Selected Grants
Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Project 2
PI: Beth Barba
Other Investigators: Jacqueline De Brew, Anita Tesh, Debra Wallace
Funding Source: DHHS/HRSA
The purpose of this extension project is to increase the nursing workforce prepared to provide quality, culturally competent geriatric care in North Carolina, including rural and medically underserved communities and vulnerable and minority populations, by improving access to education programs on geriatric care. This purpose will be achieved by training nursing personnel who care for the elderly, and by establishing a train-the-trainer model in four North Carolina Area Health Education Consortium regions.
College Bound Sisters (CBS)
PI: Hazel Brown
Other Investigators: Rebecca Saunders (Graduate School)
Funding Source: NC DHHS
College Bound Sisters (CBS) is an adolescent pregnancy prevention program that is beginning its tenth year. Young women between the ages of 12 and 16 years, who are sisters of adolescent mothers, were recruited to participate in CBS with the goals of avoiding pregnancy, graduating from high school, and enrolling in college. The participants receive attention that is expected to raise their self-esteem, increase their perception of social support, and enhance their desire to attend college.
College Bound Sisters Website
TRIAD (Teamwork in Research and Intervention to Alleviate Disparities) Center
PD: Debra Wallace
Funding Source: NCMHD/NIH
Other Investigators: Robert Aronson, Robin Bartlett, Carolyn Blue, Vincent Francisco, Lauren Haldeman, Vincent Henrich, Jie Hu, Andrea Hunter, Louise Ivanov, David Jolly, Ellen Jones, Laurie Kennedy-Malone, Susan Letvak, Todd Lewis, Sharon Morrison, Scott Richter, Margaret Savoca, Terri Shelton, Sudha Shreeniwas, Martha Taylor, Anita Tesh, Jose Villalba, and Laurie Wideman; David Jolly (NCCU)
The purpose of the TRIAD 2 Project for health disparities is to increase the prevention and risk avoidance research, training and outreach efforts to eliminate health disparities of African-Americans, Hispanics, rural and low income persons living in central North Carolina. In addition, activities will focus on increasing the number and capabilities of health disparity researchers, enhancing the infrastructure for interdisciplinary health disparity research, expanding community partnerships, and disseminating information on health disparities research. (http://nursing.uncg.edu/triadcenter)
Adult Gerontological Nurse Practitioner program
PI: Laurie Kennedy-Malone
Other investigators: E. Jones, S. Fuller, H. Brooks, D. Caruso
Funding Source: DHHS-HRSA
The purpose of the project is to improve the health care of medically underserved and rural adult and older populations by increasing the number of culturally diverse and competent Adult/Gerontological Nurse Practitioners (ANP/GNP).
Older Adults Relocating to Independent Living Communities: Factors Affecting Depression and Quality of Life
PI: Eileen Rossen
Funding Source: Sigma Theta Tau International
The purpose of the study is to examine the relationships of meanings of the move, relocation self-efficacy, health, connectedness, and environmental mastery with quality of life and depression of older adults who move from a private residence to an ILC from the immediate pre-relocation period through two time points post-relocation.
Doctoral Nursing Program to Promote Health Access 2
PI: W. Richard Cowling, III
Other investigators: P. Crane, J. Hu, A. Tesh, H. Krowchuk, D. Wallace, E. Kohlenberg, B. Barba,
L. Lewallen, L. Ivanov, C. Blue, S. Letvak
Funding Source: DHHS-HRSA
The purpose of this project is to prepare PhD educated nurses who will work with vulnerable populations and in underserved areas of North Carolina and the nation. The specific research foci are health promotion and elimination of health disparities in ethnic minorities, women, children, and older adults. The PhD program is also designed to increase the diversity and cultural competence of the nursing workforce through recruitment of diverse students and faculty and enhancement the curriculum to prepare leaders in nursing who will alleviate disparities in public health.
The Effects of Nurse Presenteeism on Quality of Care and Patient Safety
PI: Susan Letvak
Other Investigators: Christopher Ruhm, Sat Gupta
Funding Source: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation/The Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative
The primary aim is to evaluate the influence of presenteeism on hospital Registered Nurses' (RNs) quality of patient care. In addition, economic costs to the healthcare system associated with presenteeism will be examined.
Enhancing Community Research Awareness
PI: Anita Tesh
Other Investigators: Francis Kateh, Shirley Hardin, Debra Wallace
Funding Source: NIH
The purpose of this "Enhancing Community Research Awareness" (ECRA) pilot project is to test an innovative community partnership model for enhancing public understanding and acceptance of health care research through a "3-Step Community Engagement" intervention using a Community Based Participatory Research strategy. The research team includes academic nurse scientists from the UNC-Greensboro Center for the Health of Vulnerable Populations, members of the Healthy Ansonians Task Force local grass roots community organization and the Anson County Health Department.
Recovery from traumatic injury: Trauma patients' perceptions of facilitators and barriers
PI: Elizabeth Van Horn
Funding source: UNCG
This study uses a descriptive qualitative method to examine the experiences of trauma patients during the first 6 months of recovery from traumatic injury. Participants are interviewed first in person and then by telephone to gather information about what have aided their recovery and the problems or issues that have impeded their recovery. Audiotaped interviews are transcribed into written text and then reviewed for commonalities and themes. Knowledge gained from this study will be used to develop interventions to support those recovering from traumatic injury and improve recovery outcomes.
