HAP Faculty

Health administration and policy trailblazing leader P.J. Maddox retires after 30 years at George Mason

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:32:38 +0000

Health administration and policy trailblazing leader P.J. Maddox retires after 30 years at George Mason Mary Cunningham Fri, 04/04/2025 - 09:32

In This Story

PJ Maddox, EdD, MSN, RN

After 30 years of outstanding service to ��’s health administration and policy programs, distinguished leader and cherished member of the College of Public Health P.J. Maddox will retire at the end of the 2024-25 academic year. Maddox, who has served for 20 years as chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy and is co-director of the Virginia Center for Health Workforce, leaves behind a legacy of unparalleled dedication, innovation, and impact.

P.J. Maddox, PhD, professor and chair, Health Administration and Policy

Maddox's illustrious career at George Mason has been nothing short of transformative. Starting as an assistant professor in 1995, Maddox oversaw creation and growth, establishing the Office of Health Services Research in the Center for Health Policy and a few years later, the Department of Health Administration and Policy and its many award-winning programs. Under her visionary leadership, the department flourished. P.J. launched innovative programs where she and the faculty have received prestigious accolades.

Dean Melissa Perry expressed her profound gratitude for Maddox's contributions, stating, "Dr. P.J. Maddox has been a beacon of excellence and innovation at ��. Her visionary leadership, tireless dedication, and unwavering commitment to advancing health education have left an indelible mark on our institution. Maddox's impact on the College of Public Health and the broader community is immeasurable. She has inspired countless students, faculty, and professionals, and her legacy will continue to guide us for generations to come. P.J., we are deeply grateful for your years of service and wish you all the best in your well-deserved retirement."

Maddox's achievements have been recognized widely. Awards and recognition include being named the 2021 George Mason Faculty of the Year and the 2025 George Mason Legacy Award winner, as testament to her legacy through her contributions to the university's mission, values, and growth, shaping the institution in meaningful ways.

Throughout her acclaimed career, Maddox, who holds and Doctor of Education; Master of Science, Nursing; and a Master of Science in Nursing, has made significant contributions to academia. Maddox’s academic career has included numerous peer-reviewed academic papers and book chapters and has been awarded prestigious research grants from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control, Health Resources and Services Administration, Claude Moore Foundation, Northern Virginia Area Health Education Council, Virginia Joint Commission on Healthcare, U.S. Office of Domestic Preparedness, and National Institutes of Health. Her research has advanced the field of health administration and policy, earning her recognition as one of the Top Health Administration Faculty in the U.S. by Modern Healthcare.

“Where to I begin on my adoration for Dr. P.J. Maddox? P.J. has been a mentor, friend, coach and advisor since I started my master’s program in the late 1990s and is to this very day. Her perspective, passion for education, advancement of our field, community service, and mentorship puts P.J. on a pedestal all by herself. I cannot imagine the Mason Nation without P.J. in the faculty! Wishing P.J. well on her retirement, thanks for her years of service to our field, the thousands of students she has helped educate, advance and support. Happy retirement my dear friend and know you are in our hearts always!” said David Goldberg, College Advisory Board member; president and CEO, Mon Health System, Davis Health System-Vandalia Northern Region; and MHA alum.

Under Maddox's guidance, the Department of Health Administration and Policy has flourished. A vanguard for online education, she was instrumental in launching the university’s first online program partnership, resulting in the enrollment of over 300 students in the online master's in health administration and MS in Health Informatics programs since 2018. The department has been an early adopter of George Mason’s efforts to expand access to academic programs, participating in Mason Advance and Advance Online undergraduate programs, as well as expedited matriculation pathways such as bachelor-to-accelerated masters and articulation pathways with Northern Virginia Community College.

Maddox's vision and leadership established the Department of Health Administration and Policy as a separate entity from the School of Nursing in 2005. Since then, the department has grown from five full-time faculty to 21 faculty and three administrative support staff, with student enrollment increasing by more than 180 percent since 2010. Under her stewardship, the department has developed and implemented six new degree programs, earning accolades such as the Sustainability in Healthcare Management Education award from the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) in 2022 and CAHME Herzlinger innovation in education award in 2025.

