Sheps Center

    We are proud to celebrate Dr. Sheryl Zimmerman — a true pioneer in aging and long-term care research, and a cornerstone of the Sheps Center community. As co-director of our Program on Aging, Chronic Illness, and Long-Term Care, and executive director of CEAL@UNC, Sheryl has helped shape UNC into a national leader in… Read more »

In a recent article by The Washington Post, Sheryl Zimmerman, co-director of the Program on Aging, Chronic Illness, and Long-Term Care at the Sheps Center and Professor in the School of Social Work, offered insights into the growing use of animatronic pets to support older adults. These lifelike robotic companions, designed to mimic the behaviors… Read more »

In a groundbreaking effort to advance dementia care across the United States, researchers from the Sheps Center at UNC-CH have partnered with Emory University, the University of Minnesota, Johns Hopkins University, Brown University, and the Alzheimer’s Association to establish the State Alzheimer’s Research Support (StARS) Center. This initiative, funded by a $17 million grant from… Read more »

Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, MSW has been appointed as the leader of the Recruitment and Retention Core and Johanna Hickey, MSW as the Core Coordinator of the NEXT STEPs project, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at increasing the inclusion of nursing home residents in clinical trials. The project, led by research scientists from the Indiana University School… Read more »

Dr. Sheryl Zimmerman, co-director of the Sheps Center’s Program on Aging, Disability, and Long-Term Care, is named Executive Director of the newly established CEAL@UNC at a reception to celebration the center in February at the Carolina Inn.  CEAL@UNC will now be housed in UNC’s School of Social Work with support from the Cecil G. Sheps… Read more »

  Congratulation Dr. Zimmerman!   The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — has chosen Sheryl Zimmerman, PhD, FGSA, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the 2022 recipient of the Robert W. Kleemeier Award. This distinguished honor is given annually… Read more »

International retirement migration is a growing phenomenon that is expected to accelerate with the aging of the baby boomer generation. In the Western hemisphere, migrants particularly favor medium-sized historic, picturesque colonial cities in Latin America. Their impact on these settings is large and complex but has received little systematic study. This phenomenon can stimulate economic… Read more »

Sheps investigator Laura Hanson, MD, MPH is featured on the GeriPal podcast discussing her randomized control trial of a Goals of Care intervention for family decision makers of nursing home residents with advanced dementia. You can listen to the podcast here and watch the Goals of Care decision aid here.

Researchers from the University of North Carolina’s Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and School of Social Work, with funding from The Center for Excellence in Assisted Living (CEAL), completed a review of measures and instruments useful to maintain and improve quality in assisted living, and which may help assisted living providers become… Read more »

National Institute on Aging study targets use of medications in assisted living communities (Chapel Hill, N.C. — Nov. 2, 2015) – Researchers in aging at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have been awarded a nearly $3.4 million federal grant to examine the inappropriate and excessive use of antipsychotic medications in assisted living… Read more »