The Action Research Podcast

This episode highlights the intersection of school-based mental health, community well-being, immigration, and the integration of decolonized and culturally grounded approaches to social work practice and mental health service provision.

Podcast Guests:

Arlene Bjugstad (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Arlene has more than fifteen years of soci...

"Charge Up!"—a team-based intervention aimed at bolstering mental health and housing stability for youth transitioning from homelessness to housing. It's crucial to note that a significant portion of young adults facing housing instability also grapple with mental health issues. However, existing Rapid Rehousing programs often lack dedicated mental health services. Through the Charge Up intervention, we've integra...

In this episode, we will explore the coping style among middle school youth and also assess how that is related to symptoms of depression and anxiety over time to develop preventive interventions for schools.

Caitlyn Mytelka is a recent Ph.D. graduate from the GCSW and is a licensed social worker in Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree from NYU and a Master’s in social work from UT Austin. Caitlyn’s research focuses on positive ...

In this episode, podcast host Anil Arora shares how the H.E.A.R. Lab team is creating change in how traditional dissemination occurs with one-pagers, social media, newsletters, and the launch of the lab's annual Walk N' Listen this month. The host acknowledges the current events that continue to impact individuals differently and how listeners can step up to be open-minded in these situations. As we share what Season 3 has ...

In the pursuit of understanding the surge in health issues and fatalities among Black women in contrast to other racial and ethnic communities, we lend an attentive ear to the narratives of Black women, delving into their experiences during the perinatal period, and diligently assess the factors that underlie the heightened rates of morbidity and mortality in their communities. Integrating the invaluable experiences of Black Women ...

Healthy Start is a national program that helps improve the lives of mothers, infants, and families before, during, and beyond pregnancy. Through coordinated care case management, home visits, outreach, and education, Healthy Start seeks to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates, increase access to prenatal care, and remove barriers to service. Houston has high rates of infant and maternal mortality, with black mothers being mos...

Researchers at the University of Houston are training undergraduate pre-med students and providing free cognitive tests to Houston’s senior community that participants can bring to their primary care providers. These tests are usually inaccessible with a long waiting list. The group has also partnered with Vietnamese doctors and nurses in Houston to disseminate one-pagers about Alzheimer’s disease in their offices in English and Vi...

Dr. Lindamarie Olson is a recent PhD graduate from the GCSW, advocating for a more responsive and just system for youth who have experienced trauma and have found themselves in contact with the juvenile justice system. Olson’s dissertation looked at the effectiveness of neurofeedback in treating trauma symptomatology, as well as internalizing and externalizing behaviors of youth who were in residential treatment.

Learn more a...

In the first episode of Season 2, host Anil Arora speaks to Dr. Samira Ali about dissertations, racial justice principles, and positionality. 

Dr. Ali’s scholarship focuses on community-based participatory research (CBPR), primary and secondary HIV prevention, and the impact of structural conditions on youth and women’s health behaviors in global and local settings. Specifically, in a recent project, she utilized a CBPR framework...

Guests Dr. Quenette Walton and Priscilla Kennedy talk about the importance of using qualitative methods when measuring the effects of Covid-19 and racism on Black women’s mental health and identity.

Dr. Quenette L. Walton, LCSW is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Maternal Health Equity Research and Training Center in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. Dr. Walton is among a handful of...

This episode focuses on the research experience of two youth experts and two researchers from UH who use a community-based participatory research design to prioritize AAPI youth voice. They seek to build knowledge about how AAPI teenagers across diverse ethnicities experience civic engagement and what they perceive as barriers and supports to their civic activities.

Selena Wang is a second-generation Chinese-American and a cur...

We connect with Devonte Hill, Community Health Worker, Aly Kramer Jacobs, Ph.D. student, and Dr. Sarah Narendorf, Associate Dean of Research at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work to talk about law enforcement interactions with young adults experiencing housing instability.  Their research was co-created by scholars who experienced housing instability and explored the challenges police present in their interac...