For almost 15 years, I have designed and conducted evaluations of programs addressing wholistic health of marginalized populations in the pediatric primary care settings. My earliest foray into this line of research began with an evaluation of the Healthy Generations program, which integrates social work, mental health and family planning care for teenage parents into their child’s routine pediatric primary care (HRSA MCH Research Grant, Lewin PI). In collaboration with Co-PIs Amy Lewin and Lee S. Beers, I published several peer-reviewed articles establishing an evidence base for this program’s positive effects on increasing contraceptive use and reducing rapid repeat pregnancy.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Beers L, Schmitz K, Boudreaux M. Improved contraceptive use among teen mothers in a patient-centered medical home. J Adolesc Health. 2016; 59: 171-176. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2016.04.007. PubMed PMID: 27448947.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Quinn DA, Street TM, Schmitz K, Beers LS. A primary care intervention to prevent repeat pregnancy among teen mothers. Am J Prev Med. 2019; 56(3): 404-10. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.10.015. PubMed PMID: 30777159.
We also made significant contributions to the literature on social support systems of teenage mothers, highlighting the positive impacts of their children’s fathers on teen mothers’ mental health.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Hodgkinson S, Burrell L, Beers LSA, Duggan AK. Parental nurturance and the mental health and parenting of urban African American adolescent mothers. J Fam Soc Work. 2011; 14(4): 311-325. doi: 10.1080/10522158.2011.587177.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Burrell L, Beers LSA, Duggan AK. Patterns and predictors of involvement among fathers of children born to adolescent mothers. J Fam Soc Work. 2011; 14(4): 335-353. doi: 10.1080/10522158.2011.587178.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Beers LS, Feinberg ME, Minkovitz CS. Coparenting among teenage mothers and their children’s biological fathers: Evidence from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort. Acad Pediatr. 2012; 12(6): 539-45. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2012.07.007. PubMed PMID: 23040500.
Lewin A, Mitchell SJ, Waters D, Hodgkinson S, Southammarkosane C, Gillmore J. The protective effects of father involvement for infants of teen mothers with depressive symptoms. Matern Child Health J. 2015; 19(5): 1016-23. doi: 10.1007/s10995-014-1600-2.
Quinn D, Mitchell SJ, Lewin A. The role of teen mothers’ support relationships in maintenance of contraceptive use. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol. 2017; 30(1): 35-40. doi: 10.1016/j.jpag.2016.08.008.
Assini Meytin L, Mitchell SJ, Lewin A. Support relationships and teen mothers’ school retention at one-year postpartum. J Community Psychol. 2018; 26 (6), 734-46. doi: 10.1002/jcop.21969.
I have also collaborated with clinician-scientists, contributing my knowledge and expertise on real-world community and clinical program evaluation to aid in the design of evaluation studies, development of grant proposals, and ultimately broad dissemination findings. The through-line of these collaborations has been the goal of empowering parents from marginalized communities to enhance the physical health of their children, whether by communicating with providers about pediatric asthma care or by engaging with their children in healthy behaviors to reduce obesity.
Mitchell SJ, Rangel A, Klein EJ, Stout J, Lowry SJ, Wingfield E, Horn IB, Coker TR. Sociodemographic differences in asthma self-management knowledge of parents seeking asthma care for their children in pediatric emergency departments. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2022; 32(4): 2191-2201. PubMed PMID: 34803068.
Mitchell SJ, Bilderback AL, Okelo SO. Feasibility of picture-based asthma medication plans in urban pediatric outpatient clinics. Pediatr Asthma Allergy Immunol. 2016; 29(2): 95-99. doi: 10.1089/ped.2016.0640. PubMed PMID: 27583171; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4984975.
Horn IB, Mitchell SJ, Gillespie CW, Burke KM, Godoy L, Teach SJ. Randomized trial of a health communication intervention for parents of children with asthma. Journal of Asthma. 2014; 51(9) 989-95. doi: 10.3109/02770903.2014.930881.
Heerman WJ, Sommer EC, Qi A, Burgess LE, Mitchell SJ, Samuels LR, Martin NC, Barkin SL. Evaluating dose delivered of a behavioral intervention for childhood obesity prevention: A secondary analysis. BMC Public Health. 2020 June 8; 20:885. PubMed PMID: 32513226; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7281919.
Heerman W, Taylor J, Mitchell S, Barkin S. Validity of the Toddler Feeding Questionnaire for measuring parent authoritative and indulgent feeding practices which are associated with stress and health literacy among Latino parents. Nutr Res. 2018; 49: 107-112. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2017.10.018. PubMed PMID: 29224793; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6134842.
Gesell SB, Sommer EC, Lambert EW, de Andrade AR, Whitaker L, Davis L, Beech BM, Mitchell SJ, Arinze NV, Neloms S, Ryan CK, Barkin SL. Comparative effectiveness of afterschool programs to increase physical activity. Journal of Obesity, 2013; doi: 10.1155/2013/576821. PubMed PMID: 23984052; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3747626.
Another avenue of my scholarship has been grantsmanship support for various colleagues and institutions seeking to address minority health and health disparities. I have coordinated the preparation of 6 U-level proposals for Howard University and Seattle Children’s Hospital, each of them separately but in conjunction with partnering institutions like Children’s National Hospital and University of Washington Medical School. I have often served as invited external reviewer in the development of proposals to NIH for investigators at Children’s National Hospital, Howard University, and Vanderbilt University Medical School.
My expertise in designing evaluation research studies, overseeing collection and management of process and outcome data, conducting statistical analyses, and my successful track record of publishing findings has garnered several invitations to collaborate on grant-funded projects. Currently, I am leading local site evaluations, funded by the DC Department of Health, of the HealthySteps program being implemented at Children’s National primary care locations, Unity Healthcare Inc. federally qualified health centers, and Medstar Kids Mobile Medical Unit. I have designed evaluation studies specific to each healthcare system, based on the resources they have available (e.g., data collection tools, staff and financial support). For example, a qualitative study collecting key stakeholder input on the successes and challenges of HealthySteps implementation in Children’s National pediatric primary care locations is currently underway, and for that project I am serving as research mentor for several students (undergraduate, medical resident, MPH intern).