UA Aging Center Awards First Undergraduate Scholarship

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Misti Johnson, a University of Alabama junior from Tuscaloosa, was recently named the recipient of the first UA Center for Mental Health and Aging Undergraduate Scholarship.

Johnson, a junior majoring in psychology, is a member of both the University Honors Program and the psychology program. She will be working on a CMHA project that teaches nursing home staff how to identify pain cues in residents with dementia. This project is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health.

“The purpose of this scholarship is to encourage interest in aging studies in junior and senior undergraduate students,” said Dr. Louis Burgio, co-director of the Center for Mental Health and Aging. “It also forms a link with our honors programs to provide the recipient with applied research experiences,” Burgio added.

The CMHA scholarship provides a stipend of $3,000, with $1,000 paid in a lump sum during the spring, summer and fall semesters of 2004. The scholarship is renewable each semester provided the student has performed well in both her honors project and field experience.

Johnson will spend nine hours weekly on independent research related to the “Pain Project” in hopes of leading to a published paper. An additional 11 hours will be spent in the field assisting with data collection, observations, and other research-related tasks.

Johnson spent the Fall 2003 semester working at the Catholic Family Service Center in Tuscaloosa as a Spanish interpreter and organizing their food and clothing rooms. She has also served as a Spanish teaching assistant at First Assembly Christian School in Ashland and as an ESL instructor in the Clay County School system.

She is a member of Phi Eta Sigma, Alpha Lambda Delta, Gamma Beta Phi honoraries and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

CMHA’s mission is to develop new knowledge, test new interventions, and disseminate information related to mental health and aging. Through applied interdisciplinary research, the center promotes improved quality of life for older adults.