Inventive research solutions to address issues related to physical health, behavioral health and social connectedness.
Research Projects
A Care Model for Rare Disorder Families: Application of Mobile Integrated Care
The aim of the study is to improve the quality of care among patients and their family caregivers. Collaborative partners include the Tzu Chi Hualien Hospital (medical providers) and the Taiwan Foundation for rare disorder (the largest NGOs in Taiwan for serving this population) to develop a mobile integrated care model with intergenerational support (providing support for technology and self-care skills for patients and their family caregivers) from college students with medical and social work-related background. The research team consist of medical providers (pediatricians, nurses, social workers, psychiatrists, and dietitians), community-based members, engineers in IT industry, and 3 professors in academia as PI and Co-PIs (from USC, Cal State University-Channel Island, Taipei Medical University). The research study uses mixed methods (focus group discussion and pre-post research design) for needs assessment and evaluation.
Research Team
Research Period: 1/1/2018 - 12/31/2018
Funding Source: Taiwan Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare
Co-Designing a Mobile App with Chinese Immigrant Caregivers for Self-Management of Their Health
The proposed pilot study aims to employ a user participatory approach to develop a mobile application (app) that is engaging, high quality, and safe to use as a surrogate for the in-person Caregiver Self-Management Program (CSMP), an existing intervention for Chinese caregivers. The CSMP intervention aims to equip Chinese caregivers with self-management knowledge and skills, to increase their self-efficacy for caregiving and self-care, to enhance their physical and mental well-being, and to decrease their caregiving burden.
Research Team
Research Period: 7/1/2018 – 6/30/2019
Funding Source: USC Undergraduate Research Associates Program (URAP)
Applying Deep Learning to Military Suicidal Prevention: Smart Phone Application
Research Team
Research Period: 9/1/2018-12/31/2018
Funding Source: Tri-Service General Hospital
Translating Caregiver Self-Management Research for Chinese Immigrant Community Use through Participatory Co-Design App Development
The proposed pilot study will employ a user participatory approach to design, prototype, and pilot-test a CSMP mobile app to meet the needs of Chinese immigrant caregivers. The app is expected to include five core functions to engage caregivers in self -care: building CSMP-based skills, tracking self-management behaviors, summarizing health information, coaching for problem solving, and enabling communication for support and sharing.
Research Team
Research Period: 7/1/2018 – 6/30/2019
Funding Source: Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI); Grant ID: 12-5176-3304
Helping Carers to Care (HC2C)
Developed with Peking University’s Institute of Mental Health, the initiative facilitates the development, implementation and evaluation of training models in Beijing for caregivers of individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Research Team
Research Period: Ongoing
Immigrant Patient Empowerment Program
The pilot training program aims to (1) empower Chinese immigrants by learning basic knowledge about the elements of communication, different cultural expectations, and the American healthcare system to facilitate successful experience in seeking healthcare in the United States, and (2) introduce proactive skills and tips to help immigrants improve healthcare decision-making and communication with healthcare providers.
Research Team
Research Period: Ongoing
Funding Source: USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging
BrainWorks: A Comparative Effectiveness Trial to Examine Text Message-Based Alzheimer's Disease Education for Community-Dwelling African Americans
The purpose of the proposed randomized comparative effectiveness trial is to compare the effectiveness of different approaches to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) education on AD knowledge and research attitudes. We will randomize 150 community-dwelling African American adults (ages 60-85) to either an AD outreach and education program with text messages tailored to African Americans (tailored texts), text messages that the general population would receive (general texts), or a control group. The primary outcome will be change in knowledge about AD and research attitudes over 6 months. Our long-term objective is to increase African American participation in AD prevention research.
Research Team
Research Period: 2/1/2017-3/31/2018
Funding Source: Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI)
Los Angeles Stroke Prevention/Intervention Research Program in Health Disparities
This program is a multi-partner research center that will conduct two randomized, controlled, community-based trials of stroke-prevention interventions. The research for this subaward project will design a mobile health technology application and an evaluation to measure perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and willingness to adopt the mobile health technology from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives. This research will support one of the center’s aims, which is to create and test sustainable interventions to redress racial/ethnic disparities in the occurrence of stroke.
Research Team
Research Period: 9/30/2012 – 8/31/2018
Funding Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Caregiver Self-Management Program (CSMP)
The CSMP aims to equip Chinese caregivers with self-management knowledge and skills, increase self-efficacy for caregiving and self-care, enhance physical and mental well-being, and decrease caregiving burden. The program will address language and culture gaps in current caregiver self-management interventions in the U.S.
