LeadingAge is joining with the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston to create a new research center called the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston.
The new center is the first in the country to combine the expertise of applied and academic researchers with the unique perspectives of providers and consumers of long-term services and supports (LTSS). The center will conduct research aimed at transforming the way LTSS are financed, delivered, and experienced by older adults and their families.
“We are delighted to announce this unique partnership between two leading organizations with deep experience in aging policy and research,” said Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO of LeadingAge. “Together, we have committed ourselves to improving the quality, affordability and accessibility of long-term services and supports through data and evidence of what really works.”
The LeadingAge LTSS Center will be co-directed by Dr. Robyn Stone, senior vice president of research at LeadingAge, and Professor Marc Cohen, leader of LTSS research at the Gerontology Institute, part of the McCormack Graduate School at UMass Boston.
The combined center will have offices in Washington, DC, and Boston, MA. Researchers will work together to study a variety of issues affecting the LTSS field, including workforce challenges, housing plus services strategies, nursing home quality, and LTSS financing. The new center will be dedicated to improving the lives of older Americans through robust research that can be applied to policy and practice in the LTSS field.
The new LTSS research center will also collaborate with the Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation at Community Catalyst. The Community Catalyst center will provide its policy expertise focused on consumer needs.
“The University of Massachusetts Boston looks forward to being a part of what is destined to become one of the largest and most effective LTSS research centers in our field,” said Len Fishman, director of the Gerontology Institute at UMass Boston. “We are excited to be working with LeadingAge and Community Catalyst to build the capacity of our organizations to study a broad spectrum of important issues in collaboration with consumers and LeadingAge members, who represent the most innovative providers in the field.”