Founding Director, Associate Professor
She/her/ella, white, cisgender, heterosexual, LGBTQIA+ ally
Favorite occupations: Cooking/baking, hiking, traveling, working with glass, knitting, gardening, spending time with friends and family
Dr. Fritz received her M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Winston Salem State University and her Ph.D. in Occupational Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology. Dr. Fritz’s research focuses on understanding how individuals may prevent or delay conditions or disability in later life and developing and testing preventative interventions. She incorporates both qualitative and quantitative methods in her work and emphasizes the translation of theory to everyday clinical practice.
Dr. Fritz’s current work focuses on frailty prevention and chronic condition self-management among socially disadvantaged populations. She has published over 35 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Her research has been funded by multiple foundations as well as the National Institutes of Health. Since 2015, Dr. Fritz has been the Principal or Co-Investigator on research awards totaling over $6,000,000. She presents her research nationally and internationally. Dr. Fritz has mentored numerous students in the conduct of community-based research and delivery of preventative occupational therapy. Dr. Fritz is an Associate Editor for OTJR: Occupation, Participation, and Health.
Dr. Fritz has been a clinician since 2007 and has worked with a range of clinical populations. Her current clinical interest is in community-based preventative occupational therapy for older adults. She is a certified Health Coach and especially interested in growing occupational therapy’s role in the primary care setting.
Clinical Interests
Older adults; frailty; community-based programming; OT in primary care; health management occupations; health promotion/disease prevention; clinical research
Research Areas
Chronic condition prevention and management (theory, intervention research)
Occupational science (theory, habits, action, and environment re daily activities)
Aging (Phenomenology of aging, occupation, frailty, neighborhood environments)
Socially disadvantaged populations (Racial/ethnic minorities, low income, and rural populations)
Google Scholar link: tinyurl.com/3uhzauvm
CV