Gero-Ed Track Kick-Off Panel

Trauma Across Generations: From Research to Practice

Traumatic events can be an unrecognized and unresolved source of distress in later life. Early life trauma most certainly influences development in adulthood and has a complicated impact on people facing the vulnerabilities and disparities that can accompany the aging process. There is a growing need for the fields of trauma and aging to intersect and for researchers and practitioners to collaborate to develop trauma-informed aging services. This session will highlight the intersection between trauma and aging in older adults who: (1) are experiencing homelessness, (2) are veterans, (3) are incarcerated, (4) die sudden deaths, or (5) have experienced cultural and historical trauma.

Participants agreed this year's Kick-Off Panel was one of the best to date. One participant stated,

"This panel was so inspiring to me, I felt so energized, to the point that I wanted to come out of retirement so I could teach this content. This was the best CSWE session that I've attended in a long time." - Glenda Rooney, Augsburg College

If you were not able to attend the event, please download the PPT Presentation to learn more about trauma and aging.
 
Kick-Off Handouts: Overview & Speaker Bios and Aging and Incarceration Bibliography.

Kick-Off Speakers:
 
Lori Daniels (panelist)

Dr. Daniels currently has two jobs within one: clinically as the military sexual trauma psychotherapist for the Portland (OR) Vet Center with over 50 clients and two groups; and as a Hartford/VA Geriatric Social Work Scholar. Her Hartford research study is focused on the effects of war-related PTSD and the impact on the natural aging process among Vietnam veterans. Dr. Daniels has presented information about her work with military-related PTSD at meetings with International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies, US Psychiatric & Mental Health Congress, American Psychological Association, National Association of Social Workers, and at various workshops and conferences in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. Dr. Daniels earned her MSW from the University of Chicago in 1987 and her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Hawaii – Manoa in 2002.

Susan Green (moderator)

Susan A. Green, LCSW is currently a Clinical Associate Professor at the School of Social Work at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Susan teaches or has taught courses in social work interventions with children, adults, families, groups and communities, trauma theory and treatment, trauma and human rights, risk and resilience and diversity. She is the co-director of The Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care within the Buffalo Center for Social Research at the School of Social Work. Susan works and volunteers with various community agencies and projects in the Western New York Community. Susan is certified as an EMDR therapist. She is also certified in Advanced Critical Incident Stress Management and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.

Tina Maschi (panelist)

Tina Maschi, PhD, LCSW, ACSW is an associate professor at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service (FUGSSS) and the Group Liaison for the GSWI Alumni Networking Group for Trauma, Violence, and Abuse Across the Lifespan. She has published extensively in the area of life course/cumulative trauma, resilience, and later life health and well-being, especially among older adults involved in the criminal justice system as victims and/or offenders. Her 2010 Hartford Faculty Scholars Award was for a mixed methods study examining cumulative trauma and stress, coping, and well-being among older adults in prison. She has had over 20 years of forensic practice and research experience with historically marginalized and underserved individuals and families in corrections and in the community. She is the executive director of the FUGSS Be the Evidence Project, president of the National Organization of Forensic Social Work, and associate editor of the practitioner focused journal: Traumatology: An International Journal.

Sara Sanders (panelist)

Dr. Sara Sanders works in the area of gerontology and end-of-life. Her research interests pertain to grief and loss reactions in caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer's disease, cancer, and other terminal health conditions, hospice care for individuals with end-stage dementia, and interventions for strengthening practice with older adults with Alzheimer's disease and cancer. Dr. Sanders has a growing interest in elder abuse and the examination of sudden and unexpected death in older adults that may be linked to abuse. Clinically, Dr. Sanders has worked as a hospice social worker and a chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. 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.

Lori Thomas (panelist)

M. Lori Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a John A. Hartford Geriatric Social Work Scholar. Her scholarship interests include homelessness and housing instability across the lifespan, particularly among older adults and people with health and mental health disorders. She also examines the activities and roles of religious organizations, particularly in homelessness and housing services. Her research is informed by 15 years of practice experience in affordable housing, community development, and homelessness. She is currently conducting three research projects on chronic and older adult homelessness, including her Hartford project examining cumulative trauma and adversity among older adults.

Karina Walters (panelist)

Karina L. Walters is the Associate Dean for Research and William P. and Ruth Gerberding Endowed Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Washington. She received her MSW (1990) and Ph.D. (1995) from University of California, Los Angeles. An enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Dr. Walters founded and directs the University-wide, interdisciplinary Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI). Dr. Walters is also a recent recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Award where she was an honorary visiting scholar at NggÄ Pae o te Maramatanga National Institute for Research Excellence in Maori Development and Advancement at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Walters serves as principal investigator on several groundbreaking studies associated with health-risk outcomes among American Indian individuals, families and communities funded by the National Institutes of Health.