Joan Rogers

Biography

Joan C. Rogers was appointed chair of the Department of Occupational Therapy in 1998 and associate dean of Graduate Studies of SHRS in 2011 and served in these positions until her retirement in 2015. She came to the University in 1984 to provide clinical, educational and research services in occupational therapy for the Geropsychiatric Unit of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic and strengthen graduate studies at the then School of Health Related Professions. She held joint appointments in psychiatry and community nursing and was a member faculty of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the Health Policy Institute, and the Geriatric Education Center of Pennsylvania.

Rogers’ research agenda focused on functional disability associated with physical, cognitive and emotional impairments of older adults. She is best known for her development of the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills, in conjunction with colleagues Margo Holm and Denise Chisholm, and her elucidation of differences in functional outcomes emerging from subjective and objective measurement.