AGESW

Officers

Tracy Schroepfer, President
2010-2013
University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://socwork.wisc.edu/
tschroepfer@wisc.edu

Dr. Schroepfer is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Social Work and is affiliated with the University’s Institute on Aging, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Center on Patient Partnerships, and Department of Population Health Sciences. She is a recipient of the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar Award, a national award that provides support for one of her current research projects: the development of an instrument to assess the psychosocial and spiritual needs of terminally ill elders.Dr. Schroepfer’s teaching and research focuses on the field of gerontology. In her research, she seeks to determine the best ways in which to meet the psychosocial and spiritual needs of terminally ill elders, as well as working with elders in medically underserved communities in Wisconsin on the reduction of cancer health disparities. Dr. Schroepfer’s teaching and student outreach is focused on increasing the number of trained gerontological social workers. Only 5% of social workers are trained to work with elders, and many graduate courses lack gerontological content such that students are left to learn about aging from the media, which is often ageist in nature. Dr. Schroepfer lecturers throughout the campus, incorporating her practice experience with elders and bringing their voices into the classroom. In doing so, she seeks to insure that students interested in healthcare professions have knowledge of how exciting and challenging it can be to work with the elder population.

Deborah Waldrop, Vice President
2011-2015
University at Buffalo School of Social Work
http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/
dwaldrop@buffalo.edu

Deborah Waldrop, LMSW, PhD is an associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. Deborah joined the UBSSW faculty after spending 20 years as a social worker in a variety of healthcare settings. Drawing from her experiences with older adults and their families Dr. Waldrop now conducts research about the needs and concerns that emerge as people deal with advanced illnesses, and prepare for life’s end. Deborah has explored how people make decisions about hospice utilization and the timing of that decision. She is involved in an interdisciplinary research collaboration that is evaluating the outcomes of structured provider-family communication on bereaved family caregivers. Dr. Waldrop is a Hartford Faculty Scholar (Cohort III), and a member of the Hartford Doctoral Fellows National Program Advisory Committee. She coordinates the UBSSW’s Hartford Partnership Program in Aging Education.

Marla Berg-Weger, Secretary
2010-13
Saint Louis University
http://www.slu.edu/x7041.xml
bergwm@slu.edu

Marla Berg-Weger, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Professor and Director of Field Education at the Saint Louis University School of Social Work and a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America.  Her scholarly work has focused on aging, family caregiving and social work practice.  She has authored four books and over thirty book chapters and journal articles in these areas.  She is a member of an interprofessional research team focused on research and education in the area of older adult mobility and driving.  She is a past president of the AGE SW and currently serves as secretary and co-coordinator of the AGE SW Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Initiative. She serves on the National Advisory Panel for the Hartford Partnership Program for Aging Education, is Chair of the Executive Editorial Board of the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, a Co-Convener of the Gerontological Society of America Transportation Interest Group, and serves on the GSA Publications Committee. At the local level, she is Co-Chair of the Missouri Sub-Committee on Elder Mobility and Safety and Vice-Chair of ITNStCharles.

Teri Knutson Kennedy
Treasurer 2007-2010
BPD Gerontology Committee Liaison 2010-2013
Arizona State University
http://ssw.asu.edu/
terikennedy@asu.edu

Teri Kennedy, PhD, MSW, has assisted elders in social service, health and psychiatric settings for nearly 20 years. She serves as social work faculty with the Arizona State University (ASU) and Arizona Geriatric Education Center, the University of Arizona (U of A); Faculty Associate with the Graduate Program in Gerontology, College of Medicine, U of A; Faculty and Visiting Scholar, The John A. Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, College of Nursing and Healthcare Innovation, ASU; and Research Affiliate with the Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Consortium, ASU. Her dissertation, Geriatric Education Centers: Academic Capitalism and the Knowledge/Learning Regime, was just published as a monograph by VDM Verlag. She conducts research at the intersection of gerontology and economics and is a singer/songwriter living in Arizona.

Board Members

Sherry Cummings, Past President
2010-2013
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Social Work
http://www.csw.utk.edu
scumming@utk.edu

Sherry M. Cummings, Ph.D., is Associate Dean and Associate Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Cummings was a John A. Hartford Gerontological Faculty Scholar, 2001-2003. Dr. Cummings’ research focuses on aging and mental health, especially issues related to depression among older adults in diverse settings including assisted living and the community, and on older adults with severe mental illness. Additionally, her research explores the impact of such mental health issues on familial caregivers. Her research has appeared in numerous peer-reviewed journals in the social work, gerontological and mental health arenas.

