John A Krout Editor & Author

Kristina M. Hash, LICSW, PhD, is Associate Professor, School of Social Work and Director, Gerontology Certificate Program, West Virginia University, USA. She is an expert trainer and consultant for the Council on Social Work Education's National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education, was one of 15 participants chosen nationally for the National Institute of Aging (NIA) First Annual Institute on Aging and Social Work, and has been an investigator for four geriatric education grants funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and the DHHS/HRRSA/Bureau of Health Professions. She was a recipient of the Outstanding Principal Investigator Award from the New York Academy of Medicine's Social Work Leadership Institute, the David Z. Morgan Award for Excellence in Geriatric Education from the West Virginia Geriatric Education Center and the West Virginia Geriatrics Society, and the Judith Gold Stitzel Award for teaching and leadership from the West Virginia University Center for Women's Studies. Her practice background includes positions in home health care, social work continuing education, and research and program evaluation. Additionally, she has been involved in several volunteer activities with community-based agencies serving older adults. Dr. Hash's work has been published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, Clinical Social Work Journal, and Geriatric and Gerontology Education, as well as in edited books.

Elaine T. Jurkowski, MSW, PhD, is Professor and Interim Director, Southern Illinois University Carbondale's School of Social Work, USA, where she holds a joint appointment with the Department of Health Education. Her published research articles have focused on the topics of health disparities, access to mental health and health care services, aging, and disability issues. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, The Hartford Foundation, the Health and Human Services Administration, the Administration on Aging, and the Illinois Department on Aging. Dr. Jurkowski has held elected offices in the American Public Health Association (APHA), National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the Gerontological Society of America (GSA), and the Illinois Rural Health Association (IRHA). Her work experiences have included consultation within settings in West Africa, Hong Kong, India, China, Russia, and Egypt. She is the author of Policy and Program Planning for Older Adults (Springer Publishing Company, 2008), and Culture Change: Benchmarks Management and Practice in Long Term Care (Springer Publishing Company, 2013), and Managing co-Editor of Handbook for Public Health Social Work (Springer Publishing Company, 2013) as well as numerous book chapters and professional articles. Dr. Jurkowski's community service includes serving as a member of the Board of Directors for various not-for-profit health care agencies within the Southern Illinois area, USA. She is also an advisor to the Southern Illinois Pioneer Coalition Advisory Board.

John A. Krout, PhD, is Professor Emeritus of Gerontology at Ithaca College, USA, where he served as Professor of Gerontology and Director of the Gerontology Institute from 1993-2011. The author of six previous books, he has also written some 75 book chapters and journal articles and has made over 125 presentations at national and state conferences. Dr. Krout has received approximately 20 grants to support a research program on rural aging, community-based services, relocation and housing, and service learning. While heading the Gerontology Institute at Ithaca he: initiated the college's intergenerational partnership with Longview, a multi-level residential care facility for elders, received over $2 million in external funding to support faculty and student research, initiated and headed the Linden Center for Creativity and Aging, and developed Ithaca's partnership with the federally funded Finger Lakes Geriatric Education Center, as well as other programs to provide education and training to practitioners across Upstate New York. Dr. Krout is Past-President of the State Society on Aging of New York (SSA), a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) (where he was the Founding Chair of the Rural Aging Interest Group at GSA), and a Charter Fellow of the Association of Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE). He served on the board of AGHE where he also worked on the Public Policy, Program of Merit and K-12 committees. Dr. Krout received several awards from the National Council on the Aging for his work on rural aging and senior centers. Other honors include the Walter M. Beattie award from SSA and the Mildred Seltzer Distinguished Service Recognition from AGHE.