Kate de Medeiros, PhD
Kate de Medeiros, PhD
Kate de Medeiros

Gerontologist & Narrative Researcher

Kate de Medeiros, PhD

Narrative gerontology, qualitative research, ageism, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

I am a social gerontologist and narrative researcher whose work broadly focuses on understanding experiences related to aging such as what makes a good life in later life; cultural narratives of dementia; the importance of everyday risks in meaning making; home, place, and identity; and loneliness, friendships and social connectivity in older age. I earned my PhD in gerontology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and spent over a decade as a professor of gerontology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and, most recently, at Concordia University in Montreal. I have authored two books, Narrative Gerontology in Research and Practice and The Short Guide to Aging and Gerontology (Policy Press), co-edited the forthcoming Storied Complexities of Later Life: Narrative Gerontology Comes of Age (Oxford University Press), and have published more than seventy peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on a variety of age-related topics.

I currently serve as Principal of Kathryn & Associates Consulting and am an active speaker, researcher, and mentor in the field of gerontology.

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Publications

Books

2026

Storied Complexities of Later Life: Narrative Gerontology Comes of Age

Edited with G. Spector-Mersel & R. Randall. Oxford University Press.

2024

Journeys of Life: Engaging with the Work of Thomas R. Cole

Edited with N. Carlin. Wipf & Stock.

2022

Critical Humanities and Ageing: Forging Interdisciplinary Dialogues

Edited with M. Goldman & T. Cole. Routledge.

2020

Global Aging: Comparative Perspectives on Aging and the Life Course

2nd edition, with F. Whittington & S. Kunkel. Springer Publishing.

2017

The Short Guide to Aging and Gerontology

Policy Press, Bristol, UK.

2014

Journal Articles

Selected, most recent — full list in CV
2025
2025

Reliable Narrators of Experience: Rethinking Dementia Narratives from Insider Perspectives

Cultural Narratives of Dementia, Special Hastings Center Report.

2024

"We Don't Do Any of These Things Because We Are a Death-Denying Culture": Sociocultural Perspectives of Black and Latinx Cancer Caregivers

with C. C. Nwakasi, D. Esiaka, C. Nweke & R. Chidebe. Palliative & Supportive Care, 22(5). doi: 10.1017/S1478951524001184

2024

Vulnerability and Narrative in Later Life

with P. Ermoshkina. Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie. doi: 10.1007/s00391-024-02310-7

2024
2023

The AgeSmart Inventory: A Multifaceted Tool to Understand Age Bias

with S. Kunkel & L. Yu. Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine, 9.

2023

Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Widows' Experiences of Grief, Identity, and Support

with K. G. Valenti, S. Hahn, S. Enguidanos & G. Quinn. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 78(6), 1039–1050.

2022

Till Death Do Us Part?: Exploring the Social Convoys of Conjugally Bereaved Women

with S. E. Hackett. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 77(12), 2317–2325.

2022

Not Wanting to Lose the Dignity of Risk: On Living Alone with Dementia

with N. Berlinger & L. Girling. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 65(2), 274–282.

2022

In the Shadows of Others: Unheard Voices of Older Russian Immigrant Women in the United States

with P. Ermoshkina. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 37, 69–88.

2022

Elderly and Senior Citizen: Contested Terms

Age, Culture, Humanities: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 6.

2022

What Can Thinking Like a Bioethicist Bring to Gerontology?

with N. Berlinger & L. Girling. The Gerontologist, 62(8), 1097–1103.

2010

The Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Clinician Rating Scale (NPI-C): Reliability and Validity of a Revised Assessment of Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Dementia

with P. Robert, S. Gauthier, F. Stella, A. Politis, J. Leoutskakos, F. Taragano, J. Kremer, A. Brugnolo, A. Porsteinsson, Y. Geda, H. Brodaty, G. Gazdag & C. Lyketsos. International Psychogeriatrics, 22(6), 984–994.

Full publication list available on request →

Book Chapters

Selected, most recent — full list in CV
2026

Theorizing Narrative Gerontology

In Storied Complexities of Later Life: Narrative Gerontology Comes of Age (K. de Medeiros, G. Spector-Mersel & R. Randall, Eds.). Oxford University Press.

2025

The Aging Self

In Brocklehurst's Textbook of Geriatric Medicine & Gerontology, 9th ed. (K. Rockwood, R. Hubbard & A. Clegg, Eds.).

2024

Narrating Stories from the Perspective of Dementia: Considerations for Narrative Gerontology

In Journeys of Life: Essays in Honor of Thomas R. Cole (N. Carlin & K. de Medeiros, Eds.), pp. 55–72. Wipf and Stock.

2024

Home, Place and Aging: Making a Place for Inclusive Ways of Knowing

with P. Ermoshkina. In Handbook of Aging and Place (G. Rowles & M. Cutchin, Eds.), pp. 82–100. Edward Elgar Publishing.

2024

Growing Older Without Children: Challenging the (Re)production Narrative for Older Women

In Palgrave Handbook of Literature and Aging (V. Lipscomb & A. Swinnen, Eds.), pp. 143–158. Palgrave.

