Family, Consumer, and Human Development
Join the taste test & Win a free Aggie Ice Cream coupon
Don't miss out our tasting test this Thursday, June 20.…
Thoughts - Feelings - Behaviors Workshop
Thoughts-Feelings-Behaviors -- This workshop will help…
Swaner EcoCenter: Thursday Climbing Wall
Climbing Wall, Thursdays, 4-6 p.m. Join us for rock…
Nunsense -- Old Lyric Repertory Company
Come support the Sisters of Hoboken, whose cook, Sister…
Elizabeth B. Fauth
Ph.D., Assistant Professor,
Gerontology Program Coordinator
Email: beth.fauth@usu.edu
Location: FL 222
Office Phone: 797-1989
Research Projects
Functional Ability and Well-being
Dementia and Caregiver Stress
EDUCATION
Ph.D.: Penn State University (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Minor in Gerontology), 2005
M.S.: Penn State University (Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Minor in Gerontology), 2002
B.S.: Syracuse University (Department of Psychology), 2000
RESEARCH INTERESTS
My research focuses on human development and famlies studies in late life. The two main areas of interest include daily functioning of the oldest-old (adults over the age of 85), and family caregiving.
Family Caregiving: Studies include observing daily behavior problems in people with dementia and their impact on the caregiver's well-being. I have also observed patterns of how these daily behavior problems and the caregiver's daily stress appraisals of these behaviors change over time. As a consultant, I have also worked with several programs in the Washington D.C. area that aim to serve the needs of caregivers, and I have empirically evaluated the effectiveness of their services. I currently work with the Alzheimer's Association Utah Chapter on an active grant to evaluate two caregiver intervention programs in the state of Utah. The study assesses the extent to which the educational, psychological, and family-focused counseling sessions improve outcomes for family caregivers of individuals with dementia. I also collaborate with the Cache County Dementia Progression Study and am interested in uncovering how aspects of the caregiver and the caregiving environment affect the progression of dementia.
Daily Functioning and Disability in the Oldest-old: I collaborate with the Institute for Gerontology at Jonkoping University in Sweden, and worked with multiple longitudinal studies of late life ((OCTO, OCTO-Twin, GENDER, and NONA). Primary interests have been to evaluate the Disablement Process model in predicting functional independence and disability in the oldest old, to observe and predict patterns of health and functional decline in this age group, and to test the role of psychosocial variables, such as mastery, well-being, and social support as buffers in the disablement process. I received NIH funding to combine multiple datasets of the oldest old and create a large sample of Swedish older adults, which have been used to study interrelationships between domains of disease, cognition, physical functioning, social support and well-being. Specifically, I study whether change in these domains are largely a function of aging, disablement, or mortality processes.
TEACHING
FCHD 1500: Lifespan Development
FCHD 3540: Adult Development and Aging
FCHD 4240: Social Gerontology
FCHD 6030: Graduate Research Methods
FCHD 6900/7900: Graduate Seminar in Adult Development and Aging