June 2024

DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

For many, a career in health services research is rooted in a personal connection – an experience that shaped us, or a challenge a family member endured, or frustration with the quality of care a loved one experienced. In this issue of the newsletter, we will hear from various members of the Sheps community on what inspired them to pursue a career in the field. 

As most of you know, I grew up in a small town in rural Michigan. Despite this experience, I did not initially expect rural health to become a focus of my research career. However, in graduate school I stumbled upon an opportunity that I thought would be short-term, but quickly developed into a passion. I realized how my research can (ever so modestly) help contribute to the design of a high-quality rural health system for my family, friends, and others living in rural America.

One family member drove 45 minutes each way, five days a week, for five weeks to receive cancer treatment. Another family member spent some of his last days in a swing bed, a Medicare program that allows rural hospitals to use beds for either acute or skilled nursing care. These experiences, among many others, including my own, have significantly shaped my perspective on my research. They remind me that, while it is essential to remain objective and adhere to scientific principles, the ultimate goal of research is not just to win grants or publish papers – it is to conduct research that can improve people's lives.

Ultimately, the reason I do what I do is because our research impacts people's lives every single day, often at the most critical and personal moments.

Mark Holmes, PhD

Sheps Center Director

Arrianna Planey, PhD

I am a medical geographer and faculty member in the Department of Health Policy and Management here at UNC Chapel Hill. I also work with the Rural Health Research Program at Sheps. I arrived at health services research as both a patient and a clinical trainee. As a deaf person, I wanted to do my part to make hearing healthcare more accessible to d/Deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) people. However, it became apparent that my interests and skillsets more aligned with research rather than clinical practice. My dissertation research focused on audiologist service access at the intersection of rurality, race, and ethnicity.

Now, my work focuses on a range of health care services, with a focus on equity health care access and outcomes. My foci include prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum healthcare, stroke systems of care, substance use disorder treatment, cancer treatment, and preventive care in both urban and rural contexts. I am able to traverse this broad range of services and outcomes because I have a holistic conception of access and a broad toolkit of methods for studying health services access and use.

Four years into my faculty role, my “why” hasn’t changed. Inequities in care access and quality are downstream of pre-existing inequities in access to health-enabling resources and contexts that might otherwise offset the effects of health-harming exposures across the lifespan. Unfortunately, health systems are increasingly tasked with addressing these upstream problems while also delivering health care. And they are being asked to do so based on lagging indicators (e.g. electronic health records) or inferences based on patients’ residential ZIP codes (not ideal; can reinforce racial, ethnic, and class inequities). I’ve seen these tensions play out in the lives (and deaths) of loved ones who’ve fallen through the cracks in long-term care in their twilight years, or in survivorship care after a cancer diagnosis.

Ashley Avis, MS

I am a Lead Data Scientist for the Data Analytics and Research Team (DART) at Sheps and I am passionate about responsible data science, tech stewardship, resolving bias and ethical concerns in machine learning, health equity, and putting research into practice. 

I grew up in the “middle of nowhere” in North Carolina (Sandy Ridge, NC). I was the first person from my high school to advance past the application round for the NC State Park Scholarship and was ultimately the first person from my high school to receive the merit scholarship despite my high school counselor telling me not to get my hopes up. My rural upbringing helped me to understand that while talent is universal, opportunity and access are not.

I worked with Dr. DeLeon Gray in educational psychology research where I learned “if your research doesn’t make it into schools, it doesn’t matter.” After graduating, I taught high school math where I witnessed the interplay between education, poverty, health, and systemic barriers which taught me to look for who is not in the room and how to give students and others the opportunity to see their capabilities.

Now, when I jump into a research project, my first questions are: Who isn’t in the room? Who could this help or hurt? Where are our blind spots? I see patterns in data as only a starting point to learn more about the community or context because there is always something deeper. I am motivated to build systems at work and engage in research / models that make their way to patients, state or local entities, and the broader public but are released only once we have confirmed they are safe.

Ashley and her family at the NCSU Belltower celebrating it being lit red in her honor for receiving the Truman Scholarship. Read more!

Joanna Hinson, MPH

My first experiences in research were during my time in the master’s program at East Carolina University. I worked closely with my Epidemiology professor for a COVID-19 research study. In this research, our goal was to collect data to determine what extent COVID-19 prevention measures were being followed, how common new cases of COVID-19 were, and what proportion of individuals showed evidence of prior infection with COVID-19.

While I gained an understanding of research design and methods in my coursework, in the field, I learned valuable skills for best research practices through actively engaging in the data collection process for this study. I chose a career in research because of the long-term impact it can have on populations. The research that I am currently involved in demonstrates the ability to decrease pneumonia outcomes in residents in assisted living communities by implementing a training program to teach staff techniques for resistance to care.

Sheps Center's Groundhogs Kick Off Intramural Soccer Season with Spirit and Determination

The newly-formed soccer team, the Groundhogs, representing the Sheps Center, made a spirited debut in the spring 2024 UNC intramural season. Comprised of a unique blend of faculty, staff, and students, the team showcased the power of collaboration and resilience, even in the face of a significant age gap and some injuries.

Rebecca Smith, PhD, MPA

Sheps Project Manager

Dr. Smith is a Research Scientist with a background in public policy and management, specializing in health and human service organizations. At Sheps, she contributes to projects focused on the intersection of health-related social needs and health care. She is interested in improving cross-sector collaborative efforts across social service and health care organizations.

Toni Parker

Program on Aging, Chronic Illness, and Disability

Toni is a Research Assistant with the Program on Aging and works on studies investigating accreditation in adult care homes and the use of nightlights to prevent nighttime falls in persons with dementia. She is passionate about research in mental health, maternal health, and disability rights, and is excited to continue furthering her work at Sheps as a graduate assistant as she begins her MPH in Applied Epidemiology at UNC Gillings in the fall.

Abhi Joshi, MCS

Program Health Workforce Research and Policy

Abhi is a Data Analyst/Research Associate for the Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy, providing data management and statistical analysis services. He received his BS in Computer Science from UNC Charlotte and his Master of Computer Science from NCSU.

Zhitong Yu

Sheps IT, Data Analytics Research Team

Zhitong is part of the Data Analytics and Research Team (DART) at Sheps. She conducts statistical analyses and provides analytical support using large-scale health research data. She works closely with researchers and DART team members to meet research goals across projects. 

• Sheryl Zimmerman comments on the new assisted living law in Arizona
• UNC Pembroke to establish a Doctor of Optometry program, based off results from a Sheps Center study.
• The NCIOM releases 8 recommendations to solve workforce issues for nurses by focusing on recruitment and retention.
• Mark Holmes speaks to rural hospitals struggling with an increase of private Medicare patients.
• Sheps Workforce data reveal dentist shortages in NC
• George Pink is quoted on the continuing rural health care crisis.