Funded Grants

Faculty in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation pursue a diverse range of interdisciplinary and innovative health research. The following is a small sampling of the research and sponsored projects currently underway.

The Caregiving Trajectory for Community-Dwelling Mexican-American Elders

Caring for elder family members can take a heavy physical and emotional toll on caregivers of all ethnicities. They often neglect their own healthcare needs, experience more insomnia and depression, and have a more negative perception of their health than non-caregivers. Mexican-Americans are the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., and the the caregiving trajectory of Hispanic families can be complicated by factors such as immigration, acculturation, and cultural expectations. However, we know little about how Mexican-American caregivers adapt to critical events in the informal caregiving experience.

Bronwynne Evans, an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, has been funded by the National Institutes of Health to study the growing caregiving burden on the Mexican-American population. Her study, “The Caregiving Trajectory for Community-Dwelling Mexican-American Elders” is investigating the level, circumstances, and consequences of caregiver burden and strain in the Hispanic population of Arizona, and determining the impact of cultural and contextual variables on caregiving. This study has the potential to discover key factors that could minimize caregiver strain and delay costly admission to nursing homes for care recipients.

Transdisciplinary Training in Health Disparities Science (T32)

Colleen Keller and Elizabeth Reifsnider are the project directors of a five-year institutional research training grant from the National Institutes of Health that funds the training of pre- and post-doctoral fellows in health disparities research. The program of study and mentorship developed by Dr. Keller and Dr. Usha Menon, “Transdisciplinary Training in Health Disparities Science,” is preparing nurse scientists to design, conduct, and evaluate research related to the culture of the groups, communities, and organizations with whom they work, with the aim of reducing disparate health outcomes.

The TTHDS program is built on the research expertise of 17 primary program faculty, who represent several disciplines including nursing, anthropology, exercise and wellness, clinical psychology, medicine, nutrition, sociology, social work, and veterinary medicine. The mentorship of these interdisciplinary program faculty supplements formal coursework and seminar learning and prepares nurses to conduct rigorous clinical research that improves healthy behaviors and health outcomes of vulnerable populations across the lifespan.

Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health)

Pregnancy-associated weight gain and failure to lose weight after birth contributes to the development of overweight and obesity in Hispanic women, who have prevalence rates exceeding 70%. Obesity is associated with systemic and fat tissue inflammation which can facilitate the development of obesity-related chronic diseases and contributes to the development of postpartum depression. Despite the well-established beneficial effects of exercise on weight, women tend to under-participate in physical activity during the childbearing years.

Colleen Keller, Foundation Professor in Women’s Health and the director of the College of Nursing & Health Innovation's Hartford Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, received a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to test a social support exercise intervention that addresses post-partum obesity. This study, “Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health),” is exploring the effectiveness of a culturally specific program using "bouts" of physical activity to effect changes in body fat, fat tissue inflammation, and postpartum depression symptoms in sedentary Hispanic women. This innovative program has the potential to advance our understanding of the relationship between moderate increases in physical activity and specific health outcomes.

Health Information Technology to Support Clinical Decision Making in Obesity Care

The number of overweight children continues to increase, along with obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, musculoskeletal and respiratory conditions. Significant health disparities exist, with minority youth more at risk for obesity and its related chronic health conditions. Primary care providers report difficulties in addressing weight management in youth, so the American Medical Association and the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners developed guidelines for providers in addressing these issues with patients. However, past research suggests that providers do not use the guidelines.

Bonnie Gance-Cleveland, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Improving Health Outcomes in Children, Teens & Families, recently received a three-year grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality to examine the best way to train providers in school-based health centers on the use of obesity prevention guidelines. This project is evaluating the role of technology in translating the guidelines into practice and reducing health disparities in obesity-related conditions.

Profile of Symptom Clusters among Prostate Cancer Patients

Most people diagnosed with cancer do not report a single symptom; instead they have multiple symptoms associated with the disease and treatment. The interactive and cumulative effect of multiple symptoms can greatly reduce quality of life. Three or more symptoms which occur concurrently are called a symptom cluster: for example, pain can coincide and interact with insomnia and depression. Lessening the symptom burden through intervention strategies that unravel the cluster is vital to making the cancer experience more manageable.

Shannon Dirksen, an Associate Professor, recently received a grant from NIH’s National Cancer Institute to study symptom clusters in prostate cancer patients undergoing radiation treatment. The aims of this study are: 1) to identify symptom clusters, 2) to examine the relationship of patient factors (e.g., age, cancer stage, co-morbidities) and symptom clusters, 3) to evaluate the effect of symptom clusters on quality of life, and 4) to explore the relationship between symptom clusters and inflammatory markers in the blood. Findings from this study will provide the basis for the development of a tailored intervention for men with prostate cancer that would target the management of multiple symptoms while improving quality of life.

Leveraging Educational Technology for Evidence-Based Practice

Integrating technology into the nursing curriculum is becoming ever more important as health care becomes more complex and clinical practice opportunities for pre-licensure students become harder to arrange. High-quality simulation (including high-fidelity human patient simulation and virtual reality technology) fosters active learning as students practice making clinical decisions independently, without fear of harming fragile patients. Students can also use technology to prepare to make the most of their clinical learning experiences.

As is the case with any new teaching/learning technology, using educational simulation effectively with nursing students requires that faculty and staff have additional education and technical support. Debra Hagler, Beatrice Kastenbaum, and Ruth Brooks received a three-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to further integrate technology into nursing education, in part by teaching students, nursing instructors, and clinical preceptors to use educational technology well. This program is teaching nursing faculty new skills and behaviors for facilitating the active learning processes of simulation, while helping prepare a new generation of nurses to use evidence-based clinical decision making to provide culturally responsive care.