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Melissa Harris

Clinical Associate in the School of Nursing
School of Nursing

Overview


Dr. Melissa Harris-Gersten, PhD, RN, serves as a consulting associate at Duke University School of Nursing and as a Research Health Scientist at the Durham VA's Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT). Her expertise encompasses aging health policy, long-term care supports and services, dementia care, and family caregiving.

Her research is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life and care for older adults with chronic conditions and their family caregivers. Specifically, she focuses on developing, implementing, evaluating, and optimizing supports and services for families affected by dementia. Dr. Harris-Gersten has developed several innovative, home-based, remotely delivered interventions to address unmet psychosocial needs and promote the well-being of individuals living with dementia and their caregivers.

As a health services researcher, she is committed to improving the psychosocial and behavioral health of older adults through high impact research, policy advocacy, and transformative practice initiatives.


Education and Training
Postdoctoral fellowship, National Clinician Scholars Program at Duke University, 2021 - 2023 
PhD in Nursing, University of Michigan, 2021
BSN, University of Oklahoma, 2015

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Clinical Associate in the School of Nursing · 2022 - Present School of Nursing

Recent Publications


RN Reflections: Lessons Learned, Recommendations, and Pearls of Wisdom in Caring for the COVID-19 Population.

Journal Article Western journal of nursing research · March 2025 BackgroundIn the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, frontline nurses faced unprecedented challenges and were often excluded from decision-making, creating a critical research gap as their valuable insights were not captured, hindering the deve ... Full text Cite

Characterizing Emergency Department Disposition Conversations for Persons Living With Dementia: Protocol for an Ethnographic Study.

Journal Article JMIR Res Protoc · December 6, 2024 BACKGROUND: Almost 40% of persons living with dementia make an emergency department (ED) visit each year. One of the most impactful and costly elements of their ED care is the decision to discharge or admit them to the hospital-the "disposition" decision. ... Full text Link to item Cite

Health Experiences of LGBTQ+ People Living With Dementia and Their Care Partners: A Scoping Review of Research and Policy.

Journal Article Journal of aging and health · November 2024 ObjectivesThis scoping review aimed to synthesize research on the health experiences of LGBTQ+ people living with dementia (PLWD) and their caregivers, and the impact of health policies on this population.MethodsSix databases were searche ... Full text Cite
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