Her efforts have also led to the launch of the first stand-alone Bachelor of Science in Health Informatics degree in Virginia in 2021 and the reaccreditation of the Bachelor of Science in Health Administration (BSHA) by the Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) with Full Certified Undergraduate Program Status in 2020 for an additional six years.

Maddox, along with Caroline Sutter, established the Mason Center for the Health Workforce in 2022. In April 2024, the Center received $921,000 in federal funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and has been featured in several news outlets for addressing the health care worker shortage.

“After decades of visionary leadership, unwavering dedication, and transformative impact, my esteemed co-director of the Center for Health Workforce at Mason, Dr. PJ Maddox, is retiring from ��. With deep admiration and a touch of bittersweet pride, I celebrate her extraordinary contributions not only to the CPH programs she helped to shape, but to the health workforce across Virginia. P.J.’s brilliance, compassion, and pioneering spirit elevated our Center, inspired countless students, and strengthened our mission to advance healthcare talent and innovation. As my partner and mentor, she leaves a legacy woven into the fabric of our community—one that will guide us for years to come. As she embarks on this well-earned next chapter, I wish her joy, discovery, and the same passion she brought to our work every day. Thank you, P.J., for everything,” said Caroline Sutter, co-director of the Center for Health Workforce with Maddox.

Within the College and University, Maddox has held pivotal roles, including professor, assistant and acting dean, program coordinator, director for the Office of Research Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, coordinator for the Health Systems Management graduate program and director for the Office of Research Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, assistant dean then acting director of Graduate Health Science Programs, and most recently, and co-acting director of the School of Nursing. Her legacy of excellence and unwavering commitment to the field will continue to guide and inspire future generations.

Maddox's retirement marks the end of an era, but her legacy will continue to inspire and guide us. Her contributions to �� and the field of health administration and policy are immeasurable, and her impact will be felt for generations to come. We extend our deepest gratitude for her years of service, dedication, and unwavering commitment to excellence. As she embarks on this new chapter, we wish her all the best in her retirement and future endeavors.

Topics

HAP Faculty

CPH awards

Faculty and Staff News

Interprofessional George Mason researchers awarded more than $1 million to improve outcomes for patients with depression

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 18:25:35 +0000

Interprofessional George Mason researchers awarded more than $1 million to improve outcomes for patients with depression Jennifer Pocock Tue, 12/10/2024 - 13:25

Researchers Farrokh Alemi and Kevin Lybarger receive ��’s first Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award to develop innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, including large language models, for improving antidepressant recommendations.

Farrokh Alemi and Kevin Lybarger

AI will soon receive a dose of empathy with the goal of helping to match people with depression to their best-fit medication. A team led by Farrokh Alemi, a professor in the College of Public Health (CPH), and Kevin Lybarger, an assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC), received $1,049,998 in research funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to continue their work on developing an AI system that helps patients find the right depression medications.

With this funding support, Co-PIs Alemi and Lybarger will hone large language models (LLMs) to address known challenges in AI, including mitigating biases, reducing the potential for inaccurate information, and incorporating an empathetic tone, according to Alemi.

The new study will introduce an innovative way for AI to help patients make medication decisions. The AI system will engage patients in natural-language conversations to collect information about their medical history. The system will draw upon more than 10 million patient experiences with 15 different oral antidepressants and a National Institutes of Health All of Us database, which includes records from more than 80,000 participants with major depressive disorders, to help create a plan that is statistically likely to succeed. Alemi and Lybarger believe this will help alleviate the trial and error that can lead to negative patient outcomes.

The researchers will also introduce a first-of-its-kind patient simulator capable of mimicking various medical, linguistic, and behavioral characteristics. This simulator will be used to test and refine the AI system by simulating diverse patient scenarios, including infrequent but critical events such as suicidal ideation, to ensure the system’s recommendations are safe, culturally sensitive, and empathetic.

“This study was selected for its potential to address a high-priority methodological gap in patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook. “We look forward to following the study’s progress and working with George Mason to share the results.”

