Wayne State University

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Cathy Lysack

Photo for Cathy Lysack
Office Location
231 Knapp
Office Phone
313-664-2625
Bio Sketch

Cathy Lysack, Ph.D., O.T.(C), is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Gerontology (IOG) and a Professor in the Department of Health Care Sciences (Occupational Therapy) at the Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. She joined the University as an Assistant Professor in 1997.

In gerontology, Dr. Lysack conducts research (see below) and is the co-director of the Pre-doctoral Training Program in Aging and Urban Health. In the Applebaum College's occupational therapy program, Dr. Lysack teaches courses in research methods and aging.

Dr. Lysack serves on the Editorial Boards of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, the Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, and the Journal of Applied Gerontology. In 2007 she was honored with induction into the American Occupational Therapy Foundation's Academy of Research. She has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and numerous book chapters.

Research Focus

1) Developing a Meaningful Life: Social Reintegration of Service-members (#SC100256, U.S. Department of Defense). This newly funded study will focus on the community participation and inclusion of former soldiers with spinal cord injuries returning to a life in the community after military service in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

2) Validation Study of Integrating Mental Health into Occupational Therapy Practice with Older Adults (#2010-017, Retirement Research Foundation). This study is evaluating the effectiveness of an educational intervention focused on depression and mood disorders in older adults. The study builds on an earlier study that developed and tested a 6-module DVD boxset of learning materials which are now an official CE product at the American Association of Occupational Therapy.

3) Downsizing Possessions for Residential Moves in Later LIfe (NIH/NIA  R01 AG030477). The goal of this study is to investigatre possession management as a late-life developmental adaptation to the vulnerabilities of age as people move to smaller quarters in later life. This study of n=150 households is being conducted in Detroit and Lawrence, Kansas.

Current Research Grants

Downsizing Possession for Residential Moves in Later Life

Validation of the Integrating Mental Health into Occupational Therapy Practice with Older Adults Educational Training Series

Areas of Expertise

Aging, rehabilitation, spinal cord injury

Education
  • Ph.D. (1993-1997). University of Manitoba. Community Health Sciences.
  • M.Sc. (1990-1992). Queen's University. Rehabilitation.
  • B.M.R.(O.T.) (1985-1988). University of Manitoba. Occupational Therapy.
  • B.A. (1981-1984). University of Manitoba. Philosophy.
Publications

Peer Reviewed Publications (Selected)

