Category: Faculty & Staff

Hernandez’s New Article on Fear as a Social Determinant of Health in Immigrant Communities Published in Viewpoint in JAMA Health Forum

headshot of Rosalba Hernandez

A new article authored by Social Work Associate Professor Dr. Rosalba “Rose” Hernandez has been published in Viewpoint in JAMA Health Forum.

Fear as a Social Determinant of Health in Immigrant Communities discusses how fear related to immigration enforcement has reshaped how immigrant communities navigate public life, including decisions about where and how to access basic services; and how these fear-driven shifts in public behavior reflect broader psychosocial and structural forces with measurable health consequences.

“Health is shaped not only by the environments people live in,” Hernandez said, “but also by whether they feel safe, protected, and able to move through the world without fear.”

Associate Professor William Schneider Selected As Inaugural Merlin Taber Faculty Scholar for Collaborative Research

headshot of Will Schneider

We are thrilled to announce that Associate Professor William Schneider has been selected as the inaugural Merlin Taber Faculty Scholar for Collaborative Research in the School of Social Work.

The Merlin Taber Faculty Scholar for Collaborative Research was established as an evolution of the Merlin Taber Collaborative Research Fund through the generosity of a friend and colleague of Dr. Merlin Taber, honoring his legacy of collaborative, agency-partnered scholarship. It supports a named faculty scholar whose work bridges the CFRC and the School, translating research into practice, supporting implementation in agency settings, and incentivizing collaborative projects between the center and the School. Per the donor’s agreement, eligibility for this appointment is tied to the Faculty Directorship of the CFRC. 

Dr. Schneider has served as Faculty Director of the CFRC since 2023. His research on the economic and policy determinants of child maltreatment is grounded in direct partnership with public child welfare systems, most notably DCFS, and exemplifies the kind of applied, boundary-crossing work Dr. Merlin Taber championed.

Hernandez’s New Article on Translating Behavioral Interventions Into Virtual Reality Published in Frontiers in Digital Health

headshot of Rosalba Hernandez

A new article co-authored by Social Work Associate Professor Dr. Rosalba “Rose” Hernandez has been published in Frontiers in Digital Health: Health Technology Implementation.

Translating behavioral interventions into virtual reality: the Transcend Framework for immersive health design introduces using the “Transcend Framework, the Translational Engineering of Behavioral Interventions, into Immersive Contexts for Engagement and Design framework, a systematic model for adapting evidence-based behavioral interventions into VR platforms, illustrated by Joviality™, a positive psychological intervention designed for use during hemodialysis”. The process focuses on understanding the target users, adapting content for VR, designing and building the virtual environment, and continuously improving it based on user feedback. Overall, the goal is to make health interventions more engaging, accessible, and effective, so they can reach more people and better support behavior change.

“At its core, this work is about meeting patients where they are and designing interventions that feel intuitive, engaging, and truly meaningful. When done well, immersive technologies like VR have the potential to not only extend but fundamentally elevate the reach and impact of evidence based care,” Hernandez said.

Andrade’s New Article on Close Kin Availability and Mortality Among Older Adults in Brazil Published in Social Science & Medicine

headshot of Dr Andrade

A new article co-authored by Dr. Flávia Andrade, PhD Program Director and Professor, has been published in Social Science & Medicine.

Close kin availability and mortality among older adults in Brazil discusses how Brazil is struggling with limited welfare infrastructure to support healthy aging, making spouses and adult children among the primary sources of support for a rapidly aging population. Declining fertility and marital transitions may threaten older adults’ health, raising a critical question:

Are there gender differences in older Brazilians’ mortality risks by partnership and parenthood status?

The study concluded that for both men and women who lack both traditional family ties, aging presents the highest mortality risks, but for men, having children and lacking a partner also elevate mortality risks. The study discusses these findings in the context of demographic and social changes in the availability of close kin and the potential opportunities to enhance survival among older adults in Brazil.

“Who will take care of us when we’re old? It’s one of the most universal questions we face—and for millions of older Brazilians, the answer is becoming less certain,” Dr. Andrade says. “Families are shrinking—marriages are dissolving, birth rates are falling, and adult children are moving away. Yet Brazil’s care infrastructure still assumes that families will shoulder the burden. Our research reveals what happens when they can’t. Older men without a partner die sooner, whether or not they have children. Older women face the highest mortality risk when they have neither a partner nor children. These are not just personal tragedies. They are a warning that traditional family safety nets are scrambling to provide care and that Brazil, like many other countries, urgently needs to discuss alternative ways to provide care for older adults.”
 

Fan Yang Selected for NIH Grant Writing Series Mentorship Program

headshot of Fan Yang

Illinois Social Work faculty member Dr. Fan Yang has been selected for the 2026 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Grant Writing Series mentorship program hosted by the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute.

The competitive, biennial program prepares faculty to submit their first R01 or other individual investigator proposals to the NIH. Participants take part in weekly lecture and discussion sessions on the grant writing process, followed by a peer review workshop modeled after an NIH study section. Through the program, faculty develop an advanced draft of an NIH proposal with feedback from peers and guidance from an experienced faculty mentor.

The program also emphasizes building peer support among participants across disciplines while navigating today’s complex federal funding environment.

Faculty are nominated by a dean, department head, or director and selected by a committee based on need, potential benefit from the program, engagement, and the likelihood they will actively develop an NIH proposal during the series.

Yang is among 12 University of Illinois faculty selected for the 2026 cohort.

Podcast Feature: Doug Smith on Family-Centered Motivational Interviewing

Doug Smith, Professor of Social Work and Director of the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, was recently featured on the topic of working with families on the Compassion in a T-Shirt podcast hosted by Dr. Stan Steindl, Clinical Psychologist, Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland, and Co-Director of the UQ Compassionate Mind Research Group.

In the episode, Smith discusses his 2025 book, Motivational Interviewing with Families, which reimagines how Motivational Interviewing can be applied when working with couples, parents, children, and broader family systems. The conversation explores the role of compassion and reflective listening in family work, as well as Smith’s reordering of core MI skills into the ROARS framework.

The episode offers valuable insights for social workers, psychologists, counselors, and other practitioners interested in evidence-based, compassion-focused approaches to change.

Watch the podcast with Doug Smith on YouTube

Listen to the podcast with Doug Smith online

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