This is the first PCORI-funded study that George Mason has received. “Depression is a major public health problem and we are excited to see the development of new AI-based decision tools, leveraging the multidisciplinary talents of our college to help tackle it,” said CPH Associate Dean of Research Alison Cuellar.

"This innovative study promises to generate methodologies for using AI for medical decision-support and for empowering patients to make critical health decisions beyond mental health,” says Özlem Uzuner, chair of CEC’s Department of Information Sciences and Technology.

This study is one of the latest funded by PCORI to examine which medical treatments work best, where and when treatment falls flat, and how to address the gaps. These studies deliver results that guide researchers in planning future studies and provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health and health care decisions.

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Kevin Lybarger

Alison Evans Cuellar, PhD, MBA

Özlem Uzuner

Research at George Mason

Topics

grants

Depression

antidepressants

natural language processing

Artificial Intelligence

Strategic Direction

CEC faculty research

Mason Momentum

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 17:44:33 +0000

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty Jennifer Pocock Tue, 08/13/2024 - 13:44

In This Story

John Cantiello, PhD

The growing popularity of easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) interfaces has reignited discussions about cheating in academics. Academic dishonesty, however, is a long-standing concern for faculty and a burgeoning area of research for online coursework. Whether cheating is more or less prevalent in remote coursework has been the topic of debate since online coursework went mainstream in the early 2000s. While online learning provides access to education for nontraditional students and in nontraditional circumstances (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), it’s important to ensure that students are authentically learning the material.

John Cantiello. Photo provided

To understand the prevalence of cheating and help teachers address it, John Cantiello, a professor of the Department of Health Administration and Policy, reviewed the existing literature on the topic. In the Journal of Health Administration Education, Cantiello, who was honored last year as an online teacher of distinction by the Stearns Center of Teaching and Learning, reports that many methods for preventing academic dishonesty are effective.

Not everyone agrees on what constitutes “dishonesty,” he points out. While some forms of cheating are clear-cut—having others do assignments or take tests in the place of the student, plagiarism, or copying answers, others are not. Up for debate are the use of tools like artificial intelligence, or consulting publications that, in a professional setting, would be available to them while solving problems.

“This paper illustrates varying results on the frequency of cheating in online, college-level courses,” Cantiello said. “Tools and strategies for preventing academic dishonesty vary in effectiveness, but some show significant success.”

Cantiello examined many different interventions to prevent online academic dishonesty, including frequent discussions on what constitutes cheating and plagiarism (e.g., can they use AI tools in this course?), technology (e.g., biometric hardware and software such as Turnitin or Examity), and varied testing strategies (e.g., limiting testing times, multiple versions of tests, and leaking fake answers online).

He suggests that a combination of strategies is the best way to limit cheating. “A holistic approach to course design that incorporates these elements and includes a variety of learning activities fosters an effective learning environment where academic integrity can be upheld,” Cantiello said. However, he says, more research is needed on how often and in what capacity cheating happens.

“Preventing Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses: Best Practices to Discourage Cheating” was published online in March 2024 in the Journal of Health Administration Education. Renee Hotchkiss Geschke is co-author on the paper.

Topics

College of Public Health

Artificial Intelligence

College of Public Health receives NIH grant to pilot AI chatbot for African Americans with depression

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:03:05 +0000

College of Public Health receives NIH grant to pilot AI chatbot for African Americans with depression Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/10/2024 - 13:03

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

Kevin Lybarger

As a leader in innovative health solutions, ��’s College of Public Health received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIM-AHEAD program grant to pilot an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for Black and African Americans with depression. Professor Farrokh Alemi will enhance his first-of-its-kind, evidence-based artificial intelligence tool to address the medication needs of African Americans with depression.

Professor of Health Informatics Farrokh Alemi

The existing AI tool recommends antidepressants for 16,775 general-population patient subgroups, each representing a unique combination of medical history. For each of these subgroups, the current project will analyze the effectiveness and appropriateness of the recommendations for African Americans, using the NIH All of Us database and existing published literature.

To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first research focused on developing and evaluating an antidepressant recommendation system for Black and African American people.

