Joan M. Detry Burke, EdD

In 2007, Dr. Burke joined Central State Hospital, Central Care Community Homes, Milledgeville, Georgia as a Staff Development Training Coordinator. While in that position she provided staff development and training for approximately 85 staff members for Central Care. She conducted training and development assessments and planned, developed, and implemented necessary training.

In June 2004, Dr. Burke joined The Center for Aging and Diversity in The Institute on Aging, Chapel Hill, NC, as a project director and social research associate, where she oversaw the planning, organization, and implementation of two large projects/grants: Perceiving and Giving Meaning to Dementia Among Caregivers, funded by The Alzheimer’s Association, and Train the Trainer – A Dementia Care Program, funded by GlaxoSmithKline. Her responsibilities included but were not limited to qualitative research, recruitment, community outreach, focus groups/data collection, and data analysis. Her project work included interactions with The Alzheimer’s Association, caregivers, contracted research and word processing companies, trainees, Area Agencies on Aging, Departments of Social Services, support groups, and gatekeepers of several communities. Dr. Burke conducted presentations at senior citizens centers, seminars, and Alzheimer’s Support Group meetings.  While at UNC, she attended the 2005 White House Conference on Aging, “The Booming Dynamics of Aging: From Awareness to Action,” where she was selected as one of a limited number of observers.   In 2006 she conducted a presentation entitled “Navigating Caregiver Recruitment in Diverse Communities” to second year medical students at the Medical School, UNC-CH. This presentation was part of “The Many Faces of Aging” – School of Medicine Program on Aging Lecture Series (MEDI 286), Spring Semester.

Prior to joining the UNC staff, Dr. Burke served as a consultant to Senior Service America, Silver Spring, MD where she conducted a research study entitled, “How Do Community Colleges Reach Out and Give Access to the Senior Population – Particularly Low Income Seniors Who Want to Enter the Workforce”? The purpose of the research study was to investigate how the 16 community colleges in the State of Maryland reach out and provide access and programs to seniors who want to prepare to enter or re-enter the workforce.

Included in her academic accomplishments, Joan earned her doctorate degree in Education with a focus in Adult Education, a graduate certificate in gerontology, and another in qualitative research from the University of Georgia. Her qualitative research includes work in Manchester, England and several countries in Southern Africa. For her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, she developed a training module on “Conducting Focus Groups” for her Directed Field Work. Her undergraduate degree is in Marketing, with a focus in General Business, which she earned from University College, University of Maryland.
Joan is a member of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging (AAHSA), Washington, DC. In April 2001 she was inducted into Phi Delta Kappa as a member of Phi Delta Kappa International, Professional Fraternity in Education – University of Georgia Chapter, and in July 2001 she was elected into Sigma Phi Omega as a member of Sigma Phi Omega, National Gerontology Academic Honor and Professional Society of Sigma Phi Omega, Kappa Chapter – University of Georgia.

Dr. Burke has co-authored publications: Dilworth-Anderson, P., Gibson, B., & Burke, J. M. D. (2006). Working with African American families. In G. Yeo & D. Gallagher-Thompson (Eds.). Ethnicity and the Dementias (2nd. Ed.). Routledge/Taylor & Francis; Dilworth-Anderson, P., Thaker, S. & Burke, J. M. D. Recruitment strategies for studying dementia in later life among diverse cultural groups. Alzheimer Disease & Associated Disorders. 2005; 19:256-260, and was a contributing author In J. W. Collins, III, & N. P. O’Brien (2003) (Eds.), The Greenwood Dictionary of Education. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Prior to her attainment of her doctoral degree, Joan worked for several years in the Institute for Minority Health Research and the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she planned, organized, and implemented conferences for the Georgia Leadership Commission on Organ, Tissue, Blood and Marrow Donation among African Americans, Child Protection in the 21st Century: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Advocacy for Children, The 2nd Anniversary of the 1997 Presidential Apology for the Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, in Atlanta, and the Black Church Week Of Prayer For The Healing of AIDS. She provided technical support and leadership for the national conference on “Enhancing Community Participation to Restore Trust and Improve Science in Health Research,” sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The conference was a response to the May 16, 1997, Presidential apology for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. Also, Joan did collaborative work with the American Cancer Society, Clark Atlanta University, and the Behavioral Science Health Education Department at Emory on cancer research, influenza immunization, and cardiovascular risk-reduction respectively.

Over the years, Joan has received many scholarships, awards, certificates, and recognition for her work in corporate America, academic institutions, the public health arena, and for her volunteerism.

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