Faculty member promotes and researches meaningful aging among the "greatest generation"
Cheryl Dye doesn’t seem nearly old enough to tell tales of her two-room schoolhouse. But she does. Born in one of Missouri’s small places, she went to school with six classmates for several years before the school was merged with the big-city school, where she graduated in a class of 73.
That rural life, where kids grew up spending time with multiple generations, where they were as comfortable among the elderly as among their young friends, may well have prepared Dye for her future.
A professor of public health science, Dye’s interests over the years have evolved into a passion for making life better, more relevant, for the elderly. Now her responsibilities include her post as director of the Institute for Engaged Aging.
Dye joined the Clemson University Department of Public Health Sciences in 1991 as an instructor. She rose to assistant professor and associate professor over the years and attained the rank of professor in 2007.
About 10 years ago her research began to focus more and more on what newsman Tom Brokaw, at about that same time, dubbed “The Greatest Generation.” Her projects ranged from increasing physical activity among food stamp recipients to improving independence among older rural residents.
The difference between dedication and passion is illustrated on Dye’s face when talk turns from ideas to people.
“I’ve never met the stereotypical grumpy old man,” she says, bright eyes and smile lighting her face. “I really admire that generation. I like their hard-working, positive, can-do attitude. They don’t let setbacks stop them.”
Much of her research and service activity revolve around the idea of “aging in place” — the goal of enabling aging Americans to remain at home as they get older — but with a more ambitious expectation she calls “engaged aging.”
“The goal is to age in place, but that’s not enough. We want them to age in place with relevance, to have a meaningful role in society,” she said. “We have such a treasure here in our society and we don’t do enough to keep them relevant. Other cultures, and our society in earlier times, embraced and relied on their elders but we don’t take advantage of what they have to offer.”
Many people moving into the later years of life also demonstrate a youthful enthusiasm for learning new things and gaining new experiences, according to Dye.
“It’s a real growth period for some of them,” Dye said. “When they were young, they got a job and went to work. They pursued the steady job, not their passion, and now they find themselves able to pursue their true interests, some for the first time.”
Dye works to bring together those experiences and the older population. When she heard about a form of Tai Chi that helps people with arthritis, she became a certified instructor so she can offer the martial art to people in the community. She also brings together experience and exuberance with a program that partners college students with senior mentors, a program that enables each to benefit from the other.
“I learn so much from the older folks I work with and our students do, too,” Dye said. “A lot of time students haven’t been around older adults very much and what they learn is that they’re just like the rest of us, just with older bodies. One lady told me that when you get older you are who you always were, just more so.”