Directory

Ann Kolanowski
PhD, RN, FGSA, FAAN

Academy Professor, Professor Emerita

University Park

Email: amk20@psu.edu

Kolanowski is Academy Professor and Professor Emerita at the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. She has conducted research on non-pharmacological interventions for symptoms of distress and delirium in people living with dementia in nursing homes. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Nursing Research, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Hartford, Commonwealth and Neuroscience Nursing Foundations. Kolanowski has published over 190 papers on dementia care in scientific journals and serves on many boards including the Moving Forward Coalition, the Armed Services Retirement Home, and Kings College Board of Directors as well as scientific advisory/consulting panels, including LINC-AD (Alzheimer’s Association and NIH-funded), EASE (Alzheimer’s Association-funded), Impact of Nursing Home Leadership Care Environments and Health Information Technology on Outcomes of Residents with ADRD (NIH-funded) and the Teaching Nursing Home Project (Hartford and Jewish Healthcare Foundations-funded). She was the recipient of the 2012 Doris Schwartz Gerontological Nursing Research Award and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and the Gerontological Society of America.  Kolanowski was the founding director of the Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence at Penn State University.

Education

• PhD, New York University
• MS, Penn State
• BSN, College Misericordia

Mentorship

• Provide mentorship to early career nursing faculty through grant application consultation and manuscript preparation.

Research

Research Interests and Areas of Expertise

PRIMARY:

• Behavioral and cognitive symptoms of dementia

SECONDARY:

• Nursing home care delivery

Research Funding and Grants

• 02/15/2023-11/2028
  R01 AG080517-01 (MPIs: Alexander and Poghosyan)
  Impact of Nursing Home Leadership, Care Environments and Health Information Technology on Outcomes of Residents with Dementia
  Role: Consultant
• 08/23/16 – 05/31/21
  R01 NR R01NR015982 (MPIs: Kolanowski, Resnick, Van Haitsma)
  NIH/NINR
  Implementation of EIT-4-BPSD in Nursing Homes
  The purpose of this implementation study is to test the effectiveness of an implementation framework for increasing staff up-take of non-drug interventions for BPSD in residents with dementia.
  Role: Principal Investigator
• 09/01/18- 01/01/20
  No Funding Number (PI: Kolanowski)
  Recall Foundation
  Geriatric Nursing Leadership Training Program for Optimizing Quality in Long-Term-Care
  This project aims to reduce the high turn-over of new professional nurse managers in Veterans Administration Community Living Centers (CLC and thereby improve health outcomes for CLC residents with cognitive impairments through leadership training for CLC nurse managers.
  Role: Principal Investigator
• 9/15/2017- 8/31/ 2022
  R21AG057451 (PI: Mor)
  NIH/NIA
  METRICAL – Music & Memory: A Pragmatic Trial For Nursing Home Residents With Alzheimer’s Disease
  MUSIC & MEMORYSM (M&M) is a music program that involves using inexpensive iPod technology to deliver individualized music to people with ADRD for reduction of behavioral symptoms. The investigators will standardize the introduction and implementation of M&M during a one-year R21 pilot and then to test the impact of implementing M&M on NH residents’ BPSD outcomes during a four-year R33 pragmatic trial.
  Role: Consultant

Publications and Scholarly Work

SELECTED PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS FROM OVER 195:

• Madrigal C, Kolanowski A, Berish D, VanHaitsma K. Feasible and Appropriate Strategies for Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in Nursing Homes. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2021 Mar;22(3):717-720. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.12.004. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
• Kolanowski, A., Behrens, L., Lehman, E., Oravecz, Z., Resnick, B., Boltz, M., . . . Eshraghi, K. (2020). Living well with dementia: Factors associated with nursing home residents’ affect balance. Research in Gerontological Nursing, 13(1), 21-30.
• Murali KP, Carpenter JG, Kolanowski A, Bykovskyi AG. Comprehensive Dementia Care Models: State of the Science and Future Directions. Res Gerontol Nurs. 2025 Jan-Feb;18(1):7-16.
• Alexander GL, Poghosyan L, Zhao Y, Hobensack M, Kisselev S, Norful AA, McHugh J, Wise K, Schrimpf MB, Kolanowski A, Bhatia T, Tasnova S. Optimizing Response Rates to Examine Health IT Maturity and Nurse Practitioner Care Environments in US Nursing Homes: Mixed Mode Survey Recruitment Protocol. JMIR Res Protoc. 2024 Aug 29;13:e56170. doi: 10.2196/56170.  PMCID: PMC11393505.
• Mueller CA, Bowers BJ, Kolanowski AM. RNs in nursing homes-It is not always about the numbers. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Aug;72(8):2311-2318. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18898. Epub 2024 Mar 29.
• Madrigal C, Resnick B, Eshraghi K, Ellis J, Kolanowski A, Van Haitsma K. Testing the Reliability and Validity of the Revised Care Plan Checklist for Evidence of Person-Centered Care Approaches for Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Distress in Persons With Dementia. Res Gerontol Nurs. 2022 Nov-Dec;15(6):303-311.

BOOK:

• Reifsnyder, J, Kolanowski, A. & Dunbar-Jacob, J (2024) Practice & Leadership In Nursing Homes. Indianapolis: Sigma Theta Tau

Editorial and Peer Review Roles

• Journals (Editorial Board): Journal of Gerontological Nursing; Research in Gerontological Nursing
• Journals (reviewer): Journal of the American Medical Directors Association; Journal of the American Geriatrics Society; BMC; Geriatric Nursing

Service

Community and Policy Engagement

• Member: Advisory Board of Armed Forces Retirement Committee
• Board of Directors: King’s College
• Nursing Department Advisory Board King’s College
• Advisory Board: Penn State Academy Professor
• AAN Expert Panel on Aging
• Advisory Board Revisiting The Teaching Nursing Home Project

Professional Organization Involvement and Fellowships

MEMBERSHIP:

• ANA
• GSA
• AAN

FELLOWSHIPS:

• AAN
• GSA