Martha G. Hipskind, M.S.P.H. Director of Marketing& Aging Issues Health Planning Source, Inc Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

Martha Grove Hipskind ('92) is Director of Marketing and Aging Issues for Health Planning Source, Inc., a healthcare consulting firm located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Health Planning Source offers strategic planning, operational, and performance improvement services to a wide variety of healthcare providers and excels in forging the link between articulating and achieving strategic visions in daily operations.

After attending the University of North Texas, Hipskind received a M.S.P.H. in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ('96). Her graduate work included a summer internship at the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and a research assistantship at the Sheps Center for Health Services Research that culminated three publications on the affects of admission to a nursing facility:

• Rabiner, D.J., Hipskind, M.G., & Boyce, S.E. (1997). The impact of residence and attitudes on the use of nursing home services. Carolina Health Services and Policy Review, 4,193-214.

• Rabiner, D.J., & Hipskind, M.G. (1997). Stability and change in attitudes toward nursing homes: Results from an admission cohort of nursing home residents. Gerontology and Geriatrics Education, 17(4), 59-79.

• Rabiner, D.J., Hipskind, M.G., & Randolph, R.K. (1997). Are rural elders healthier and happier upon admission to a nursing home setting? Journal of Clinical Geropsychology, 3(4), 299-319.

Following graduate study, Hipskind served as a Research Health Scientist in the VA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention where she launched a 70,000-veteran survey providing baseline data used to evaluate the VA's shift to a primary care model. 

Her new position at Health Planning Source offers unlimited opportunities to bring aging issues to the forefront of strategic planning by healthcare organizations and systems across the Carolinas. Hipskind is currently underway establishing a new division dedicated to assisting businesses in the Research Triangle Park area with offering eldercare programs to their employees. Recently, this effort has led to her piloting seminars for caregivers of older adults through area churches, continuing education departments, and professional groups.