Research & Creative Work
Research is an important part of the academic life at CHHS!
Many of our faculty members are active researchers, and their research and scholarly activities make a significant contribution to their health and human services disciplines and to their teaching. We are proud of our research accomplishments, and we are actively seeking ways to expand the research capabilities and scholarly productivity of college faculty. A few examples of our research activities, ongoing or planned, follow:
Blindness and Low Vision Studies
Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Ph.D.
Interdisciplinary Health Services (BS-IHS)
Nursing
Occupational Therapy
Physician Assistant
Social Work
SPADA - Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Speech Pathology and Audiology
Blindness and Low Vision Studies
Dr. Robert Wall Emerson, a professor in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies, continues to run studies investigating the specifics of how hybrid and quieter vehicles affect the mobility of pedestrians with visual impairments. Along with Dr. Dae Kim in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies and Dr. Koorosh Naghshineh in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, work has been conducted in partnership with General Motors and Nissan Corporation. These efforts are also supported by a Bioengineering Research Partnership grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Eye Institute (PI is Richard Long). Dr. Wall Emerson is also assessing a new electronic travel aid. In his upcoming sabbatical year, Dr. Wall Emerson will be traveling to Scotland, Ireland, England, France, and Germany to meet with blind pedestrians, orientation and mobility instructors, and traffic engineers to assess how those countries have developed accessibility standards in the past decade and how their standards relate to the United States. Dr. Wall Emerson and Dr. Dae Kim continue a multi-year data collection looking at the biomechanics of how people use the long cane and how human and cane factors impact outcomes such as drop off detection and body ergonomics.
Dr. David Guth, professor in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision, and Dr. Wall Emerson continue to work on the measurement issues associated with assessing heading and veering studies with people who are blind. They are conducting studies looking at factors that influence veering and alignment and are also investigating the complexities of trying to measure heading and alignment.
Drs. Richard Long and David Guth, professors in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies, co-direct a Bioengineering Research Partnership that is funded by the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health. The partnership was initially funded in 2000 and is scheduled to receive support until 2012. The interdisciplinary partnership involves transportation engineers, psychologists, rehabilitation professionals, and computer scientists from Boston College, Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University, and North Carolina State University. Its goal is to determine the problems that people with blindness have in complex travel situations, with a focus on access to complex intersections and challenging street crossings. As problems are identified, the partnership works to develop and evaluate solutions to the problems that are identified, including the development of new technologies to assist individuals in crossing streets safely and efficiently at locations where crossings are challenging. Current research focus areas include: challenges in crossing streets at roundabout intersections and other crosswalks without stop signs or signals; the design and operation of accessible pedestrian signals at complex signalized intersections; and challenges in hearing quieter vehicles when crossing streets, and solutions to this problem.
Dr. Paul Ponchillia, professor emeritus in the Department Blindness and Low Vision Studies, has partnered with Dr. Steve LaGrow of Massey University in New Zealand to conduct as survey of usage of GPS-based navigation devices by individuals who are blind. The survey will reveal the extent to which individuals are using their GPS devices, the situations where the devices are most helpful, and the ways that the devices could be improved.
Dr. Susan Ponchillia (October 4, 1954 – October 12, 2009), professor in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies, had a grant from the Macular Disease Foundation and collaborated with CHHS doctoral student Amy Freeland to establish national professional standards for vision rehabilitation therapists. Dr. Ponchillia also received a grant to collaborate with filmmaker Frank Jamison to create a documentary about the T’licho people who live on Great Slave Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories and the high incidence of congenital blindness among them. She also completed work with husband and colleague, Dr. Paul Ponchillia and Dr. Lauren Lieberman on a book about teaching sports, physical and recreation activities to persons with blindness, deaf-blindness, or low vision.
