Maintaining support and connection with loved ones during a global pandemic is an ever-evolving challenge. This is especially true if your loved ones live in long-term care communities or alone in their home, but can be difficult even if they’re living with family members. VCU gerontologists are working tirelessly to help navigate these challenges. Tune in to this webinar for professional advice from alumni experts.

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Moderator

Jennifer Pryor (M.S.’12/HP; Cert.’16/GPA): Pryor is the program director and the director for community education for the VCU Department of Gerontology. She also is the co-director for the NAB-accredited assisted living administration specialty area where she is an instructor, adviser and supervisor to students who are in pursuit of their license as an assisted living administrator. She holds a valid Virginia License in Assisted Living Administration. In addition to these roles, Pryor speaks and trains at the national, state and local levels on topics related to ageism in long-term care, assisted living administration, best practices in assisted living and leadership. She serves on the Education Committee with the National Association of Long Term Care Administrator Boards. Her personal and professional goal is to challenge the paradigm of the long-term care continuum and promote innovation and development in the long-term care sector to foster inclusiveness, community and awareness of ageism.

Panelists

Annette Clark (Cert.’96/HP; M.S.’12/HP): Clark, family services director with the Alzheimer’s Association CWVA, received her bachelor’s degree in psychology/sociology and her master’s in science degree in gerontology from VCU. Before joining the Alzheimer’s Association in 2004, she had 19 years of experience working with persons living with dementia at the Adult Care Center of Roanoke Valley. She is a Certified Dementia Practitioner, adjunct faculty with VCU and an Instructor for the Department of Social Services.

Nicole Hunt (M.S.’18/HP): Hunt is a registered occupational therapist who provides physical rehabilitation services to the residents at the Hermitage Richmond continuing care retirement community. She received her OT degree from Howard University and a master’s degree in gerontology from VCU. She has practiced as an OT for more than 20 years. Her plan of care goals are to teach residents the skills needed to maximize their independence and safety with activities of daily living and functional mobility skills to perform optimally in their living environment. Hunt provides caregiver education and training to ensure carryover of recommendations outside of therapy services. Her favorite parts of OT are the work she does in functional cognitive retraining and adapting resident’s homes to reduce fall risk and injury. On a personal note, her mother lives in an assisted living facility. This provides her the unique experience of balancing being the professional providing care as well as aiming to be the devoted family member adhering to strict facility guidelines during this time. 

Janei Lofty (B.S.’09/B; M.S.'20/HP): Lofty began her career in long-term care facilities serving as a director of recreation and later explored nursing home business services as an admissions coordinator. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 2009 and furthered her education in the field of gerontology in aspirations of defining herself as an expert on aging. She successfully completed her master’s degree in gerontology in 2020 from VCU. In her continued pursuit to serve the aging population of her community, she served as the program coordinator with the Office on Aging and Disability Services in Richmond, Virginia. Currently, as a community network manager with Enterprise Community Development, she is able to live her true passion of serving older adults, supporting and building networks of community partners with the mission of promoting longevity, and contributing to strategic initiatives to support ECD residents age-well in community.

Sara Morris (M.S.’17/HP): Morris serves as the advocate for the aging for Henrico County, Virginia. She received a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from James Madison University in 2014 and a master’s degree in gerontology from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2017. Previously, she worked for Senior Connections, The Capital Area Agency on Aging. As the advocate for the aging, her role focuses on care coordination, social events, educational seminars and outreach.