Creative Collaborations: Engaging Community Discussion and Education Through the Arts

Deborah Reed, MSPH, PhD, RN, FAAOHN is an occupational health nurse whose passion is caring for those who feed the world. She serves as a Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and as an Extension Specialist in the UK College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment. She is part of a farm family in central Kentucky and loves her rural roots. Dr. Reed has an extensive 30 program of research in agricultural health and safety that positioned her to develop and deliver the highly successful Farm Dinner Theater. Dr. Reed describes production agriculture as a “cradle to grave” industry, where children learn about farm work at an early age. Her goal is to reduce the injury and fatality rates, which are among the highest of any occupation, while allowing farmers and their families to discover their own solutions. She currently leads a team to upscale the adoption of the theater concepts and is excited to see it spread across the United States and beyond.

Sarah Febres-Cordero is a fourth-year PhD student at the Nell Hodgson School of Nursing at Emory University. Sarah was awarded the Society for Injury Prevention/CDC Fellowship in Injury Prevention for 2019-2020. Additionally, Sarah's dissertation project, Staying Alive in Little Five, was funded by the Science to End Drug-Related Harms (SPARK) dissertation grant from the Rollins School of Public Health. Sarah is a Registered Nurse who works with The Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition to provide syringe services, wound care, and compassionate care to people who use drugs across metro Atlanta. Research interests include injury prevention and harm reduction in communities where opioid use and overdose are common. (BSN, Emory University, 2017).

Melissa Valerio, Ph.D., MPH, is an Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Behavioral Science at the UT School of Public Health, San Antonio Regional Campus. Prior to returning to Texas, she spent five years as Assistant Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

She obtained her Master’s degree in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her PhD in health behavior and health education from the University of Michigan. Dr. Valerio's interests include chronic disease management and prevention, the design and evaluation of effective health education messages and materials, and survey methods. She is particularly interested in health literacy and cultural competence issues related to health education and communication in minority underserved communities. Dr. Valerio has been involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of community-based coalitions and partnerships. Most recently I have served as PI on studies focused on the design and evaluation of innovative functional health literacy-related interventions and strategies to promote disease management (type 2 diabetes, asthma, and oral health) and prevention (type 2 diabetes). She serves as PI on an NINR funded R21 study to develop a measure of verbal functional health literacy. Dr. Valerio also serves as Co-I on several studies including an NIDDK funded R01 examining the use and influence of genetic explanations in the prevention of type 2 diabetes, and AHRQ funded R18 examining comparative effectiveness research practices in diabetes management, and on a P60 funded center initiative addressing health disparities in cardiovascular risk.

Jeanine is the managing editor of Health Promotion Practice, SOPHE’s practice-based journal, as well as the founding editorial manager for SOPHE’s youngest journal, Pedagogy in Health Promotion. Since 2014, Jeanine has had the opportunity to collaborate with four EIC’s, as well as guest editors and editorial boards to deliver best practices and innovative approaches in over 70 issues for these health education publications that continue to grow in submissions, visibility, and contributions to the field. Jeanine enjoys gaining a broad perspective of public health initiatives by supporting editorial leadership, authors, and reviewers that help enhance her competencies as a Certified Health Education Specialist. In addition to her work with the journals, Jeanine has worked as a technical assistance coordinator for Partnering 4 Health and supports grant writing teams. 

Prior to earning her Masters in Health Promotion Management from the American University in 2013, Jeanine taught middle school English for students with language-based learning differences and worked as a writing tutor at the US Coast Guard Academy. Jeanine shares her dedication to healthy living with her four children and maintains sanity with running, reading, and lots of coffee!