Dr. Carolyn Wilken 

Associate Professor, Family Sciences and Gerontology
3041 McCarty Hall D
PO BOX 110310
Gainesville, FL 32611-0310
(352) 392-2201 X303
e-mail: cswilken@ufl.edu
Web site: http://aging.ifas.ufl.edu

Areas Of Specialization

Family Science
Applied Ethics
Family Gerontology
Caregiving

Educational Background

Ph.D. Family Studies and Child Development, Purdue University, 1988
M.P.H. Masters of Public Health, Wichita State University, 1999
M.S. Ed. Counseling and Student Personnel Services, Purdue University, 1986
B.S. Vocational Home Economics Education, Purdue University, 1973

Dr. Wilken completed a pre-doctoral research fellowship in aging with the National Institute of Aging and a post-doctoral research fellowship in caregiving in the College of Nursing at Rush University in Chicago.

Narrative

Carolyn S. Wilken, Ph.D., M.P.H. has been an associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences (FYCS) for six years. She holds a 60 percent teaching appointment and a 40% appointment as a gerontologist with Cooperative Extension. In her 40 percent extension appointment she specializes in gerontology. Dr. Wilken has worked in land-grant universities throughout her career, as an extension specialist in aging and healthcare at Kansas State, and a teaching/research faculty member at Oklahoma State. At Kansas State she served on numerous committees and task forces related to program planning, evaluation and policy. She received more than $2 million dollars in grant funds to develop a community-based, statewide program titled Personal Actions to Health (PATH). She was also director of the Galichia Institute for Gerontology and Family Studies.

Dr. Wilken’s research includes studies of family relationships, caregiving, and locus of control among the oldest-old, and most recently the impact of disasters on older Floridians. She recently received a grant for $100,000 to lead a team of Extension specialist to create educational materials for older adults to help them prepare, mitigate and recover from natural and man-made disasters. At the University of Florida she teaches classes in principles of family, youth and community, program development, ethics, and international caregiving. She has worked closely with Center for Medicare Services and the UF College of Pharmacy to develop county-based educational programs about Medicare Part D, a program that has saved older Floridians at least $4 million dollars. Dr. Wilken serves on the national steering committee for a Community of Practice on Caregiver, sponsored by USDA, to develop research-based educational materials for caregivers to access electronically.

Wilken received her BS in home economics from Purdue University in 1973, her masters in counseling and student personnel services from Purdue and a Ph.D. in Family Studies from Purdue in 1988. She completed a master in public health in 1999 at Wichita State University. Dr. Wilken completed an NIA pre-doctoral research fellowship with the Midwest Council for Social Research in Aging and was a post-doctoral research associate in the College of Nursing at Rush Presbyterian in Chicago.

Dr. Wilken and her husband have three grown children and seven grandchildren.

Selected Publications

Wilken, C. (2005). Family, Youth, and Community: A student guide to data, theory and practice. Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt.

Wilken, C. (2005). Ethical dilemmas in caregiving. NCFR Report: Linking family research, education, and practice, 50(3), pp F23, F25.

Wilken, C., & Isaacson, M. (2005). Educating family caregivers of geriatric rehabilitation consumers. Journal of Geriatric Rehabilitation (In press).

Wilken C., & McCarthy, B. (2005). Strategies to Support Rural Caregivers: Practice, Education and Training, Research, Policy and Advocacy. (Chapter in the Rural Edition of the Rosalynn Carter Caregiving Series. In press.)

Wilken, C., Walker, K., Sandberg, J., & Holcomb, C. (2002). Factors related to independence and locus of control in the oldest old. Journal of Aging Studies, 16(1), 73-86.

Courses

FYC 3001 Introduction to Family, Youth, and Community Sciences

FYC 4114 Ethical Issues for Human Services

FYC 4503 Methods of Family Life Education

FYC 6131 Ethical Issues for FYC Practitioners

Extension

Dr. Wilken is a member of the Personal and Family Well-Being focus group where she contributes in the areas of aging, caregiving, health, and ethics. In collaboration with the focus team she conducted a bi-state extensive in-service training titled Continuum of Caregiving: Families, Finances and Functional Housing.

She was also responsible for Aging in the 21st Century, an 8 module, multi-media, interdisciplinary, state-wide Extension program that was funded by University of Florida Distance and Continuing Education.