Current Research

Faculty

Iraida Carrion

Dr. Carrion's research intersects end of life care, migrant health, and social work cultural competence issues within the Latino community. Her research focuses on issues of aging and health disparities among Latinos. End of life palliative care communication and health care decision preferences of patients with an end stage cancer diagnosis are areas of concentration. She is currently collaborating with colleagues at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and in the USF Department of Anthropology.

Recent Publications

Carrion, I.V., Park, N.S., & Lee, B.S. (2012). Patterns of hospice use among African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics and Whites: Implications for practice. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. 29, 2, 12-117.

Carrion, I.V. & Bullock, K. (2012). A Case Study of Hispanics and Hospice Care. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 2, 4, 9-16.

Carrion, I.V., & Nedjat-Haiem, F., (In Press). Caregiving for Older Latinos at End of Life: Perspectives from Paid and Family (unpaid) Caregivers. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Nedjat-Haiem, F., Carrion, I.V., Lorenz, K., Ell, K., Palinkas, L. (2012). Navigating the Advanced Cancer Experience of Underserved Latinas. Supportive Cancer Care. DOI 10.1007/s00520-012-1437-4.

Robin Ersing

Dr. Ersing researches in the areas of community disaster resilience, women and disasters, community empowerment, and university-community partnerships. Currently she is collaborating with colleagues in geography and anthropology to study the influence of social network diversity on evacuation decision making during a hurricane warning. The research is supported by a grant from the Natural Hazards Center. An application has been submitted to the National Science Foundation to expand the study.

Recent Publications

Ersing, R.L. (2012). Approaching practice: What we’ve learned about social networks in the context of disasters. In R.L. Ersing & K.A. (Eds.), Surviving disaster: The role of social networks. Lyceum Press.

Ersing, R.L. (2010). Building disaster-resilient communities: Advancing social work knowledge and skills. In D.F. Gillespie & K.Danso (Eds.). Disaster concepts and issues: A guide for social work education and practice. Alexandria, VA: CSWE Press.

Sondra Fogel

Dr. Fogel researches in the areas of poverty and the working poor, particularly in the areas of homelessness, capital punishment, and community-university partnerships. She is currently working with the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans exploring systemic issues related to the use of VASH vouchers.

Nan Sook Park

Dr. Park's research interest is in the areas of psychosocial care in long-term care settings, roles of religiousness/spirituality in the lives of older adults, and issues around health disparities and service utilization of ethnic/racial minority older adults. In particular, she conducted research on social engagement among older residents in assisted living funded by the Hartford Geriatric Faculty Scholars program. Recently, she has been awarded the USF New Research grant, which will allow her to extend her previous study by examining social relationships of ethnic/racial minorities and implications for their well-being in Florida assisted living communities.

Recent Publications

Park, N. S., Carrion, I. V., Lee, B. S., Dobbs, D., Shin, H. J., & Becker, M. A. (2012). The role of race and ethnicity in predicting length of hospice care among older adults. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 15(2), 149-153.

Park, N. S., Zimmerman, S., Kinslow, K. M., Shin, H. J., & Roff, L. L. (2012). Social engagement in assisted living communities and implications for practice. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 31(2), 215-238.

Jang, Y., Park, N. S., Kim, G., Kwag, K., Roh, S., & Chiriboga, D. A. (2012). The association between self-rated mental health and symptoms of depression in Korean American older adults. Aging and Mental Health (4), 16, 481-485.

Guitele Rahill

Dr. Rahill's current interests lie in developing and disseminating culturally competent health education and mental health resources specific to Haitians in the U.S., and in Haiti. Her future interests include the investigation of lay injectionists such as the Haitian picuristes among other U.S. immigrants who come from developing countries in which the practice and use of injectionists is valued and who face economic and structural barriers to conventional health care in the U.S. Within that context, she also plans on investigating potential relationships among injections and the occurrence of blood-borne disease among U.S. immigrant populations who have procured injections from untrained persons. In addition, her research activities included substance abuse and HIV research aimed at reducing health disparities among residents of rural Arkansas. She has completed the preliminary phases of research aimed at collecting data on the intersection of HIV Knowledge and Religiosity with HIV Stigma, Substance Use and Sexual Risk Behaviors within a sample of rural university students.

