Lifespan Investigation of Family, Health and Environment: A Lifespan Alliance Collaboration between Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute and Institute of Gerontology
Lifespan Alliance Overview
The new Lifespan Alliance between MPSI and IOG aims to enhance:
- Research and training on lifespan themes
- Inter-generational community engagement
- Administrative efficiencies, with reduced costs
- Research infrastructure and support services for faculty and students
Lifespan Investigation of Family, Health and Environment (LIFHE)
The first research by the Lifespan Alliance is the LIFHE project with an initial focus on the physical and emotional impact of grandparents raising grandchildren in an urban environment.
The LIFHE Core Administrative Team includes:
- Peter Lichtenberg, PhD, Director of IOG/MPSI
- John Hannigan, PhD, Deputy Director, MPSI
- Cathy Lysack, PhD, Deputy Director, IOG
- Marc Kruman, PhD, Director, Center for the Study of Citizenship & Chair of History
- Lisa Ficker, MA, LIFHE Project Director
- Virginia Delaney-Black, MD, Associate Director,
- Children’s Research Center of Michigan
- Bonnie Stanton, MD, Chair of Pediatrics
- Teri Albrecht, PhD, Karmanos Cancer Institute
“Grand-Families” by the Numbers
- In 2000, 2.4 million self-defined “grandparent caregivers” were sole custodians of grandchildren <18 years old, up 30% since 1990. Eight times more children are being raised in grandparent-headed households than are in the foster care system
- Grandparent caregiver households are more common among African Americans than in other groups (Kelley & Whitley, 2003)
- Of 15,000 children in Michigan with court appointed guardians – mostly grandparents – 9,000 reside in Wayne County.
Initial Funding
Wayne State University President's Urban Research Enhancement Program
Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute
Institute for Gerontology
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For more information on the LIFHE project, please contact Lisa Ficker, MA, LIFHE Project Director at ljficker@wayne.edu or call (313) 664-2530. Please use this link to download our poster.