NEWS

Gail M. Williamson

Gail M. WilliamsonWilliam A. Owens Award 2006

Gail M. Williamson, Professor of Psychology, is a health psychologist. She was among the first to document the interconnected challenges confronted by the elderly and their caregivers and has led the way in determining factors that contribute to neglectful and abusive care. Her research is both theoretically and methodically sophisticated, and at the same time provides clear directions for effective new interventions to promote well-being among caregivers and care recipients. Her model of the social and psychological consequences of restricted activity has attracted the sustained interest of researchers in the field of aging, and the impact of her work has extended beyond aging and the caregiving relationship to issues in a range of life threatening and incapacitating health disorders. Her publications have appeared in the most respected disciplinary journals of psychology, social sciences, sexuality, health, rehabilitation, Alzheimer’s disease and gerontology, and her works are widely cited.