Veronica García Walker

Dr. García Walker’s experience with adults aging with the diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders spans over 20 years. She has dedicated herself to the patient care and patient teaching of adults aging with the diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorders as a staff psychiatric nurse as well as when she served as a director of nursing in a psychiatric hospital. Later at The University of Texas at Austin, she tirelessly worked in both her undergraduate and graduate lectures and clinical classes to eradicate or mitigate the stigma commonly associated with this population. For over a decade, she has assisted countless students’ learning of safe, respectful, appropriate communication techniques for communicating with this population in many major psychiatric facilities. Recently, she investigated the literature and contributed to a conceptual model using the holistic lens of life course theory to study adults aging with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (Walker, 2019). In November, 2024 Dr. García Walker was awarded an R21 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The title of the funded study is:  Perceptions and Experiences of Adult Women Aging with the Diagnosis of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders in Relation to Social Connectedness. Dr. Tracie Harrison from the University of Iowa is a co-investigator on this grant. This grant will support Dr. García Walker in her continued study of important topics as she continues to collaborate with this population viewing them as experts in their own care. Dr. García Walker has stated the following, “My passion and love for this population cannot be measured as easily but should be taken into account when considering my suitability for research on this important topic.”