ASA - American Society on Aging

2009 Awards Programs
Recognizing Excellence in the Field of Aging

Award Winners

2009 ASA GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDS

ASA gratefully acknowledges the support of the AARP Andrus Foundation for the Graduate Student Research Award. The ASA Graduate Student Research Award is presented to graduate students for exceptional research relevant to aging and applicable to practice.

Winner

Scott King

Scott King is a Ph.D. candidate at Loyola University Chicago in the Applied Social Psychology program, where he also earned an M.A. in 2003. He earned his B.A. in Psychology and German at Beloit College in 2000. He has taught undergraduate courses in psychology at Loyola and DePaul University, and currently is a Senior Research Associate at the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging in Evanston, Illinois.

His academic interests involve the measurement of prejudice and stereotypes, including ageism, and in developing ways to counteract prejudice through applications of social psychological theories. At Mather LifeWays, he splits his time between serving as the Associate Managing Editor of the Seniors Housing & Care Journal and evaluating internal and external grants and programs, primarily through survey research.

The research submitted for the Graduate Research Award stems from the “360° Aging in the Workplace” project, a program offered by Mather LifeWays to help organizations interested in determining employees’ educational and training needs in the areas of intergenerational communication, career paths, retirement, and family caregiving. Specifically, Mr. King’s paper details the initial development and validation of the Workplace Intergenerational Atmosphere scale, which assesses intergenerational dynamics and attitudes within an organization’s workforce. He hopes to further develop and validate this scale for his dissertation.

Honorable Mention

Shayna Rich

Ms. Rich is an MD/PhD student in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD. She is currently completing a dissertation about the effectiveness of frequent repositioning and pressure-redistributing mattresses and overlays to prevent the development of pressure ulcers. Prior to her time at UMB, Ms. Rich received a Masters of Arts in Physics at Boston University and worked as an electrical engineer designing radar systems. Her research interests include the ethics and policy of hospice care, barriers to patient-physician communication, and racial disparities in health care provision. In 2006, she received a Person-in-Training Award Honorable Mention from the Gerontological Society of America for a paper about the use of preventive devices for pressure ulcers. In 2008, she received the Edward Henderson Student Award from the American Geriatrics Society for excellence in geriatrics, and the Outstanding PhD Scholar Award from the University of Maryland School of Medicine for outstanding academic performance and great potential as a scientist.

Ms. Rich is receiving this award for research examining the similarities and differences of perspective about the end-of-life experiences of family and staff caregivers in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. This research included a comparison of caregiver perspectives on whether death was expected, the trajectory of death, and the severity of symptoms.