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Abbott named 2020 OAGE Researcher of the Year by the Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education

Photo of Dr. Katherine (Katy) Abbott

Katherine (Katy) Abbott, PhD, MGS

Associate Professor, Miami University, Dept. of Sociology and Gerontology
Research Fellow, Scripps Gerontology Center

The Ohio Association of Gerontology and Education has named Dr. Katherine (Katy) Abbott as 2020 Researcher of the Year. This award recognizes individuals in Ohio’s aging network whose research has advanced knowledge in gerontology and/or related disciplines and improved services for older adults, advanced knowledge of aging process, or supported the expansion of research in the aging field in Ohio or nationally.

Dr. Abbott is an Associate Professor of Gerontology and a Scripps Gerontology Center Research Fellow at Miami University in Oxford. Her research focuses on improving health-related quality of life, social networks, and day-to-day experiences of older persons in various long-term care settings and has contributed valuable, person-centered knowledge to practitioners, students, researchers, communities and older persons themselves.

One of her most important innovations in gerontological practice is to develop, test, and apply the Preferences for Everyday Living Inventory (PELI), a tool to assist providers better understand the care preferences of people in their charge. PELI not only gathers important information about personal preferences but also shares this information with caregivers to enable them to deliver tailored person-centered care. Dr. Abbott’s research has been recognized through her multiple funded PELI projects, and she also includes her students in the PELI project to provide them with hands-on experience that they, in turn, will use to better the lives of older persons. You can find resources and materials related to her work at www.preferencebasedliving.com.

For more information about Dr. Abbott and her research, visit: https://www.miamioh.edu/cas/academics/centers/scripps/about/faculty/abbott-faculty/index.html