2015 Researcher of the Year

Virginia E. Richardson
Professor in Clinical Practice and Research
College of Social Work, The Ohio State University
Virginia “Ginny” Richardson has held numerous leadership positions throughout her career including the Director of Aging Research for the Office of Geriatrics and Gerontology at Ohio State and President of the Association for Gerontological Education in Social Work.
Her research primarily focuses on caregiving among minority groups and bereavement in late life. Funding most recently includes
- Innovative Community Academic Partnership grant for a Senior Companion Program Plus for Dementia Caregivers.
- Perceptions of Dementia Caregivers among Minority Groups: Exploring Similarities and Differences using a Mixed Methods Exploratory Sequential Design.
- Coping with Bereavement in Later Life – longitudinal study of widow and widowers using CLOC – Changing Lives of Older Couples data.
- Study of psychometric properties of ADEPT, evaluation of medical student older patient interactions in a simulated home environment.
Her publications contain a very long list. As highlights, she co-authored and published a book, Gerontological Practice for the Twenty-first Century. Other highlights include a multi-level perspective on gender differences in the relationship between poverty status and depression among older adults in the United States,” published in the Journal of Women and Aging and “Inclusion or exclusion? Exploring barriers to employment for low-income older adults,” published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
Some recent presentations include a paper focusing on intersectionality titled, “Critical feminist gerontology: Application to persons living alone with Alzheimer’s Disease” and on “Cultural Variability among dementia caregivers: A qualitative ethnocultural inquiry” at the
Ginny also serves on the editorial boards of several journals, including the Gerontologist and the Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
Nominations
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