people

Yvonne Wasilewski

Research Scientist

Yvonne Wasilewski is a research scientist at the Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University, and adjunct assistant professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the School of Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Wasilewski’s expertise is in the development, evaluation and dissemination of theory-based health behavior interventions with low-income minority children and families. One program, “Open Airways for Schools,” has been designated a “national model environmental justice intervention” (CDC, 2004), and has reached over 100,000 elementary school children in the United States and abroad. Wasilewski is co-recipient of NHLBI’s National Asthma Health Education Research Award and served on the National Asthma Educator’s Certification Board as chair of its research committee from 2005-2007.

Wasilewski is also known for her expertise in “real world” program evaluation and recently completed several evaluation projects at the local, state and international level. These included evaluation of the North Carolina Domestic Shelter Screening Project, evaluation of the Medical Legal Partnership of Durham, and evaluation of the effectiveness of India's program for women and children (ICDS) in reducing childhood malnutrition.

Wasilewski’s most recent area of interest is the application of health behavior and health education research methods to eHealth research. She is currently collaborating with the Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research to conduct a randomized experiment to evaluate the influence of use of the Phillip Morris’ QuitAssist Web site on smoking-cessation-related knowledge, attitudes, motives and behavior.

Research Projects:

• Web-based Evaluation of Classworks
• Evaluation of the Adolescent Health Initiative

Education:

• Ph.D.: Socio-Medical Sciences, Columbia University - 1984
• M.P.H.: Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - 1999
• M.A.: Sociology, New School for Social Research, Graduate Faculty - 1973
• B.A.: Political Science, Seton Hill College - 1970
• Study Abroad Institute for European Studies, Vienna, Austria - 1969

Recent Publications   (More Publications)

1. Wasilewski, Y., Murphy, R., Starsoneck, L., Samuels, M., Potter, D., Foster, A., Schmid, L. (2009). Identifying and Responding to the Needs of Children Residing in Domestic Violence Shelters: Results of the North Carolina Domestic Violence Shelter Screening Project. In Emily M. Douglas (Ed.).  Innovations in Child and Family Policy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc..


2. Wasilewski, Y., Murphy, R., Starsoneck, L., Samuels, M., Potter, D., Foster, A., Schmid, L. (under review) (2009). Working with domestic violence shelter staff to promote children’s behavioral health: Results of the North Carolina Domestic Violence Shelter Screening Project. Health Promotion Practice.


3. Wasilewski, Y. & Schmid, L. (2008). Web-based Evaluation of Staff Response to Classworks and Discovery Education Unitedstreaming for Eckerd Youth Alternatives, Inc..


4. Wasilewski, Y., Gifford, B. (2008). Evaluation of School-wide Positive Behavioral Support in Eight North Carolina Elementary Schools..


5. Solomon, F., Linnan, L., Wasilewski, Y., Lee, A.M., Katz, M., Yang J. (2005). Obervational study in ten beauty salons: Results informing development of the North Carolina Beauty and Health Project. Health Behavior and Health Education, 31(6), 790-805.

1. Results of a six-month follow-up study of the sustainability of the Domestic Violence Shelter Project, American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, October, 2008
2. Results of a six-month follow-up study of the sustainability of the Domestic Violence Shelter Project, First Annual Conference on Child and Family Policy, Bridgewater, MA, July, 2008
3. Identifying and responding to the needs of children residing in domestic violence shelters, First Annual Conference on Child and Family Policy, Bridgewater, MA, July, 2008
4. Test Performance and Candidate Demographic Analyses fromthe National Asthma Educator Certification Exam, American Thoracic Society International Conference San Diego, CA, May 21, 2006
5. Using community-based participatory research methods to train cosmetologists to deliver cancer prevention health message: Results from the North Carolina Beauty and Health Project, American Public Health Association annual meeting, San Francisco, California, November 2003