University of Minnesota

The official Tumblr account of the University of Minnesota. How are you #UMNdriven?

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23.5 Americans living in food deserts?

We’re driven to connect neighborhood residents to healthy food

In his research, Adam Pine has found that residents in the Duluth neighborhood of Lincoln Park (a food desert) use a variety of means to reach the nearest grocery store, with more than 17 percent not driving themselves. Duluth organizations have since collaborated to establish a bus route—the DTA Grocery Express—that links residents in Lincoln Park and Morgan Park to a local grocery store. 

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Seniors face eroding base of caregivers

Marilyn Bruin’s passion is to see aging people live the way they want to live and to find ways to use public resources to accomplish that. 

The percentage of seniors is expected to rise 54% between 2010 and 2040, while the percentage of wage earners drops 10%, a trend that means fewer working people supporting each boomer.

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We are driven to find new ways to support family caregivers

Over the next 40 years, the number of family caregivers available on average for aging adults will decline from just over 7 to about 3. See how Joseph Gaugler is supporting family caregivers.

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Could stopping one enzyme also stop Alzheimer’s? 

Karen Hsiao Ashe has dedicated her life to finding a cure for the most devastating form of dementia Alzheimer’s disease before it decimates our families and economies. 

Among her discoveries, she found that clumps of a tangled up protein found in the brains of Alzheimers patients don’t cause the disease. But that particular brain protein, known as tau does play a key role. 

“Research is sort of like a baseball game. Not much happens for a while, and then someone hits a home run.”

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Residents don't want to be thought of as patients. They crave authentic relationships, they want to know that they still matter & that there is still something for them do.

Tetyana Shippee, Professor

Tetyana Shippee knows senior living firsthand: while still a student, she lived for two years in a retirement home. There, she learned that residents want true human relationships, and not to be identified by their medical condition.

Quality living means meeting the needs of people from various races, ethnicities, and linguistic backgrounds. Shippee is committed to helping Minnesota agencies reduce disparities and improve life for all vulnerable older adults-especially people of color-regardless of the setting.

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Memory Keepers

Driven to End American Indian & Rural Health Disparities

In Native American culture, memory keepers are traditionally adults and elders of the tribe who are responsible for preserving sacred medicine bundles, sacred songs, and stories. By prevention and aggressive management of diabetes, the risk of vascular and other dementias that rob people of their memory can be reduced. In this spirit, the research to preserve brain health will enable Native American communities to continue to benefit from the wisdom of their adults and elders.

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A map of food deserts in Minnesota

An Oasis in the Desert

University of Minnesota Duluth researcher Adam Pine has been researching the “food deserts” in the Duluth communities of Lincoln Park and Morgan Park. Food deserts are typically low-income neighborhoods that have relatively poor access to healthy and affordable food.

His research illuminates the various ways that people in food deserts obtain their food, and he works to make their food supply healthier and more secure.

Pine also works to empower marginalized populations to become providers—through programs like urban gardening and community organizing—rather than passive recipients of food aid. 

Connecting neighborhood residents to healthy food

In his research, Pine has found that residents in the Duluth neighborhood of Lincoln Park (a food desert) use a variety of means to reach the nearest grocery store, with more than 17 percent not driving themselves. Duluth organizations have since collaborated to establish a bus route—the DTA Grocery Express—that links residents in Lincoln Park and Morgan Park to a local grocery store.

[umndriven-blog]

Driven to Discover

Today's challenges won't rest, but neither will we. It's why we're driven. See how we're tackling 5 of the world's biggest challenges..