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School
of Social Work
Celebrates a Century
By Shannon Burke
The University of Missouri-Columbia first
started offering social work training 100 years ago through an
extension program in St. Louis. Since 1906, the MU School
of Social Work has marked many milestones and now has a full-fledged
program offering bachelor’s,
master’s
and doctoral degrees.
Now, Debra Parker-Oliver, assistant professor of social work at
MU, has received more than $513,000 in grant money from the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), the first such award in the history
of the school.
“For me as a researcher, NIH
funding is the ultimate goal of any scholar seeking financial
support for their scientific efforts,” Oliver said. “Not
only are the funds themselves critical to the ability to solve
the identified problem, but the passing of the highest peer review
process confirms your ability to conduct scientific research at
the highest level. NIH receives 80,000 applications a year and
to be one of the handful to pass the competitive process is a
tremendous recognition of the scientific merit of your work.”
Parker-Oliver’s project will test a care strategy aimed
at helping cancer patients and their families participate more
in hospice care. The strategy is meant to improve the quality
of care using commercially available videophones. Parker-Oliver
and a team of Mizzou researchers will work in collaboration with
St. John’'s Hospice in Springfield, Mo. this summer.
“The main thing we hope to accomplish
by using the videophone is to bring patients and families into
care planning meetings where we will decrease their anxiety, and
they can better understand the management of their pain, thus
improving their quality of life,” Oliver said. “This
project is an exploratory one of an innovative approach. If successful
it will lead us to a wider and more comprehensive project designed
to create an intervention that is not only effective but replicable
in any hospice program in the country.” 
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Last Update:
March 12, 2007
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