Breana Bietsch, MSW
Prior to being accepted to the PhD program, Breana Bietsch, MSW worked in different social work roles with the older adult population including community outreach programs, a hospice, nursing homes, homecare services and senior housing services. In her undergraduate, she studied Psychology at Rider University and minored in Health Administration, focusing one of her final projects on the health outcomes of those receiving Medicaid in NJ. She then earned her MSW at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ and received a certificate on Aging through the program. During her time at Rutgers, she worked as a graduate assistant studying the effects of grandparents raising grandchildren as well as the experiences of transgender young adults coming out to their grandparents. Her current research interest focuses on the health outcomes of LGBTQ+ older adults, more specifically, the health disparities they face and solutions to ending these disparities. She hopes to understand what are causing the health disparities seen in this population and what policies, programs, and research can be implemented to correct for these differing health outcomes in order to improve this population’s overall health. Another focus of hers is on peaking social work student interest in working with and researching older adult populations, specifically minoritized older individuals, in order to fill a gap in that is apparent in this research to improve the lived experiences of these communities. Ultimately, Breana hopes to combine these research interests into furthering the research available on LGBTQ older adults, supporting others to contribute to the gerontological social work field, and improve the health and overall well-being of aging populations.
MSW
Rutgers University
Research Interests:
Breana’s research interest areas include understanding Health Disparities in Older Adults, specifically among LGBTQ+ populations, and solutions to improving Health Outcomes in these populations.
