George Dicks has been devoted throughout his life to expanding health literacy in the African American and LGBTQIA+ communities. He currently works as Lead Geriatric Mental Health Specialist in Harborview Mental Health and Addiction Services, Geriatric Psychiatry Services.
George moved to Seattle in 1978 after a short career in the Civil Service. In his words: “I came here specifically to discover who I might be after a lifetime in the US military as an Army Brat, then a DoD Civilian [Alcohol and Drug Control Officer] at Ft Eustis and Fort Story. I accepted who I was and decided to move to live a quiet life in some remote location by a seaport. I had no idea what Seattle was like, but it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made: my life has flourished since.”
George Dicks
George Dicks has been devoted throughout his life to expanding health literacy in the African American and LGBTQIA+ communities. He currently works as Lead Geriatric Mental Health Specialist in Harborview Mental Health and Addiction Services, Geriatric Psychiatry Services.
George moved to Seattle in 1978 after a short career in the Civil Service. In his words: “I came here specifically to discover who I might be after a lifetime in the US military as an Army Brat, then a DoD Civilian [Alcohol and Drug Control Officer] at Ft Eustis and Fort Story. I accepted who I was and decided to move to live a quiet life in some remote location by a seaport. I had no idea what Seattle was like, but it turned out to be the best decision I have ever made: my life has flourished since.”
George came out into active ‘gay life’ in the 80’s, when the community was dealing with HIV/AIDS and all of its health and social implications. He joined the Seattle Gay Clinic board and later the board of the Seattle Counseling Center for Sexual Minorities.
He then became involved with LGBTQIA+ aging and taught a seminar course on the gay community aging issues at UW School of Nursing, as well as psychology consultation in Skilled Nursing for the UW Geriatric Certificate Program. George also taught in the Social and Health Sciences Dept of Edmonds College for 25 years. He is committed to expanding knowledge of and access to quality mental health services.
George is the past Vice Chair of the Seattle-King County ADS Citizens Advisory Board and is currently a long-standing member of the University of Washington’s Health Promotion Research Center [UW/HPRC] a leading research organization focused on developing and implementing health strategies that mitigate the many chronic diseases of older adults from all backgrounds – keep in mind that LGBTQIA+ folks suffer those disorders at significantly higher rates than our ‘straight’ counterparts.
George and his long-term partner have cats in Seattle and 20 hives of honeybees out in Clearview in Snohomish County and are devoted to loving life!
