Mia Oberlink, M.A., Senior Research Associate, joined the Center for Home Care Policy and Research (CHCPR) in June 1999. Ms. Oberlink is currently managing the AdvantAge Initiative, a data-driven community development project that helps communities measure their elder-friendliness and develop strategies to sustain older residents' independence and allow them to "age in place." To date, 26 communities around the U.S. have participated in the AdvantAge Initiative.
Ms. Oberlink is also directing the CHCPR portion of the Health Indicators in NORC Programs Initiative, a collaborative project with the United Hospital Fund. The Initiative will help Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities Supportive Services Programs (NORC-SSPs) identify health needs in their communities, develop health interventions targeted to identified needs, measure the impact of these interventions on NORC residents over time, and generate a body of evidence regarding the efficacy of NORC-SSP services to advance health aging in place.
Previously Ms. Oberlink was the Deputy Director of the Home Care Research Initiative (HCRI), a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), and worked on one additional Center project funded by RWJF: Information Brokering for Long-Term Care, She has also researched and written reports on livable communities for the National Council on Disability and AARP.
Prior to joining the Center, Ms. Oberlink spent 13 years writing about biomedical and social issues in aging, first at the Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and, more recently, at the International Longevity Center, where she was Director of Communications.
Ms. Oberlink received both an undergraduate and graduate degree in French Literature from New York University. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in Teaching English as a Second Language from New York University.
Journal Articles and Reports
Roane D, Danis K, Oberlink
M. 2009
Evaluation of a community-based geriatric mental health program.
World Psychiatry. 8:Supplement 1: 275.
Oberlink, M. April 2008
Opportunities
for Creating Livable Communities.
AARP Public Policy Institute.
Issues in Creating Livable
Communities for People with Disabilities, Summary of a Panel Discussion on
Livable Communities Sponsored by the National Council on Disability.
National Council on Disability.
Oberlink, M. 2007.
Active
Living for Older Adults: Using Information to Make Neighborhoods Walkable and
Safe.
Smart Growth Online Publication.
Oberlink, M. No. 29, Spring 2006.
Livable communities for adults with disabilities. Policy
Brief.
National Council on Disability 2004
Livable
Communities for Adults with Disabilities.
Feldman, P.H., Oberlink, M.R., Simantov, E., &
Gursen, M.D., 2004
A Tale of
Two Older Americas: Community Opportunities and Challenges. The AdvantAge
Initiative 2003 National Survey of Adults Aged 65 and Older.
Feldman, P.H. and
Oberlink, M. 2003.
Developing community indicators to promote the health and well-being of
older people.
Family and Community Health Journal 26(4):268-274.
Feldman, P.H.,
Oberlink, M., Rudin, D., Clay, J., Edwards, B., and
Best practices: Lessons for communities in supporting the heatlh, well
being, and independence of older people.
Center for Home Care Policy and Research. Available on the AdvantAge
Initiative website: www.advantageinitiative.org.
Oberlink, M. and Zuckerman, E., eds.
May/June 2002; July/August/September/October 2002/; April/May 2003
The AdvantAge Initiative Update
New York, NY: Center for Home Care Policy and Research, VNSNY
These and previous issues available on the AdvantAge Initiative website: www.advantageinitiative.org
Oberlink, M. and
Zuckerman, E., eds. Mar/Apr 2002.
The AdvantAge Initiative Update.
Oberlink, M. and
Zuckerman, E., eds. Jan/Feb 2002.
The AdvantAge Initiative Update.
Stevenson, D.,
Murtaugh, C., Feldman, P., and Oberlink, M. Fall/Winter 2000.
Expanding publicly financed
assisted living and other residential alternatives for disabled older persons:
Issues and options. Policy Brief
Stevenson, D.,
Murtaugh, C., Feldman, P., and Oberlink, M. Fall/Winter 2000.
Expanding publicly financed
managed long-term care programs to provide greater access to home and
community-based care. Policy Brief
Murtaugh, C.,
Stevenson, D., Feldman, P., and Oberlink, M. Fall/Winter 2000.
State expenditures on home and
community-based care for disabled elders. Fact Sheet.
Books
Butler, R., Grossman, L., and Oberlink, M., eds.
1999.
Life in an Older America.
New York: The Century Foundation.
