Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD, MSW, MA

Assistant Professor, School of Social Work Room 308 North Hall University of Iowa Iowa City, IA 52242 319-335-1265 E-mail: mercedes-bern-klug@uiowa.edu

Graduate Education

• PhD, 2003: Social Welfare, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
• MA, 1991: Applied Demography, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
• MSW, 1984: (Administration), University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Teaching Activities

• Introduction to nursing homes
• Comparative gerontology

Research Interests

• Helping family members of older adults with advanced chronic illness make medical-related decisions.
• Enhancing the role of the nursing home social worker.
• Psychosocial issues at the intersection of advanced old age and advanced chronic illness.

Recent Publications

• Bern-Klug, M. (in press). The Emotional Context Facing Nursing Home Residents’ Families: A Call for Role Reinforcement Strategies from Nursing Homes and the Community. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
• Bern-Klug, M and Thompson, S. (in press). Responsibilities of Family Members to Nursing Home Residents: ‘She’s the Only Mother I Got.’ Journal of Gerontological Nursing.
• Bern-Klug, M. (in press). State variation in nursing home social worker qualifications. Journal of Gerontological Social Work.
• Bern-Klug, M., (2006). Calling the question of ‘possible dying’ among nursing home residents: Triggers, barriers, and facilitators. Journal of Social Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care, 2(3), 61-85.
• Kramer, B.J., Christ, G.H., Bern-Klug, M. and Francoeur, R.B., (2005). A proposed national agenda for social work research in palliative and end-of-life care. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 8 (2): 418-431.

Current Projects

• Collecting pilot data from family members of nursing home residents with cancer.
• Analyzing data from the first nationally representative survey of nursing home social service directors.

Current Grant Support

• Supporting Family Members Facing Palliative Care and End-of-Life Decision-Making on Behalf of Nursing Home Residents with Cancer
  UI Cancer and Aging Program
  $31,900
  2007-08
  Principal Investigator: Mercedes Bern-Klug, PhD, MSW, MA
• Nursing Home Social Workers Helping Residents at the End of Life.
  UI Old Gold Fellowship
  $6,000
  2007
  Role: Fellow