Dr. Bowers’ research focuses on frail, older adults and people with lifelong disabilities, in both community and residential settings. She is interested in how public policies, organizational practices and models of care delivery influence quality of care and quality of work life for caregivers. Her interest in work life quality for workers in long term care systems has led her to examine causes of staff turnover, the relationships among organizational structure, organizational culture, management practices, and care outcomes, and to explore ways to improve the effectiveness of staff development. Her work with informal caregivers at home has led to the development of tools to provide anticipatory guidance and support caregiver decision making. Professor Bowers is the founding director of the School of Nursing’s Center for Aging Research and Education. 

Dr. Wing is Dean and Professor of the Florida State University College of Nursing, and Adjunct Professor in Biomedical Informatics and Public Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She serves as the Board of Trustee at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and HCA Florida Capitol Hospital. She’s committed to nursing workforce development and High Tech High Touch approach in nursing education, research, and collaborative practice. Her interdisciplinary research uses mobile and connected health technologies to optimize multiple-behavior lifestyle interventions and improve patient-centered outcomes among the chronically ill and aging populations with multiple chronic conditions, especially among the rural and underserved populations 

Dr. Kennedy is a Health Science Specialist at the VA Providence Healthcare System's THRIVE-COIN. Her research examines the organizational and leadership factors that impact workforce and resident outcomes. In her presentation, Dr. Kennedy will explore the critical role of leadership in workforce research and practice. She will present findings from her partnered research with Veterans Health Administration Community Living Centers (CLCs) and offer insights on how to collaborate with nursing executives and managers to successfully implement health workforce research. 

Jessica is a Research and Evaluation Associate at PHI, where she focuses on improving the quality of jobs for direct care workers and long-term services. Her presentation will provide an overview of the demographic makeup of the direct care workforce and the challenges they face, while highlighting PHI's framework for achieving quality jobs in the sector. She will share state-level progress and policy examples from PHI's work to promote better jobs and care. 

With over two decades of experience in long-term care, Dr. Schwartz is the founder of Workforce & Quality Innovations (WQI). She specializes in workforce initiatives, including recruitment, education, and retention strategies for LTC staff. Her presentation will focus on practical recommendations for translating workforce research into policy and practice, highlighting initiatives that help recruit and retain staff.