“Antidepressant medications are a first-line treatment for depression; however, a majority of depressed patients do not experience improvement with their first antidepressant. Additionally, minority populations, including Black and African Americans, are not well represented in antidepressant studies, contributing to reduced antidepressant effectiveness in these populations,” said Alemi. “There is a significant need to synthesize available evidence regarding antidepressant effectiveness and provide personalized treatment recommendations, and this project addresses a major gap in the management of Black and African Americans with depression.”

Researchers will develop a Knowledge-enhanced Antidepressant Recommendation Dialogue System (KARDS), which will engage users in a back-and-forth conversation to acquire the patient information needed to identify the appropriate antidepressant medication. The AI will provide the patient with a list of recommended medications, list of the relevant studies, and an explanation for the medication decisions. The system will automatically send the patient’s clinician a brief point-of-care recommendation and explanation, with an option to examine a complete record of the conversation and the supporting evidence.

“Chatbots—or patient-facing dialogue systems like the one we will create—hold transformative potential for the health care sector and are increasingly prominent in psychiatric applications, predominantly through therapy-bot implementations,” said Alemi. “Our chatbot will help improve the detailed, time-consuming, medical history intake process, and provide point-of-care summary and prescription recommendations to the patients’ clinicians. The chatbot will make patients more comfortable because the natural language modality provides an intuitive, empathetic, stigma-free interface.”

Once the AI chatbot is developed, the team will test the dialogue system with Black and African American patients to evaluate system functionality and user preferences. Additionally, the project will train a Black or African American doctoral or master’s student in AI, expanding the available workforce and building the community’s capacity to address AI.

Alemi will lead the research team, which includes Janusz Wojtusiak, a George Mason professor of Health Informatics and the director of the Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory, and Kevin Lybarger, a George Mason assistant professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology in the College of Engineering and Computing. All three members have collaborated previously to diagnose COVID at home from presenting symptoms.

The $70,906 grant is part of the NIH’s AIM-AHEAD (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity) program, which aims “to establish mutually beneficial and coordinated partnerships to increase the participation and representation of researchers and communities currently underrepresented in the development of AI/machine learning models and enhance the capabilities of this emerging technology, beginning with electronic health record data.”

Innovate for Good is an ongoing series that examines how George Mason faculty in the College of Public Health are harnessing technology to improve health outcomes.

If you have stories to share as part of the Innovate for Good series, email Mary Cunningham at mcunni7@gmu.edu.

Topics

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

Artificial Intelligence

George Mason researchers harness the power of artificial intelligence to match patients with the most effective antidepressant for their unique needs

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 29 May 2024 19:46:58 +0000

George Mason researchers harness the power of artificial intelligence to match patients with the most effective antidepressant for their unique needs Mary Cunningham Wed, 05/29/2024 - 15:46

Researchers in ��’s College of Public Health have leveraged the power of artificial intelligence (AI) analytical models to match a patient’s medical history to the most effective antidepressant, allowing patients to find symptom relief sooner. The free website, MeAgainMeds.com, provides evidence-based recommendations, allowing clinicians and patients to find the optimal antidepressant the first time.

Farrokh Alemi, principal investigator and professor of health informatics at ��’s College of Public Health

“Many people with depression must try multiple antidepressants before finding the right one that alleviates their symptoms. Our website reduces the number of medications that patients are asked to try. The system recommends to the patient what has worked for at least 100 other patients with the same exact relevant medical history,” said Farrokh Alemi, principal investigator and professor of health informatics at ��’s College of Public Health.

AI helped to simplify the very complex task of making the thousands of guidelines easily accessible to patients and clinicians. The guidelines that researchers created are complicated because of the amount of clinical information that is relevant in prescribing an antidepressant; AI seamlessly simplifies the task.

With AI at its core, MeAgainMeds.com analyzes clinician or patient responses to a few anonymous medical history questions to determine which oral antidepressant would best meet the specific needs. The website does not ask for any personal identifiable information and it does not prescribe medication changes. Patients are advised to visit their primary health care provider for any changes in medication.

