UNC Greensboro|Directory|Sharon Morrison

Sharon Morrison

Sharon Morrison

Public Health Education

Email Address: sdmorri2@uncg.edu

Phone: 336.334.3243

BRIEF BIO

PERSONAL INTRODUCTION

I am an educator, mentor, community-engaged researcher, advocate and local community member with interests in how we engage and respect our diverse origins and ways of life. I enjoy traveling and have visited different world regions including Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Zambia.

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Dr. Sharon D. Morrison is a Professor in the Department of Public Health Education at University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG). She is also a Research Fellow with the Center for New North Carolinians at UNCG. Dr. Morrison has partnered with colleagues and students across area higher education institutions, and worked alongside Latinx, S.E. Asian and African community groups on multiple research and outreach projects. She travelled to Malaysia, Rwanda, Thailand and Vienna to learn about refugee survival strategies in urban centers and camps; refugee status determination; and processing, cultural orientation, health screening and departure procedures for U.S. resettlement. Dr. Morrison has partnered with local refugee and immigrant serving agencies and groups to address social integration, cultural adaptation and health challenges, and promote empowerment of these communities. Dr. Morrison is a board member with the Association for Refugee Service Professionals (ARSP), an organization focused on members’ professional development and advocacy for displaced individuals.

  • Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance, Major: Health Behavior/Health Education, Minor: Medical Anthropology, Department of Health Education and Behavior, University of Florida
  • MSPH in Parasitology and Laboratory Practice, Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
  • MHSE in Health Education, College of Health & Human Performance, University of Florida
  • Graduate Certificate in Latin American Studies, University of Florida
  • B.S. in Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, Barry University

RESEARCH INTERESTS

  • Global Health
  •  Immigrant and Refugee Health
  • Cultural Adaptation and Integration of Refugee/Immigrant Newcomers
  • Community Mobilization and Response to Chronic and Emergent Challenges
  • Community Based Participatory Research
  • Ethnographic and Qualitative Methods
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Global Learning

CURRENT PROJECTS

North Carolina, and the Piedmont Triad region within it, has a history of successful refugee resettlement dating back to the early 1980s. There continues to be increased Latino in-migration based on economic opportunities. This makes the region a natural laboratory for examining the health and integration of ethnically and linguistically diverse newcomer communities. I have been involved as PI and Co-PI on collaborative projects involving community-academic partnerships.

CURRENT PROJECTS:

Minority and Immigrant/Refugee Community Mobilization and Response to COVID-19 Related Challenges. The goal is to identify, characterize, and assess effectiveness of strategies and approaches used by African American, SE Asian/Montagnard refugee and African immigrant to cope with challenges associated with the COVID-19 epidemic in local and select U.S. regions.

Needs Assessment of Montagnard Refugee Older Adults in the Piedmont Triad, NC. The purpose is to assess and document the social and health needs of the aging Montagnard population. This community engaged project is in partnership with the Montagnard Dega Association/Montagnard American Organization (MDA/MAO), a registered nonprofit serving Montagnard and other refugees in the U. S.

“An Accented Experience”: A mixed methods study of helping professions’ teaching and learning in foreign-accent environments. This research aims to understand diversity and inclusivity factors impacting foreign born faculty and the environments in which they teach. It specifically examines college students’ perceptions of foreign-born instructors with identified “accents”, and 2) foreign-born instructors’ perceptions and experiences of teaching college students in the helping professions. The goal is to further identify areas supportive of welcoming and inclusive learning and work environments, and highlight factors that impede successful teaching and learning, and the retention of talented foreign-born faculty.

COMPLETED PROJECTS:

Culture and Maternal Experiences of Nepali-speaking Bhutanese families. The goal was to examine cultural perspectives and practices related to pre- and postnatal care of Bhutanese immigrant women in Central NC.

Culture, Social Support and Maternity Experiences among Congolese Refugees. This was an ongoing research program to understand the maternal experiences and care practices of Congolese refugee women who have fled the DRC. These women crossed borders to resettle in Guilford County.

Family relationships, household strategies, and hypertension in S.E. Asian Adults in the US South: The Montagnard Hypertension Project This goal was to document blood pressure among Montagnard adults and examine high BP in the context of family relationship and other factors (e.g. food insecurity, nutrition choices, and primary health care access,) among adults this SE Asian refugee community.

BOOKS

BOOK CHAPTERS

Sienkiewicz, H., Nichols, T., Morrison, S. & Nsonwu, M. (2019). Reconstructing social ties: The Multiethnic engagement patterns of refugees within a North Carolina settlement house. In The Crux of Refugee Resettlement: Rebuilding Social Networks. Nelson, A., Rodlach, A & Willems, R. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Malotky, M., *Mayes, K., *Price, K., *Smith, G., *Mann, S., *Guinyard, M., *Veale, S., **Mlo, H., **Siu, L., **Ksor, V., **Young, A. J., Nsonwu, M. B., Morrison, S. D., Shreeniwas, S., # Bernot, K. M. (2020). Fostering Inclusion through an Inter-institutional, Community-engaged, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience. Journal of Microbiology and Biology Education, 21(1).

Bonilla, Z., Morrison, S. D. (2020). The Evolution of Nuestros Cuerpos, Nuestras Vidas: Latinas’ Health Education in the Midst of Socio-political Change. Medical Research Archives, 8(3), 1-10.

