Salve Regina University

My research interests relate to caregiving issues (formal and informal caregivers) with older adults and/or adults with Alzheimer's disease.

My clinical area of practice and expertise is psychiatric mental health nursing. More specifically, my special interest area is gero-psychiatric nursing. I have practiced as a clinical specialist in gero-psychiatric nursing for more than 25 years and have learned much from older adults, their families and staff in long-term care settings. Moreover, personal family caregiving experience has offered me a different lens from which to view and live out the older adult-family caregiving process.

Today, mental health needs, coupled with the needs of the growing older adult population, present with very complex caregiving opportunities. Mental health needs of older adults provide challenges for their family caregivers and professional nurses.