Examples of PhD Faculty Research Projects at the University of Maryland School of Social Work

Aging  |  Child Welfare  |  Employee Assistance Programs  |  Health 
Management and Community Organization  |  Mental Health  |  Poverty  |  Substance Abuse

The School of Social Work has over $9 million dollars in research and training grants and contracts.

Aging
A project to provide and evaluate a psychoeducational intervention with African American caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease patients (Dr. Carmen Morano)*

Research designed to examine Japanese and Korean elders' use of traditional and western health services in the U.S. and their cultural values, beliefs and behaviors in health maintenance (Dr. Mitsuko Nakashima)**

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Child Welfare
Research designed to identify factors related to child maltreatment. (Dr. Donna Harrington)*

Research designed to test the effectiveness of a financial incentive in kinship care. (Dr. Donna Harrington)*

A project to compare the ability of four types of early intervention to prevent child neglect. (Dr. Diane DePanfilis)

A project to study the effectiveness of a family reunification model. (Dr. Diane DePanfilis)

A project to help communities improve parenting and prevent child maltreatment. (Dr. Diane DePanfilis)

Research designed to evaluate the outcome of a multidisciplinary assessment and treatment model for maltreated children and their families. (Dr. Diane DePanfilis and Dr. Catherine Koverola)

Research designed to identify factors that are associated with resilience among adult survivors of child sexual abuse. (Dr. Susan Zuravin)

Research on foster care and child maltreatment. (Dr. Susan Zuravin)

Research on child welfare practice strategies and outcomes. (Debra Linsenmeyer)

Research on the outcomes of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Project. (Debra Linsenmeyer)

Research on language delays in traumatized children. (Dr. Carlton Munson)

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Employee Assistance Programs
Research on outcome measures in employee assistance programs. (Dr. Dale Masi)

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Health
Research on the impact of Medicaid managed care on minorities in the state of Maryland. (Dr. Llewellyn Cornelius)

A study to examine case management intervention to improve adherence to adjuvant treatment for women with breast and cervical cancer (Dr. Betsy Vourlekis).

A project to examine migrant health care in Texas (Drs. Llewellyn Cornelius and Larry Ortiz)

Research on the experiences of the daughters of women with breast cancer. (Dr. Julianne S. Oktay)**

A project to develop and test modules for use in social work education in maternal and child health. (Drs. Edward Pecukonis, Julianne S. Oktay)

A study to examine the psychosocial effects on Hypertension control in Maryland (Drs. Bruce DeForge and David Steward)*

Research on paruesis, or shy bladder syndrome. (Dr. Steven Soifer)*

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Management and Community Organization
Research on macro students attitudes toward becoming supervisors or managers (Dr. Karen Hopkins)

Research on supervision and worklife balance (Dr. Karen Hopkins)

Research on the work climates of public and nonprofit human service organizations (Dr. Karen Hopkins)*

Research on multicultural organizational development in human service agencies (Dr. Cheryl Hyde)**

Research on feminist community practice (Dr. Cheryl Hyde)**

A study to assess the diversity climates of human service agencies (Drs. Karen Hopkins and Cheryl Hyde)

Research on university-community partnerships in urban revitalization (Dr. Megan Meyer)

Research on sense of community: meaning and measurement (Dr. Megan Meyer)**

A study to examine cross-national comparison of social movements organizations for peace (Dr. Megan Meyer)

Research to conduct an analysis of Baltimore City towards a coalition for a greater Baltimore (Drs. Steven Soifer and Dave Zanis)

Research on land trusts in Baltimore (Dr. Steven Soifer)*

Research on affordable housing in Baltimore (Dr. Soifer)*

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Mental Health
Research on discharge planning for the severely mentally ill (Dr. John Belcher)

Research on examining stigma in the community on marginalized populations (Drs. Bruce DeForge and John Belcher)*

Research on the effectiveness of an intervention based on "forgiveness." (Dr. Frederick DiBlasio)

Research on history of psychiatric social work (Dr. Betsy Vourlekis)

Research on effects of religion and spirituality on identity, relationships, and everyday life of observant men and women (including Orthodox Jewish couples and Evangelical Christians couples) (Drs. Shoshana Ringel, Carmen Morano, and John Belcher)**

Research on gender role identity and stress in African American women using Feminist theory (Dr. Melissa Littlefield)

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Poverty
Multiple research projects to examine various outcomes of Welfare Reform in Maryland. (Dr. Catherine Born)

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Substance Abuse
Research on homeless mothers who are addicts (Dr. John Belcher)*

A study to examine case management models for the Baltimore Needle Exchange Program (BNEEP) in association with Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (Dr. Llewellyn Cornelius)

A study to examine Specialized Educational and Support Program for Infants and Young Children with Prenatal Substance Exposure (Dr. Caroline Burry)

Research to evaluate an intensive case management program for families who are homeless and newly diagnosed with HIV (Drs. Margarete Parrish and Caroline Burry)

A study to examine substance abuse in primary care settings (Dr. Jacqueline Lloyd)

* Mixed methods ** Qualitative

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