The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) -- the nation's largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging -- has chosen Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, FGSA, of The John A. Hartford Foundation as the 2019 recipient of the Donald P. Kent Award.
This distinguished honor is given annually to a GSA member who best exemplifies the highest standards for professional leadership in gerontology through teaching, service, and interpretation of gerontology to the larger society. It was established in 1973 in memory of Donald P. Kent, PhD, for his outstanding leadership in translating research findings into practical use.
The award presentation will take place at GSA's 2019 Annual Scientific Meeting, which will be held from November 13 to 17 in Austin, Texas. This conference is organized to foster interdisciplinary collaboration among researchers, educators, and practitioners who specialize in the study of the aging process. Visit http://www.geron.org/2019 for further details.
Fulmer is the president of The John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City, a foundation dedicated to improving the care of older adults. She is nationally and internationally recognized as a leading expert in geriatrics and is best known for conceptualization and development of the national NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) program and research on the topic of elder mistreatment, work that has been funded by the National Institute on Aging and the National Institute of Nursing Research.
Her tireless efforts have resulted in important evidence-based approaches, tools, and resources -- and over the course of her career, have improved the geriatric competence of the workforce and made health care delivery more responsive to the needs of older adults. More recently, as president of The John A. Hartford Foundation, Fulmer envisioned a movement to embed the evidence-based best practices that are most important to the health and well-being of older adults consistently and reliably across all settings of care, to build system-wide competence in care for older adults. The resulting Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, launched in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in 2016, now engages a broad array of geriatrics experts and organizations. Today, this seminal work has been embedded in 357 sites across 126 health systems in 37 states.
Fulmer is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine. She previously served as a distinguished professor and the dean of health sciences at Northeastern University. Prior to that, she served as the Erline Perkins McGriff Professor and dean of the New York University College of Nursing. She completed a Brookdale National Fellowship and she was the first nurse to serve on the board of the American Geriatrics Society and was the first nurse to serve as president of GSA. She is a GSA fellow, which is the highest category of membership within the Society, and a previous recipient of the Society's Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award.
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The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) is the nation's oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education, and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society -- and its 5,500+ members -- is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers, and the general public. GSA's structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational unit, the Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education.