Biography

Melanie Sberna Hinojosa ‘s research interests center on the role of social institutions in shaping individual behavior. Her substantive areas of research interest are in the sociology of medicine, health, families, caregiving, racial and ethnic disparities in health, child health, mental health, educational outcomes, community based participatory research, long term care issues, and quantitative methods.

She obtained her Master’s degree in Applied Sociology here at the University of Central Florida (1999) before going on to the University of Illinois at Chicago where she received her PhD (2005). As part of a post-doctoral fellowship, Dr. Hinojosa also obtained a Master’s degree in epidemiology (2009) at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Most recently, she worked at the University of Florida at the Institute for Child Health Policy where she examined disparities in the health outcomes of children with mental health disorders.

Dr. Hinojosa’s current work focuses on a) examining the relationship between adverse childhood events (abuse, neglect, divorce, drug use) and the health outcomes of children; b) exploring the school-related outcomes (attendance, engagement, grade retention) of white, black and Latino children with special health care needs; and c) exploring how family members negotiate the caregiving role when providing care to people with mental and physical health disorders.

Research Interests

  • Families and Health
  • Health Disparities
  • Race & Ethnicity
  • Child Health
  • Health Outcomes
  • Health Policy as it relates to Health Outcomes
  • Mental Health
  • Behavioral Health
  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Parental Strain/Family Stress as it relates to Child Health
  • Family Caregiving
  • Caregiver Strain
  • Long Term Care
  • Community Based Participatory Research

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