Erica Husser

"I joined the Age-Friendly Care, PA team for two primary reasons. First, I feel a strong reverence for older adults, and I want to serve this unique population because too few do and as a result, older adults are often ignored, undervalued, and uninvolved. Second, we need to improve the way our health care systems work for this unique population and the 4Ms framework is appropriate, responsive, accessible, and easily adaptable across the spectrum of those who use it. A simplified, efficient, and affective framework in health care will improve the daily lives of older adults, which can translate to a higher quality of life. Age-Friendly Care, PA is bringing focus to the heart of what is important when caring for older adults and I am proud to work with this team!"

Erica Husser, PhD, is the Project Director for Age-Friendly Care, PA. Dr. Husser’s content expertise is in adult development and aging. Her academic work has included the study of older women’s perceptions on the role of the natural environment in their daily lives, health adaptations to chronic disease management, and intergenerational relationships and programming. Dr. Husser draws on her experiences with research, health and science policy analysis, teaching, leadership, and communications to help direct and guide this collaborative. Spreading knowledge about how to care for older adults in ways that maximize their health, where they live, will add quality to everyone’s lives who are involved in in each older adult’s life and not just their own. None of us are alone. It takes a village.   

Research Interests

• Environmental sustainability, health, and healthcare
• Aging and the natural environment
• Social cognition and aging
  

Education

• Ph.D. Human Development, Virginia Tech
• Graduate Certificate in Gerontology, Center for Gerontology, Virginia Tech
• M.S. Human Development, Virginia Tech
• B.A. Psychology, with Distinction, University of Victoria, B.C. Canada

Selected Accomplishments, Contributions, Awards & Memberships

• Project Director for 5-year research project, Researching Efficient Approaches to Delirium Identification (READI), a multi-site implementation study in two acute care setting, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Met recruitment and enrollment goals; lead a team of six field researchers in acute care setting; successfully published research results.
• C2C Fellow, Sustainability Leadership Training, Center for Environmental Policy, Bard College, New Yok
• College of Nursing Sustainability Council member
• Penns Valley Conservation Association Board Member