Recent Publications

Rahill, G., Dawkins, M. P., & De la Rosa, M. (2011). Haitian Picuristes/ Injectionists as Alternatives to Conventional Health Care Providers in South Florida. Journal of Social Work in Public Health, 26 (6), 577-593.

Rahill, G., Jean-Gilles, M., Thomlison, B., & Pinto, E. (2011). Metaphors as Contextual Evidence for Engaging Haitian Clients in Practice: A Case Study. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 65 (2), 133-149.

Lisa Rapp

Dr. Rapp studies juvenile crime and violence with an emphasis on prevention and the relationship between mental health and offending. Currently, her research agenda focuses on evaluating the efficacy of the community-based Prodigy Cultural Arts prevention program for at-risk youth. The program and research are currently being expanded to delivery in middle schools in lieu of youth receiving school suspensions.

Recent Publications

Rapp-Paglicci, L. A., Stewart, C., & Rowe, W. (2011). Can a Self-Regulation Skills and Cultural Arts Program Promote Positive Outcomes in Mental Health Symptoms and Academic Achievement for At-Risk Youth? Journal of Social Service Research, 37, 3, 309- 319.

Stewart, C., Rapp-Paglicci, L. A., & Rowe, W. (2011). The Impact of Neighborhood Factors on Mental Health and Academic Outcomes for Adolescents Participating in the Prodigy Program. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment, 21, 4, 383-400.

William Rowe

Dr. Rowe's research includes best practices for youth serving organizations, international social work education, harm reduction strategies and juvenile justice. Current projects include the prodigy prevention and intervention project sponsored by the Department of Juvenile Justice, the anticrime project sponsored by the office of the Attorney General and the mobility in higher education program sponsored by the Department of Education.

Recent Publications

Rapp-Paglicci, L., Stewart, C., & Rowe, W., Miller, M. (2011). Addressing the Hispanic delinquency and mental health relationship through cultural arts programming: A research note from the prodigy evaluation. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 27(1).

Lucio, R., Rapp-Paglicci, L., & Rowe, W. (2011). Developing an additive risk index for predicting academic risk: school factors and academic achievement, Child & Adolescent Social Work Journal, 28(2), 153-173.

Alison Salloum

Dr. Salloum's primary research interest is on the treatment of childhood trauma. She is specifically interested in examining psychosocial interventions for young children, children, adolescents, and their families, who have been exposed to various types of traumatic events such as violence, disasters, and death. Recently, she has developed and investigated a grief and trauma intervention (GTI) for children experiencing PTSD. Currently, Dr. Salloum is conducting a NIMH funded study to develop and test the feasibly of stepped care for young children after trauma. Current research interests include new service delivery methods for providing childhood anxiety treatment such as stepped care approaches, and implementation of trauma-related evidence-based practices in diverse settings.

Recent Publications

Salloum, A. & Storch, E.A. (2011). Parent-led, therapist assisted, first line treatment for young children after trauma: A case study. Child Maltreatment, 16(3), 227-232. doi: 10.1177/1077559511415099

Overstreet, S., Salloum, A. Burch, B & West, J. (2011). Challenges associated with childhood exposure to severe natural disasters: Research review and clinical implications. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 4, 52-68.

Anne Strozier

Dr. Strozier's research focuses on kinship care. She is specifically interested in studying policies affecting kinship families and best practices for assisting these families. Currently, Dr. Strozier is conducting research focused on coparenting between mother and grandmother to see whether strong co-caregiving alliances between the two women can protect children even during times of adversity.

Recent Publications

Strozier, A., Armstrong, M., Skuza, S., Cecil, D., & McHale, J. (2011). Coparenting in kinship families with an incarcerated mother: A qualitative study. Families in Society, 92(1), 55-61.

Baker, J., McHale, J., Strozier, A., & Cecil, D. (2010). Mother–grandmother coparenting relationships in families with incarcerated mothers: A pilot investigation. Family Process, 49(2), 165-184. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2010.01316.x