Karl Pillemer

About

Karl Pillemer, Ph.D., is one of America’s leading family sociologists and researchers on aging. He is a Professor of Human Development at Cornell University and Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at the Weill Cornell Medical College. Throughout his career, Dr. Pillemer’s research has focused on how family relationships develop and change over time, with particular attention to issues such as family estrangements and reconciliation. His work combines academic rigor with practical advice, aiming to help families mend fractured relationships and build bridges over family rifts. Dr. Pillemer is the author of the book "Fault Lines," which addresses family estrangements affecting more than 65 million Americans, offering science-based evidence, dramatic stories, and practical tools for reconciliation. His research and writing provide valuable insights into family dynamics and aging, helping those estranged and their loved ones find paths to healing and connection.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Environmental health
• Psychiatry
• Gerontology
• Medical emergency
• Nursing
• Demography
• Political Science
• Virology
• Criminology

Selected publications

• Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Elder Mistreatment and Response in New York City: Initial Lessons

  Journal of Applied Gerontology · 2020 · 106 citations

  New York City is currently experiencing an outbreak of COVID-19, a highly contagious and potentially deadly virus, which is particularly dangerous for older adults. This pandemic has led to public health policies including social distancing and stay-at-home orders. We explore here the impact of this unique crisis on victims of elder mistreatment and people at risk of victimization. The COVID-19 outbreak has also had a profound impact on the organizations from many sectors that typically respond…

  DOI

• Caregiver Needs Assessment in Primary Care: Views of Clinicians, Staff, Patients, and Caregivers

  Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2020 · 69 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  OBJECTIVES: To understand current practices, challenges, and opportunities for a systematic assessment of family caregivers' needs and risks in primary care. DESIGN: Qualitative study consisting of in-depth semi-structured interviews. SETTING: Four primary care practices located in urban and rural settings. PARTICIPANTS: Primary care clinicians, staff, and administrators (N = 30), as well as older adult patients and family caregivers (N = 40), recruited using purposive and maximum variation samp…

  DOI

• Estimated Incidence and Factors Associated With Risk of Elder Mistreatment in New York State

  JAMA Network Open · 2021 · 23 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  Importance: Elder mistreatment is associated with major health and psychosocial consequences and is recognized by clinicians, policy makers, and researchers as a pervasive problem affecting a rapidly aging global population. Objective: To estimate the incidence of elder mistreatment and identify factors associated with the risk of new cases. Design, Setting, and Participants: This research is a 10-year, longitudinal, population-based, cohort study of the incidence of elder mistreatment in New Yo…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Lack of Association of Elder Mistreatment With Mortality

  The Journals of Gerontology Series A · 2021 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  BACKGROUND: Prior research is limited and inconsistent on the degree to which elder mistreatment (EM) is associated with mortality. This study uses data from a 10-year, prospective, population-based study of EM to determine the adjusted effects of EM on older adult mortality, after controlling for other health and socioeconomic covariates. METHODS: The New York State Elder Mistreatment Prevalence Study conducted a random-sample telephone survey of older adults (n = 4 156) in 2009 (Wave 1). The c…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Pain Prevalence and Intensity Among Older Family Caregivers Versus Non-Caregivers in the United States

  Journal of Aging and Health · 2025-04-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  ObjectiveWe compared pain prevalence and intensity between caregivers and non-caregivers, as well as between different types of caregivers.MethodUsing two rounds of data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we used regression models to analyze differences in pain prevalence and intensity between caregivers and non-caregivers at baseline (2010-2011) and follow-up (2015-2016). The sample consisted of 2332 participants aged 62 and older (352 caregivers and 1980 non-caregivers).…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Resident-to-Resident Elder Mistreatment Intervention for Dementia Care in Assisted Living

  NIH · $3.7M · 2017–2023

• NIH Grant P50AG011711

  NIH · $9.3M · 2003

• NIH Grant R01MH042163

  NIH · $563k · 1993

Frequent coauthors

• Mark S. Lachs

  Presbyterian Hospital

  228 shared

• Jeanne A. Teresi

  Hebrew Home

  142 shared

• Tony Rosen

  NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital

  100 shared

• Joseph P. Eimicke

  New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute

  97 shared

• J. Jill Suitor

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  95 shared

• Mildred Ramírez

  Cornell University

  90 shared

• M. Carrington Reid

  86 shared

• Stephanie Silver

  Columbia University Irving Medical Center

  82 shared

Awards & honors

• Hazel E. Reed Human Development Professor in the College of…

Similar researchers at Cornell University

• Robert Sternbergh-168
• Sander Kerstenh-106
• Savita Sastryh-95