9:15 a.m., March 21, 2016--Karen F. Stein, associate professor in the University of Delawares School of Public Policy and Administration (SPPA)
and program director for the organizational and community leadership
undergraduate major, has been given the 2015 Rosalie S. Wolf Memorial
Award for Outstanding Scholarship and Professional Service to the field
of Elder Justice and Elder Abuse Prevention.
The award is selected and presented by the National Committee for the
Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA), and will be presented at the annual
meeting of the Gerontological Society of America to be held in November
in New Orleans.
The Rosalie S. Wolf Memorial Award was established by NCPEA in 2002
to commemorate the achievements of Wolf, a driving force in the field of
elder abuse prevention, advocacy and scholarship.
Wolf founded and presided over NCPEA and the International Network
for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (INPEA), founded and edited the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect (JEAN), and conducted groundbreaking research on elder abuse.
The award is presented to an individual or organization who has
demonstrated dedication and commitment to the ideals of Wolf to prevent
and reduce the incidence of elder abuse, neglect and exploitation, and
to promote awareness through research, education, policy, and/or
practice.
Stein has long been an advocate for older and vulnerable adults. One
of the first people to recognize elder abuse as a universal threat to
healthy and successful aging, she has worked on state and local,
national and international initiatives to raise awareness of elder
abuse, to promote and disseminate a rigorous body of research, and to
promote evidence-based training as well as program and practice
evaluation for aging services.
From 1986-88, she was co-investigator of one of the first Title IV
demonstration projects that developed educational materials, training
manuals and videotapes on elder abuse identification and prevention for
social workers, law enforcement, health professionals and caregivers.
In 1988, she became the principal investigator of the University of
Delaware's Clearinghouse on Abuse and Neglect of the Elderly (CANE), a
component of the National Center on Elder Abuse (then NARCEA) until
2011. CANE, a freely accessible and interactive online database, is the
largest indexing of research, peer-reviewed literature and other
materials on elder mistreatment and related issues.
From 2007-11, she served as principal investigator for NCEAs
co-management and public awareness functions which resulted in the first
strategic, nationally coordinated elder abuse awareness campaign, Join
Us in the Fight Against Elder Abuse.
Stein has published more than 20 articles, book chapters and
monographs, presented papers at more than 35 national and international
conferences and professional meetings, is a former participant in the
White House Conference on Aging, and has served on a number of national
advisory boards of organizations conducting elder abuse projects.
She has served on the Expert Panel on Elder Abuse Training and
Technical Assistance Needs of the National Eldercare Institute on Elder
Abuse; the National Advisory Committee of the Police Executive Research
Forum Training Project; the National Advisory Committee of the Victim
Services Elder Abuse Training Project; and the National Advisory
Committee of the National Eldercare Institute on Elder Abuse and State
Long-Term Care Ombudsman.
Stein developed the first elder abuse national research panel forum
in the U.S. that resulted in a national agenda for elder abuse and
neglect research, which emphasized the need for an interplay between
research and training.
As UDs founding director of educational assessment, Stein is
well-versed in all areas of outcomes assessment, and has presented on
this topic at numerous aging-related conferences. She is currently
editor-in-chief of the Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect.
Stein will also be presenting a keynote at the first regional conference on Elder Abuse and Exploitation at UD
on May 12. The conference is intended to help professionals, advocates
and community members better understand elder abuse and to take
responsible actions. Stein is encouraging students to make video
submissions to attend the conference for free. For details, see the video.
Article Originally Published on UDaily.
