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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.
#PN, PR, PgN,
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