Stay up to date with the work of the Institute! Here you can access articles featuring the Institute or members of its team, as well as podcasts and other media features.
Above: Casey Walsh and Jen Currin-McCulloch presenting on young adult cancer survivorship and parental distress at the Association of Oncology Social Workers.
Editorials
Dr. Barbara Jones and Rachel Carnahan-Metzger wrote an editorial for the Dallas News entitled, Lawmakers need to fight for this part of the Affordable Care Act that helps seriously ill children. The article encourages lawmakers to maintain the aspects of the Affordable Care Act that provide extended care options for children with life-limiting medical conditions. To read the editorial, visit http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/02/15/lawmakers-need-fight-concurrent-care-children-provision-affordable-care-act-matter
Articles
What’s Needed Most After Breast Cancer Diagnosis?
“You have cancer.” One small phrase can change the life of someone who has been waiting anxiously since finding the first lump. What happens after the pathologist confirms what you’ve been dreading?
See Kim Berger’s article that covers 5 tips for supporting your loved one after that life-changing call: https://news.utexas.edu/2017/10/31/what-s-needed-most-after-breast-cancer-diagnosis
KUT Austin highlighted a study by Derek Faulk and Dr. Catherine Cubbin that demonstrated an increase in breast and cervical cancer screenings for women in rural Texas when they received navigation services. For more information about their work and to listen to the story as presented on KUT Austin, follow this link. http://kut.org/post/program-tripled-cancer-screenings-women-rural-texas-loses-state-funding
The Daily Texan reports on the work of one of the Institute’s research fellows, Farya Phillips, who together with Dr. Barbara Jones is analyzing how children are affected by child-centered intervention programs designed for those whose parents have cancer.
For more on Dr. Phillips’ work: https://socialwork.utexas.edu/featured/working-with-the-community-to-help-families-with-cancer/
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Center for Women and Gender Studies and the Institute co-sponsored a film screening of “Foreign Puzzle,” followed by a discussion panel. The event was part of the Center’s 2015-2016 series on Gender, Race, Sex and Health.
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/cwgs/news/9960
Dr. Barbara Jones shares about the LIVESTRONG Foundation’s LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes at Dell Medical Schoool.
http://sites.utexas.edu/utopian/cancer-care-for-the-whole-person/
At the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Barbara Jones has been working to incorporate interprofessional education and practice in the curriculum of health-related schools and colleges across campus. Jones, a psychosocial oncology researcher and assistant dean for health affairs at the School of Social Work, is a leader in the development of an Interprofessional Education collaborative (IPE) in Austin that brings together faculty and graduate students in social work, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and psychology. She also serves in the IPE Curriculum Subcommittee of the new Dell Medical School at UT Austin, which is set to start classes in 2016. http://sites.utexas.edu/utopian/its-all-about-teamwork/
Pediatric Palliative Care at the Dell Children’s Medical Center involves a team of loving individuals. Learn more about the social workers on this team and their work with children and families.
http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/10/through-the-unthinkable/
Video: http://alcalde.texasexes.org/2014/11/through-the-unthinkable-a-parents-perspective-watch/
This year, Dr. Beth Pomeroy is named one of the eight Signature Course professors who are among the 26 UT Austin faculty members to receive the prestigious Regent’s Outstanding Teaching Award from the University of Texas System Board of Regents.
https://www.utexas.edu/ugs/news/signature-course-awards
School of Social Work students participate in simulation labs to prepare for life working with clients going through detox.
https://socialwork.utexas.edu/featured/rehearsing-for-real-life/
The Integrated Behavioral Health (IBH) program prepares outstanding master’s students in the clinical concentration to work in health care settings.
https://socialwork.utexas.edu/featured/ibh-scholars-integrated-behavioral-health/
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is a leading cause of birth defects and developmental disabilities in the United States. But every day, women like Lisa choose healthier behaviors that avoid alcohol-exposed pregnancies thanks to CHOICES, a program developed by researchers at the Health Behavior Research and Training (HBRT)institute at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work.
http://sites.utexas.edu/utopian/changing-health-outcomes-one-person-at-a-time/
Megan Pfitzinger Lippe shares her experiences as being a part of the Transformative Teams in Healthcare class.
http://www.reflectionsonnursingleadership.org/Pages/Vol41_3_PfitzingerLippe.aspx
Second Chance: When Grandparents Become the Caregivers. Contributor. CURE, 2013. http://www.curetoday.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/article.show/id/2/article_id/2163.