Dr. Jennipher Wiebold, CRC, is an associate professor with a joint appointment in the Departments of Blindness and Low Vision Studies and Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology. She is researching rehabilitation counseling personnel preparation experiential methodologies through a study investigating the role of Immersion in Blindness Training changing attitudes toward blindness held by pre-training rehabilitation counselors. Dr. Wiebold is also engaged in research assessing Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Compassion Satisfaction among Blindness and Low Vision Service Providers and rehabilitation counselors
Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, Ph.D.
Dr. Amy Curtis is an associate professor in the Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences and the Physican Assistant Department. She is an epidemiologist, and her current research focuses on diabetes, obesity and developing and evaluating community participatory public health initiatives. This fall, she was awarded a grant to implement and evaluate a culturally-sensitive diabetes education and support group program in low income racial/ethnic minority communities in southwest Michigan.
Dr. Kieran J. Fogarty is an associate professor in the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Doctoral program. Dr. Fogarty’s area of expertise is in interdisciplinary approaches to developing new applied research methods based on the concepts that reflect the fundamental changes that are occurring in our health care delivery systems in the United States. Dr. Fogarty is currently participating in numerous collaborations with various agencies to develop data-driven information systems to track outcomes associated with the delivery of evidence-based practices in applied settings.
Dr. Nickola W. Nelson, director of the Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences and professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, is conducting research leading to the development of a standardized “Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills” (TILLS), with support of Grant No. R324A100354 from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. A companion “Student Rating Scale” is under development to be completed by students, parents, and teachers. Dr. Nelson also conducts research on written language development and disorders.
Interdisciplinary Health Services (BS-IHS)
Dr. Doris Ravotas is the coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Health Services program and an assistant professor in Blindness and Low Vision Studies. Her research interests are in health practitioner-client communications particularly in the intersection between oral and written (or electronic) communication and health literacy. She has initiated a collaboration with Bronson Methodist Hospital to add a research element to health literacy initiatives in the hospital setting.
Dr. Kelly Ackerson is an assistant professor with the WMU Bronson School of Nursing. Her research interests are in the behavior of health promotion and health prevention focusing on cervical cancer screening. In November 2008, she presented her research findings at the Oncology Nursing Society Advanced Practice conference. The presentation focused on the comparison of 24 face-to-face interviews of African American women with low resources, who do and do not obtain routine Pap smear tests, and their personal influencing factors that affect their screening behavior.
Dr. Yvonne Ford is an assistant professor with the WMU Bronson School of Nursing. Her research interests are peri-operative nursing, nursing administration, and patient safety, focusing on nurses’ hand-offs. In October 2009, she presented her research findings at the International Nursing Administration Research Conference. The presentation described the linguistic structure of 43 end-of-shift hand-offs between nurses in acute care hospitals.
Dr. Mary Ann Stark is an associate professor of nursing with the WMU Bronson School of Nursing. Her research interest focuses on non-pharmacologic pain management during labor. In June 2009, she presented the findings of a survey of 401 labor and delivery nurses to determine the barriers they encounter in providing hydrotherapy to laboring women at the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric, and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) annual conference. Dr Stark completed a pilot study that examined the physiological and psychological effects of therapeutic showering. While on sabbatical in 2009, she is conducting a study with laboring women to determine the physiological and psychological effects of showering during labor. Dr. Stark received the Celeste Phillips Maternity Care Award from AWHONN to conduct this study.
Dr. Ruth Zielinski is an assistant professor of nursing with the WMU Bronson School of Nursing. Her dissertation, “Private Places—Private Shame: Women’s Genital Body Image and Sexual Health,” won a University of Michigan Pro-Quest Distinguished Dissertation Award. Findings from this research have been presented at the American Urogynecologic Association Annual Meeting, the American College of Nurse-Midwives Meeting and the International Continence Society Meeting in 2010. Three related publications have been accepted or are under review. Her current research in collaboration with the Pelvic Floor Research Group at the University of Michigan includes “Influence of Surgery for Pelvic Floor Disorders on Women’s Body Image and Sexual Health” and “Birth Related Injuries and the Pelvic Floor”. Additional research interests include obesity, bariatric surgery, and pregnancy/birth outcomes.
