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Applied Research Center awards grants

Kevin Valadares,associate professor of health administration, and Marie Opatrny, assistant professor of social work, are recipients of grants from the USI Center for Applied Research. The grants are the first offered by the center.

The summer 2008 grants each provide a $4,000 stipend. Dr. Sue Ellspermann, director of the center, said, “Their applications scored highest on the criteria identified, including two critical criteria: scholarly significance and impact on southwest Indiana.”

Generational differences among physicians
Valadares will study how generational differences among physicians affect their loyalty to health care organizations. The study will further determine if generational diversity causes a disparity in the quality of care provided. He said that similar research on generational differences has been completed in other industries, but not with physicians in health care. A survey of 1,300 regional physicians will be conducted to gather information from physicians identified by generational categories as traditionalists, baby boomers, gen Xers, and millenials.

The study will look at the similarities and difference by generations in values, practice patterns, and how they work with hospitals and patients. The survey will be administered in the spring. The research will be useful to local health care organizations as they work to recruit and retain physicians. Ethel Elkins MHA ’06, adjunct professor of health services and Beth Polin from DePauw University are co-investigators of the study.

Potential factors in suicide risk
Because of the extremely high suicide rate in Southwestern Indiana, Opatrny is conducting the research to identify potential factors associated with suicide risk. Narrative interviews will be conducted with individuals who have experienced a suicide by someone close to them. She will use the framework of indicators for identity complexity to analyze the content of the interviews. Identity complexity refers to the differentiation between roles and the meaning that a person attributes to each of their roles. In addition, it includes the ability on the part of a person to recognize and select appropriate alternative options for problem solving. Previous research using this framework has indicated that one’s having a complex identity can serve as a buffer against depression in the case of a person experiencing a loss of one of their roles.

The outcome of the research will be used to help individuals who work with individuals at risk for suicide, to train crisis phone line workers, and to educate the general population and give them another tool to help when a loved one shows suicidal signs. Dr. Cynthia Smith, executive director of the Youth Services Bureau, is co-investigator of the study.

The Center for Applied Research is an outreach program of Extended Services.

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