Heejung Kim
Address:
3901 Rainbow blvd.
MS 3064,
Kansas City,
Kansas 66160,
United States
Research Interests:
- My major research interest is to develop behavior-based interventions to provide cognitive training for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) living in rural settings.
- My passion for AD research is driven by my Asian heritage of lifelong care of older adults and my clinical experiences in adult day care centers and other gerontological care facilities in rural areas of the United States.
- As a volunteer in the local chapter of Alzheimer's Association, I have observed that the families of cognitively impaired older adults showed great satisfaction with technology-based resources that connect them with others, such as health care providers and long-distance family members.
- These vulnerable families used and valued technology-based interventions that were both stimulating and informative.
Biography:
My program of research including a dissertation focused on health care technologies used by older adult populations demonstrated that:
(1) improve access to care,
(2) guide complex patient home care, and
(3) provide social support and resources for family caregivers.
- Therefore upon completion of my doctoral degree, I became an assistant professor of University of Kansas School of Nursing which has high gerontology priorities, extensive older adult programs and centers, and multidisciplinary experts and teams in care of and researching interventions for older adults.
- I have been involved in three ongoing NIH and NIA funded investigators clinical trials. These trials test mobile technology connections and remote monitoring for persons with Alzheimers disease and guidance for families caregivers to manage disruptive behaviors at home.
- Also, I am a member of the Midwest multi-university aging research network for regional aging brain initiative research.
- My methodological research expertise includes quantitative analysis for clinical trial research design, mediation analysis, and secondary data analysis.
- The ultimate goal of my research is to develop innovative technological interventions that improve the care of older adults with cognitive impairments and the quality of life of their family members.
- I believe that current healthcare technology can provide innovative guidance, tracking systems for health and activities for daily living function, and provide social and emotional stimuli for addressing patients and family caregivers aging challenges.
- The International Society for Gerontechnology encourages researchers to develop and test new methods and technological devices to improve daily living among older adults.