Psychology

Professor Emerita

Office: CLOW F028
Email: mcfadden@uwosh.edu

Susan McFadden, Professor Emerita of Psychology, taught at UW Oshkosh from 1985 to 2012. In 2011, she and her husband traveled throughout England visiting Memory Cafés. They saw no tourist attractions, but they did see a lot of church basements and senior centers where they participated in creative programming for persons with memory loss and other cognitive challenges. Memory Cafés offer two hours of enjoyable stigma-free social connection for people with dementia and their care partners. They take place in actual cafés, libraries, senior centers, botanical gardens, museums, etc.

In 2012, Dr. McFadden co-founded Fox Valley Memory Project (FVMP; www.foxvalleymemoryproject.org), a nonprofit that offers programs and services for people living with dementia in northeast Wisconsin. FVMP offers 18 Memory Cafés every month in a four-county area. In 2023-24, she was a member of the Lead Team that received a generous grant to develop a plan to scale up Memory Cafés across the US (https://dfamerica.org/memory-cafe-overview/). Additional grants are supporting their work to create a national Memory Café directory, training modules for new café leaders, and a national messaging campaign about the benefits of this type of social engagement.

Since retiring, she’s been taking drum lessons and longs to connect with other women her age who play electric guitar and bass.  Dr. McFadden and her husband have a cabin in the Upper Peninsula near Munising where they go for hammock-sitting, eagle-watching, kayaking, hiking, reading, and listening to all kinds of music.  A particular delight in their lives is any time they can be with their adult children and two grandchildren.

Publications Since 2011

Books

• McFadden, S. H. (2021). Dementia-friendly communities: Why We Need Them and How We Can Create Them. Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
• McFadden, S. H., & McFadden, J. T. (2011).  Aging together: Dementia, friendship, and flourishing communities.  Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Book Chapters

• Ebert, A., & McFadden, S. H. (2019). Spirituality and aging. In L. Zsolnai & B. Flanagan (Eds.), The Routledge international handbook of spirituality in society and the professions (pp. 141-147). New York, NY: Routledge.
• Roush, R. E., Braune, M., McFadden, S. H., & de Medeiros, K. (2018). How the arts and humanities can help older persons with dementia and their caregivers be more resilient. In B. Resnick, L. P. Gwyther, & K. Roberto (Eds.), Resilience in aging: Concepts, research, and outcomes (2^nd ed., pp. 133-150). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland.
• Desai, A. K., Desai, F. G., McFadden, S. H., & Grossberg, G. (2016).  Experiences and perspectives of persons with dementia.  In M. Boltz & J. E. Galvin (Eds.), Dementia
• McFadden, S. H. (2015). Spirituality, religion, and aging: Clinical geropsychology and aging people’s need for meaning.  In P. A. Lichtenberg & B. T. Mast (Eds.), APA handbook of clinical geropsychology (Vol. 1; pp. 473-496).  Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• McFadden, S. H., Frankowski, S., Flick, H., & Witten, T. (2013).  Resilience and multiple stigmatized identities: Lessons from transgender persons’ reflections on aging.  In J. Sinnott (Ed.), Positive psychology: Advances in understanding adult motivation (pp. 249-267).  New York: Springer Publishing Co.
• McFadden, S. H. (2013).  Old persons, old age, aging, and religion.  In R. Paloutzian & C. Park (Eds.), Psychology of religion and spirituality (2^nd ed., pp. 198-212).  New York: Guilford.
• McFadden, S. H. (2012).  Aging, psychology of.  In A. Runehov & L. Oviedio (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sciences and Religions.  Heidelberg, Germany: Springer Science+Media Dordrecht.
• McFadden, S. H. (2011). Gathering and growing gifts through creative expression and playfulness. In Jewell, A. (Ed.), Spirituality and personhood in dementia (pp. 100-110). Philadelphia, PA: Jessica Kinsley Publishers.
• McFadden, S. H., & Ramsey, J. L. (2011).  Pastoral care and late life relationships: Nurturing imagination, hope, and love.  In I. Noth, C. Morgenthaler, & K. J. Greider (Eds.), Pastoralpsychologie und Religionspsychologie im Dialog [Pastoral psychology and psychology of religion in dialogue] (pp. 207-220).  Stuttgart:  Verlag W. Kohlhammer.
• Roush, R. E., Braun, M., Basting, A., Winakur, J., Rosenberg, R., & McFadden, S. H. (2011).  Using the arts to promote resiliency among persons with dementia and their caregivers.  In B. Resnick, L. Gwyther, & K. A. Roberto (Eds.), Resilience in aging: Concepts, research, and outcomes (pp. 105-120).  New York: Springer.

