About

Kristina M. Hash, LICSW, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School Social Work and Director of the Gerontology Certificate Program at West Virginia University. She is also the Director of Interprofessional Education for the WV Geriatric Education Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University, a Master of Social Work Degree and Graduate Gerontology Certificate and Graduate Certificate in Health Professions Education from West Virginia University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Catherine University. Her research interests include geriatric education, rural gerontology, LGBT issues, and the use of technology in teaching and research. Her work has been published in the Journal of Gerontological Social Work, Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, Clinical Social Work Journal, and Geriatric and Gerontology Education as well as in edited books. Her book, Aging in Rural Places, was published in 2015 and her edited volume, Annual Review of Geriatrics and Gerontology: Contemporary issues and future directions in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) aging, was published in 2017.

Dr. Hash has taught courses on diversity, health and aging, rural gerontology, social gerontology, social work practice, social work research, and human behavior in the social environment. She is an expert trainer and consultant for the Council on Social Work Education’s National Center for Gerontological Social Work Education, was one of 15 participants chosen nationally for the National Institute of Aging (NIA) First Annual Institute on Aging and Social Work, and has been an investigator for four geriatric education grants funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and the DHHS/HRRSA/Bureau of Health Professions. She was a recipient of the Outstanding Principal Investigator Award from the New York Academy of Medicine’s Social Work Leadership Institute, the David Z. Morgan Award for Excellence in Geriatric Education from the WV Geriatric Education Center and WV Geriatrics Society, the Alumni Making a Difference Award from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work, the West Virginia University Foundation Outstanding Teaching Award, the WVU Eberly College Faculty Teaching Award, and the Judith Gold Stitzel Award from the West Virginia University Center for Women’s Studies.

Dr. Hash’s practice background includes positions in home health care, social work continuing education, and research and program evaluation. Additionally, she has been involved in several volunteer activities with community-based agencies serving older adults. Her experience as a caregiver for her grandmother was the driving force behind her interest in social work and aging.