70+ AND GOING STRONGKathryn Linden-A Really GreatCOIllIllunicator

"Way back when I was working,"was a phrase Kathryn Linden re­peated often during an interviewwith GN. Those words are a contra­diction of the facts, for right now, 13years after "retirement," Kay pre­sides over -a one thousand-memberalumni association, directs an inter­national foundation, and chairs athriving coalition of American In­dian activists.

What sort of woman earns a doc­torate two years after formal retire­ment? Kathryn Linden. In 1972, shereceived a PhD in communication,with honors, from New York Uni­versity. That degree fulfilled a goalnurtured throughout her years as di­rector, from 1953 to 1970, of theFilm and Television Service of theAmerican Nurses' Association andthe National League for Nursing.

Nurses will remember Kay bestfor her many articles on making andpresenting educational films, pub­lished in the American Journal ofNursing, Nursing Outlook, andEducational Screen and Audiovi­sual Guide. And almost every personwho ever attended an ANA or NLNconvention or studied in a school ofnursing will have seen some of theinnumerable films on health educa­tion for which she was responsible.

To foster understanding throughcommunication in all forms, butprincipally by audiovisual means,was an early, absorbing interest.From 1937 to 1944, for instance, sheassisted with exhibitions and films atNew York's Metropolitan Museumof Art. During the next four yearsshe directed audiovisual education atthe East and West Association.Next, consultation on ANA's audio­visual program led to her 17-year di­rectorship of the ANA-NLN FilmService. Recently the American Ar­chives of the Factual Film at Aimes,Iowa, invited her to place with them

Kathryn Linden directed the filming of"Future Nurse," at Mountainside Hospital,Montclair, N. J. Script by Kay, narration·by Pat Boone, and funding by the NationalLeague for Nursing's Careers Committee.

all the published records of her filmwork at both the East and West As­sociation and ANA-NLN Film Ser­vice as well as prints of films andfilmstrips sponsored by the ANA­NLN service.

Born in Brooklyn, Kay has been alifelong New Yorker except for a

brief residence in New Jersey. Herparents were Austrians who becameAmerican citizens right after WorldWar I. "The world war was veryhard on my father financially so Ididn't complete my first degree (BS,Columbia University, School ofGeneral Studies) until 1953," shesaid. "Then I went on for a mas­ter's-in social psychology becausemy work with films on health calledfor a deeper understanding of hu­mankind."

Kay's present commitments, andwhat she says she enjoys most, haveevolved from her first graduate stud­ies and extensive involvement withthe Taraknath Das Foundation,which is headquartered at Colum­bia's Southern Asian Institute.

Established by Taraknath Das, ascholar and Indian revolutionarywho came to the United States in1906. The foundation promotes hu­man welfare, friendly relations, andcooperation between the U.S. andother nations through educationaland philanthropic activities. Amongthese are a grant and loan programto assist Indian students studyinghere; scholarships to students in Ja­pan, sociological research in India,and endowments to many Americanuniversities for lectures and prizes asmemorials honoring Indian leadersand intellectuals.

For her academic and extracurric­ular activities in cultural relations,Kay was awarded the TaraknathDas Foundation Prize in 1956. Shehas been the foundation's directorfor the past 10 years.

She spends three days a week ather Columbia University office,from which she directs alumni rela­tions and carries out varied and de­manding responsibilities as presidentof the Alumni Association of Colum­bia's School of General Studies.

From 1977 to 1982 she chaired

Geriatric Nursing July/August 1983261

70+ AND GOING STRONG DRUGS & ELDERLYthat association's program commit­tee, bringing to the community di­verse cultural offerings. Amongthem have been symposiums on nu­clear disarmament; lectures by notedbiochemist Isaac Asimov and by thethen director of NASA's GoddardInstitute for Space Studies, RobertJastrow; entertainment by MiyokoWatanabe, instructor in Japaneseclassical dance and drama; and"College on Broadway," a revue ofthe songs of Rodgers, Hart, andHammerstein-many of them writ­ten while they were students at Co­lumbia.

Church work occupies "a fairshare" of Kay's time. She chairs theCoalition on American Indian Jus­tice of the Riverside Church. Re­cently the coalition helped promotepassage of a bill to continue fundingfor the Indian Child Welfare Actthat was to stop the forced place­ment of native American children innon-Indian foster families, adoptivehomes, or institutions. "Kidnap~

ping," she called it.

"Ostensibly," she explained, "suchplacement was supposed to integrateIndian children into mainstreamAmerican life, but in effect it robbedthem of their native heritage andseparated them from their par­ents."

An accomplished painter, she alsohas written a book on spirituality.Does she still work with films? "Idon't have time!" she exclaimed."And I don't paint now, for the samereason."

Early in our interview, Kay calledherself "a very ancient lady." Surelya more accurate description is thatKathryn Linden is a gentle person ofkeen intellect, with lifelong contribu­tions to humankind. She possessesthat almost unique talent, the abilityto administer programs and leadgroups that enrich understandingwhile she remains quite unobtrusive­ly in the background.

If productivity is the criterion,Kay's output in the 1980s wouldseem equal to her output "way back"when she was working.

Continued from page 259changes in a patient's drug regimencan be difficult. The outcome de­pends on the accuracy of the as­sessed need for change, the physi­cian's receptiveness to suggestionsfrom other professionals, and on hisor her knowledge of geriatric pre­scribing.

The nurse's responsibility is todocument the patient's condition ac­curately, including possible drug-re­lated changes. Confirm (throughdrug reference books and/or consul­tation with a pharmacologist) thatthe drugs involved are possible cau­sative factors, and pursue the pre­scriber as urgently as the situationrequires.

Nurses can teach patients to takean active part in decisions abouttheir drug therapy. The patient al­ready taking medication needs to askthe physician at each return visit: DoI still need to take this drug? Is adosage reduction possible?

Patients can help ensure that newdrugs are prescribed thoughtfully by

After 3000 years, a true breakthrough ·