Research Team
Research Period: 9/1/2017 – 6/30/2018
Funding Source: USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work Research Council
Co-Designing a Mobile App with Chinese Immigrant Caregivers for Self-Management of Their Health
The proposed pilot study aims to employ a user participatory approach to develop a mobile application (app) that is engaging, high quality, and safe to use as a surrogate for the in-person Caregiver Self-Management Program (CSMP), an existing intervention for Chinese caregivers. The CSMP intervention aims to equip Chinese caregivers with self-management knowledge and skills, to increase their self-efficacy for caregiving and self-care, to enhance their physical and mental well-being, and to decrease their caregiving burden.
Research Team
Research Period: 2/1/2018 – 6/30/2018
Funding Source: USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work: Department of Adult Mental Health and Wellness
EAGER: Studying the Dynamics of In-Home Adoption of Socially Assistive Robot Companions for the Elderly
Project description is forthcoming.
Research Team
Research Period: 9/1/2015–8/31/2017
Funding Source: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Intergenerational Mobile Technology Opportunities Program in Taiwan
To understand the potential of mobile computing technology to improve quality of life and health outcomes of older adults with disabilities, an intervention is needed to motivate and train seniors to use the technology. Thus, this proposed 3-year demonstration and research project aims to develop, test, and evaluate an innovative program, Intergenerational Mobile Technology Opportunities Program (IMTOP), to help older adults with disabilities use mobile devices by interacting with younger-generation trainers, which has the potential to improve the quality of life for both groups. IMTOP aims to provide mobile technology training, access, and support to adults (aged 50 and above) with disabilities in Taiwan for their self-care and self-help to improve their quality of life. The program will help participants acquire skills to use the Internet, World Wide Web (WWW), applications (or “apps”), and basic computing via mobile tablet devices. These skills will give participants access to resources and tools to promote good health and prevent disease, manage personal finances and daily activities, reduce social isolation, and increase social engagement, as well as meet their individual life goals.
Research Team
Culture, Neuroscience and the Course of Psychosis
The main objective of the project is to bring together sociocultural and neuroscience researchers to launch an innovative research and research training program in the study of psychosis and psychotic disorders. A major goal will be to carry out a research and research training program that integrates both sociocultural and neuroscience perspectives within the study of the course of psychosis among Mexican-origin persons.
Research Team
Research Period: 7/2010 - 6/2013
Funding Source: Foundation for Psychocultural Research
A Helping Hand to Activate Patient-Centered Depression Care among Low-Income Patients (AHH)
The study aims to improve patient self-care management and patient-provider care management relationships among underserved low-income patients, who must simultaneously cope with major depression and chronic co-morbid physical illness. Some participants will be randomly selected to receive typical clinical services, while others will participate in a program in which community members, who are trained to provide basic health education, offer training and advice. Findings will determine whether community health worker promotora care management training improves patient-centered outcomes, such as self-care need and management, treatment adherence, symptom improvement, and care satisfaction over the usual team care.
Research Team
Research Period: 10/2013 – 12/2017
Funding Source: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)
Testing the Feasibility of Telehealth Services within Permanent Supportive Housing
The goal of this project is to evaluate a pilot health care delivery quality improvement project in which USC Telehealth (USCTH) will implement evidence-based psychosocial interventions to tenants living in permanent supportive housing. Although all tenants are provided assistance in accessing traditional mental healthcare services, many high-need tenants often encounter barriers that lead to underutilization. USCTH—which delivers care through online video technologies—offers a potential solution to overcome many of these barriers and improve the delivery of care by allowing tenants to access virtual and evidence-based counseling in the comfort and safety of their own home. Dr. Benjamin Henwood and Dr. Nadia Islam will be conducting a feasibility study to evaluate this pilot.
Research Team
Research Period: 9/1/2016 - 7/1/2017
Funding Source: Gehr Family Center for Implementation Science
A Program for Families Caring for a Loved One with Dementia (SAVVY Caregiver Program)
This is a comparative cluster-randomized pilot to compare the relative feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of implementing the original and modified version of the Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP) in community-based settings. SCP is a structured, group-administered intervention for adult family caregivers of persons with Alzheimer’s disease or associated dementias.
Research Team
Research Period: 12/2015 – 6/2016
Funding Source: USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work Research Council