Sarah Dys, PhD, MPA is a senior research associate at the Institute on Aging at Portland State University. She is dedicated to understanding and improving the lives of older adults, especially those living in assisted living, residential care, and memory care communities. She is the co-Project Director of the annual Oregon Community-Based Care study. Sarah’s goal is to use her research to give a voice to the people who live and work in long-term care. She is not just interested in numbers; she also gathers personal stories to create a complete picture of life in these communities. Her current work looks at the experiences of both assisted living and adult foster home residents and staff, evaluating social isolation interventions for Medicaid consumers, and understanding the meaning of quality in memory care. Ultimately, she aims to tackle the big-picture issues that affect the health and happiness of older adults.