Fatigue after Myocardial Infarction in Older Adults
PI: Patricia Crane
Funding source: NIH
The purpose of this proposed study is to describe subjective fatigue that persists after MI in older adults and comprehensively examine the factors related to such fatigue. Specific aims are to: (a) describe fatigue in older women and men 6 to 8 months after MI; (b) examine the relationships of 11 variables -- age, sex, comorbidities, ß-blockers, cardiac function (heart rate, BNP), biological factors (anemia, IL-6), sleep, depression, and social support -- to fatigue in older adults after MI; and (c) explore the extent to which the association between fatigue and 10 variables -- age, comorbidities, ß-blockers, cardiac function (heart rate, BNP), biological factors (anemia, IL-6), sleep, depression, and social support - differ in women and men. A secondary aim is to explore the association between fatigue and physical activity in older adults after MI. A convenience sample of 98 women (n=49) and men (n=49) ages 65 and older will be recruited. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and multiple regressions. Understanding fatigue and correlates of fatigue after MI in older adults is an essential step in meeting the long term goal of my program of research: developing interventions to control symptoms, such as fatigue, thereby enhancing physical activity in older adults after MI and thus, improving outcomes after MI.
Women Survivors of Childhood Abuse: A Community Participatory Research Project
PI: Richard Cowling
Funding Source: UNCG
This pilot study will generate data on the impact of childhood abuse on women’s lives and their health care. A community participatory action research strategy using two phases created information grounded in the voices and concerns of women abused as children. Phase I consists of recruiting a community advisory and research committee (n = 8), developing the focus group guide and implementing recruitment plans in the community. Phase II consists of 6 focus groups with 8-10 persons per group, which will be audio taped, typed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative analysis methods and software. This information will be the foundation for further studies to determine how a supportive, holistic, and empowering environment for health can be created and maintained for women survivors of childhood abuse in the community.
Efficacy of Motivational Interview to Lower Diabetes Risk in African Americans
PI(s): Carolyn Blue, Todd Lewis
Other Investigators: Scott Richter
Funding Source: NIH
The purpose of this study is to test a motivational interviewing intervention for African Americans at risk for diabetes and evaluate the efficacy of this intervention in improving their physical activity. For further information, please visit the TRIAD Center web site (http://www.uncg.edu/nur/triadproject) .
Testing an Intervention to Prevent Risky Sex Behaviors in African-American Middle School-Aged Girls
PI: Robin Bartlett
Other Investigators: Terri Shelton
Funding Source: NIH
This study will test the feasibility and initial effectiveness of an intervention to prevent risky sex behaviors in AA middle school-aged girls in medically underserved, rural areas by increasing their sexual assertiveness and mother/daughter communication about sexual behavior. For further information, please visit the TRIAD Center web site (http://www.uncg.edu/nur/triadproject) .
Prenatal Care: The Beginning of a Lifetime
PI: Cindy Jarrett-Pulliam
Other investigators: Lynne Lewallen, Kelly Dixon
The goal of the pilot project: "Prenatal Care: The Beginning of a Lifetime" is to assess the components of prenatal care in three clinics in Guilford County. Based on the successful Improving Prenatal Care in Vermont Program, 225 participants in three prenatal settings will be enrolled and followed, utilizing medical records review, to assess for eight known risk factors for poor birth outcomes: tobacco use, nutrition/weight management, prevention of birth defects/genetic screening, psychosocial risk factors, health care maintenance, infectious disease, preterm labor, and diabetes. Additionally, pregnancy duration and infant birth weights will be measured. A control group to document usual care and three phases of an intervention group will be enrolled.
Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Rural Russia
PI: Ellen Jones
Other investigators: Debra Wallace, Louise Ivanov, Lois von Cannon
Funding source: UNCG
The purpose of this research study is to discuss the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in rural Russia. Russia experiences death rates from cardiovascular heart disease, cerebrovasular disease, and diabetes twice the rates in many other western countries in Europe and the Americas. Thus examining risk factors in a population with minimal or no access to preventive risk factor screenings could translate to more accurate diagnosis, treatment and preventive interventions.
Former Soviet Union Immigrant Women's Acculturation and Preventive Health Care Practices
PI: Louise Ivanov
Other investigators: Kenneth Gruber, Ashley Leak, Olga McCleod
The purpose of this pilot research study is to investigate the relationships among acculturation, medical insurance, health status, use of preventive health care services, and personal health behaviors among women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) who currently reside in North Carolina.
Cardiometabolic Health of Adults with Diabetes Living in Beijing, China
PI: Jie Hu
Other investigators: Debra Wallace, Ellen Jones, Huaping Liu
Funding Source: Sigma Theta Tau International local chapter
The goal of this study is to examine the presence of metabolic syndrome and modifiable risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults with diabetes living in Beijing, China. The demographic characteristics such as BP, BMI, waist circumference, lipid profile and fasting glucose, physical activity, diet and health will be measured to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and the need for targeted interventions.
Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Mental Health Care: A community-Based Participatory Research Study
PI: Mona Shattell
The purpose of this community-based participatory research was to identify factors that affect access, use, and perception of mental health services by a Latino population at individual, organizational, and community levels. Community-based participatory research bridges the gap between academic researchers and the real-life issues of communities and offers promise for addressing racial and ethnic disparities in mental health care.
