Ruth Knee Lecture
Ruth Irelan Knee, A.M. '45, was a founding member of the National Association of Social Workers and one of the first psychiatric social workers. Her work across three decades helped define the role of social workers in the public sector. The Ruth Knee Support Fund for Spirituality in Social Work sponsors this lecture at SSA. Read more about Ruth Knee.
2012 Lecture
"Faith Based Health Promotion to Address Mental Health Disparities in African American Youth and Families: Lessons from The AAKOMA Project"
Date: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 pm
Location: The University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration
969 E. 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
This lecture is free and open to the public but registration is required. Lunch will be provided.
Click here to register for the event. To register, click on "Search for Programs" in the top left corner, and then type "Ruth Knee Lecture" in the search box.
Persons who may need assistance should contact the Professional Development Program office at 773.702.1166 at least two weeks prior to the event.
Presenter: Alfiee M. Breland-Noble, Ph.D., M.H.Sc., Director, The AAKOMA Project, Duke University Medical Center
This lecture will illustrate the role of initiatives linking African American/Black Faith communities and universities in creating health equity for diverse adolescents. Given the central role of faith communities in African American/Black culture, Breland-Noble will describe the benefits to be derived from training in Faith Based Health Promotion and Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) for use with African American/Black communities.
Utilizing the Faith Based Health Promotion, CBPR, community engagement literature (e.g. Bell & McKay, 2004; Gibson & Abrams, 2003; Gilliss et al., 2001; Smith et al., 2007; Thompson et al., 1996; Yancey, Ortega, & Kumanyika, 2006) and data from her own studies, Breland-Noble will describe the importance of “intensive-preliminary interaction” with community members and immersion in the local environment. She will further describe the relevant trends beckoning researchers interested in creating and maintaining positive regard in faith communities. Finally, Breland-Noble will describe scientifically rigorous approaches to community engaged work by focusing on a concept called The Seven Field Principles of community psychiatry (Bell & McKay, 2004; Flay BR, Snyder F., & Petraitis J., 2009). The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the benefits and challenges associated with pursuing a research career blending traditional and community engaged science with a focus on Faith Based Health Promotion.
Participants will gain the following learning objectives:
- Participants will identify aspects of Faith Based Health Promotion relevant for conducting research with African American/Black youth and families.
- Participants will gain knowledge about theories of community engagement in clinical research.
- Participants will learn approaches to the application of tested community engagement practices in clinical research.
About the presenter:
Dr. Alfiee M. Breland-Noble is the Director of The AAKOMA Project (African American Knowledge Optimized for Mindfully-Healthy Adolescents) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Duke University Medical Center. She completed her residency training at Duke University and a post-doctoral research training program in health services research at the Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Breland-Noble received her doctoral degree in counseling psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Masters in Counseling from New York University and her Bachelor of Arts in English from Howard University. In 2010, she completed a Masters degree in Health Sciences (clinical research) at the Duke School of Medicine. Her research interests include improving treatment engagement for psychiatric illness in African American and other children of color (using community based participatory research) and the diagnosis and treatment of adolescent depression in clinical trials.
Dr. Breland-Noble has a number of book chapters and peer reviewed manuscripts to her credit including publications in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Family Process Journal, Psychiatric Annals, the Journal of Child and Family Studies and the International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. She also consults with a number of private and public institutions in the areas of program evaluation, clinical care issues of treatment engagement and creating representative samples of youth in mental health clinical care and clinical research.
Past Speakers:
2010
Ann Fisher Raney, Chief Executive Officer, Turning Point Behavioral Health Center; Lecturer, SSA
“Welcoming Spirituality in Clinical Practice”
2006
Froma Walsh, Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor, SSA
“The Spiritual Dimension in Suffering, Healing, and Resilience: Clinical Theory and Practice”
2002
Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics, the University of Chicago Divinity School
“Why Jane Addams Remains Relevant”
Respondent: Mark Courtney, Professor, SSA; and Director of the Chapin Hall Center for Children
“Jane Addams: Settlement House Movement and Contemporary Social Work”
Demanding Change
Rachel Durchslag is the winner of SSA’s 2012 Butler Award for her groundbreaking work to transform how we view prostitution and protect its victims