Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN-BC, FNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN

Professor and Director of the Center for Aging, Health and Humanities, The George Washington University School of Nursing

2017 Fellow

Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN-BC, FNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN is a Professor at The George Washington University School of Nursing, and Director of the Center for Aging, Health and Humanities. She is dually-certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Gerontological Registered Nurse (RN). Through her program of research, she conducted the first science evaluating three supportive handfeeding techniques to assist older adults with dementia with meals which she translated into training programs for innovative basic nursing care (MelissaBPhD.com/NOSH). She developed an algorithm to guide nursing home (NH) staff to use person-centered actions in order to improve meal outcomes for NH residents. She incorporated this knowledge into the first dementia feeding skills training program in the United States for NH staff. In evaluation studies, this training has demonstrated improved resident outcomes. Her research has been supported by the John A. Hartford Foundation (JAHF) Patricia G. Archbold Scholar and Claire M. Fagin Fellow programs, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar program, and the National Institute of Health National Institute for Nursing Research. She hosts a weekly podcast called This is Getting Old: Moving Towards an Age-Friendly World, focused on aging, age-friendly initiatives, and Alzheimer's disease. The podcast is currently ranked in the top 10% globally with over 4M views and over 30K YouTube Subscribers. You can learn more on her website MelissaBPhD.com.

Melissa discussed her HAPF fellowship experience on her podcast, "This is Getting Old" - Health and Aging Policy Fellow Experience

Areas of Interest

Program Info

Program Track
Non-Residential

Placement
U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in the Office of the Chairman, Senator Susan Collins