Dr. Ben Atchison, professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and a founding member of the Children’s Trauma Assessment Center (CTAC), has been involved in research (2003-2008 SAMHSA funded grant in collaboration with the National Childrens Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) ) related to school based intervention models for children (SIP: School Intervention Project). A specific focus on sensory processing disorders led to the inclusion of sensory based approaches to classroom learning and behavioral management of children exposed to trauma. With the recent award of a second NIH-SAMHSA grant, he will be working with the CTAC team to develop a mix of online and on-campus education and training programs designed for interdisciplinary professional teams in Michigan to implement comprehensive trauma assessments and then to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. In addition, Dr. Atchison is coordinating the development of a curriculum for Trauma Assessment Certification to be provided by CTAC in collaboration with the Trauma Loss Center which credentials trauma therapists across the U.S. Additionally, he is working with a team of WMU faculty as well as a pediatrician and neurologist to develop the BRAIN Lab at CHHS (Brain Research and Interdisciplinary Neurosciences) to begin investigating brain-behavior connections with a variety of populations.
Dr. Ann Chapleau, is an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Her research interests include interventions for persons with mental illness and developing strategies for teaching and measuring student learning. She is currently conducting a pilot study focused on health promotion for persons with severe mental illness. This study involves a 12-week Taiji intervention, comparing pre- and post-cardiac and pulmonary function, and perceived quality of life. She is working with Dr. Diane Dirette, professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, on this project.
Dr. Carla Chase, an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, is an occupational therapist and gerontologist whose work centers on meeting the needs of older adults in the community. She is currently studying the impact of home modifications and adaptive equipment on falls and overall independence for pre-frail elders who wish to remain in their own homes. Dr. Chase has partnered with AARP and the National Association of Home Builders to explore avenues for incorporating universal design concepts into the home modification process and regularly provides educational workshops for those in the home modification and home care field.
Dr. Diane Dirette is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Her area of expertise is in physical dysfunction and her main research interests are focused on people with acquired brain injuries who have cognitive deficits. She recently developed and published an intervention for self-awareness titled Self-awareness Enhancement through Learning and Function (SELF). Currently, Dr. Dirette is collaborating with local clinicians to evaluate the effectiveness of SELF and to develop assessments to use with the approach. She is also investigating the differences in taught versus self-generated strategies for cognitive function and the impact of learning styles on the selected use of those strategies.
Dr. Kieran J. Fogarty is an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Doctoral program. His area of expertise is in interdisciplinary approaches to developing new applied research methods based on concepts that reflect the fundamental changes in U.S. health care delivery systems. For more information, link to the research summary on these pages.
Dr. Debra Lindstrom is a professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy. Her current research interests include developing clinical reasoning, office ergonomics, creating livable communities to maximize older adults’ participation/active engagement in the community, and developing the profession of Occupational Therapy in Bangladesh.
Dr. Maureen Mickus, an associate professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and a gerontologist, conducts research focusing on aging policy and supporting community-based care for elders. Along with her colleague George Erickcek, an economist at the Upjohn Institute, she is conducting a study funded by the Area Agency on Aging Association. This research study analyzes the fiscal impact of MiChoice, Michigan's Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver. Dr. Mickus is also working on intervention research designed to alleviate loneliness in high risk elder populations.
Dr. Amy Curtis is an associate professor in the Physican Assistant Department and the Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. She is an epidemiologist, and her current research focuses on diabetes, obesity and developing and evaluating community participatory public health initiatives. For more information, link to the research summary on these pages.