  • Lysack, C., Leach, C., Russo, T, Paulson, D., & Lichtenberg, P. (2013). DVD Training for Depression Identification and Treatment in Oldera Adults: A Two Group Randmoized Waitlist Control Study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, in press. 
  • Dillaway, H., Cross, K., Lysack, C. & Schwartz, J. (2012). Normal and natural, or burdensome and terrible? Women with spinal cord injuries discuss the ambiguous meanings of menstruation. Sex Roles, Online First DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0092-4.
  • Luborsky, M., Lysack, C., & Van Nuil, J. (2011). Refashioning one’s place in time: Stories of household downsizing in later life. Journal of Aging Studies, 25(3), 243-252.
  • Ekerdt, D., Luborsky, M., & Lysack, C. (2011). Safe passage of goods and self during residential relocation in later life. Ageing & Society, Firstview: DOI: 10.1017/S0144686X11000705.
  • Lysack, C., Neufeld, S., & Machacova, K. (2011). Self-rated health among spinal cord injury survivors: Directions for future research. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 17(12), 588-593.
  • Lysack, C., Lichtenberg, P., & Schneider, B. (2011). Effectiveness of a DVD intervention on therapists' mental health practices with older adults. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 65(3), 297-305.
  • Machacova, K., Neufeld, S., & Lysack, C. (2011). Self-rated health among persons with spinal cord injury: What is the role of physical ability? Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 34(1), 1-8.
  • Cernin, P., Lysack, C. & Lichtenberg, P.A. (2011). Comparison of self-rated and objectively measured successful aging constructs in an urban sample of African American older adults. Clinical Gerontologist, 34, 89-102.
  • Neufeld, S. & Lysack, C. (2010). The ‘RISCI’: Development and preliminary validation of a risk assessment tool for spinal cord injury. Disability and Rehabilitation, Disability and Rehabilitation, 32(3), 230-238.
  • Lysack, C., Komanecky, M., Kabel, A., Cross, K., & Neufeld, S. (2007). Environmental factors and their role in community integration after spinal cord injury. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 74, 243-254.
  • Cross, K., Kabel, A., & Lysack, C. (2006). Images of self and spinal cord injury: Exploring drawing as a visual method in disability research. Visual Studies, 21(2), 183-193.
  • Byrnes, M., Lichtenberg, P., & Lysack, C. (2006). Environmental press, aging in place,and residential satisfaction of urban older adults. Journal of Applied Sociology, 23(2), 50-77.
  • Neufeld, S. & Lysack, C. (2006). Investigating differences among older adults' access to specialized rehabilitation services, Journal of Aging and Health, 18(4), 584-603.
  • Helfrich, C., Finlayson, M. & Lysack, C. (2005). Using a mentoring community to build programs of research: Lessons learned and recommendations from the CORE experience, Journal of Allied Health. On-line at: June 2005 Supplementary Data.
  • Lysack, C., Dama, M., Neufeld, S., & Andreassi, E. (2005). Compliance and satisfaction with home exercise: A comparison of computer-assisted video instruction and routine rehabilitation practice. Journal of Allied Health, 34(2), 76-82.
  • Neufeld, S., & Lysack, C., MacNeill, S., & Lichtenberg, P. (2004). Living arrangement decisions at hospital discharge and later: Differences in criteria and outcomes. Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 23(4), 29-47.
  • Neufeld, S., & Lysack, C. (2004). Allocation of rehabilitation resources: Who gets a home evaluation. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58(6), 630-638.
  • Siporin, S. & Lysack, C. (2004). Quality of life and supported employment: A case study of three women with developmental disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 58(4), 455-465.
  • Lichtenberg, P.A., MacNeill, S.E., Lysack, C.L., Bank, A.L., & Neufeld, S.W. (2003). Predicting discharge and long term outcome patterns for frail elders. Rehabilitation Psychology, 48(1), 37-43.
  • Lysack, C., Neufeld, S., Mast, B., MacNeill, S., & Lichtenberg, P. (2003). After rehabilitation: An 18-month follow-up of elderly inner-city women. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(3), 298-306.
  • Lysack, C. & Neufeld, S. (2003). Occupational therapist home evaluations: Inequalities, but doing the best we can? American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57(4), 369-379.
  • Lysack, C., & Seipke, H. (2002). Communicating the occupational self: A qualitative study of oldest-old American women. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 9, 130-139.
  • Lysack, C., Neufeld, S., Lichtenberg, P., & MacNeill, S. (2002). At risk in old age: Elderly men who live alone. Clinical Gerontologist, 24(3/4), 77-92.
  • Lysack, C., MacNeill, S., Neufeld, S., & Lichtenberg, P. (2002). The functional recovery of elderly urban inner city women. Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 22(2), 59-69.
  • Duggan, C., Lysack, C., Dijkers, M., & Jeji, T. (2002). Daily life in a nursing home: Impact on perceived quality of life after a recent spinal cord injury. Topics in Spinal Cord Rehabilitation, 7(3), 112-131.
  • Lysack, C., Zafonte, C., Neufeld, S., & Dijkers, M. (2001). Self-care independence after spinal cord injury: Patient and therapist expectations and real life performance. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 24(4), 257-265.
     

 

 Invited Book Chapters
 

  • Pellerito, J., & Lysack, C. (2005). The role of the automobile in American culture, Ch. 3. In: J. Pellerito (Ed.), Driver Rehabilitation and Community Mobility: Principles and Practice, Elsevier Mosby.
  • Luborsky, M. & Lysack, C. (2006). Overview of qualitative research, Ch. 19. In: G. Kielhofner (Ed.), Scholarship in Occupational Therapy: Methods of Inquiry for Enhancing Practice. F.A. Davis.
  • Lysack, C., Luborsky, M., & Dillaway, H. (2006). Gathering qualitative data, Ch. 20. In: G. Kielhofner (Ed.), Scholarship in Occupational Therapy: Methods of Inquiry for Enhancing Practice. F.A. Davis.
  • Dillaway, H., Lysack, C., & Luborsky, M. (2006). Qualitative approaches to interpreting and reporting data, Ch. 22. In: G. Kielhofner (Ed.), Scholarship in Occupational Therapy: Methods of Inquiry for Enhancing Practice. F.A. Davis.
  • Lysack, C. (2008). Socioeconomic factors and their influence on occupational performance. In E. Crepeau, E. Cohn & B. Schell (Eds) Willard and Spackman’s Occupational Therapy (11th edition). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.
  • Lysack, C. & Dillaway, H. (2008). The place of exercise in the everyday lives of aging women and women with physical disabilities (Ch.1). In J.P. Coulter (Eds)’s Progress in Exercise and Women’s Health Research. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers Inc.
  • Dillaway, H. & Lysack, C. (2010). Psychosocial issues in women’s health. In M. O’Connell (Ed.)’s Women’s Health Across the Lifespan. Bethesda, MD: American Society of Health-System Pharmacistss.
  • Dizazzo-Miller, R., & Lysack, C. (2010). Assessment of Roles and Context: Personal, Social and Cultural, Ch.6. In R. Dizazzo-Miller & J. Pellerito’s (editors), Preparing for the Occupational Therapy National Board Exam: 45 Days and Counting. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett.
  • Lysack, C. (2010). Household and Neighborhood Safety, Mobility, Ch.23. In P. Lichtenberg (Ed)’s Handbook of Assessment in Clinical Gerontology. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.