Megan Skowronski – COSSPP alumna and a doctoral student in Sociology – recently won the first-place prize at the Institute of Successful Longevity Student Poster Day competition.
The Institute of Successful Longevity (ISL) is an FSU-run multidisciplinary research institute that studies how to live longer, stay active, and be fully engaged in life.
The ISL annually holds the Student Poster Day competition to highlight students’ groundbreaking research. This year, it was judged by the Gerontological Society of America’s President Jim Nelson, and their CEO James Appleby, alongside FSU faculty.
Skowronski’s project explores the link between COVID-19-related financial and medication nonadherence in older adults.
The findings indicate that addressing housing insecurity and medical expenses can enhance medication adherence. Her study identifies specific expenses that often hinder adherence to medication plans, contributing to our understanding of financial pressures in relation to non-adherence.
“Winning a research competition focused on aging with a project that explores the financial precarity experienced by older adults and its impact on medical adherence is a tremendous honor,” Skowronski said. “This recognition highlights the importance of addressing the complex challenges faced by aging populations and sheds light on the critical intersection of financial well-being and healthcare outcomes in older adults.”
Skowronski’s research area lies at the intersection of health, aging, race/ethnicity, economic stratification, and public policy. Her work identifies how economic hardships over the life course shape access to health care and subsequent health outcomes.
She takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding these inequities, drawing on sociology, gerontology, epidemiology, public health, and economics from a theoretical and methodological perspective.
Skowronski earned her B.S. Economics in 2018 at FSU. After graduating, she chose to pursue her doctorate with FSU’s Department of Sociology because of the wonderful faculty in the department’s Health and Aging specialty area.
“I’d like to thank my co-authors Dr. Dawn Carr and Dr. Patricia Homan, as well as the Aging Research on Contexts, Health and Inequalities (ARCHI) working group at Florida State University for their feedback and support that significantly improved this work,” Skowronski said.
Alongside her research, she enjoys working hands-on in the classroom with undergrads and master’s students as a teaching assistant for Dr. Homan. She is passionate about statistical methods and loves getting others excited about coding.
Moving forward with her doctoral studies, Megan’s primary focus is on understanding associations between spatiotemporal changes in welfare systems, redistributive social policies, and population health.
To learn more about FSU’s Institute of Successful Longevity, visit isl.fsu.edu. To learn more about FSU’s Economics program, visit coss.fsu.edu/economics. To learn more about FSU’s Sociology program, visit coss.fsu.edu/sociology.