Dr. Maria E. Scott is an assistant professor in the Physician Assistant Department. She is a molecular biologist. Dr. Scott’s current research is focused on understanding pathogenesis of diarrheal infections through the identification and characterization of proteins involved in infection and the response of the host to infection. This fall she submitted a grant that will lay the groundwork for a new research project that will provide an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the pathogenesis of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli diarrheal pathogens and how the host’s commensal gut microbiota influences the outcome of infection. In addition, Dr. Scott’s current work involves the use of nanoparticle-bioengineered antibacterial agents to control hospital-acquired antibiotic-resistant infections.
Dr. Barbara Barton, assistant professor in the School of Social Work, continues her research on sexual health and brain injury. Her work has most recently been featured in the juried Brain Injury Professional Journal and at presentations for the Brain Injury Association, Brain Injury Provider's Council, and the Michigan Rehabilitation Conference. She is currently researching the perceptions and establishment of the concept of 'hope' in families of brain injury survivors emerging from coma. To improve the understanding of brain injury to lay audiences, she has finished collaboration on a series of articles for Exceptional Parent magazine on youth, adolescence, traumatic brain injury, and sexual health.
Dr. Linwood H. Cousins applies the theoretical and methodological lenses of social work and cultural anthropology in his research of the cultural characteristics of race, ethnicity, and social class among African American families and communities, with an emphasis on how culture influences schooling and racial identity. His most recent scholarship focuses on two areas: (1) university-school-community collaborations that facilitate the participation of African American parents in the education of middle and high school aged children in the context of the race-gap in educational achievement; and (2) university-community collaborations for poverty reduction.
Dr. Jim Henry focuses his scholarship on the neurodevelopmental impact of trauma to children; how exposure to violence alters development; the impact of trauma informed child welfare system on improving outcomes for children; the linkages between child traumatic stress and juvenile justice; how evidence base trauma treatments produce child symptom reduction and increases functionality; and the impact of secondary trauma on the effectiveness of child welfare workers.
Barbara Howes is a Faculty Specialist II in the School of Social Work and a candidate in the Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences program. She is conducting research for her dissertation on efforts to promote and maintain the well-being of children in foster care whose biological parents are participating in Family Treatment Courts in Michigan. Portions of this research are funded through grants awarded by the State of Michigan Supreme Court Administrator’s Office, the State of Michigan Department of Human Services Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention, and the U.S. Recovery Act-Edward Byrne Memorial Competitive Grant. Ms. Howes has been one of the doctoral students who have played a major role in test design and evaluation for Dr. Nickola W. Nelson, who is conducting research leading to the development of a standardized “Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills” (TILLS). For more information, link to that research summary on these pages.
Dr. Peter Judd studies national politics and policy reform with emphasis on legislative
initiatives and Supreme Court cases.
Dr. Gary Mathews, a professor in the School of Social Work, has scholarship interests in three areas: 1) clinical and task groups and how they are taught, including the study of group dynamics, historically and in terms of teaching; 2) the examination of ethical problems in social work and how the Code of Ethics aids and hinders this process, especially the Socratic method of dialogue as the alternative to relying on the Code to resolve conflicts; 3) the debate of evidenced based practice vs. values based practice, that "we must take account of other forms of knowledge, including stories, music, poetry, drama, and dance." Dr. Matthews is interested in discussing the fact that the scientific method depends to a great extent on replication to confirm and validate findings and on the utilization of multiple methods of data collection to offset the standard errors of each method. Yet, most social work research is never replicated at all, and most utilizes only one method of data collection and design.
