CHANGING FACE of NURSING - School of Nursing - University of ...

center news
CENTER CO-DIRECTORS:
L) Ann Garwick, PhD, RN, FAAN
R) Jayne Fulkerson, PhD
MISSION:
To improve the health of infants,
children, adolescents, parents, and
families in the context of their
communities. Center members develop
and disseminate evidence-based
interventions and best practices in
primary and secondary prevention.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Ann Garwick, Professor
Jayne Fulkerson, Associate Professor
E-mail: CCFHPR@umn.edu
www.nursing.umn.edu/CCFHPR
center for
child and family health
promotion research
Addressing health disparities
Center faculty researchers conduct community-based participatory
action research that addresses health disparities among children,
youth, and families from ethnically diverse and underserved
populations. This approach is resulting in the development of
culturally appropriate instruments, resources, and interventions
that address community-identified needs. Some examples:
• Melissa Avery, PhD, RN, CNM, FACNM, is using a communitybased
approach to develop an exercise intervention for
American Indian women with gestational diabetes that builds
on her clinical expertise as a nurse midwife.
• Carolyn Garcia, PhD, MPH, RN, is focusing on promoting the
mental health of Latino adolescents. She has developed an
instrument to measure Latino mental health knowledge and
is working in partnership with Latino community leaders to
develop culturally appropriate mental health interventions.
• Madeleine Kerr, PhD, is working in partnership with labor
unions to prevent noise-induced hearing loss among Latino
construction works in a tailored multimedia intervention study.
• Wendy Looman, PhD, RN, CNP, has been collaborating with
Hmong community leaders and parents who work with
children with special health care needs to develop a culturally
relevant Hmong translation of her Social Capital Scale for
Children with Special Health Care Needs.
• Cheryl Robertson, PhD, MPH, RN, focuses on promoting the
mental health of refugees, particularly mothers of children from
war-torn countries such as Somalia. Robertson collaborated with
Linda Halcón, PhD, MPH, RN, on a landmark strength-focused,
group intervention for female Somali refugees using a health
realization model.
Focusing on public health issues
Center investigators are also developing innovative communitybased
interventions to address critical public health issues.
Some examples:
• Jayne A. Fulkerson, PhD, is working to prevent childhood
obesity and excess weight gain through a community-based
intervention with families of elementary school-aged children.
The Healthy Offerings Via the Mealtime Environment (HOME)
intervention is designed to increase fruit/vegetable consumption
and the quality of foods in the home and at family meals.
• Martha Kubik, PhD, MSN, RNC, has collaborated with clinical
partners to develop a clinic-based intervention targeting
primary and secondary prevention of childhood obesity. She
has also partnered with school nurses on a project to conduct
an annual school-based body mass index screening program
involving kindergarten students and 2nd, 4th, and 6th graders.
Sarah Stoddard awarded
Theresa V. James Fellowship
We are pleased to announce that doctoral candidate Sarah Stoddard
has received the 2008 Theresa V. James Fellowship to support her
dissertation research. This annual award is made possible by funds
that were generously contributed by center faculty members and
the James family to acknowledge an outstanding doctoral student
who is conducting research related to the center’s mission. Sarah’s
research will focus on examining social connections, hopelessness,
and violent behaviors in African American youth living in urban
impoverished neighborhoods. Sarah’s dissertation co-advisors are
Dr. Susan Henly and Dr. Renee Sieving.
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