Jones, L. Surviving Childhood Cancer: Growing Up Too Fast. Social Work Today, May/June 2008. http://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/mayjun2008p20.shtml.
Here for you: Helping children cope with serious illness (2008) Sesame Street Workshop Educational DVD. Content Expert.
In the spotlight: Pediatric palliative care. PainEDU, 2007. http://www.painedu.org/spotlight.asp?spotlightNumber=45.
Stepping Stones. The University of Texas at Austin, 2006. http://www.utexas.edu/features/2006/survivorship/.
Blogs
http://blog.dellmedschool.utexas.edu/2017/06/12/livestrong-cancer-institutes-host-cancer-community-provider-town-hall/
Barbara Jones to Lead Innovative Research Efforts for LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes
Understanding the needs of cancer patients in the community (and their families) is crucial in the fight against cancer. To lead this effort, the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes has named Barbara Jones, PhD, MSW, as Associate Director for Social Sciences and Community Based Research. This unique role prioritizes areas of research that are not as well investigated, such as psychosocial oncology. Psychosocial oncology explores the social, psychological, emotional, spiritual and functional aspects of cancer and its treatment.
“We will focus on more than the body,” Jones said. “We will focus on the whole person and their environment and what it means to a person to have a cancer diagnosis and how they are integrating it into their identity.”
Community collaboration is a hallmark of both Dell Medical School and the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes. Community Based Research will allow the Institutes to work closely with the community and those who are living through these experiences to determine the best model of care to meet needs of the patients and caregivers.
“We are taking a broad approach that says that the experts in this — the community members who live with cancer — are the ones who can teach us what we need to study and where we can improve,“ Jones added.
Jones’ passion began early in her career, at the bedside of children and families who were facing cancer. She joined The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work in 2004 and currently serves as Associate Dean for Health Affairs. She has dedicated her research to identifying systematic methods to address the needs of cancer patients, including pediatric palliative care, social work interventions, and adolescent and young adult cancer survivors.
Additionally, Jones is no stranger to breaking new ground. She teaches an interdisciplinary seminar in psychosocial oncology, the first academic class of its kind in the United States that focuses on preparing graduate students in social work, nursing, psychology, public health, health kinesiology, human ecology, nutrition and pharmacy to provide clinical services and conduct research in psychosocial oncology. She also co-directs the interprofessional education program at Dell Medical School, a longitudinal, face-to face collaborative experience that teaches students in medicine, social work, pharmacy and nursing to work together — all while putting the patients and their families at the center of care.
“We are excited to have Barbara officially join the Institutes’ team,” said Gail Eckhardt, MD, Director of the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institutes at the Dell Medical School. “Building a new cancer center gives us a unique opportunity to rethink cancer care in Austin, and Barbara’s new role will improve how we deliver patient-centered cancer care and integrate the patient’s care ecosystem .”
Jones’ first task as associate director is to collect data from patients and community members which will allow the Institutes to better understand local needs in Austin for some of the more prevalent cancer types and demographics that will be served in Dell Med clinics. This data will be collected by meeting with patients and caregivers and identifying areas of opportunity to improve care.
“Because our patient support programs are born out of addressing gaps in the patient experience,” Jones said. “It’s important to keep a pulse on needs locally and nationally to improve our services.”
Barbara Jones is Professor and Associate Dean for Health Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work. She is co-director of the Institute for Collaborative Health Research and Practice and holds a courtesy appointment with the Center for Women and Gender Studies.
Podcasts
Singer, J.B. (Host). (2010, January 25). Pediatric oncology social work. Interview with Barbara Jones, Ph.D., MSW (Episode 55) in SocialWork Podcast. http://socialworkpodcast.com/2010/01/pediatric-oncology-social-work.html
Guzman, A. (Host). (2013, February 18). Adolescent Cancer Survivors: Identity Paradox and the Need to Belong. Interview with Barbara Jones, Ph.D., MSW (Episode 113) in SocialWork Podcast Series.http://www.socialwork.buffalo.edu/podcast/episode.asp?ep=113
Children: The Forgotten Grievers. The University of Texas at Austin, 2015. https://utaustinsocialworkceu.org/index.cfmpg=semwebCatalog&panel=showSWOD&seminarid=6150
From the DSM-IV-TR to the DSM 5: Major Changes in Adult Diagnoses. University of Texas at Austin, 2014. https://utaustinsocialworkceu.org/index.cfmpg=semwebCatalog&panel=showSWOD&seminarid=5513