Associate Professor
-
Department of Ophthalmology (SMD) - Joint
Credentials
Education
PhD | The Pennsylvania State University.Human Development and Family Studies.1993
MS | Technical University of Berlin.Psychology.1988
BA | Antioch College.Psychology.1984
Awards
Dr. David Satcher Community Health Improvement Award for Senior Faculty.2018
John D. Baum Memorial Lecture Award.2017
Outstanding Reviewer Award.2017
Outstanding Reviewer Award.2017
Community Partner Award.2016
Elected Fellow.2013
Stuber Fellow.2009 - 2010
Leonard F. Salzman Research Award.2007
Innovations in Community Scholarship Award.2006
Honoree at 1st Annual Excellence in Research Day.2006
NIMH Advanced Research Institute Training in Geriatric Mental Health.2006 - 2007
Collier Day Poster Award, Second Place.2004
Listed in editions of Marquis Who's Who in Medicine and Health Care.2004 - 2006
Elected Fellow.2003
Leonard F. Salzman Research Award.2001
Invited Membership.1992
Summer Research Award.1992
Wohlwill Endowment Award.1992
Dissertation Award.1991
Research
Dr. Sörensen is an internationally known researcher and educator in the field of Human Development and Aging with particular interests in facilitating well-being among vulnerable older adults and their families. Collaborating with colleagues in Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Primary Care, Immunology, an...
Dr. Sörensen is an internationally known researcher and educator in the field of Human Development and Aging with particular interests in facilitating well-being among vulnerable older adults and their families. Collaborating with colleagues in Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Primary Care, Immunology, and with community-based health activists, she has developed and/or evaluated interventions to (1) promote positive health behaviors, (2) prevent mental and physical health problems, (3) increase access to mental health services for underserved groups, (4) assist older adults with preparation for future care, and (5) support well-being among older adults. Her specific areas of research include successful aging through preparation for future care, family caregiver stress and coping, interventions with caregivers, interventions with vision-impaired older adults, future thinking among older adults, as well as health literacy and patient education for diabetes prevention.
She is the director of the Laboratory for Population Health, Disparities, and Intervention Research (LAPHDIR) in which new research and community health projects are hatched with the help of a Community Health-project Advisory Board (CHAB). Dr. Sörensen has a keen interest in community-partnered research and is a co-founder of the Aging Well Initiative community collaboration with faith-based organizations and member of community coalitions to focusing on the empowerment of underserved groups in order to reduce health disparities.
Areas of mentoring expertise include community engagement, research methods and statistics, and grant-writing; content expertise is in application of life-span developmental perspectives, adult development and aging, mental health in the context of chronic illness, health and aging, health disparities, and health promotion.
Silverstein SM, Sörensen S, Sunkara A, Lai A, Fradkin SI, Ramchandran RS
Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists).. 2021 September 41 (5):985-995. Epub 08/12/2021.
Sörensen S, Mak W, Chapman B, Duberstein PR, Lyness JM
The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.. 2012 October 20 (10):887-94. Epub 1900 01 01.
The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.. 2011 June 19 (6):491-6. Epub 1900 01 01.
The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.. 2006 June 14 (6):546-9. Epub 1900 01 01.
Lyness JM, King DA, Conwell Y, Duberstein PR, Eberly S, Sörensen SM, Caine ED
The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.. 2004 12 (1):110-3. Epub 1900 01 01.
Predictors of anticipating caregiving in multigeneration families: An exploratory study
Sörensen,S.;.
Journal of Applied Gerontology. 1998; 17(4): 499-520.
Die kognitive Kopmplexität und ihre Entwicklung: Querschnittliche und längsschnittliche Befunde. [Cognitive complexity and its development: Cross-sectional and longitudinal findings]
von Eye,A.; Sörensen,S.; Lerner,J. V.; Lerner,R. M.;.
Zeitschrift für Entwicklungs und Pädagogische Psychologie. 1998; 30(3): 139-148.
On the nature and development of cognitive complexity
von Eye,A.; Sörensen,S.; Lerner,J. V.; Lerner,R. M.;.
International journal of aging & human development.. 1996 42 (1):43-63. Epub 1900 01 01.
Models of chance when measuring interrater agreement with Kappa
von Eye,A.; Sörensen,S.;.
