Now in its fifth year, the program aims to improve the well-being of older adults by increasing the number of adequately trained geriatric social workers. Dr. Barbara Berkman of the Columbia University School of Social Work is the director of the program. Listed below are the new faculty scholars and the primary topics of their research.
Karen Bullock, PhD
University of Connecticut
Research focus: Preference for Utilization of Medical Treatment among Older African Americans.
Joan K. Davitt, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
Research focus: Racial Disparities in Medicare Home Health Care.
Sang Kyoung Kahng, PhD
Washington University, St. Louis
Research focus: The trajectories of service use, physical functioning, and depressive symptoms among older adults with major depressive disorder after acute psychiatric hospitalization.
Suk-Young Kang
Arizona State University
Research focus: The quality of life, in terms of physical and mental health, among Chinese elders and Korean elders in the Southwest.
Stacey Kolomer, PhD
University of Georgia
Research focus: A survey of older caregivers about their caregiving experiences, level of burden, and their use/misuse of prescription medication and alcohol.
Lene Levy-Storms, PhD
UCLA
Research focus: Communication issues between health care providers and patients in long-term care.
Yunju Nam, PhD
Washington University, St. Louis
Research focus: The effects of welfare reform on elderly non-citizens' economic well-being and health.
Sandra Owens-Kane, PhD
University of Nevada
Research focus: Improving Caregiving Among Ethnically Diverse Elder Caregivers.
Nan Sook Park
University of Alabama
Research focus: The linkages among assisted living residents' perceptions of the facility, social resources, and psychosocial well-being.
Sara Sanders, PhD
University of Iowa
Research focus: Beliefs and practices of social workers about the role of hospice care for individuals with end stage progressive dementia, and also the beliefs and practices of familial caregivers who have utilized hospice care for their care recipient with progressive dementia.
The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), founded in 1945, is the oldest and largest national multidisciplinary scientific organization devoted to the advancement of gerontological research. Its membership includes some 5,000+ researchers, educators, practitioners, and other professionals in the field of aging. The Society's principal missions are to promote research and education in aging and to encourage the dissemination of research results to other scientists, decision makers, and practitioners.