In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control reported that more than 13% of adults use antidepressants, and the number has only increased since the pandemic and other epidemics since 2020. This website could help millions of people find relief more quickly.

Alemi and his team analyzed 3,678,082 patients who took 10,221,145 antidepressants. The oral antidepressants analyzed were amitriptyline, bupropion, citalopram, desvenlafaxine, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, mirtazapine, nortriptyline, paroxetine, sertraline, trazodone, and venlafaxine. From the data, they created 16,770 subgroups of at least 100 cases, using reactions to prior antidepressants, current medication, history of physical illness, history of mental illness, key procedures, and other information. The subgroups and remission rates drive the AI to produce an evidence-based medication recommendation.

“By matching patients to the subgroups, clinicians can prescribe the medication that works best for people with similar medical history,” said Alemi. The researchers and website recommend that patients who use the site take the information to their clinicians, who will ultimately decide whether to prescribe the recommended medicine.

Alemi and his team tested a protype version of the site in 2023, which they advertised on social media. At that time, 1,500 patients used the website. Their goal is to improve the website and expand its user base. The initial research was funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia and by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The researchers’ most recent paper in a series of papers on response to antidepressants analyzed 2,467 subgroups of patients who had received psychotherapy. “Effectiveness of Antidepressants in Combination with Psychotherapy” was published online in March 2024. Additional authors include Tulay G Soylu from Temple University, and Mary Cannon and Conor McCandless from Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Discover more Research from the College of Public Health

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

TTIP

Tech Talent Investment Program

Research

In the George

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 29 May 2024 15:50:53 +0000

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia Mary Cunningham Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:50

In This Story

Dr. Cathy Tompkins

Gilbert Gimm, PhD, FGSA

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80% of those living with dementia receive informal care from family members or friends. This equates to 16 million family caregivers in the U.S. However, caring for family members with dementia is often associated with increased caregiver burden (which includes emotional, physical, and financial strain), stress, and worse physical health for the caregiver.

Catherine Tompkins, principal investigator, professor of social work, and associate dean of faculty and staff affairs in the College of Public Health.

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, led by �� researchers, found that a 9-week online stress management intervention program for family caregivers reduced burden scores by 15% for 97 family caregivers of older adults living with dementia. The Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers TM, intervention was specifically designed to help family caregivers manage their own stress when caring for older adults living with dementia or a chronic illness

“In this study, we found evidence of a range in average caregiver burden levels based on the dementia severity category of care recipients. The findings show that an online Zoom intervention in a peer group setting can be beneficial for family caregivers of older adults with mild, moderate, or severe dementia,” said Catherine Tompkins, principal investigator, professor of social work, and associate dean of faculty and staff affairs in the College of Public Health.

The intervention provided family caregivers with education and strategies to manage stress when caring for someone living with dementia. Examples of self-care techniques included breathing and meditation; troubleshooting behaviors associated with dementia; and peer-to-peer support within a virtual group setting.

Associate Professor Gilbert Gimm

“Reducing caregiver burden and managing stress are critical to the well-being of families. These findings show that effective stress management interventions for family caregivers can be facilitated through online peer groups,” said Gilbert Gimm, first author and associate professor of health administration and policy.

“Mason Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support Study: Assessing Family Caregiver Burden Post-Intervention” was published online in April 2024. Co-authors include George Mason Associate Professor Megumi Inoue, Professor Emily Ihara, Mason CARES Project Manager Shannon Layman, and Master of Social Work alumna graduate Harveen Pantleay. This study was supported by a grant (#2021048) from the Retirement Research Foundation (RRF).

The study is part of a larger project, entitled Mason CARES (Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support), that implemented and assessed interventions for family caregivers.

Topics

Tech inefficiencies, piles of (electronic) paperwork, and increased patient volume contribute to burnout of primary care physicians, study finds

Mary Cunningham — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:11:13 +0000

Tech inefficiencies, piles of (electronic) paperwork, and increased patient volume contribute to burnout of primary care physicians, study finds Mary Cunningham Tue, 01/30/2024 - 13:11

In This Story

Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

Burnout is an occupational phenomenon that results from chronic workplace stress, according to the World Health Organization.

