Lauren Palmer serves as a researcher for RTI’s Aging, Disability, and Long-term Care Program. She has over a decade of experience using qualitative and quantitative approaches to study health and social issues related to aging. She has expertise using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), several post-acute care assessments (MDS, IRF-PAI, LTCH Care Data Set), Medicare claims, and the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants (NSOAAP). By focusing her career on the dynamic relationship between aging, social support, poverty, and health care quality, Dr. Palmer provides important insights to multiple clients. Dr. Palmer analyzes large-scale, government-funded health programs and demonstrations for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Additionally, she leads research projects and tasks for other federal agencies, including the Administration for Community Living and previously for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE).
Before joining RTI in 2015, Dr. Palmer worked for a community-based elder service organization that targeted socially isolated and/or disabled elderly adults. From this experience, she developed on-the-ground expertise in aging services and population health and social isolation/loneliness.
In addition to her work, Dr. Palmer is a member Gerontological Society of America and the American Society of Aging. She has published material in peer-review journals, including the Journals of Gerontology, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Research on Aging, The Gerontologist, and the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
