News
NAFC Honors Dr. Mary H. Palmer as Continence Care Champion
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing Professor Receives Award for Dedication to Continence Field
May 5, 2009 (Charleston, South Carolina) – The National Association For Continence (NAFC) announced that Mary H. Palmer, PhD, RNC, FAAN has been selected as the latest recipient of the organization’s Rodney Appell Continence Care Champion Award. Dr. Palmer received the award May 1 from Dr. Cheryl Phillips, President of the American Geriatric Society (AGS), at its Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.
Dr. Palmer, a member of AGS’s Public Education Committee, is the Helen W. & Thomas L. Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing where she has been since 2002. She is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America and in the American Academy of Nursing. In addition to her teaching duties, she serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and on the Editorial Board of Geriatric Nursing and Clinical Geriatrics. She is a co-editor of the column “Bladder Matters” in the American Journal of Nursing and has published countless articles and book chapters, including authoring the award-winning book, Urinary Continence: Assessment and Promotion. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Palmer was a Senior Staff Fellow with the intramural research program at the National Institutes of Health. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of prevalence, incidence, behavioral treatment and prevention of urinary incontinence in adults.
“Dr. Palmer’s contributions to the fields of aging and incontinence are countless. She truly embodies everything for which this award stands,” stated Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, Director of the Center for Aging and Health at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and former NAFC Board Member.
Established in 2000 to recognize healthcare providers whose contributions in research, education, and clinical practice make them role models for others in the field of continence care, NAFC’s Continence Care Champion Award raises awareness and elevates the importance of addressing incontinence among a variety of professional societies. Dr. Palmer was nominated by the AGS Board for NAFC’s consideration, and the award was sponsored by the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) Foundation which funds innovative research for ways to prevent and more effectively treat pelvic floor disorders in women.
The award name was changed in memory of Dr. Rodney Appell, long-time NAFC Board member, distinguished urologist and surgeon, and past award recipient. Dr. Appell passed away suddenly on January 19, 2009, in Houston, Texas. A listing of all past award recipients can be found on NAFC’s Hall of Fame at http://www.nafc.org/media/continence-care-champions/.
Dr. Palmer, a member of AGS’s Public Education Committee, is the Helen W. & Thomas L. Umphlet Distinguished Professor in Aging at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing where she has been since 2002. She is a Fellow in the Gerontological Society of America and in the American Academy of Nursing. In addition to her teaching duties, she serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and on the Editorial Board of Geriatric Nursing and Clinical Geriatrics. She is a co-editor of the column “Bladder Matters” in the American Journal of Nursing and has published countless articles and book chapters, including authoring the award-winning book, Urinary Continence: Assessment and Promotion. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Palmer was a Senior Staff Fellow with the intramural research program at the National Institutes of Health. She has conducted extensive research in the areas of prevalence, incidence, behavioral treatment and prevention of urinary incontinence in adults.
“Dr. Palmer’s contributions to the fields of aging and incontinence are countless. She truly embodies everything for which this award stands,” stated Jan Busby-Whitehead, MD, Director of the Center for Aging and Health at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and former NAFC Board Member.
Established in 2000 to recognize healthcare providers whose contributions in research, education, and clinical practice make them role models for others in the field of continence care, NAFC’s Continence Care Champion Award raises awareness and elevates the importance of addressing incontinence among a variety of professional societies. Dr. Palmer was nominated by the AGS Board for NAFC’s consideration, and the award was sponsored by the American Urogynecologic Society (AUGS) Foundation which funds innovative research for ways to prevent and more effectively treat pelvic floor disorders in women.
The award name was changed in memory of Dr. Rodney Appell, long-time NAFC Board member, distinguished urologist and surgeon, and past award recipient. Dr. Appell passed away suddenly on January 19, 2009, in Houston, Texas. A listing of all past award recipients can be found on NAFC’s Hall of Fame at http://www.nafc.org/media/continence-care-champions/.
