UTHealth Houston associate professor aims to improve people’s lives in hometowns like her own

得克萨斯州圣地亚哥是一个安静的两站小镇，在农业，牧场和石油和天然气方面拥有悠久的历史。这是邻居认识邻居的地方，人们互相寻找。

这也是一个可见健康差异的地方，也是德克萨斯大学健康科学中心的副教授梅利莎·瓦莱里奥·舒纳（Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker）博士（UTHealth Houston）。

圣地亚哥杜瓦尔县的县城位于科珀斯克里斯蒂（Corpus Christi）的西部，在44号高速公路上位于拉雷多（Laredo）的东部。其1,500户家庭绝对是西班牙裔，96.8％，2010年的年度家庭中位数为25,000美元。几乎三分之一的家庭生活了。在贫困线下方。

Valerio-Shewmaker是教职员工，发展和多样性的副院长UTHealth School of Public Health, as well as an associate professor of health promotion and behavioral sciences at the school’s Brownsville campus. She also is a member of the Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, and previously served as the regional dean for the school’s San Antonio campus for six years. She is the first schoolwide associate dean for UTHealth School of Public Health whose location is outside the Houston campus.

她的作品强调了有效和文化敏感的策略，以促进边缘化和服务不足的人群中慢性疾病预防和管理。她与社区合作伙伴合作设计和实施教育干预措施，以改善社区环境中的健康成果和组织实践。

她的希望是，研究和实践工作有助于理解并为圣beplay苹果手机能用吗地亚哥等社区中的所有人提供护理，这被认为是医疗服务不足的地区。她说，随着时间的流逝，2型糖尿病和心血管疾病在社区中很常见，产生了几代人。

“根据需要专业医疗保健的需求，我家中的人们必须开车去科珀斯克里斯蒂（Corpus Christi），这大约是两个小时的往返。”“我很早就意识到，社区中的某些人不太可能获得运输，并且可能难以获得专业护理。对于许多人来说，鉴于需要有一种手段来开车，以及下班休假的时间，因此专业的医疗保健可能是一种奢侈品。”

This has led to work analyzing the challenge transportation has in health care access.

“In Alice, Texas (located in Jim Wells County, adjacent to Duval County in South Texas), we are working in partnership with REAL, Inc. to test a framework to determine how a rural transit authority can be integrated into improving health care access,” she said. “The transit authority plays a critical role in connecting people to health care, as well as addressing the needs of those with severe mental illness or comorbidities who need transportation assistance for basic needs, including food, prescriptions, and social activities, to better reach those who may be isolated.”

Valerio-Shewmaker said the drive to give back was modeled after her parents.

她说：“我真的很幸运能有一个非常参与社区的父母。”“我父亲在当地独立学区担任学校董事会成员超过30年。我的两个父母都受到国家的雇用。我父亲在得克萨斯州交通运输部工作，我的妈妈在健康和公共服务部门工作。我学到了很多有关职业道德，与社区建立联系以及从他们那里服务的方面的知识。”

Valerio-Shewmaker completed her undergraduate degree at The University of Texas at Austin, and then her Master of Public Health and PhD at the University of Michigan. She said her mentors, who helped shape her research methods and encourage her to be more involved with vulnerable communities, have been instrumental in her success.

她说：“我记得我的一位导师坚持认为，我‘像科学家一样思考，并促使我融合了培训，策略和方法，从而使人们更深入地理解，以更好地服务并获得弱势社区。”

To be effective, researchers must form deep connections with the community, and take on a collaborative approach with groups who are already immersed in the area. During COVID-19, researchers have seen rapid introduction of infections and prevention strategies that require interpretation of risk mitigation by entire communities, impacting all regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, or gender. COVID-19 has served as a case study for preparedness, training, and learning to better reach and serve diverse populations.

She said one of her greatest learning moments was early in her career. She had developed a program for addressing health literacy in asthma care management. When presenting it a community advisory board, they said they wanted to instead focus on diabetes prevention in adolescents.

“I realized at that moment, that I had created this wonderful proposal and approach — it just didn’t fit the community priorities at the time,” she said. “Not only that, I hadn’t followed a true community engagement process. That was the last time I did something like that. When you engage in true, authentic, community engagement work, you will be building it together from the start.”

她说，聆听也很重要 - 不仅要说什么，而且对不是什么。

她说：“倾听仍然是我工作和方法的重要方面。”“当您与弱势群体合作时，他们可能并不总是觉得自己的声音很重要。倾听人们不说的话是至关重要的。”

COVID-19大流行期间,Valerio-Shewmaker公顷s served as part of a team whose work has helped vulnerable populations receive access to antibody testing. She is also working on an initiative in the area of child development, to evaluate the role fathers play in the brain development of their children.

社区健康工作是动手的，需要时间，但这是深刻的回报。

“Seeing the difference our work makes in communities is what drives me,” she said. “You may not be able to calculate a change and see a significant p-value, but you can see an individual and group change over time in the way they interact, communicate and build resilience — that is what really drives me. A p-value is very important and we need to be able to calculate significant changes, but we want to make sure we are understanding what the p-value represents for the communities.”

Valerio-Shewmaker resides in Harlingen, Texas with her husband, Troy, and stepdaughters, Abigail and Coral, as well as their black lab, Trigger.