Laura Gitlin, PhD
Laura N. Gitlin, PhD, an applied research sociologist, is nationally and internationally recognized for her research on developing, evaluating and implementing novel home and community-based interventions that improve quality of life of persons with dementia and their family caregivers, enhance daily function of older adults with disability and address mental health disparities.
In all of her research, she applies a social ecological perspective and person-family-directed approach to examine, intervene and support individuals. Her efforts involve collaborating with community organizations, health and human service professionals, older adults and other stakeholders to maximize the relevance and impact of such interventions. She is involved in translating, disseminating and implementing proven programs for delivery in diverse practice settings globally and in the United States. For example, the Tailored Activity program is now being used in nine countries including Latin America, Scotland, England, Australia, Hong Kong and parts of the United States. The COPE program and its iterations are being used in various parts of the United States and Australia. Also, several of her measures have been validated in Spanish and are being used in various countries.
She is the author of close to 300 scientific publications including authoring or co-authoring seven books, the most recent published in 2016 on behavioral intervention research, and 2018, on Better Living with Dementia: Implications for Individuals, Families, Communities, and Society. She has also published tip books for family caregivers and for older adults with functional challenges.
