Title: 2003 APHA GH Award for Leadership in Aging & Long Term Care
Author:
Section/SPIG: Aging & Public Health
Issue Date:
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| Susan L. Hughes, DSW, 2003 winner of APHA GH Award for Leadership in Aging And Long Term Care |
Susan L. Hughes, DSW, has enjoyed a distinguished and highly productive career as an innovative writer, researcher, and leader in the field of gerontological health. She is Professor in the Division of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, and Co-Director of the Center for Research on Health and Aging, of the Health Research and Policy Centers at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Hughes received her doctorate in social policy and planning in health from Columbia University in 1981.
She has designed and directed numerous randomized trials to test new models of multidisciplinary team care, and service coordination, to improve health outcomes for disabled older adults in the general population and in the Department of Veterans Affairs health system. She integrates creative health service models designed to maximize independence in older adults with scientifically rigorous evaluations to provide evidence about the promises and limitations of new ways to care for an aging population. She is one of a handful of researchers who have documented the impact of arthritis on the functional status of older adults. She has also been a leader in the area of health promotion through exercise in healthy and disabled older adults, the major theme of the NIA-funded Roybal Center for which she serves as Principal Investigator. Her interest in translating evidence-based studies into policy initiatives is also evident in her work related to assisted living facility development and in the benefits of exercise and other health promotion activities.
Hughes has generated $15 million in research funds to date, published 81 articles, chapters and books and received numerous national awards including a Hospital Research and Educational Trust/Kellogg Foundation Fellowship and a Veterans Affairs Career Scientist Award. Dr. Hughes’ role as a dedicated mentor in the field of gerontological health is exemplified by the number of students she has sponsored for many years at the APHA Annual Meeting. Susan is a founding member of the Gerontological Health Section, has served as Program and Section Chair, and has been an extremely effective Action Board representative. Her calm and pleasant manner, clear thinking, and powerful intellect combine to make her a highly effective leader, setting an example for her trainees and colleagues alike.