Burnout often includes emotional exhaustion, negative feelings or mental distance from one’s job, and a low sense of accomplishment at work. COVID-19 increased feelings of burnout in primary care physicians, and a new study, sought to understand primary care clinicians’ perspectives on burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, the causes of burnout, and strategies to improve clinician well-being.

Debora Goldberg

Inefficiencies of electronic health records systems and high levels of documentation contribute to burnout, according to clinicians participating in a recent study led by Debora Goldberg, associate professor in ��’s College of Public Health. Other contributors to burnout included high patient volume, staffing shortages, and expectations for responding to patient emails and telephone calls. Most participants also described the need to work after clinic hours to complete documentation.

“The results of this study provide an in-depth view of participating clinicians’ experiences and perceptions of burnout and other mental health challenges. These viewpoints can improve awareness of the issues and strategies to improve the health and well-being of our clinician workforce,” said Goldberg, the principal investigator.

Most of the suggested strategies to improve clinician well-being were changes at the organizational level and included increasing efforts to improve work-life balance, enhancing the use of team-based care models, optimizing electronic health record functions, providing accessible mental health services, granting additional administrative time to complete documentation, and increasing institutional awareness and recognition of the issues surrounding burnout.

Additionally, clinicians reported experiencing traumatic events during the pandemic and in some cases reported both burnout and depression. The study findings align with previous research that reported primary care physicians indicated dramatic increases in their workload since the beginning of the pandemic and an escalation in staffing issues, both contributing to an increase in burnout and stress among clinicians.

This research was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training Program (1 U3NHP45404-01-00), and �� College of Public Health Intramural Pilot Study Funding.

“Anxiety, COVID, Burnout and Now Depression”: a Qualitative Study of Primary Care Clinicians’ Perceptions of Burnout” was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in November 2023. Tulay Soylu from Temple University; Carolyn Faith Hoffman, a Mason doctoral student; and Rachel E. Kishton and Peter F. Cronholm from the University of Pennsylvania are co-authors.

Topics

coronavirus; covid-19

Research

Mason Momentum

Innovate for Good: Mason Professor continues study of social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers with grant from NIH National Institute on Aging

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:20:01 +0000

Innovate for Good: Mason Professor continues study of social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers with grant from NIH National Institute on Aging Mary Cunningham Fri, 09/01/2023 - 11:20

As Baby Boomer generation continues to age, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is increasing. Today, more than six million Americans are living with dementia. Family caregivers of people living with ADRD experience high levels of psychosocial distress, and many of the caregivers themselves are older adults themselves. There is a lack of support for these family caregivers, and Chinese American caregivers face additional challenges in caregiving and self-care due to their immigrant and minority status.

Professor in ��'s College of Public Health Y. Alicia Hong received a one-year $115,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health—National Institute of Aging Emory Roybal Center to expand her study of a social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers of people with dementia. The interprofessional team will test the Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE) intervention program, an app-based personalized behavior intervention, to improve their confidence in caregiving and reduce social-emotional distress.

“Caring for a family member or loved one with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) is challenging and stressful, caregivers often experience negative health outcomes as a result. As American population becomes older and more diverse, more support is needed for family caregivers, but interventions for racial minority caregivers have been limited. WECARE is designed for Chinese American dementia caregivers to enhance their caregiving skills, reduce stress, and improve well-being,” said Hong, the principal investigator.

With a 2021 seed grant from Virginia Center for Aging, Hong and her team first developed the WECARE protocol, which was published in JMIR Aging in June 2022. From there, the team piloted the protocol with 24 Chinese American dementia caregivers. The results from the pilot were published in JMIR Aging in April 2023.

The pilot study indicated WECARE is feasible, acceptable, and effective as a culturally tailored intervention via a social media app. Study participants reported that using the app reduced depressive symptoms and caregivers’ burden. This study informs future research on digital interventions to support dementia caregivers, especially underserved minority caregivers.

Using funding from the National Institute of Aging grant, the team will add more personalized features to WECARE and test it with a larger sample size of participants. Caregivers will learn to apply problem-solving strategies, which can boost self-efficacy and master of caregiving, leading to positive health outcomes for themselves and those they care for. The program will include personalized feedback to reinforce learning, social networking to enhance social support, and location-specific resources.

