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Contact: Brad
Duncan
Virginia
Marsh Bell
Nearly
40 years after earning her bachelor’s degree
from Transylvania University in 1944, Bell completed
her Master of Social Work degree from UK in 1982
at the age of 60. Bell began her social work career
as a family counselor at the UK Sanders-Brown Center
on Aging, where she also helped create and lead
support groups throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky
and worked in the Memory Disorders Clinic.
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LEXINGTON,
Ky. (April 26, 2004) -- The
University of Kentucky College of Social Work
welcomed its newest inductee, Virginia Marsh
Bell, of Lexington, into its Hall of Fame on
April 22.
“While
others think of retiring, Virginia Bell went back
to school and completed her Master of Social Work
degree,” said Kay Hoffman, dean, UK College
of Social Work. “More than 20 years later,
Virginia continues to give back to her community,
her nation, and to the world. There are few people
like Virginia, but what sets her apart is that
she sees herself only as part of the common humanity.
Young people need to know people like Virginia.
I am privileged to know her and proud that she
is a graduate of the UK College of Social Work.”
Nearly
40 years after earning her bachelor’s degree
from Transylvania University in 1944, Bell completed
her Master of Social Work degree from UK in 1982
at the age of 60. Bell began her social work career
as a family counselor at the UK Sanders-Brown Center
on Aging, where she also helped create and lead
support groups throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky
and worked in the Memory Disorders Clinic.
“During
this time, it became clear that Virginia Bell was
an innovative thinker and risk taker,” said
William Markesbery, director, UK Sanders-Brown
Center on Aging. “She wanted to develop interventions
that would help the person with Alzheimer’s
disease enjoy a more dignified life. To this end,
she created Helping Hand, one of the first dementia-specific
adult day care centers in the country.”
Bell
served as director of the Helping Hand program
for the first 10 years. In the last 20 years, the
program provided critical respite care and creative
activities for over 1,000
persons with dementia. Widely acclaimed as a source
of innovative programming, Helping Hand was one
of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s model
programs in the 1980s.
Bell’s “Best
Friend Approach” to working with persons
with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia
has proven successful and has demonstrated that
quality care does impact behavior.
“This
approach transcends the challenges and losses of
dementia and nurtures the spirit,” said Tonya
Tincher Cox, vice president of education and programs,
Alzheimer’s Association, Lexington. “Her
approach is now recognized as a model of care for
persons with dementia in all types of settings.
The model has been the subject of four books, co-authored
by Bell, which are recognized as the ‘books
of choice for person-centered care.’”
Bell
continues to travel the world sharing her pioneering
approach to care. She is often requested to speak
at conferences internationally, having presented
at more than 100 conferences in recent years. Bell
retired in 1993 at the age of 70 and has remained
a full-time volunteer for the last 11 years.
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