When Dianna Judd Vass, CHEP '84, assistant professor at the University of North Carolina–Greensboro (UNCG), searched her campus for faculty whose research focused on the over-50 population, she never dreamed she would turn up another Delaware alum.

Through an Internet search, Vass found herself matched up with Martha Loeb Taylor, CHEP '71, but the Delaware link was not uncovered until their collaboration was well under way. "The match between us was incredibly strong right from the beginning," Vass says. "When we discovered we were both Blue Hens, it just cemented the relationship."

Vass is on the faculty of the textile products design and marketing department, while Taylor's appointment is in nutrition and food service systems. Both departments are in UNCG's School of Human Environmental Sciences.

The two are collaborating on a quality-of-life project that encompasses nutrition, physical activity and apparel. "The ability to remain healthy and to recover more quickly from illness and disease is partly dependent on older adults practicing healthy habits and having access to information that can improve their quality of life," Taylor points out. "Some of the most basic habits that relate to health are the food we eat, the level of activity we engage in and the clothes we wear. For older adults, these habits are critical because of the role they play in ensuring adequate nutrition, exercise and thermal protection and comfort."

Taylor and Vass are working to develop an increased understanding of the social and personal factors that affect older adults' food choices, activity levels and clothing selection habits. That information will then be used to create educational tools to aid this population in making good choices. The format they have adopted is based on the widely used food guide pyramid and a lesser known, but similar, activity pyramid.

In 1997, through the American Dietetic Association's (ADA's) Nutrition and Health for Older Americans campaign, special versions of these two pyramids for people over 50 years of age were released. Based on this concept, Vass and Taylor have established and tested an apparel pyramid designed for the same population.

The ADA's Food Guide Pyramid for Older Adults suggests food options and serving sizes and advises older adults to drink plenty of fluids, while the Activity Pyramid for Persons 50 and Over demonstrates how everyday activities can contribute to overall health. Simple activities--for example, gardening and taking steps instead of an elevator--can be done daily to promote fitness and health benefits. The tops of both pyramids illustrate activities and foods that should be only occasional indulgences for seniors, such as watching television and eating fatty desserts.

Similarly, the new apparel pyramid illustrates healthy practices as well as those to avoid, such as high heels, heavy handbags and shirts with tiny buttons on the collars.

"We want to help older adults develop strategies to deal with issues like maintaining balance to prevent falls or finding clothes that will be easy for arthritic fingers to manage," Vass says. "But, I believe strongly that fashion and function can co-exist. For example, fabrics and clothing styles that coordinate with orthopedic shoes are important everyday wardrobe issues for many older adults. Special-occasion clothing that has function built into the garments is lacking in the marketplace."

She and Taylor are both aware that even the best educational tools are of limited value if the population being targeted isn't aware of their existence or doesn't know how to use them. To gather data that will enable these tools to be optimized, the two recently conducted research using surveys, focus group discussions and assignments at a retirement community and a community-based senior center. "We found that maintenance of healthy eating, activity and apparel choices are challenging for older adults, and that the pyramid is an understandable education format for them," Taylor says.

Vass points out that the focus groups provide input to continual updating and improvement of the new apparel pyramid. "We're interested in learning not only this population's reaction to the content of the pyramid, but also their opinion of the presentation. Are the graphics meaningful? Is the font a readable size and style? What medium is the most effective means to disseminate the information--for example, refrigerator magnets, clothing labels, window clings?"

So far, the research has been funded by an intramural program within UNCG's School of Human Environmental Sciences aimed at promoting multidisciplinary collaboration, but Vass and Taylor are currently seeking external support for the work as well. They both believe passionately in the need to improve the quality of life for older individuals. Taylor, whose earlier work focused on children, notes that the demographics point to a strong need for research and education in the area of aging. "This population is growing throughout the nation," she says, "but in North Carolina, the trend is even more pronounced. Because of the temperate climate, many people come here to retire."

"Our work with the focus groups has shown us that we shouldn't make too many generalizations about this population because it is a multifaceted group of diverse individuals," Vass says. "At the same time, we've discovered that, overall. it's a very active group in our community. Our goal is to help these individuals stay that way, by providing them with the tools to make healthy decisions."

The decision to work together has certainly been a healthy one for Vass and Taylor. "As an assistant professor, I have benefited tremendously from having Martha as a mentor," Vass says. "She's helped me develop a full and rich research program that would not have been possible at this stage of my academic career without her. I've learned about not only nutrition but also education in terms of the role we can play in a training capacity with older adults."

Taylor is equally complimentary about the contributions of her younger colleague. "It's been great working with Dianna," she says. "As a nutritionist, I tend to be conservative, and she's encouraged me to 'think outside the box.' She also has lots of good ideas about marketing, which is very important in developing and disseminating educational tools."

Both also speak positively about the undergraduate educations they received at Delaware. "We came out of UD well-rounded and prepared for professional life," says Vass. "Each of us had taken courses in the other's department as a college requirement, and that has helped us work well together. Now, our joint research is breaking ground within the school at UNCG. We're just starting, but we almost get ahead of ourselves thinking about where we can go from here."

--Diane Kukich, AS '73, '84M