Journal Articles

• McFadden, S. H. (2024). Dementia and the problem of loneliness: How faith communities can help. Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging.
• Miron, A. M., Groves, C. L., Thompson, A. E., McFadden, S. H., Bowers, H. R., & DeBraal, J. M. (2023). Fear of incompetence in family caregivers and dementia care transitions. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 96, 447-470. doi: 10.1177/0091415022106075.
• Miron, A. M., Thompson, A. E., Ebert, A., & McFadden, S. H. (2019). Weaving social reality around the grandparent/great-grandparent with dementia: A model of verbal and non-verbal dementia interactions. Dementia, 18(6), 2244–2260, doi: 10.1177/1471301217743817.
• Ebert, A., McFadden, S. H., & Kulibert, D. (2019). Personhood-based knowledge: A new construct predicting personal dementia fear. Innovation in Aging, 3 (Supplement_1), S467-S468. https: doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igz038.1745
• Ebert, A., Kulibert, D., & McFadden, S. H. (2019). Effects of dementia knowledge and dementia fear on comfort with people having dementia: Implications for dementia-friendly communities. Dementia. 
• Miron, A. M., Thompson, A. E., McFadden, S. H., & Ebert, A. R. (2019).  Young adults’ concerns and coping strategies related to their interactions with their grandparents and great-grandparents with dementia.  Dementia, 18, 1025-1041.  doi:10.1177/147130217700965
• Kulibert, D., Ebert, A., Preman, S., & McFadden, S. H. (2018).  In-home use of personalized music for persons with dementia.  Dementia. Doi:10.1177/1471301218763185
• Diekfuss, J., DeLarwelle, J. A., & McFadden, S. H. (2018).  Diagnosis makes a difference: Perceptions of older persons with dementia symptoms.  Experimental Aging Research, 44(2), 148-161. doi:10.1080/0361073X2017.1422475
• McFadden, S. H. (2017).  Creative aging and the “existential crack.”  The Gerontologist, 57, 593-595.
• Miron, A. M., McFadden, S. H., Hermus, N., Buelow, J., Nazario, A., & Seelman, K. (2017).  Contact and perspective taking improve humanness standards and perceptions of humanness of older adults and people with dementia: A cross-sectional survey study.  International Psychogeriatrics. 29(10), 1701-1711. doi:10.1017/S1041610217000989
• Miron, A. M., McFadden, S. H., Nazario, A., & Buelow, J. (2017).  Perspective taking, empathic concern, and perceived humanness of persons with dementia.  Educational Gerontology, 43, 468-479.  doi:10.10801/3601277/2017/1333788.
• McFadden, S. H., & McFadden, J. T. (2014).  The role of congregations in dementia-friendly communities.  Caring Connections, 11(3). 
• McFadden, S. H., & Koll, A. (2014).  Popular memory cafés in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley battle social isolation.  Generations: Journal of the American Society on Aging, 38(1), 68-71.
• McFadden, S. H., & McFadden, J. T. (2013).  Living longer, often with dementia.  Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 93(1), 4-7.
• Desai, A. K., & McFadden, S. H. (2013).  Reducing antipsychotic utilization in long-term care residents: Addressing psychological and spiritual needs of residents with dementia is crucial.  Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 14, 224-225.
• O’Connor, M. L., & McFadden, S. H. (2012).  A Terror Management perspective on young adults’ ageism and attitudes toward dementia.  Educational Gerontology, 38, 627-643.
• McFadden, S. H. (2011).  Annotated bibliography: The role of spirituality in aging.  The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 32, 259-261.
• McFadden, S. H., Kimble, M. A., Ellor, J. W., Seeber, J. E., & Rost, R. (2011).  The Center on Aging, Religion, and Spirituality:  Lessons learned.  Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, 23, 62-76.
• Ellor, J. W., & McFadden, S. H. (2011).  Perceptions of the roles of religion and spirituality in the work and lives of professionals in gerontology:  Views of the present and expectations about the future.  Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, 23, 50-61.