Yolanda Suarez-Balcazar, PhD
Professor and Head, Department of Occupational Therapy
Associate Director, Center for Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities Research. |  | | Phone | (312) 996-3051 | | Fax | (312) 413-0256 | | Email | ysuarez@uic.edu | | Office | AHS 354 | Bio
Expertise (key words): Research focuses on the study of Evaluation Capacity Building and the empowerment and participatory evaluation of community-based health interventions for people of color and people with disabilities. I also examine the intersect between cultural competence, race, and disability developing models and practice frameworks. In her studies she uses mixed methods and Community-based Participatory Research approaches.
Teaching responsibilities:
- OT 553 Program Evaluation
- OT 416 Psychosocial Aspects of OT
- Special Topics: Race, Culture and Disability
Scholarly interests: My scholarship focuses on examining the impact of community health programs designed for ethnic minorities and with people with disabilities. I also study strategies to build the capacity of community staff to evaluate their programs and provide culturally competence services. I have been developing models of university-community partnerships. I also study participatory strategies for needs assessments and program evaluation. Also, I am currently studying cultural competence in the context of OT practice and research.
Research Publications:
- Balcazar, F., Garcia, E., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2009). Participatory Action Research
with Colombian Immigrants. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Science, 31, 112-127.
- Braveman, B. & Suarez-Balcazar, Y. (2009). Social justice and resource utilization in a
community-based organization. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 13-23.
- Cahill, S., & Suarez-Balcazar, Y., (2009). Reducing Health Disparities in the Urban Context: Promoting Children’s Nutrition and Fitness. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 113-116.
- Garcia, M., Paloma, V., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Balcazar, F. (2009). Building International Collaborative Capacity: Contributions of Community Psychologists to a European Network. American Journal of Community Psychology, 44, 116-122.
- Suarez-Balcazar, Rodawoski, J., Balcazar, F., Taylor-Ritzler, T., Portillo, N., Barwacz,
D., & Willis, C. (2009). Perceived levels of cultural competence among occupational therapists. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63, 498-505.
- Ritzler-Taylor, T., Balcazar, F., Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Dimpfl, S. G. , Schiff, R., & Willis, C. (2008). Cultural competence training with organizations serving minorities with disabilities from diverse backgrounds. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, 29, 77- 91.
- Ritzler-Taylor, T., Balcazar, F. , Suarez-Balcazar, Y., & Garcia, E. (2008). Conducting
Disability research with multicultural populations: Challenges and Opportunities. Journal of Rehabilitation, 74,(1), 4-11.
- Suarez-Balcazar, Y., Balcazar, F., Taylor-Ritzler, T., & Garcia-Iriarte. (2008). Capacity
Building and Empowerment: A Panacea and a Challenge for Agency-University Engagement. Gateways: Journal of Community Engagement.
Current projects:
- Developing the capacity of community-based organizations for documenting the impact of their programs in the lives of minorities with disabilities. This is a 5 year project funded by NIDRR (National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research). In this project we are developing strategies and instruments for measuring evaluation capacity building. We are also using Community-based Participatory Research approaches to evaluating impact of programs. This work is part of the Center for Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities Research.
- • Building the capacity of community service providers for providing culturally competent services. This is a 5-year project funded by NIDRR. In this project we are developing and testing a training curriculum on cultural competence and designing instruments to measure cultural competence. This work is also part of the Center for Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities Research.
- Evaluating the impact of a community-based health intervention in the nutrition status and physical activity levels of Latino families.
Students who want to focus in the educational track might be interested in any of the above projects as we develop training materials for adults to enhance their cultural competence and their ability to evaluate their programs.
Potential opportunities for doctoral students:
- Working under the Center for Capacity Building for Minorities with Disabilities in any of the following projects:
- Assisting in the development of cultural competence materials and assisting in the pilot testing of such materials.
- Developing expertise in theories and models of cultural competence.
- Assisting agency staff in evaluating the impact of their programs in the lives of minorities with disabilities.
- Assisting in the development of instruments to measure capacity building at the community level.
- Implementing Participatory Action Research approaches in needs assessment and evaluation of community interventions.
- Developing and testing measures to evaluate the impact of nutrition education in school-aged children.
- Examining the impact of community health interventions
Curriculum Vitae |
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