Dr. Yvonne Unrau is a professor in the School of Social Work. She currently serves as the Founding Director of the Seita Scholars program, part of the Foster Youth & Higher Education Initiative at Western Michigan University. The overall goal of the WMU Foster Youth & Higher Education Initiative is to increase opportunities for young people who have aged out of foster care to pursue higher education and to provide supports that promote success and well-being throughout the undergraduate experience at WMU. The Seita Scholars program aims to create a community of scholars among this segment of WMU's student population. Now in its fourth year, the Seita Scholars program supports 141 students on campus. More than providing these students with an undergraduate education, we are developing strategies—individual and systemic—to help former foster youth transition into adulthood through the experience of higher education. Program staff are engaged in careful observation, reflection and review of research to develop best practice for supporting college students from foster care in higher education. Grants and gifts awarded to support the Seita Scholars program total more than $1,000,000 and include the following foundations: W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Guido and Elizabeth Binda Foundation, Kalamazoo Community Foundation, Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation, AT&T Foundation, Speckhard-Knight Charitable Foundation, and Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan. The website for the Foster Youth & Higher Education initiative is www.wmich.edu/fyit.
Dr. Ineke Way, an associate professor in the School of Social Work, has led a team of researchers from WMU (Dr. Yvette Hyter and Ms. Connie Black-Pond of CHHS, Dr. Paul Yelsma, retired CAS, and Dr. Brooks Applegate, COE) and Virginia Commonwealth University (Dr. Leslie Kimball Franck), along with research assistants (Dr. Xiaofan Cai, Ms. Rachel Clay Richmond, Ms. Mary Muliett, and Ms. Essence Floyd Roberts, CHHS) to develop an instrument to measure a psychological phenomenon-alexithymia-in children who have experienced trauma. Individuals with alexithymia have difficulty identifying, understanding, and/or expressing their feelings. The preliminary instrument, the Children’s Alexithymia Measure (CAM), is reported in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma (December 2010). The research team is planning validity studies next. Dr. Way serves as coordinator of a project to infuse evidence-based trauma-informed practice into the MSW curriculum and community practice. The 3-year pilot project, part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (the NCTSN, which includes WMU’s Southwest Michigan Child Trauma Assessment Center, CTAC), is in its second year, with 11 trained field instructors and 11 trained MSW students who are implementing Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with children and adolescents.
Dr. Donna M. Weinreich is an associate professor in the School of Social Work. Her areas of interest are gerontology, theory, community based participatory research, and teaching and learning in virtual environments. Dr. Weinreich is WMU’s representative to the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), a member of AGHE’s executive committee, and member of the AGHE Council on Gerontology Accreditation. She is secretary to the Board of Friendship Village, a continuing care retirement community located in Kalamazoo, Mich.
SPADA - Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Dr. Dennis Simpson director and professor in the Specialty Program in Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SPADA) is conducting research on the effects of mouth alcohol on breath alcohol results and the length of expired blow on breath alcohol results. This research will advance the ability to determine validity of breath alcohol as an appropriate measure of bodily alcohol content.
Speech Pathology and Audiology
Dr. Jan Bedrosian, professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, has recently completed a research project funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. The project developed and tested a model predicting the outcome of conversational choices by people with severe communication impairments who use speech-generating computer systems in public settings. The findings are being used to design and develop a prototype communication system which will eventually be tested. The long-term goal is to develop systems that will enhance the communication effectiveness of the individuals using these systems so that they can more successfully accomplish their goals in public settings.
Dr. Greg Flamme, is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. His primary research interest is in hearing loss prevention and the evaluation and treatment of hearing loss. He has published papers on the prevalence of hearing impairment in the US population, hearing loss prevention, hearing aid use, benefit, and outcome measures.
Ms. Sandra Oslager Glista, a master clinical faculty specialist with the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, studies contemporary issues in the group treatment of people with chronic aphasia. Most recently her work focuses on the therapeutic use and application of commercially available communication tools and technologies, such as smart phones, e-mail systems, and computer mediated voice/video calling, by adults with language disorders.
