Margaret P. Calkins

Dr. Calkins is president of IDEAS: Innovative Designs in Environments for an Aging Society, a consulting firm dedicated to exploring the therapeutic potential of the environment—social and organizational as well as physical—particularly as it relates to frail and impaired older adults. She is also Chair of the Board of IDEAS Institute, which focuses on research and education in the same area. A member of several national organizations and panels which focus on issues of care for cognitively impaired older adults, she speaks regularly at conferences both here in the US and abroad. She has published extensively, and her book Design for Dementia: Planning Environments for the Elderly and the Confused was the first design guide for special care units. Her latest book, Creating Successful Dementia Care Settings, addresses the care setting in a more holistic manner, combining physical, social and organizational issues in to one comprehensive text.

Dr. Calkins had a significant role in the development and evaluation research at the Corinne Dolan Center, an internationally recognized model facility for people with Alzheimer's disease. She has received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health to develop training materials and explore the impact of the environment on people with dementia. She is Immediate Past President of SAGE: Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments, and in involved in the effort to implement resident-centered care practices in nursing homes across the United States.