The research team includes Pramita Bagchi in Mason’s Department of of Statistics and Jessica Lin in Mason’s Department of Computer Science. Additional consultants on the project include Van Ta Park at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing, Hae-Ra Han at Johns Hopkins University, and Kate Lu from the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center.

Innovate for Good is an ongoing series that examines how Mason faculty in the College of Public Health are harnessing technology to improve health outcomes. If you have stories to share as part of the Innovate for Good series, email Mary Cunningham at mcunni7@gmu.edu.

In This Story

Y. Alicia Hong, PhD

Jessica Lin

Topics

social media intervention

Research

National Institutes of Health

In the George

Cuellar appointed to National Academies committee on improving health and well-being for children and youth

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:36:44 +0000

Cuellar appointed to National Academies committee on improving health and well-being for children and youth Mary Cunningham Mon, 02/20/2023 - 11:36

In This Story

Alison Evans Cuellar, PhD, MBA

Alison Evans Cuellar, professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, was appointed to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's committee on Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Children and Youth through Health Care System Transformation.

“As a national leader in health care systems and research, Dr. Cuellar adds an important voice to this discussion around improving the health and well-being of children,” said PJ Maddox, chair of the Department of Health Administration and Policy.

The committee is tasked to conduct a consensus study to examine promising mechanisms and levers for innovations that can be implemented in the health care system to improve the health and well-being of children and youth.

“Improving health for children and youth is a priority for the country and an important investment in our future, and I’m delighted to be nominated to this committee. The committee is tasked with creating recommendations that reflect the complex nature of children’s health care. Children can receive care in many places–at a pediatrician’s office, in school, at home, and possibly in specialty health care settings, hospitals, or even foster care.”

Currently, Cuellar serves as the Chair Community Preventive Services Task Force. Previously, Cuellar served on a National Academies committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity in the United States.

Sponsors for the Improving the Health and Wellbeing of Children and Youth through Health Care System Transformation committee include the Academic Pediatric Association, American Board of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Foundation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Children’s Hospital Association, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, American Academy of Pediatrics, Health Resources and Services, and The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.

Topics

HAP Faculty

CHHS Faculty

CPH faculty appointments

�� News

In sickness and health: the influence of paid leave on employee commitment

Taylor Thomas — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 18:23:45 +0000

In sickness and health: the influence of paid leave on employee commitment Taylor Thomas Tue, 10/18/2022 - 14:23

In This Story

Priyanka Anand, PhD

George Mason Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy discusses the importance of job-protected paid leave.

Priyanka Anand, PhD

According to surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2018, only 56 percent of Americans have access job-protected leave afforded by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), leaving 44% of Americans ineligible for this coverage because they haven’t been employed long enough or their workplace is too small.

The FMLA grants employees the ability to take an unpaid leave of absence to care for loved ones in the event of an unforeseen illness or disability. Because many Americans cannot afford to hire professional care providers when a family member falls ill or has a disability, they are often left with the responsibility of providing the care themselves, which is referred to as informal care. For this reason, many people are forced to reduce hours working a paying job to attend to their informal care duties, causing severe loss in income and risking losing their job entirely.

Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at �� Dr. Priyanka Anand’s research centers on social safety net programs with a particular focus on disability policy and paid leave. Her most recent research, titled “The role of paid family leave in labor supply responses to a spouse’s disability or health shock,” was featured in the 2022 Economic Report of the President.

Anand’s research provides insight into the influence of paid leave on labor supply decisions and labor force participation. She shares her knowledge of how health shocks affect families and disrupt employment and is available for further comment.

What is difference between FMLA, parental leave, and paid family or caregiving leave?

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established in 1993 to guarantee 12 weeks of job-protected leave for individuals who are away from work due to medical conditions. FMLA is most known for maternity leave, but also covers long and short-term health conditions and caring for a sick or disabled family member. Job-protected leave, like FMLA, means their job will be available when they return from leave; however, employers are not required to compensate employees while on leave.

