named the first age-friendly community in the state of Kentucky. The group is still working hard to identify inequities and continues to find new ways to make our city a great place to grow up and grow old.