Gracie E.H. Boswell, Ph.D. is a Fellow at the Institute on Aging.
Dr. Boswell’s research interests have addressed how multi-dimensional well-being of chronically ill older adultshas been influenced by religion, spirituality, and lifestyle behaviors. She was an IOA CPHAR post-doctoral fellow from 2003-2005 and has published in the Journal of Religion and Health on the stress counter-balancing effects of religion, spirituality, and lifestyle on well-being. She has also published on the measurement of religiosity and spirituality in aging and health research. Other publications include: Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology on cultural diversity and aging and the Journal of Applied Gerontology on a qualitative analysis of African American caregivers’ spiritual and religious coping; Dissertation Abstracts International; and in Publications of Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (July 16-20, 2006), Madrid, Spain.
Dr. Boswell developed a community based participatory research (CBPR) model to study the genetic link to Alzheimer’s disease among African Americans for the Biology Department of North Carolina A&T State University. Her aging research has focused on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
As facilitator of autobiographical life review workshops at Cornucopia Cancer Support Program, Dr. Boswell is focused on translational research. Current goals are to use reminiscence of personal life experience to discover meaning and psychosocial-spiritual well-being for cancer patients and understand the therapeutic value of life review. Her research agenda also includes consultation on program evaluation and survey research.
Dr. Boswell received both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Sociology, with certification in Gerontology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She received the Marie Haug Excellence in Aging Studies Award. Her research was funded by a stipend from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and the National Institute on Aging (2000). Relevant professional training includes Birren Center for Autobiography and Life Review (2009) and Spirituality and Healing (Benson, 2000) offered by Harvard University and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Mass. Dr. Boswell is also affiliated with The Society for Spirituality, Theology, and Health at Duke University and the International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review.
Contact Information:
Gracie Boswell, Ph.D., Fellow
The University of North Carolina Institute on Aging
720 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3465
Voicemail: (919) 843-7178
Cell Phone: (216) 470-4835
Email: gracie_boswell@unc.edu
Fellow