UA Social Work Faculty Member Receives National Honor

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Dr. Shadi Martin, assistant professor of social work at The University of Alabama, is one of nine geriatric social work professionals nationally to be named a 2009 Hartford Faculty Scholar by the Gerontological Society of America.

Now in its 10th year, the award aims to improve the lives of older adults by increasing the number of adequately trained geriatric social workers.

Martin’s selection as a Hartford Scholar recipient directly reflects her expertise as a social work educator, researcher and practitioner with older adults and the value of her research project titled “The Role of the Family in the Decision-Making Process for Breast Cancer Treatment Among Older African-American Women.”

“Being selected as a Hartford Faculty Scholar is a wonderful honor and opportunity to contribute to the enhancement of the lives of older adults,” said Martin, also an associate with UA’s Center for Mental Health and Aging and the Institute for Rural Health Research Grant Development Program.

The distinction provides Martin with benefits and guidance aimed to foster her professional development and $100,000 in funding over the next two years to conduct her research on the breast cancer treatment decision-making process among older African American women.

Her past work has included a Fulbright Fellowship in the Middle East, working for the World Health Organization in Europe, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Middle East, consulting with Georgetown National Center for Cultural Competency in Washington D.C., a scholar with the Minority Health & Health Disparities Research Center grant training program, and a recipient of the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research grant and the health disparities research pilot grant.

Martin is a member of the Council on Social Work Education, Council on Global Learning, Research and The Gerontological Society of America. She is serving as a consulting editor for the journal of Health and Social Work.

The Gerontological Society of America is the nation’s oldest and largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to research, education and practice in the field of aging. The principal mission of the Society is to advance the study of aging and disseminate information among scientists, decision makers and the general public. GSA’s structure also includes a policy institute, the National Academy on an Aging Society, and an educational branch, the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education.

The John A. Hartford Foundation, founded in 1929, is a committed champion of training, research and service system innovations that promote the health and independence of America’s older adults. Through its grant making, the Foundation seeks to strengthen the nation’s capacity to provide effective, affordable care to this rapidly increasing older population by educating health professionals and developing innovations that improve and better integrate health and supportive services.