|
Dr. de Medeiros is the research scientist at the Copper Ridge Institute in
Sykesville, Maryland, and an instructor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences in
the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine. Dr. de Medeiros’ research has focused on
narrative approaches to understanding old age, including the meaning of
suffering in late life, expressions of selfhood, attributions of depression in
life narratives, and the social environment of people with dementia. Dr. de
Medeiros’ work as a Brookdale Fellow will focus on refining “Self Stories,” a
structured approach to autobiographical writing for older adults in which
participants use several literary genres (e.g., letters, poems, third-person
stories) to write about their past, and evaluating its effectiveness in a
community sample. Dr. de Medeiros’ earlier work has suggested that “rethinking”
one’s past through different narrative frames may have a positive effect on
cognition and well-being in older age. Participants in her study will be
randomly assigned to one of three groups: Self Stories, an active control group
(participants in an oral reminiscence group) or a wait-list control group (no
intervention). All will complete assessments of memory, mood and self-concept
throughout the study period and at several follow-up points. If successful, this
approach could be applied to people with age-related memory loss, early stage
dementia, clinical depression, and others.Dr. de Medeiros holds a B.A. in English literature from Northwestern University, an M.S. in gerontology from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, and a doctoral degree in gerontology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. As a doctoral student, de Medeiros researched everyday attributes of depression in life stories of older adults using two narrative forms (interviews and letters) through the support of a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.