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Rosana Bravo, PhD, MPH

Rosana Bravo, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor, Department of Health Sciences Education Health Professionals Education Track Coordinator

College of Health Sciences

rbravo@westernu.edu

Phone: 5461

  • Education

    2016 PhD, Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles

    Concentration: Community Health Sciences

    Minor: Education

    Dissertation: Medical Decision-Making Among Foreign-Born Latino Elders with Multimorbidities

    2004 MPH, Community Health Sciences, California State University, Northridge

    Concentration: Health Education

    Graduated with Distinction

    2001 BS, Biology, California State University, Los Angeles

    Minor: French

    Graduated with Departmental Honors in Biology

  • Professional Experience

    Prior to joining WesternU, Dr. Bravo worked as a researcher at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center where she led multiple community-based intervention projects.Most recently, she oversaw the evaluation for the Healthy Aging Partnerships in Prevention Initiative (HAPPI), a multi-component research project aimed to increase the use of clinical preventive services (e.g., cancer screenings and immunizations) in South Los Angeles among Latino and African American elders.

  • Teaching Experience

    Summer 2019- Present

    School: Western University of Health Sciences

    Department: Physical Therapy Education

    Courses: Research Methods II (PA 5206); Research Methodology in Health Care (PT 5130); Capstone Project I (PT 8400);

    Summer 2019- Present

    School: Western University of Health Sciences

    Department: Health Sciences Education

    Courses: Grant Writing (HSCI 5020); Research and Program Evaluation Methods (HSCI 5206);

    Competencies for Community Health Educators (HSCI 5018);

    Spring 2018; Adjunct Faculty

    School: California State University, Los Angeles

    Department: Public Health

    Course: Vulnerable Populations in the US Healthcare (PH 4220)

    Fall 2017; Adjunct Faculty

    School: California State University, Long Beach

    Department: Health Science

    Course: Biostatistics (HSC 403)

    Fall 2003 – Spring 2004; Teaching Associate

    School: California State University, Northridge

    Department: Community Health Sciences

    Course: Biostatistics (HSCI 390)

  • Research Interest

    Her research interests are in minority health, health care experience, decision-making, and end-of-life care in communities of color, particularly the impact of ethnicity on hospice use.

  • Research Grant

    October 2018 – Present; Researcher

    Western University of Health Sciences (Clinical Teaching)

    September 2009 – June 2018; Researcher / Evaluator

    UCLA Center for Health Policy and Research (Minorities and Aging)

    January 2010 – August 2012; Project Director / Research Coordinator

    Veteran Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (Minorities and Palliative Care)

    September 2005 – September 2009; Project Coordinator, Research Associate and Executive Assistant

    UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (Minorities and Cancer)

    Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research

  • Awards

    Minority Training Program in Cancer Control Research Doctoral Application Support Award

  • Publications

    PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

    Bravo, RL, Gutierrez, A., Silvia Ramirez, Young, MDT, Wallace, SP (2019). The Promotora Experience: The

    relationship between Promotoras, the Community and the Institutions. Inpreparation.

    Bravo, RL., Kietzman, KG, Toy, P, Duru, OK, Wallace, SP. (2019). Linking Primary Care and Community

    Organizations to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates: The HAPPI Project. Salud Pública de

    México, 4(61): 427- 435.

    Kietzman, KG, Toy, P, Bravo, RL., Duru, OK, Wallace, SP. (2019). Multi-sectoral Collaborations to Increase

    Use of Clinical Preventive Services by Older Adults. The Gerontologist, 59(Supp1): S57-S66.

    Bravo, RL., Gutierrez, A, Young, MDT (2017). Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Dancing Toward

    Equitable Collaboration. Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, 7(1): 4-7. DOI:10.1353/nib.2017.0002

    Ahluwalia, S, Leos, R, Goebel, JR, Asch, SM, Lorenz, KA (2013). Provider Approaches to Palliative Dyspnea

    Assessment: Implications for Informatics-Based Clinical Tools. American Journal of Hospice and

    Palliative Care, 30(3): 231-238.

    Ahluwalia, S, Leos, R., Lorenz, K, Goebel, J. (2011). A User-Centered Design Approach to the Development

    of an EMR-Based Symptom Assessment Tool (315-A), Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 41

    (1): 195-196.

    NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS

    Leos, R., Kietzman, KG, Wallace, SP. (2012) “Opportunity Knocks for Community Health Centers: Increasing

    the Use of Clinical Preventive Services by Older Adults.” Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health

    Policy Research. Available at http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu

    Kietzman, KG., Wallace, SP, Leos, R., Sadegh-Nobari, T., Parks, AV., Satter, DE. (2012) “Opportunity

    Knocks for Preventive Health.” Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Available at http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu

    Wallace, SP, Pourat, N., Durazo, E., Leos, R. (2010) “Older Californians at Risk for Avoidable Falls.” Los

    Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Available at http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu

    Wallace, SP, Villa, VM., Smith, L., Satter, DE., Pourat, N., Padilla-Frausto, I., Leos, R., Durazo, E.,

    Benjamin, AE. (October 2009) “Community-Based Long-Term Care: Potential Consequences of California’s 2009 Budget Cuts.”

  • Narrative

    Dr. Bravo is amixed-methods social scientist who has worked on multiple health disparities projects in communities of color: aging-related (e.g., multimorbidities, clinical preventive services), cancer, and palliative care. Her current research explains how Latino culture, which has a large faith component influence complex medical decision-making. She has investigated the interplay between modes of communication, explanatory models of illness, faith to explain how they influence decision-making among foreign-born Latinos elders with multimorbidities.