2023

Communication and Environmental Positioning in Dementia Care Units: Dialogues Through Space and Place

In (Re)designing the Continuum of Care for Older Adults (F. Ferdous & E. Roberts, Eds.), pp. 179–195. Springer Nature.

2022

Risky Business: Radical Creativity and the Importance of Risk in Long-Term Care Homes

with A. Basting. In Critical Humanities and Ageing: Forging Interdisciplinary Dialogues (M. Goldman, K. de Medeiros & T. Cole, Eds.), pp. 299–313. Routledge.

Full chapter list available on request →

Instruments

2026

Positive Risk Rubric

An interactive tool for rating how much a program calendar invites members to be daring or vulnerable, and how well each program supports them through it. Free to use under CC BY-NC 4.0.

Use it online →  ·  Printable PDF ↓

Scan to open

Speaking Engagements

Selected keynotes, invited talks & conference papers — full list in CV
2026

The Risk of Not Risking: The Case for Positive Risk in Village Programming

Keynote address, Washington Area Villages Exchange (WAVE) annual conference, Silver Spring, Maryland.

View slides (PDF) →

2024

Worth the Risk: Exploring Positive Risk and Meaning in Later Life

Invited talk, Brainy Boomer Lecture Series, McGill University Research Centre for Studies in Aging, Montréal.

2024

Narrative Health: What Do Stories Reveal and Conceal?

Keynote, inaugural School of Health Conference, Concordia University.

2024

The "Feeling Self" and Narrative Identity: Rethinking Dementia Stories through Emotional Memories

Canadian Association on Gerontology annual meeting, Edmonton, Alberta.

2024

How Thinking Like a Gerontologist Can Help Bioethics

Panel paper, CCEC 2024 Conference, convening with the Canadian Bioethics Society, Montréal.

2023

Vulnerability in the Context of Narrative Gerontology

Canadian Association on Gerontology annual meeting, Toronto, Ontario.

2023

The AgeSmart Inventory

with S. Kunkel. Invited talk, Changing the Narrative on Aging.

2023

Stigma, the Environment, and the Aging Experience

Colloquium series, College of Architecture and Planning, University of Utah.

2022

Narrative as a Boundary Concept in Gerontology, and Two Additional Papers

Three papers presented at the Gerontological Society of America annual meeting, Indianapolis, IN.

2022

The "Me" Beyond the Story: Personal Objects as Narrative Power in Research Interviews

European Network of Aging Studies, Budapest.

2021

Unspoiled Identities Among People Living Alone with Dementia: Resisting Stigma by Helping Others

Gerontological Society of America annual meeting (online).

Full list of presentations and invited talks available on request →

Podcasts

Age Rage podcast cover art: Because aging isn’t what you think it is

Age Rage Podcast

Aging is all the rage. After all, we are all doing it. And yet, it doesn’t get the positive recognition it deserves. Age Rage Podcast explores the cultural and historical roots of how we think about growing older — from ancient myths of immortality to the everyday words we use. Each episode peels back another layer of how we measure, fear, and celebrate the passage of time. After all, aging isn’t a problem to solve. It’s a story we’ve been telling wrong.

Coming soon, November 2026.

Videos

2022

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Training Series

Online training series, contributing creator. Bronze Telly Award winner.

2001

Life Stories

PBS documentary chronicling an autobiographical writing workshop for older adults, developed and facilitated with T. Cole.

Positions Held

8/25–present

Principal

Kathryn & Associates Consulting

11/25–present

Program Manager

The Virginia Villages Collective

1/21–present

Qualitative Research Consultant

Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

8/23–5/25

Professor

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

7/19–7/23

Professor of Gerontology

Department of Sociology and Gerontology; Scripps Research Fellow; Miami University, Oxford, OH

8/15–7/19

Associate Professor of Gerontology

Department of Sociology and Gerontology; Scripps Research Fellow, Miami University, Oxford, OH — also Undergraduate Student Advisor, 8/14–8/19

8/11–7/15

Assistant Professor of Gerontology

Department of Sociology and Gerontology; Scripps Research Fellow, Miami University, Oxford, OH

7/10–8/11

Assistant Research Scientist

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, UMBC, Baltimore, MD

6/09–8/11

Assistant Professor (part time)

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

5/09–7/10

Executive Director

The Copper Ridge Institute, Sykesville, MD

5/07–5/09

Research Scientist & Instructor (part time)

The Copper Ridge Institute, Sykesville, MD, and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

5/06–5/07

Senior Research Fellow

The Copper Ridge Institute, Sykesville, MD

Blogs

Series

Speaking as a Gerontologist

2026

Population Aging: A Tale of Two Countries

How South Korea and Singapore, both aging at record speed, took very different paths — and what that says about policy and later life.

Read or download (PDF) ↓

Contact

Email

katedemedeiros.phd@gmail.com

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/kate-de-medeiros_phd

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@Kate_on_Aging