Member Spotlight

Q&A with Gretchen E. Alkema, PhD, LCSW from Long Beach, CA.

		"Remember that in its most fundamental form, aging is living and the essence of living is change whether we can see it or not."
Meet Gretchen.

Q:  Why did you become a member and how does GSA assist with your professional development?
A: The two main reasons why I am a member of GSA are access to current research, policy, and practice information in the field of aging, and active engagement with an interdisciplinary collegial fellowship that includes both card-carrying gerontologists and interested individuals with other disciplinary affiliations.  A clear example of its interdisciplinary nature is that GSA membership has remained valuable to me even as my own career trajectory has evolved from practice to research to policy.   This would not be the case in other professional organizations whose core emphasis is more limited.

Q:  How did you get interested in the field of aging?
A: I am one of those people who has been thinking about aging and the heterogeneity of the life course for a long time.  Growing up, I lived in a community that was conducive to aging in place with two couples in their 80s living on either side of my home.  One couple was kind and generous with their time and wisdom.  They taught me about Dodger baseball, and treated me like a grandchild.  The other couple was withdrawn, angry, fearful, and complained that my brother and I killed their rose garden by sitting on the wall separating our property.  As a six-year-old, I was fascinated that two sets of older people who were the same age could be so radically different from each other.  I realized that their daily attitudes and behaviors were not due to “being old” but instead how they lived each day was shaped by aggregate life experiences and perceptions of those experiences.  From that time on, I became interested in the relative importance of age, the meaning of aging, and the appreciation of older people.

Q: What are your key responsibilities at your job and/or school?
A: I serve as Vice President of Policy and Communications at The SCAN Foundation, an independent nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing the development of a sustainable continuum of quality care for seniors.  With our dynamic team, we work on the federal and state levels to create a world where medical care and supportive services are integrated for older people so they can live the most healthy and independent life possible.

Q: What is your most memorable research/patient experience?
A: There are so many, it is hard to choose.  One client that sticks out in my mind was a woman I saw when I was working in a county mental health clinic.  Mrs. W was in her early 60s and had a long history of episodic bipolar disorder.  She was generally stable on the medications but after many years of treatment, her liver was negatively impacted and a new course of treatment was suggested.  Changing medications, heighted psychosocial stressors, and complications with other chronic conditions contributed to a manic episode, something she had not experienced in many years.  Mrs. W came into my office with a highly animated and agitated affect and tears rolling from her eyes.  She was very distressed, upset that she could not control the mania, and terrified of being hospitalized – something that happened involuntarily to her in the early 1970s when the medications were less sophisticated and the conditions were more unpleasant than today.  After years of living with serious co-morbid conditions, she was tired and hopeless.  Through team-based care, the psychiatrist worked hard to get the medications calibrated appropriately and I worked hard to coordinate her medical and psychiatric care and get her the psychosocial support she needed.  I can close my eyes today and see her laughing and crying at the same time from the mania, saying, “I just don’t think I can do this anymore, Gretchen.”  I am grateful to have worked with a really good interdisciplinary team to get Mrs. W through that crisis.  As a young professional, it gave me hope to help others suffering in this way and appreciate the power of interdisciplinary care to serve those facing multiple chronic conditions and functional impairment.

Q:  Why is it important for other individuals to join GSA?
A: Being a gerontologist in a sea of other disciplines can be a lonely experience.  Membership in GSA and participation in the many activities it offers affords me a chance to stay connected with other like-minded colleagues, helps me create connections with aging-friendly colleagues from other disciplines, and keeps me up to date with the vital work of this field from both collegial groups.  GSA is for anyone who is thinking about aging in a consistent and rigorous way and wants to contribute to the intellectual and practical dialogue.

Q: Do you have any tips for emerging gerontologists?
A: Stay open to possibility and creativity and do not let yourself get locked in to a static way of viewing your career trajectory or the world in which we live.   Remember that in its most fundamental form, aging is living and the essence of living is change whether we can see it or not.  I encourage all emerging gerontologists to read two books: “What are Old People For?” by Bill Thomas and “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert Pirsig.

Q: Have you had an important mentor in your career? If so, how did it make a difference?
A: I am fortunate to have three superb mentors in my life.  What made them superb for me was that they shared their professional experience, personal strengths, and hope for a better future with me and challenged me to identify these in my own career development.  They were not afraid to tell me the truth as they saw it and did so with compassion and guidance for how to take next steps in my career.  I am grateful for their wisdom and I try to pass on their gifts by being a link in the mentorship chain to emerging gerontologists and gerontological social workers.