577-2297
kcresci@wayne.edu
226 Knapp

Kay Cresci, Ph.D., RN, APRN, BC, FNGNA, is an assistant professor of nursing at the Institute of Gerontology and the College of Nursing. Her areas of expertise include gerontology, informatics, and critical care nursing. Dr. Cresci has combined her interests in gerontology and informatics to develop a research program that explores how older adults use the WWW to seek health information.

Dr. Cresci received her Ph.D. in Nursing from Wayne State University, a Master of Science with a major in Nursing from University of Maryland at Baltimore and a Baccalaureate in Nursing from University of Detroit Mercy. She is board certified as a Geriatric Clinical Nurse Specialist and is a fellow in the National Gerontological Nurses Association. Dr. Cresci is the current Vice President of the National Gerontological Nurses Association.

Dr. Cresci, a Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing Research Scholar, has conducted research related to memory, physical activity, and health disparities among older African American adults. In particular, she studies how older African American adults living in low income housing use the World Wide Web to seek health information. She is Co-PI with Dr. George Rebok on the Mind-Body Program, funded by the Erickson Foundation, which looks at the effects of physical activity and memory training on everyday functioning. Dr. Cresci is currently a member of an elder abuse curriculum development team for two educational grants. The Elder Abuse/Neglect National Curriculum Project for Surveyors funded by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and Elder Abuse Education Module, International Association for Forensic Nursing, funded by the US Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime.

Prior to joining the Institute of Gerontology and College of Nursing in summer 2005, Dr. Cresci was an assistant professor, practice track, at The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing for 20 years. She also held a joint appointment in the Division of Health Sciences Informatics, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, for four years and a joint appointment in Gerontology with the Department of Nursing at St. Agnes Healthcare, Baltimore, MD. During her tenure she developed and coordinated health informatics courses in the School of Nursing for the baccalaureate and graduate programs. In addition to coordinating the Clinical Nurse Specialist Track in the graduate program, Dr. Cresci recently developed Managing Issues Related to Health and Wellness in Older Adults, an elective course in gerontology for both baccalaureate and graduate students and Issues in Aging, a foundation course for all baccalaureate nursing students. Her faculty practice included working at the Isaiah Wellness Center in Apostolic Towers, a housing complex for low-income older adults.

At the Isaiah Wellness Center at the Apostolic Towers, Dr. Cresci helped to develop a health promotion center for low-income older adults. This work grew out of a community partnership between The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Apostolic Towers, First Apostolic Faith Church, the Southeast Senior Housing Initiative, and the University of Maryland School of Social Work. This collaboration resulted in a Center that provides residents with health promotion and enrichment activities aimed at enhancing their ability to live healthy and fulfilling lives. Dr. Cresci’s work at the center included providing the “Think Healthy” program on nutrition and physical activity for residents and computer classes for interested residents. The “Think Healthy” program put a resident’s vision into action through restructuring several health promotion activities offered by the center. These activities include weekly education sessions in healthy eating as well as a 30 minute physical activity program offered several days a week by graduate nursing students. In addition, she worked with community outreach students to provide computer classes for interested residents.

Grants

2003-2006,         Elder Abuse Education Module, International Association for Forensic Nursing, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crime Grant. Development team

2004-present,     Pilot Study: Mind-Body. Erickson Foundation

2002-present,     Pilot study: Health Information Provided via the Internet to Diverse Older Adults Living in Low-Income Housing, Nu Beta Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau

2002-present,     Pilot Study: Discovering a lay (emic) model of physical activity of African American elders with chronic health conditions living in faith-based or residential communities. Center on Health Disparities Research 1 P20 NR08375-01

1997-present,     Co-investigator “Advanced Cognitive Training in Independent and Vital Elderly” (ACTIVE) Multi-center grant. NIH. PI George Rebok. Continuation grant 2003.

2005,     Achieving Competence Today (ACT II), Partnerships for Quality Education, Robert Wood Johnson Grant. Faculty mentor

2005,     Elder Abuse/Neglect National Curriculum Project for Surveyors, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Grant. Development team

1996-1997,     Co-investigator “A Comparison of Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).” Geriatric Medicine and Nursing Fund. PI Sue Friedman.

1996-1997,     Dissertation “Testing a Model of Social Integrity in Older Women Recovering from Hip Surgery.”

Professional Service

Advisory Panels (appointed)

2004,     U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Service Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions Division of Nursing. NURSE EDUCATION, PRACTICE and RETENTION GRANT PROGRAM. Field Reviewer

2004,    National Institute of Justice. Elder Abuse Forensics Round Table. Representing Executive Committee for International Association of Forensic Nurses. Office of Victims of Crime grant on Elders and Vulnerable Populations Abuse Curriculum

2003,     NIA Partner Health Education Panel representing National Gerontological Nurses Association. Washington DC

Professional Associations

1998-present,     National Gerontological Nurses Association (NGNA)

1998-present, Maryland/DC Chapter NGNA

1998-present, Gerontological Society of America

1974-present, American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN)

Honors and Awards

2003,     Fellow, National Gerontological Nurses Association

2002,     Sigma Phi Omega National Gerontology Academic Honor and Professional Society

2001,     Hartford Institute Geriatric Nursing Research Scholar

Publications

Refereed Articles

Cresci, M.K. (2005). Older adults living in the community: Issues in home safety. Geriatric Nursing, 26, 282-286.

