Academic Research

Primary Care

The number of primary care research projects in Department of Family and Community Medicine is expansive. The Offices of Geriatrics and Palliative Care have been integral to primary care research, as well as leading researchers who are actively practicing family medicine or who are social scientists engaging the patient community to address important topics such as advance care planning. Specific research topics under investigation include, but are not limited to, self-efficacy studies of health care providers, barriers and facilitators of advance care planning, decreasing the burden of suffering among high-risk populations (patients with diabetes), disease and symptom management in older adults, issues surrounding home-boundedness, caregiver burden and burnout, infant mortality, maternal-fetal health, opioid addiction among pregnant (or previously pregnant) women, spirituality and mindfulness and self-care.

Faculty Researchers

• John Boltri, M.D. FAAFP
• Kris Baughman, Ph.D.
• Margy Sanders, M.A., LSW
• Denise Kropp, CCRP

• Janice Spalding, M.D., FAAFP
• Michael Appleman, M.A.
• Rebecca Fischbein, Ph.D.