Helsingin yliopisto

Guest Lecture by Prof. Carvajal 27.9.2011

Prof. Carvajal's SLIDES are here.

 

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

"Immigration, acculturation and health: Overview and examples of ecological stressors for Mexican descent persons in the US"

Guest Lecture by Prof. Carvajal
University of Arizona's Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH)

Time: 2-4 p.m.
Place: Lecture Hall, U37 (Unioninkatu 37)

Scott C. Carvajal, PhD, MPH, is an Associate Professor in the University of Arizona's Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health (MEZCOPH) and Chair of the Health Behavior Health Promotion Section. He also holds faculty appointments in Psychology and Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona. Prior to joining MEZCOPH in 2010, his primary appointment was Associate Professor in the UA’s Department of Mexican American Studies (2000-2009), where he served as Graduate Program Chair and Departmental Internal Review Board Chair.

He is an applied social and quantitative psychologist with expertise in health promotion theory, immigrant and Latino health psychology, intervention design and evaluation methods. His research addresses a range of health risk behaviors, health protective behaviors, and mental health outcomes (e.g., stress, depression), with a major emphasis on testing social ecological models within minority adolescents. Other scholarly areas of interest include testing theoretical models for behavioral change, testing psychosocial mediators of behavior change, and evaluating statistical models for evaluating program impact. He is also committed to an interdisciplinary science approach in addressing health problems, as reflecting in his participation with the Cancer Prevention and Control Division (University of Arizona Cancer Center), his recently completed 4-year service with the National Institutes of Health's Chartered Study Section, Community Influences on Health Behaviors and serving as the Director of Substance Abuse Core for the Center for Health Equality (2002-2009), a UA Center of Excellence focused on eliminating health disparities in Arizona Latinos and American Indians.

Dr. Carvajal also serves as the Director/PI (2010-) of the Arizona Prevention Research Center at the University. This center is 1 of 32 comprehensive Prevention Research Centers designated and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These centers constitute a network of academic, community, and public health partners that conducts applied public health research. PRCs create health promotion and disease prevention strategies that work and can bring long-term benefits to communities and offer training and technical assistance to the public health community. The Arizona Prevention Research Center is a leader in researching and promoting the role of Community Health Workers (CHW) in multiple aspects of community health and health care. Currently the center conducts multiple community-based participatory research projects whose aims include the promotion of physical activity, healthy eating, and health advocacy with under-served border populations.