Barbara
Mcmorris
May 2020
Barbara
Mcmorris
University of Minnesota School of Nursing
Minneapolis
,
MN
United States

 

 

 

Dr. McMorris closely mentored all of these learners regarding research ethics and the value of community-partnered research.
Dr. McMorris is an exceptional candidate for this award as both her research and teaching clearly exemplify participation with communities to effect changes that contribute to the health and well-being of young people.

From 2014-2019, Dr. McMorris led a CDC-funded study Partnering for Healthy Student Outcomes (PHSO). Essential to the success of the PHSO study were close partnerships with four culturally diverse, economically disadvantaged middle schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan. The PHSO study compared the effects of a classroom social-emotional learning program and a teacher professional development program on a range of student academic, health, and developmental outcomes. Dr. McMorris involved many School of Nursing students as well as pre-doctoral and post-doctoral fellows from Pediatrics in PHSO intervention and evaluation activities over the course of this study. She closely mentored all of these learners regarding research ethics and the value of community-partnered research.

Building on the expertise and partnerships she has developed with K-12 schools, Dr. McMorris is currently mentoring a Nursing Ph.D. student with his research practicum. Mr. L is exploring ideas for a dissertation related to chronic truancy in K-12 schools. Because Mr. L is from Korea and had never been in a U.S. K-12 school, early in his practicum Dr. McMorris arranged for him to visit with several of her partners on the front lines when it comes to student health and truancy: school nurses. Mr. L was able to hear directly from nurses about how they work with students, how truancy is defined by schools, and what nurses do to address issues that contribute to truancy.

Dr. McMorris is currently mentoring Mr. L in writing a small research grant to gather qualitative data from school nurses about chronic truancy and risky health behaviors. For the past eight years, Dr. McMorris has worked closely with community partners from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities, assisting this organization in developing and evaluating new programs and opportunities for children and youth who are underserved and experience health disparities. Barb also volunteers as a Big Sister. In her teaching and mentoring, she regularly draws on examples from her interactions with her Little Sister as well as her applied research projects with BBBS to illustrate key concepts of authentic youth engagement and community-partnered research.

Note: This is Barbara's 2nd DAISY Award!