Curtis Center News

Brittany Schuler's (postdoctoral fellow) article, "Child Development and the Community Environment: Understanding Overweight across the Income Gradient" was published in Childhood Obesity.

Tina Jiwatram-Negrón (Curtis Center postdoctoral fellow) had two articles published:

• "Life at the River is a Living Hell: a qualitative study of trauma, mental health, substance use and HIV risk behavior among female fish traders from the Kafue Flatlands in Zambia" in BMC Women's Health
• "Feasibility and preliminary effects of a screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment model to address gender-based violence among women who use drugs in Kyrgyzstan: Project WINGS (Women Initiating New Goals of Safety)" in Drug and Alcohol Review

Associate Dean for Research and Professor Joe Himle and Curtis Center Manager Ebony Reddock received a grant from the Skillman Foundation to evaluate the skillset of the 482Forward membership, a citywide education organizing network in Detroit,by conducting a survey with a select group of members.

Laura Sundstrom and Megan Elyse Williams, Evaluation Associates with the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, were invited to write a post for the American Evaluation Association blog, AEA365.  Their post highlighted the tool they developed for the Program Evaluation Group, the Tiers of Skill Development.  The Tiers of Skill Development intentionally guide students through developing their evaluation skills.  You can read their blog post here.

Evaluation Associates and students from the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group presented at the American Evaluation Association national conference in Chicago, IL on November 11-14, 2015, including three poster presentations and three oral presentations.

Oral presentations included:

• Intentionally Developing Skills and Competencies in New Evaluators: The Tier Approach. Presenters: Laura Sundstrom, MSW, and Megan Elyse Williams, MSW (Evaluation Associates)
• Using the Social Work Approach to Enhance Evaluation Practice. Presenters: Megan Elyse Williams, MSW, and Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associates)

Poster presentations included:

• College Access and Social Anxiety: How Evaluation Results Led to Targeted Curriculum Redesign. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Sue Schooner, MBA (client); and Natalya Wawrin, MSW (former field student)
• Data Automation 101: A step-by-step approach to effeciently handing multi-stide evaluation data. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Megan Elyse Williams, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Meredith Philyaw, MS (Evaluation Associate); and Jennifer Nulty, MSW Candidate (current work study student)
• Evaluating a Human Trafficking Course Diversion Program: Building Knowledge to Better Serve Victims of Human Trafficking. Authors: Sue Ann Savas, MSW; Laura Sundstrom, MSW (Evaluation Associate); Chad Jobin, LLMSW (Evaluation Associate); Mary O'Brien, MSW Candidate (current work study student); and Cainnear Hogan, MSW Candidate (current work study and special studies student)

Laura Sundstrom and Megan Elyse Williams (Evaluation Associates) also participated on a panel discussion entitled, "Strategies for Teaching and Enhancing Cultural Competence in Novice Evaluators."

Professor Brad Zebrack received a grant from the Curtis Center in May 2015 to conduct an evaluation that supports the efficacy and value-added of exposing adolescent and young adult (AYA) patients to a defined AYA cancer care program.

Laura Sundstrom, MSW, Evaluation Associate with the Curtis Center Program Evaluation Group, was invited to speak at the Western Michigan Univerity Evaluation Center's Evaluation Cafe speaker series on September 30, 2015 for doctoral students, faculty, and staff.  The Evaluation Center administers the interdisciplinary Ph.D. in evaluation program and provides evaluation, research, and capacity-building services to a University, public, community-based, national, and international organizations to assist them in assessing and improving their programs.

Ms. Sundstrom's presentation, "Using Systems Thinking in Your Evaluations: How Separate Evaluation Projects Can Strengthen Eachother," focused on how to apply systems thinking principles to enhance the relevance and use of findings for evaluation consumers.

Edie Kieffer, Katherine Mitchell and SSW alum Nicholas Yankey are among the authors of "The Role of Evaluation in Developing and Sustaining Community Health Worker Coalitions - The Example of the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance", published this month in the Journal of Ambulatory Care Management. The article describes the development, processes and initiatives of the Michigan Community Health Worker Alliance (MiCHWA), through the lens of evaluation, illustrating how CHW coalitions can use participatory evaluation to "develop and reinforce coalition strengths and accomplish mutual goals".