Current Projects
Working Alongside Refugees in Mental Health
This project is aimed at increasing forced migrants’ access to culturally-congruent, linguistically-appropriate, evidence-based mental health care via an innovative provider network. This project is conducted in collaboration with Catholic Social Services Refugee Assistance and Immigration Services (RAIS). Please go to warmalaska.org join our provider network, access materials for your practice, and sign up for our upcoming trainings. This project is funded by the Alaska Community Foundation and the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority.
The Cultural Identity Project
This project is aimed at understanding how systems shape Alaska Native university students' cultural identities and impact their behavioral health. Research from 2017-2019 led to the development of an Elder-led program via ePortfolio technology designed to support Alaska Native students’ cultural identity development and emotional/behavioral health. The program was pilot tested through a step-wedge RCT in collaboration with Native Student Services at UAA in AY20-21 and was developed into a course and adapted to new settings. This project was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) under Award Number U54GM115371. Learn more about the project and how you can access the curriculum by clicking here.
Multilingual Psychological Services
This project is aimed at improving and increasing access to linguistically-appropriate psychological services (assessment, psychotherapy) in Alaska by (a) making psychological services available to non-English speakers via interpretation services and (b) developing clinicians' competence delivering multilingual services by providing Clinical Psychology graduate students training and supervised experience providing mental health services through interpreters, This project is conducted in collaboration with the Psychological Services Center at UAA and is funded by the Mat-Su Valley Health Foundation. Download best practices for working with interpreters here:
Untapped Talent
This mixed-method collaborative project with the Municipality of Anchorage Office of the Mayor, Welcoming Anchorage (part of Welcoming America), Alaska Literacy Program, South Central Area Health Education Center, and the UAA School of Social Work, among other community partners, is aimed at examining inclusion and integration of refugees, asylees, and immigrants throughout Anchorage in order to identify current strengths and systemic changes that could improve integration throughout the municipality. This project is funded, in part, through a grant from the Center for Community Engagement & Learning at UAA. Learn more about the project here.
Sense of Community in Context
These primarily qualitative projects are aimed at understanding sense of community in a variety of global contexts and the ways in which sense of community is shaped through global phenomenon, such as migration and COVID-19.
Immigrant Justice
This work is aimed at understanding the impact of immigration-related public policies and practices across contexts on immigrants, families, and communities alongside community organizing and resistance to oppression in order to make relevant policy and practice recommendations to work towards immigrant justice.
My Best Alaskan Life
In collaboration with Lauren Lessard (PI), Alaska DHSS, Planned Parenthood, Anchorage School Based Health Centers, ANTHC, YKHC, and Healthy Voices, Healthy Choices, "My Best Alaska Life" is a pilot project to test a decision-making tool that will guide adolescents in planning their future and adopting safer sexual health behaviors to meet their identified goals. This project is supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Grant Number 2P20GM103395. Learn more about the project at mybestalaskanlife.com.