PhD Spotlight Series: Catherine Elmore, PhD, RN, presents, "Advancing COVID-19 vaccination equity among the refugee community: A critical look at an innovative, multi-sector collaborative outreach program"

PhD Spotlight Series
“Advancing COVID-19 vaccination equity among the Refugee community: A critical look at an innovative multi-sector collaborative outreach program”
By Catherine Elmore, PhD alumna 2022 and a former clinical instructor, a T32 Fellow at the University of Utah College of Nursing

Elmore’s current research includes a mixed-methods pilot study examining primary care providers’ perceptions of integrating screening for social needs, social resources, and hospital discharge readiness, and the role of informal caregivers in supporting chronic disease management at home and in the primary care outpatient setting. The overall goal is to improve patient outcomes and care quality, reduce unnecessary health service use, and support informal caregivers in home and primary care community settings.

Elmore’s dissertation, “Examining cervical cancer control for refugee women living in the United States” identified a disparity in the rate of cervical cancer screening among refugee populations attending a family medicine primary care clinic in the US compared to the general US population. Elmore’s study findings immediately informed local clinical practice changes and laid the groundwork for additional research identifying and mitigating disparities in preventative care, including cancer screening for refugee and other vulnerable populations.

During her post-doc, Elmore’s research has expanded to include medical surgical inpatient and chronic disease outpatient populations, particularly during times of transition from acute care back to home and primary care. She is well-versed in qualitative data collection and qualitative and mixed methods analyses. With mentor Andrea Wallace, Elmore is part of two interdisciplinary teams conducting R01-funded health services research focused on systematically assessing social needs and social resources of patients and caregivers in inpatient, primary care, and community settings.

This will be presentation of recent work on COVID vaccine access among the local refugee community, but, together with the audience, we will critically examine how we could/should have created opportunities in this equity work for more inclusive participation with the refugee community.

Please email sonce@virginia.edu to register; closer to the event, you will receive the Zoom link.