May 27, 2004

Contact: Gordon Ovenshine; 724-738-4854; gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSOR NAMED COORDINATOR OF SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY’S GERONTOLOGY PROGRAM

            SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Pittsburgh resident Dr. Adelle Williams, a tireless advocate for older adults who has worked in private practice and academia for more than 20 years, has been named coordinator of the Gerontology Program at Slippery Rock University.

Responsibilities include managing all operational aspects, teaching, research and community outreach. A professor of allied health, she is also assistant to the dean for the College of Health, Environment and Science.

Williams’ goals for the program include establishing an advisory board, developing a lecture series, pursuing external funding and lining up additional internship opportunities. She also wants to enhance student recruitment and re-evaluate program structure and course offerings.

With 36 million Americans 65 or older, the nation needs more professionals to provide services, she said.  These professionals include but are not limited to nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, physicians, social workers, counselors and exercise physiologists.

Said Williams, “Issues that continue to pose challenges to our older adult population include the rising costs of prescription drugs, Medicare, Social Security, cost control, quality of care, ethical issues, residential services and nursing home availability.”

SRU’s Gerontology Program offers a minor and a certificate. The minor consists of 15 credits and a three-credit internship. The certificate program requires 12 credit hours and a three-credit internship. Students take courses in allied health, gerontology, exercise and rehabilitative sciences, physical education, psychology, nursing, parks and recreation and social work.

           Thirty-five people took courses in the minor or certificate program this year.

Williams holds a doctorate and a master’s degree in rehabilitative counseling from the University of Pittsburgh. She focused on the elderly for her dissertation and elective coursework.  She also holds a master’s degree in business administration from Robert Morris University and lives in the Highland Park neighborhood with her husband, Leon, and two daughters.

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