The University of Pittsburgh has named Pamela Toto director of its ground-breaking Healthy Home Lab (HHL). Formerly a multi-generational family home, the HHL is now a living laboratory in the University’s Oakland neighborhood where researchers across the University are designing and testing real-world, evidence-based solutions that will support community living among aging adults, people with disabilities and other vulnerable populations.
Toto, a professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS), is an occupational therapist, researcher and educator internationally recognized within her field for her expertise in aging in place. As director, she will oversee the research, education and service activities of the HHL and connect the lab’s activities to the many organizations dedicated to supporting successful aging in place. Toto has been involved with the HHL since its purchase by the University in April 2022 and a critical asset in the subsequent planning phases as it underwent extensive renovation. The newly unveiled home opened to its first visitors in August 2022 and Toto oversaw the implementation of new technology-enabled models of in-home care delivery, training programs and student research.
“I’m thrilled to take on this new and exciting role,” says Toto. “It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for me and a true culmination of the work I’ve done for my entire occupational therapy career, making this world—and especially my home of Pittsburgh—a better place to grow old.”
Toto grew up in the small steel town of Donora, PA, which has a rich history of resilient residents, mostly Eastern European immigrants, who cherished their independence. “I have wanted to work with older adults and help them remain independent since I was eight years old and started working at a Friday night church bingo selling soda pop,” she says. “My original plan was to go to medical school to become a geriatrician until I found occupational therapy which provided a much more direct (and less costly) path to my goal. I was privileged to have two grandmothers who both had challenging lives but remained strong and independent in our community. They were great role models of what it means to live life to its fullest.”
By 2050, the U.S. population over 65 will almost double to reach 83.7 million. The number of people over the age of 85 and living alone will quadruple, yet the U.S. Census Bureau reports that only about 10% of American homes are “aging-ready.” Common chronic health conditions combined with age-related changes can often make the goal of remaining at home unobtainable for older American adults. In the role of director, Toto will continue working across the University and with external partners to create solutions to address the challenges older adults and persons living with disabilities face to remain independent and thrive at home. In addition to the 33 core faculty and staff working at the HHL, Toto will be supported and work closely with the Healthy Home Lab’s Medical Director Dr. Steven Handler from the Department of Medicine and Technical Director Jonathan Pearlman from the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology.
Watch our video to learn more about the efforts and research at the Healthy Home Lab to help older adults safely age in place.
University of Pittsburgh Associate Vice Chancellor for Health Policy and Planning and Health Policy Institute Director Everette James welcomes Toto to her new role. “Throughout her career, Pam has been an innovative leader in the aging in place movement. She has worked in home health, trained clinicians, and designed and implemented new person-centered service models that empower older adults to better manage their health at home. As our HHL director she will oversee a robust community laboratory to translate the research we are doing at Pitt and with our partners into practice.”
SHRS Dean Anthony Delitto adds, “Pam exemplifies excellence in our faculty. She has a rare set of attributes combining high level expertise with pragmatism that will bring immediate translation of the HHL innovations into our patients’ homes. She is the epitome of what an occupational therapist can contribute to health care.”
The HHL is a three-story family home, originally built in 1860, with typical design challenges of older housing stock: steep, narrow staircases, inaccessible bathrooms, inadequate temperature controls and environmental hazards that complicate the innate challenges of accomplishing everyday activities as an older adult. Since its opening in 2023, HHL researchers have been testing, improving and developing technologies and environmental modifications that advance these solutions for aging in place. Toto says, “We are also educating consumers, care partners and the next healthcare workforce on how to obtain, train and use these solutions. Our ultimate measure of success is always our ‘real world’ impact: enabling every older adult the opportunity to age in place.”
Part of the Healthy Home Lab team including, from left to right: Joey Engelmeier, Jennifer McCartney, Jon Pearlman, Zachary Roy, Yong Choi, Pamela Toto, Dave Brienza, Patricia Karg and Paulina Villacreces. Standing in second row are Everette James, Jemima Ohwobete, Jack Fried and Bill Ammer.
The lab’s unique setting brings together students from across the University, including SHRS programs in Occupational Therapy, Emergency Medicine, Audiology, Rehabilitation Science and Technology, and Health Informatics and the Schools of Public Health, Engineering, Pharmacy, Nursing and Medicine, to train and participate in research to help people optimize their health at home.
Active local and national partnerships include the National Institutes on Aging, Allegheny County Area Agency on Aging, the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Housing and Urban Development, Administration for Community Living, Age Friendly Greater Pittsburgh and the UPMC Health Plan. The HHL is also a testbed site for the AARP’s Age Tech Collaborative and works with innovative companies and entrepreneurs across the country to develop and evaluate products and new tech-enabled service models.
“Aging in place means being able to live in your own home and community safely, independently and comfortably,” explains Toto. “Aging in place is not only the preference of most older adults but its also less expensive than institutional care which means a win-win for everyone.”
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In addition, Toto is the director of SHRS' Doctor of Clinical Science in Occupational Therapy program and the post-professional Advanced Practice Certificate in Implementation of Evidence in Clinical Practice.
Media contact: Chuck Finder
C: 412-996-5852
E: cfinder@pitt.edu
Published March 6, 2024