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Takashi Amano

Assistant Professor

Image of Takashi Amano
Location

Hill Hall 412

Phone

973-353-0830

Email

ta460@newark.rutgers.edu

Operational Unit Faculty

Department Social Work

Biography

Takashi Amano is an assistant professor at the Department of Social Work, School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers University – Newark. From a biopsychosocial lens, his research is focused on understanding and supporting the lives of vulnerable older adults, especially those with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). He has three specific research agendas. First, his research aims to support the lives of people with cognitive impairment and ADRD by untangling the reciprocal relationship between social engagement and cognitive impairment and ADRD. Second, based on the social constructionist model, his research is geared toward identifying socially and culturally constructed barriers to activity, participation, and access to support for people with cognitive impairment and ADRD. Third, my research agenda focuses on inequality in implementation, accessibility, and availability of long-term supports and services for people with cognitive impairment and ADRD.

His personal experience with his grandmother and professional experience as a researcher and social worker shaped his passion for supporting people with ADRD and their family members. He pursued a Master’s Degree in Social Work at the University of Southern Indiana and completed his two practicum opportunities at a nursing home and a community counseling center for older adults. After graduation, he went back to Japan and worked at the Dia Foundation for Research on Aging and Keio University School of Medicine, as an assistant researcher. He also worked as a social worker at a community center for home and community-based care for older adults. Before joining Rutgers, Dr. Amano earned his PhD from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Research Initiatives

  • The association between social engagement and cognitive impairment and dementia
  • Racial/Ethnic disparities in the effects of a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease 
  • Underdiagnosis of dementia among indigenous older adults in Ecuador
  • Implementation of music therapy for people with dementia living in a nursing home

Courses Taught

Introduction to Social Work (910:220)
Human Behavior and the Social Environment (910:322)
Human Diversity (910:345)
Aging in the 21st Century (910:347)

Associated Programs

Affiliated Faculty


Awards

2020-2021 Research Council Award, Rutgers University Research Council

Expertise

Gerontology, quantitative methods, long-term services and supports, human diversity and development

Publications

  • Amano, T., Park, S., Morrow-Howell, N., & Carpenter, B. (2022). The association between patterns of social engagement and conversion from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. Manuscript published online. Alzheimer Disease and Associated Disorders, 36(1), 7-14.
  • Amano, T., Hooley, C., Strong, J., & Inoue, M. (2022). Strategies for implementing music-based interventions for older adults with dementia in nursing homes: A systematic review. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 37(1).
  • Amano, T., Reynolds, A., Scher, C., & Jia, Y., (2021). The effect of a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) on social relationships of older adults. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 50(4), 401-406. https://doi.org/10.1159/000519581.
  • Amano, T., Gallegos, C.A., Waters, W.F., & Freire, W.B. (2021). Ethnic disparity in nutritional status: Evidence from Ecuador's National Survey of Health, Welfare and Aging (SABE). Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 64(2), 106-119. https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2020.1814476.
  • Park, S., Kim B., Amano, T., & Chen, Q. (2021). Home modifications, living alone, and trajectories of cognitive function among older adults with functional limitations: The person-environment fit perspective. Environment and Behavior, 53(3), 252-276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916519879772.
  • Amano, T., Morrow-Howell, N., & Park, S. (2020). Patterns of social engagement among people with mild cognitive impairment. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B Psychological Sciences, 75(7), 1361-1371. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbz051.
  • Wong, R., Amano, T., Lin, S-Y., Zhou, Y., Morrow-Howell, N., & Stark, S. (2019). Strategies for the recruitment and retention of racial minorities in Alzheimer's disease and dementia clinical research: A systematic review. Current Alzheimer Research, 16(5), 458-471(14).
  • Amano, T., Yamanaka, K., & Carpenter, B.D. (2019). Reliability and validity of the Japanese version of Alzheimer's disease knowledge scale. Dementia, 18(2), 599-612.
  • Amano, T., Park, S., & Morrow-Howell, N. (2018). The association between cognitive impairment and patterns of activity engagement among older adults. Research on Aging, 40(7), 645-667.

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography 


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