Cresci, M. K. (2001). The relationship between informational support and post injury functional status in older women recovering from hip fracture. Educational Gerontology, 27, 281-295.

Daub, C., Friedman, S., & Cresci, K. (2000). Frequencies of MBTI types among nursing assistants providing care to nursing home eligible individuals. Journal of Personality Type, 54, 12-16.

Friedman, S., Daub, C., & Cresci, K. (1999). A comparison of job satisfaction among nursing assistants in nursing homes and the program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Gerontologist, 39, 434-439

Book Chapter

Cresci, M. K., Morrell, R, & Echt, K. (2003) The convergence of health promotion and the Internet. In Nelson & Ball (Eds.), Consumer Informatics in a Cyberhealth World (pp.106-119) New York: Springer & HIMSS Publishers

Dissertation

Cresci, M. K. (1997). Testing a Model of Social Integrity in Older Women Recovering from Hip Surgery. Dissertation Abstracts International, 58-11B, 5887

Book Reviews

Cresci, M. (2003) [Review of Environmental Health and Nursing Practice.] Doody Publishing

Cresci, M. (2002) [Review of Improving Outcomes in Chronic Heart Failure.] Doody Publishing

Cresci, M. (2000) [Review of Geriatric Nursing Research Digest.] Doody Publishing

Cresci, M. (1999) [Review of Advanced & Specialist Nursing Practice.] Doody Publishing

Software Development

Cresci & Vazzano (2001). Acute Myocardial Infarction and Congestive Heart Failure,
Medical-Surgical IV CD-ROM, Lippincott, Williams and Wilkens, Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing

Editorial Activities

Editorial Board Memberships

2003- present,     Johns Hopkins Advance Studies in Nursing

Peer Review Activities

2003-present,     Reviewer of articles for the NGNA Section of Geriatric Nursing

CD-ROM Reviews

2004,    University of Iowa – Genetics

2003,    Lippincott Williams and Wilkins – Dementia Care

2003,    Slack Incorporated – Dementia Care

Doody Publishing. Reviewer

Presentations

Invited Presentations

International:
“Mind Body Program: Improving Older Adult’s Cognitive Function and Physical Activity”. Oxford Roundtable, London, United Kingdom (2005) August 7-12, 2005

“The Opportunity/Readiness Challenge: Nursing Informatics in Latin America”, International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Panel , San Francisco, California (2004) September 10, 2004 1515-1700

National:
“Elder Abuse and Neglect: A Cultural Perspective.” National Gerontological Nurses Association National Meeting, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, October, 2005

“Diverse Urban Elderly Online.” Aging by Design, Bentley College, Waltham MA. October 18, 2005

“Locating resources on the WWW for Clinical Practice and Professional Development.” National Gerontological Nurses Association National Meeting, Denver, Colorado October 19, 2001

“Developing Presentations Using Material from the World Wide Web.” National Gerontological Nurses Association Meeting, Washington DC., October 15, 2000

“Delirium.” National Gerontological Nurses Association Meeting, Washington DC, September 14, 2000 (Pre-conference workshop)

“Search the World Wide Web Efficiently.” National Gerontological Nurses Association Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 16, 1999

“Evaluating Patient Education Web Sites.” National Gerontological Nurses Association Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota October 16, 1999 (Poster)

“A Comparison of Personality Preference Types Among Geriatric Nursing Assistants Working in Nursing Homes and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).” National Gerontological Nurses Association Meeting, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 5-7, 1998, Finalist for the Judith V. Braun Clinical Research Award

“Job Satisfaction Among Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes and A Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).” Gerontological Association of America National Meeting. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 20-23, 1998 (Poster)

“Functional Social Support and Level of Health in Women Age 65 and Over Recovering from Hip Fracture.” Gerontological Association of America National Meeting; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 20-23, 1998 (Poster)

Abstracts

Rebok, G., Cresci, M. K., Jerome, G., Langbaum, J., Gaines, J., and Parrish, J. Effects of a Mind-Body Training Program on Cognition in Healthy Older Adults. Gerontological Association of America National Meeting November 19-22, 2005, Orlando Florida, Session Number/Code 2067.

Aiken, A., Marsiske, M., Whitfield, K., Jones, R., Johnson, K., and Cresci, M.K. Examining Ethnicity-Related Cognitive Test Bias in the ACTIVE Study. Gerontological Association of America National Meeting November 19-22, 2005, Orlando Florida, Session Number/Code 1172.

Daub, C., Cresci, K., Keyser, R., Burton, L.& Friedman, S. Job Satisfaction Among Nursing Assistants in Nursing Homes and A Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Gerontological Association of America National Meeting November 20-23, 1998, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 258.

Cresci, K. Functional Social Support and Level of Health in Women Age 65 and Over Recovering from Hip Fracture. Gerontological Association of America National Meeting; November 20-23, 1998, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 294.