Q&A: Annette Totten on a geriatrics framework for home care: A quality improvement approach.

Annette Totten, PhD MPA, is director of the Geriatrics Framework Project at the Center for Home Care Policy and Research of the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, New York, NY. She has held a variety of policy, research, and project management positions in government, private foundations, and university-based research centers including the Ohio House of Representatives, the John A. Hartford Foundation, the New York State Department of Health, the New York University Department of Nursing, the Columbia University School of Nursing, the State Health Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at the University of Minnesota, and the Veterans Administration. Before joining the Center for Home Care Policy & and Research, Annette was the Director of the Center for the Study of Aging and an Assistant Research Professor at Boise State University. She earned her doctorate in health services research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and also holds a Masters of Public Administration from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. Her research interests include the organization, financing, and quality of care for chronic conditions and long-term care. She co-authored the book, Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Illness (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005) and has developed and taught graduate course on aging, health, and social policy; chronic disease epidemiology; and research methods.