Better Living With Dementia

Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, FGSA, FAAN is an applied research sociologist, and intervention scientist. She is dean emerita, and a distinguished professor in the College of Nursing and Health Professions at Drexel University. She is also the inaugural executive director of its AgeWell Collaboratory that oversees Drexel's Age Friendly University international designation, and partners with community organizations serving diverse older adults and families. Dr. Gitlin is also the Chief Scientific Officer of Plans4Care, Inc., a company she co-founded to develop digital solutions to support family caregivers and practitioners by providing evidence-based nonpharmacological strategies to manage dementia-related symptoms. With over 40 years of continuous NIH research support, Gitlin is nationally and internationally recognized for her home and community-based interventions for older adults and family caregivers. She is involved in translating, disseminating and implementing many of her proven programs for delivery in diverse practice settings worldwide. She is the author or co-author of close to 500 scientific publications including seven books. Some of her measures and books have been translated into different languages. Gitlin is the recipient of numerous awards, notably the 2011 John Mackey Award for Excellence in Dementia Care, from Johns Hopkins University, the 2014 M. Powell Lawton Award from the Gerontological Society of America, and in 2015 she was named as an Honorary Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. In 2017, she co-chaired the first National Research Summit on Care and Services for Persons Living with Dementia and their Caregivers. She also served as a member and then chair of the National Alzheimer's Plan Advisory Council to the Department of Health and Human Services of the United States, and more recently has served as a member of the international Lancet Commission on Dementia Care.Nancy Hodgson is the Anthony Buividas Endowed Term Chair in Gerontology and Associate Professor in the Biobehavioral Health Sciences Department at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her 30 plus year nursing career has been dedicated to improving the end of life experiences for cognitively and physically frail older adults. Dr. Hodgson's program of research emphasizes the examination of factors associated with quality of life in chronically ill older adults and the enhancement of science-based nursing practice with older adults at end of life. This work has helped to inform care practices for persons living with dementia and their care partners through the development of palliative care protocols that address the leading symptoms in dementia that cause distress or impair quality of life.