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Facing New Challenges in Elder Care
BNH talks to Yale Associate Professor of Nursing Courtney Lyder, who was recently inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing.
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Business New Haven
11/29/1999
By: Tammy Rachau
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What is your educational background?
The credentials I use right now would be N.D. - Doctor of Nursing, which is in geriatric nursing - and GNP, because I'm a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner. As you know, I've also just been inducted into the American Academy of Nursing, so I'm FAAN, Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. As far as my general background, I hold a B.A. in biology and psychology, which was awarded in 1988 from Bleat College in Wisconsin, and then moved on from there to nursing. I went to Chicago to Rush University College of Nursing, and there I picked up my B.S., my M.S. and then the N.D., all in nursing.
What made you decide to go into nursing, and into geriatric nursing specifically?
I don't really know the answer to that question. In my family we have several nurses, and they always had very positive experiences with nursing in different areas of nursing. So I grew up around very positive people regarding nursing in general. When I was in high school I actually did some part-time work as a nursing assistant in nursing homes, which clearly had an impact on me as well.
You seem to be involved in a lot of professional activities. Can you tell me, for instance, about the ElderPrime Community Program?
I direct this brand-new program that was just funded by the Tower Foundation. The program is the ElderPrime Community Program, which is based out of the Tower One/Tower East housing complex in New Haven. We put a geriatric nurse practitioner, who is also a faculty member at Yale School of Nursing, in there.She provides health education, health-promotion activities, health screenings for the residents.
I know you're an expert on older people of color. What are some of the issues unique to aging minorities?
That's a pretty tough question to answer, simply because there has not been a whole lot of research done in minority aging. Some of the issues relate to access to care, access to primary-care providers. Because of lack of or limited access to care, this can place minority elders at risks for certain conditions. When they do actually enter the health-care system, they tend to be sicker than non-minority elders. So that's an issue. But there isn't a whole lot of research done on, for example, specific disease processes. Diabetes is one area that we know. If you're a minority, particularly African-American, you're more predisposed to Type 2 diabetes, or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. But, in general, there isn't a lot of research done in minority aging. It's now beginning.
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Facing New Challenges in Elder Care
BNH talks to Yale Associate Professor of Nursing Courtney Lyder, who was recently inducted as a fellow into the American Academy of Nursing.
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