Parental leave can be paid or unpaid depending on an individual’s place of employment. Parental leave is given on a company-by-company basis and is not guaranteed in the United States. Paid family or caregiving leave, on the other hand, allows employees to take compensated leave to care for a family member experiencing a health condition.

What factors should someone consider when deciding whether to take time off to care for a family member?

When faced with the prospect of caring for a family member, individuals should closely consider their options and understand the potential outcomes of each. My research provides a framework of three pathways people generally take after a family member’s health shock. The first is to continue working and either provide informal care in addition to working or rely on formal care, which can be costly. The second is to take a short period of leave (either paid or unpaid) and eventually return to work. The third pathway is leaving the workforce entirely to provide full-time informal care.

Individuals oftentimes have to choose between the lesser of evils when faced with what to do about a loved one’s care, all of which result in some form of financial consequence both in the household and on the broader economy. The availability of paid leave can play an important role in this decision as well.

What would the addition of state or federal paid leave policies mean for American workers?

In states that have paid leave policies, the length of paid leave ranges from six to 12 weeks, but most states do not have any paid leave policies at all. In April 2021, President Biden proposed the American Families Plan which would have federally ensured all workers in the U.S. are guaranteed 12 weeks of paid family leave. Unfortunately, it did not pass through Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The availability of paid leave and job protection is designed to offset the financial burden of the health shock. Paid family leave allows workers to maintain a steady income while finding a permanent solution for their long-term caregiving needs, rather than choosing between losing earnings or paying for formal care. The ultimate goal of paid family leave is to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens that come hand-in-hand with a family member experiencing an illness or disability, allowing the individual to maintain their participation in the labor force and improve their overall well-being.

In addition to the cost-saving benefits, paid family leave policies have the potential to alleviate gender workforce disparities given that the burden of caregiving often falls onto women.

Priyanka Anand is an associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at ��. She is a renowned researcher whose work includes estimating the effect of the ACA Medicaid expansions on federal disability insurance applications, examining the relationship between rising health insurance costs and employee compensation, and analyzing the time use of people with disabilities. Anand’s novel findings on paid family leave, which are in the 2022 Economic Report of the President and published in the Journal of Health Economics, identify implications for the future of federal paid leave policies.

For more information, contact Michelle Thompson at 703-993-3485 or mthomp7@gmu.edu.

About Mason

��, Virginia’s largest public research university, enrolls 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2022, Mason celebrates 50 years as an independent institution. Learn more at http://www.gmu.edu.

About the College of Health and Human Services

The College of Health and Human Services prepares students to become leaders and to shape the public's health through academic excellence, research of consequence, community outreach, and interprofessional clinical practice. The College enrolls more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students in its nationally-recognized offerings, including 6 undergraduate degrees, 13 graduate degrees, and 6 certificate programs. The college is transitioning to a college of public health in the near future. For more information, visit https://chhs.gmu.edu.

Topics

CHHS Research

Department of Health Administration and Policy

HAP Faculty

Health administration and policy trailblazing leader P.J. Maddox retires after 30 years at George Mason

In This Story

Topics

Interprofessional George Mason researchers awarded more than $1 million to improve outcomes for patients with depression

In This Story

Research at George Mason

Related Stories

Topics

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty

In This Story

Topics

College of Public Health receives NIH grant to pilot AI chatbot for African Americans with depression

In This Story

Topics

George Mason researchers harness the power of artificial intelligence to match patients with the most effective antidepressant for their unique needs

In This Story

Discover more Research from the College of Public Health

Related News

Topics

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia

In This Story

Topics

Tech inefficiencies, piles of (electronic) paperwork, and increased patient volume contribute to burnout of primary care physicians, study finds

In This Story

Topics

Innovate for Good: Mason Professor continues study of social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers with grant from NIH National Institute on Aging

In This Story

Related News

Topics

Cuellar appointed to National Academies committee on improving health and well-being for children and youth

In This Story

Topics

In sickness and health: the influence of paid leave on employee commitment

In This Story

George Mason Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy discusses the importance of job-protected paid leave.

Topics