MY RESEARCH STATEMENT

The research that I hope to conduct rests at the intersection of mental illness, intimate partner violence, stalking, and psychosocial influences on health. I seek to understand how better clinical dialogues can lessen a mentally ill individual’s likeliness to commit acts of intimate partner violence. The end goal is to develop a dialogue-based healthcare intervention that reduces the prevalence of each. Secondarily, I want to inspect the impact of psychosocial influences on health decision-making and establish how they can be more effectively discussed in the doctor’s office.

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Within the realm of health communication, there are situations where a researcher can stage a successful intervention by simply supplying the affected party with more information. Unfortunately, prior research has discovered that the same cannot be said for reducing the prevalence of domestic violence. Evidence shows that education has no impact on an individual’s likelihood to engage in intimate partner violence and stalking behaviors. My research aims to discourage these behaviors by addressing them through a more salient means of communication. These individuals—who are mentally ill—must be able to visualize how refraining from these acts can benefit them, not just their victims. I am far from the first researcher to act on this goal, so my first step is to examine records of past healthcare interventions involving mentally ill populations and domestic violence and pinpoint the perceived flaws in the approach.

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Additionally, I am intrigued by how an individual’s psychosocial state can influence their ability and willingness to access healthcare resources. Psychosocial factors can range from one’s self-esteem to their level of workplace burnout. However, these factors are linked in that they are rarely addressed in a doctor’s office visit. Gaining a stronger understanding of which factors have the greatest impact on health decision-making will better inform the conversations that healthcare providers are having with patients. Understanding the impact of these factors can also serve as a guide for subsequent health system-sponsored outreach programs.