A researcher working on financial, legal and medical interventions for social determinants of health will give the winter 2022 Vanderbilt School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture on Tuesday, Jan. 11, at noon-1 p.m. CST. The lecture will be presented virtually on Zoom. The event is free, but registration is necessary. Register
Jean Edward, PhD, RN, CHPE, assistant professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and nurse scientist at Markey Cancer Center, will present “Integrating Medical, Financial and Legal Health Solutions to Positively Impact Social Determinants of Health.”
Edward will share highlights from her research focused on promoting equity in health care access, affordability and health outcomes for underserved communities by improving social determinants of health. She will also discuss the roles that cancer survivorship, financial toxicity/hardship, cost-related health literacy, financial navigation and cancer care delivery, and medical legal partnerships can have in improving or contributing to social determinants of health.
She has received funding from the American Cancer Society, Kentucky Nurses Association, National Cancer Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Sigma Theta Tau International for her work concerning the development of interventions to address the social determinants of health affecting underserved communities. Other areas of interest have included the impact of social determinants of health, such as health insurance literacy and socioeconomic factors, on access to care for underserved Hispanic/Latino and rural Appalachian communities. Her current research involves improving health outcomes of cancer survivors and caregivers by focusing on implementing sustainable financial assistance programs within health systems to help alleviate financial toxicity and hardship.
Edward earned her bachelor of science in nursing from Bellarmine University and her PhD from the University of Kentucky, where she also earned a certificate in Health Professions Education. Prior to joining the University of Kentucky, Edward was an assistant professor at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The Vanderbilt University School of Nursing Dean’s Diversity Lecture Series explores the diversity of backgrounds, cultures, ideas and viewpoints in our world today. It seeks to equip students, faculty, staff and other community members with the knowledge and understanding needed to lead nursing forward in a global society.