*Denzongpa, K. L., Nichols, T. R., Morrison, S. D. (2020). Situating positionality and power in CBPR conducted with a refugee community: benefits of a co-learning reflective model. Reflective Practice, 21(2), 237-250.

Morrison, S. (2019). Immigrant and refugee explanatory models of chronic disease: Provider “Learning Up” for culturally responsive care. North Carolina Medical Journal, 80(2):113-115

Morrison, S., Sudha, S., Young, A., **Nie, Y Bhim, **Siu , H Wier, **Adrong, H’Yua, **Siu, L, **Ksor, H, *Sayers, J., Bernot, K, Malotky, M. & Nsonwu, M. (2018). When community calls, we collaborate! Community-based participatory research with the multi-language Montagnard refugee community. Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 12(2): 179-186

Sudha, S., Morrison, S D. & Gruber, K. (2017). Beneficioso y Una Prioridad”: Latina Women’s Perceptions about HIV Testing. American Journal of Health Behavior, 41(1): 3-15

Koku, E., Rajab-Gyangenda, M., Korto, M, Morrison, S., Beyene, Y., Mbajah, J. & Ashton, C. (2016). HIV/AIDS among African immigrants in the U.S. The need for disaggregating HIV surveillance data by country of birth. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 27(3):1316-1329

*Massengale, K, Morrison, S. & Sudha, S. (2016). Community Health Advocate-Identified enablers of HIV testing in Latina immigrant women. AIDS Education and Prevention, 28(4): 325-340

*Eifert, E.K, Adams, R., Morrison, S., & Strack, R. (2016). Emerging Trends in Family Caregiving Using the Life Course Perspective: Preparing Health Educators for an Aging Society. American Journal of Health Education, 47(3), TBD

Sudha, S. & Morrison, S.D. (2016). Enhancing gero-interest among health education graduate students: Is ‘adding-on’ aging to international service learning effective? Pedagogy in Health Promotion, 2(2): 137-143

Coley, S.L., Nichols, T.R., Rulison, K.L., Aronson, R.E., Brown-Jeffy, S., & Morrison, S. (2015). Does neighborhood risk explain racial disparities in low birth weight among infants born to adolescent mothers? Journal of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, 29(2):122-129 (PMID: 26307240)

Kelley A, Giroux J, Schulz M, Aronson, B, Wallace, D, Bell, R. & Morrison, S. (2015) American-Indian diabetes mortality in the Great Plains Region, 2002-2010. BMJ OpenDiabetes Research and Care, 3: e000070. doi:10.1136/bmjdrc-2014-000070

Sudha, S. Morrison, SD, *Thomas EH, *Herrera, S. & *Ruiz, C (2015) ¿Qué te parece?: Pre-testing an HIV Testing Enablers Assessment (H-TEA) instrument among Hispanic/Latino Immigrant Women. Hispanic Health Care International 75(1) 3-13 (Available Online in 2015; 13(3))

Colely, S., Nichols, T., Rullison, K., Aronson, R., Brown-Jeffy, S. & Morrison, S. (2015). Race, Socioeconomic status and age: Exploring intersections in preterm birth disparities among teen mothers. International Journal of Population Health, vol. 2015, Article ID 617907, 10 pages, 2015. doi:10.1155/2015/617907

Morrison, SD, Sudha, S, *Herrera, SC, *Ruiz, C., & *Thomas, EH (2014) En sus prioprias palabras (In their own words): Eliciting Latina women’s perspectives on enablers of HIV testing using freelisting. Health Education Journal, November 27, 2014 DOI 0017896914559786

Xin, H., Morrison, S., Dharod, J., *Young, A., Nsonwu, M. (2014). Cross-Cultural “Allies” in Immigrant Community Practice: Roles of Foreign-Trained Former Montagnard Health Professionals. Health, Culture & Society, 6(1):62-72

*Nunnery, D. Haldeman, L. Morrison, SD. & Dharod, J.(2014). Food insecurity and Budgeting among Liberians in the U.S.: How are They Related to Socio-demographic and Pre-resettlement Characteristics Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. DOI 10.1007/s10903-014-9993-y

Dharod, J. Xin, H., Morrison, SD., Young, A.** & Nsonwu , M.(2013). Lifestyle and food-related challenges refugee groups face upon resettlement: Do we have to move beyond job and language training programs? Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 8(2): 187-199

Morrison, S.D. (2011). A blueprint for re-envisioning practice with African immigrants: The health educator as Visual Interpreter. The Health Education Monograph, 28 (1): 6-11

Bonilla, Z. E., Morrison, S. D., Norsigian, J. & Rosero, E** (2011). Reaching Our Bodies, Ourselves and the Guía de Capacitación para Promotoras de Salud: Health Education for Social Change. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 57(2): 178-183

Sudha, S. & Morrison, S. (2011). Marital violence and women’s reproductive health care in Uttar Pradesh, India. Women’s Health Issues, 21(3): 214-221

*Colby, S. Morrison, S. & Haldeman, L. (2009). What changes when we move: A transnational comparison of Mexican dietary practices. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 8(4): 327-343

Morrison, S. D., Haldeman, L., Sudha, S., Gruber, K. & Bailey, R. (2007) Cultural adaptation resources for food security, nutrition and health in new immigrants in Central North Carolina. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 9(3): 205-212