Sara Sanders, Past Vice President
2009-2012
University of Iowa
http://www.uiowa.edu/~socialwk/
Sara-sanders@uiowa.edu

Dr. Sara Sanders is an assistant professor at the University of Iowa, School of Social Work. She obtained her Bachelor of Social Work from St. Olaf College in 1994, Master of Social Work degree from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in 1995, and her Ph.D from the University of Maryland in 2002. Her research interests pertain to grief and loss reactions in caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, male caregiver issues, and the impact of client suicide on social workers. Clinically, Dr. Sanders has worked as a hospice social worker and a chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Kathryn Betts Adams, Member-at-large
2010-2013
Case Western Reserve University
http://msass.case.edu/
kathryn.adams@case.edu

Kathryn Betts Adams received her doctorate in 2001 from the University of Maryland and has been on the faculty of the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University since 2003, teaching in the Master’s and doctoral programs. She was a Hartford Faculty Scholar in Cohort VII. Her research focuses on several areas of gerontological social work, including geriatric depression, activity and aging, family caregiving and early-stage dementia. Katy’s most recent research study examined characteristics and predictors of subthreshold depression among older adults in congregate housing. She has also been working with a team conducting an intervention study and has written about controversies surrounding Evidence-Based Practice in social work. Before entering academic social work, Katy received her B.A. from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and her MSW from the University of Michigan. She practiced in community mental health, substance abuse and long term care settings for over ten years.

Karen Bullock, PhD, LCSW, Member at Large
Associate Professor/ Associate Head
North Carolina State University
Department of Social Work
CB 7639, 1911 Building
Raleigh, NC 27695
Tel: 919-515-0438
Fax: 919-515-4403

Karen Bullock, PhD, LCSW is an Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and a Hartford Faculty Scholar in Geriatric Social Work, with professional interests in health care disparities; cultural competence in the delivery of mental health service and clinical practice with individuals, couples, and families. She holds an appointment as a senior research scientist at the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital and has conducted a number of research studies focused specifically on Latino and African Americans’ health and mental health issues. She has published and presented nationally and internationally on these topics. Dr. Bullock serves on a number of community boards and professional committees including the NASW National Committee on Race and Ethnic Diversity (NCORED) and the CSWE Council on Leadership Development.

Brad Zodikoff, Member-at-large
2011-2014
Adelphi University
http://adelphi.edu
zodikoff@adelphi.edu

Bradley Zodikoff is associate professor at Adelphi University School of Social Work. His scholarship focuses on the service utilization and help-seeking patterns of older adults and their family caregivers across aging, health, and mental health service systems. Dr. Zodikoff’s scholarship also centers on articulating the trends in service delivery that impact the practice of social work in the intersecting domains of health, mental health and aging, with particular attention to the implications of these trends for social work education and knowledge development. Dr. Zodikoff has a health care social work professional background and teaches research and practice at Adelphi. He is a recipient of the Hartford Doctoral Fellowship Award (Cohort I) and the Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Award (Cohort VII). He received his M.S. (1993) and Ph.D. (2005) from Columbia University School of Social Work.

Robin Bonifas, Member-at-Large
Arizona State University

Robin is an Assistant Professor at Arizona State University and has over 15 years’ experience working with older adults and their families in long-term care and inpatient psychiatric settings. Her research focuses on enhancing psychosocial care provided to persons with chronic illness and disability, especially those individuals with comorbid mental health conditions and those who require nursing home care. Robin also evaluates curricular interventions designed to prepare social work students for effective practice with older adults. Her current projects examine resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes, late-life bullying in assisted living facilities, and curricular strategies that enhance interprofessional collaboration among allied health students. She is a John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar in Geriatric Social Work and earned her doctorate from the University of Washington in 2007. Dr. Bonifas has consistently participated in AGE-SW sponsored events since joining the organization as a doctoral student. As a board member, she aims to support AGE-SW’s strong leadership roles in gerontological education, research and policy.

Clara Berridge, Student Representative
2012-2013
University of California

Clara Berridge is a doctoral candidate at the University of California at Berkeley, School of Social Welfare and a student in the university’s interdisciplinary Designated Emphasis program in Women, Gender & Sexuality. Her research is focused on remote care technologies, including practices of remote monitoring to support aging in place and new care arrangements, as well care work and consumer-directed care. Clara received her MSW at the University of Washington, where she studied gerontology and public policy. She is a member of the second cohort of the AGE-SW Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Initiative.

Laneshia McCord, Student Representative
2011-2014
University of Louisville
http://louisville.edu/kent
laneshia.mccord@louisville.edu

Laneshia R. McCord is a doctoral student at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. Her research area focuses on HIV, sexual risk behavior, and health policies and programs related to aging adults. She teaches in the master’s program research sequence and an HIV elective at the Kent School. Laneshia received her BSW from the University of Kentucky and MSW from the University of Georgia, and practiced as a geriatric care manager for several years. Laneshia participates in community service projects related to increasing geronotological education opportunities and is also a member of the first cohort of the AGE-SW Gerontological Social Work Pre-Dissertation Initiative.