Dr. Bonds Johnson is a nurse scientist, clinician, and advocate for African American persons living with dementia and their families. Her leadership, research, clinical expertise, and teaching are paving the way for national change.

Dr. Bonds Johnson currently serves as an assistant professor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at Emory University’s Integrated Memory Care, and as the principal investigator of the D.E.C.I.D.E. Research Lab. The D.E.C.I.D.E. Research Lab focuses on creating culturally responsive programs to improve the quality of life of African American persons living with dementia and their family care partners as well as improving the communication between these families and their primary care providers.

Dr. Bonds Johnson has disseminated her findings through various publications, research abstracts, invited presentations, and media. Dr. Bonds Johnson earned an BSN from the University of Tennessee at Martin, a MSN from Vanderbilt University, PhD from Oregon Health & Sciences University, and postdoctoral training at Emory University.

1. Bonds Johnson, K., Lyons, K. S., Epps, F., Daniel, G., Monin, J. K., Powell, W., & Hepburn, K. (2025). Development and evaluation of a healthcare decision-making intervention for African American parent-adult daughter dementia dyads: a mixed-methods study protocol. BMJ open, 15(3), e099976. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2025-099976
2. Lyons, K. S., Russell, L. T., Bonds Johnson, K., Brewster, G. S., Carter, J. H., & Miller, L. M. (2024). Evaluating the dyadic benefits of early-phase behavioral interventions: An exemplar using data from couples living with Parkinson's disease. The Gerontologist, 64(7), gnad172. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad172
3. Bonds Johnson, K., Higgins, M., Epps, F., Brewster, G. S., Alexander, K., & Hepburn, K. (2023). Tele-Savvy Outcomes of Non-Hispanic Black American and White Caregivers. The Gerontologist, gnad044. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad044
4. Clevenger, C. K., Clark, C., Brown, A., Villinger, T., Lyron, S., Bonds Johnson, K., & Cook, C. L. (2023). Advanced practice providers in dementia care: Optimizing all providers on the care team. Practical Neurology. 22(5), 29-33
5. Bonds Johnson, K., Bai, J., Waldrop, D., Paul, S., Lee, H., Lyons, K. S., Yeager, K. A. (2022).  Barriers to pain management: Incongruence in Black cancer caregiving dyads. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 63(5), 711-722. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2021.12.033
6. Bonds Johnson,  K., Epps, F., Song, M., Lyons, K. S., Driessnack, M. (2021). Using poetry as  data to explore daily and formal care decision making within African American  dementia dyads. Geriatric Nursing. 42(4): 919-925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2021.05.001‍
7. Brewster, G. S., Bonds, K., McLennon, S., Moss, K. O., Epps, F., & Lopez,  R. P. (2020). Missing the Mark: The Complexity of African American Dementia  Family Caregiving. Journal of Family Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074840720945329  
8. Bonds, K., Song, M., Whitlatch, C. J., Lyons, K. S., Kaye, J. A., & Lee,  C. S. (2020). Patterns of dyadic appraisal of decision-making involvement of  African American persons living with dementia. The Gerontologist. Advance  online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaa086‍
9. Bonds, K., Whitlatch, C. J., Song, M., & Lyons, K. S. (2020). Factors  influencing quality of life in African American dementia dyads. Aging &  Mental Health, 10:1-8. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2020.1711865‍
10. Bonds, K., & Lyons, K. S. (2018). Formal service use by African American persons with dementia and their caregivers: An integrative review. Journal of Gerontological Nursing. 44(6):33-39. https://doi.org/10.3928/00989134-20180509-06

I  expect the students will achieve three skills after completing my course(s).  First, students will learn to collaborate with diverse groups. To be an effective  nurse, one should be able to work with patients and health care team members  of different ethnicities or racial backgrounds, sexual orientation and/or  religious affiliations to name a few. Second, students will have the ability  to apply their scientific knowledge to real-world problems. Nursing requires  the application of complex medical knowledge be applied to signs and symptoms  of patients. Third, students will improve their critical thinking skills. To  efficiently treat patients, nurses must be able to triage based on acuity,  prioritize treatments for multiple patients and make judgements about when to  seek input from other members of the healthcare team. To teach these specific  skills to the students, I plan to use active learning strategies (NRC, 2000).  Active learning promotes deeper understanding and greater retention of new  knowledge (NRC, 2000). I will foster active learning through the  encouragement of metacognition (Freeman et al., 2014) and incorporating  different learning styles (Leite, Svinicki, & Shi, 2009). I am an expert.  My role is to model for the students the complex ways of thinking so that  they can develop the same habits of mind as professionals in the nursing  field. I engaged and motivated the students during clinical instruction, and  I plan to continue this effort when I teach. I will use several active  learning techniques: short videos, small group discussions, and case studies.  I will include modern technology in my classroom. I plan to use the clicker  system, if available, if not I will have students use a related app, such as  poll everywhere. I am willing to create and/or teach an online course. I was  an online-distance learner for the first year of my PhD program. I understand  some of the challenges as a learner and would use my insights to improve the  experience for future students.

My program of  research employs innovative dyadic methods and culturally relevant frameworks  to examine how Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias caregiving occurs  within African American families prior to long-term care placement.  Specifically, my program of research focuses on daily care (e.g., activities  of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living) and formal care  (e.g., paid services usually provided by a healthcare institution) decision  making and how these decisions influence the quality of life of African  American dementia dyads (i.e., African American persons living with  Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their African American  caregivers). My long-term research goal is to become a successful and  independently funded investigator with expertise in dementia caregiving  within the African American community with a focus on answering important  questions across the dementia trajectory and identifying novel interventions  to improve the quality of life of these dyads and families.

2024

Community Care Network for Dementia (CaN-D) Home- and Community-Based Service Interventions Working Group Co-Chair
Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health

Aging/Gerontology Research Interest and Implementation Group Rising Investigator Award
Southern Nursing Research Society

Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization Past Chair
Gerontological Society of America

2023

Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization (ESPO) Chair
Gerontological Society of America

2022

Favorite Dyadic Article of 2022
Gerontological Society of America Dyadic Research on Health and Illness Across the Adult Lifespan Interest Group

Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization (ESPO) Vice Chair
Gerontological Society of America

2021

MFP/ANA Dr. Hattie Bessent Research Award 2021
Minority Fellowship Program at the American Nurses Association

The Dr. Hattie Bessent Research Award is in recognition of innovative nursing
research in mental health.

Emerging Scholar and Professional Organization (ESPO) Vice Chair-Elect 2021
Gerontological Society of America

2019

Carol A. Lindeman Award 2019Oregon Health & Science University

The Carol A. Lindeman Award bears the name of the second dean of the School of Nursing. This award recognizes a graduate student who has demonstrated excellence in nursing, innovative leadership, and a vision for health care.