Biometrical Journal. 1991; 7: 781-787.
Books
Cultures of Care in Aging
(2018)
Chapter: Older Persons' Care-Related Preferences: Cultural and Cross-Cultural Influences
Authors: Pinquart, M., Sörensen, S., Song, Y
Publisher:
Information Age Publishing, Charlotte, NC 2018
Geriatric Rehabilitation: From Bedside to Curbside
(2017)
Chapter: Vision Impairment and Its Management in Older Adults
Authors: Ramchandran, R., Hindman, H, & Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, Boca Raton, FL 2017
Encyclopedia of Adulthood and Aging
(2015)
Chapter: Vision in Mid and Late Life
Authors: Sörensen, S., White, K. & Ramchandran, R.S.
Publisher:
Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NJ 2015
Meta-analyses in Clinical Geropsychology
(2013)
Chapter: Oxford Handbook of Geropyschology
Authors: Pinquart, M.;Sörensen, S
Publisher:
Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK 2013
Building Community Capacity: Case Examples from Around the World
(2013)
Chapter: You know a tree by its fruit: growing a fellowship program for community-partnered mental health disparities research in an academic medical center
Authors: White, A., Castle, K., Sörensen, S., Briody, S., Dailey, H., King, D., Fogarty C. & Duberstein, P.R.
Publisher:
Nova Science Publishers, Hauppauge, NY 2013
Encyclopedia of Applied Developmental Science
(2006)
Chapter: Family Caregiving for Elders
Authors: Pinquart, M.; Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA 2006
Supporting the caregiver in dementia: A guide for health care professionals
(2006)
Chapter: Care of the caregiver: Individual and family interventions
Authors: Sörensen, S., King, D., & Pinquart, M
Publisher:
Johns Hopkins Press, Washington DC 2006
Psychology of stress
(2005)
Chapter: Caregiving distress and psychological health of caregivers. In K. V. Oxington
Authors: Pinquart, M.; Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
Nova Medical Books, Hauppage, NY 2005
Mit Netzwerken professionell zusammenarbeiten. Bd. 1: Soziale Netzwerk
(2005)
Chapter: Stressors of caregiving relatives
Authors: Pinquart, M.,Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
dgvt-Verlag, Tübingen, Germany 2005
? Research and Practice in Alzheimer's Disease
(2003)
Chapter: How effective are interventions with family caregivers
Authors: Sörensen, S.; Pinquart, P.; Duberstein, P.
Publisher:
Springer 2003
Human Ecology: An Encyclopedia of Children, Families, Communities, and Environme
(2003)
Chapter: Older Adults: Preparing for future care
Authors: Sörensen, S. & Pinquart, M.
Publisher:
ABC-Clio, Santa Barbara, CA 2003
Advances in Psychology Research
(2003)
Chapter: Risk factors for loneliness in adulthood and old age – a meta-analysis
Authors: Pinquart, M.; Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
Nova Science Publishers., New York, NY 2003
Ratgeber Altenarbeit
(2000)
Chapter: How preparation for old age helps to cope with this life stage [German
Authors: Pinquart, M.;Sörensen,
Publisher:
Fink-Kümmerly & Frey, Osterfilden 2000
Motivation und Lernen aus Perspektive lebenslanger Entwicklung
(1996)
Chapter: Cohort-specific knowledge as cause for age differences in adults' memory for prose and sentences [German]
Authors: von Eye, A.; Sörensen, S.; Wills, S. ;
Publisher:
Waxman, Hamburg 1996
Adolescence, Careers, and Cultures
(1993)
Chapter: Adolescent development: A global perspective.
Authors: Petersen, A. C., Silbereisen, R. K., & Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
De Gruyter, Berlin/ New York 1993
Caregiving Systems: Informal and formal helpers
(1992)
Chapter: Temporal context and the caregiver role: Perspectives from ethnographic studies of multigeneration African-American families.
Authors: Burton, L. M., & Sörensen, S.
Publisher:
Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ 1992
Brennpunkt Gerontopsychiatrie
(1990)
Chapter: Interventionsmaßnahmen in der Gerontopsychiatrie. [Intervention in geropsychiatry]
Authors: Baltes, M. M., Sörensen, S., & Kühl, K.-P.