January 2024

Known as a compassionate provider, prolific scholar, inspiring speaker and dedicated educator and mentor, DUSON professor Tonia Poteat is passionate about serving the LGBTQ community. Her research, teaching, and clinical practice focus on HIV and the stigma that drives LGBTQ disparities in health and well-being, especially for the transgender community.

“Unfortunately, health inequities have persisted and, in some cases, increased over time in the U.S.,” said Poteat, who also serves as co-director of the Duke Sexual and Gender Minority Wellness Program. “In my work, I try to address health inequities by identifying and implementing health promoting interventions in partnership with affected communities.”

Poteat will launch a new study called “CARES: Creating Access to Resources and Economic Support.” Her research will test the ability of economic interventions to improve mental health of transgender adults experiencing material hardship.

The Duke Elder Family/Caregiver Training (DEFT) Center program was funded in 2017 by The Duke Endowment. But in 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic strictly limited people other than patients in the hospital, so the work needed to change, said Associate Professor Cristina Hendrix, DNS, GNP-BC, FNP, FAAN, director and founder of DEFT.

After some trial and error, including an attempt to send training videos via email, Hendrix is leading a new study funded by the Duke Roybal Center that introduces a digital tool called Communication, Learning, Advocacy, Resources and Expertise (CLARE) to investigate the feasibility of using an app to train and support elder caregivers.

DUSON assistant professor Stephanie Ibemere, Ph.D., RN, was recently invited by the Ministry of Health to travel to Brazil to provide a mini–Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) bootcamp to nurses from every state. Ibemere provided an overview of SCD Epidemiology, SCD Pathophysiology, SCD patient stories, and the use of Incentive spirometers, which are used to maintain good pulmonary hygiene.

“The literature base which outlines provider capacity to delivery sickle cell disease care explains there is a gap in knowledge and strategies to implement the SCD guidelines, thus a great deal of discomfort reported by healthcare providers in caring for sickle cell warriors globally,” Ibemere said. This can often devolve into stigmatizing behaviors, made worse in the context of racism in healthcare and the implicit biases which exist that suggest Black and Brown people can handle more pain than other groups (Hoffman et al., 2016).

Submit your application for the Social Mission Alliance Scholarship and have a portion of your expenses covered for the upcoming conference, April 8-10, 2024 in Durham, N.C. This year's SMA conference, "Equity Amplified: Uniting Toward Social Mission Transformation," is being co-hosted by the Duke University School of Nursing. 

Social Mission Alliance