Dr. James Hillenbrand is a professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. His research has focused mainly on trying to understand the auditory and pattern-matching mechanisms that are involved in recognizing speech, a surprisingly difficult task. In recognizing speech, listeners need to cope with wide variability in the acoustic structure of the speech signal that results from variation in factors such as individual differences in vocal tract anatomy, dialect, rate of speech, and the phonetic environment in which a particular speech sound occurs. The effect of all this variability is that a given speech sound can be realized with a wide array of different acoustic signatures. Research experiments typically involve acoustic analyses of speech recorded from a variety of different speakers, developing hypotheses about underlying pattern-matching mechanisms on the basis of those analyses, and then testing those hypotheses with listening experiments that use computer-generated or computer-modified speech signals. The laboratory is also involved in research that is designed to improve our understanding of the physiological and perceptual mechanisms that are responsible for variations in voice quality.
Dr. Yvette D. Hyter, associate professor in Speech Pathology and Audiology, is involved in several research projects. She is conducting research designed to develop an assessment measure of social communication and pragmatic language skills of preschool children. Second, Dr. Hyter is conducting a research project to compare the social communication and pragmatic language skills of children between the ages of 6 – 15 with histories of maltreatment and prenatal alcohol exposure to age-matched peers with histories of maltreatment only. Since 2000, Dr. Hyter and her collaborator, Dr. W. F. Santiago-Valles (associate professor in Africana Studies, WMU) have been investigating the consequences of economic globalization. As part their second College of Education Fulbright-Hays grant award, Dr. Hyter’s research focuses on explaining language policies, linguistic culture, and literacy practices, as well as the ways popular culture is used to address consequences of globalization in West Africa and in the U. S. Midwest. Other members of the research team are Drs. Joseph Kretovics and Yuanlong Liu (College of Education and Human Development, WMU), and Stephanie Evergreen (doctoral student in the Evaluation Center, WMU). Finally, as a founding member of the Children’s Trauma Assessment Center (CTAC), Dr. Hyter was involved in the development of a school based intervention program for school-age children (2003-2007 - NIH-SAMSHA funded grant). As part of the second NIH-SAMSHA grant awarded to CTAC, Dr. Hyter collaborates with the CTAC team on the development and delivery of assessment training to teams of service providers and educators in Michigan, and serves as the cultural competence consultant responsible for developing and facilitating the implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate programming.
Dr. Nickola W. Nelson, professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology and director of the Ph.D. program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences, is conducting research leading to the development of a standardized “Test of Integrated Language and Literacy Skills” (TILLS). For more information, link to that research summary on these pages.
Ms. Robin Pollens is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Her clinical research interests include enhancing communication and life participation opportunities for individuals with aphasia, and developing speech-language pathology consult models to improve quality of life for patients in palliative or end-of-life care.
Dr. Helen Sharp is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Her research focuses on clinical practice patterns and patients’ perceptions of clinical outcomes.
Dr. Stephen Tasko is an associate professor in the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. His broad research focus is to gain an improved understanding of the motor processes that underlie normal and disordered speech and voice production. Dr. Tasko is currently engaged in several lines of research. One line of work is aimed at evaluating the hypothesis that stuttering is a speech disorder that arises from faulty speech motor control. Recent studies have focused on investigating coordination strategies of persons who stutter, evaluating speech motor changes following stuttering treatment, and using computational models of speech motor control to simulate stuttering. A second line of research focuses on understanding the relationship between articulatory kinematic behavior and the temporal structure of speech. New work is currently under way to investigate how speakers adjust articulatory behavior as they learn to make alterations in speaking rate. A third line of research is aimed at determining the acoustic factors that contribute to the normal and disordered voice quality. A recent study has focused on determining the acoustic correlates of vocal effort. Dr. Tasko oversees a well-developed speech physiology laboratory that is equipped for recording speech acoustics, chest wall, vocal fold and oral articulatory motion, orofacial muscle activity and speech-related aerodynamic events. Therefore there are a variety of opportunities for those interested in exploring the acoustic and physiological bases of speech production.
Dr. Ann Tyler is professor and chair of the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology. Her research focuses on treatment efficacy and effectiveness, as well as subgroup characteristics in childhood speech sound disorders.