Mission and Philosophy
Mission
The LCC has as its mission the improvement of the health of vulnerable people worldwide through nursing education, research, practice, and policy.
Philosophy
The guiding philosophy of the Lillian Carter Center is reflective of the work of Mrs. Lillian Carter as both nurse and social activist. The LCC focuses on enabling nurses to address key health problems and issues of underserved peoples. The overall philosophy reflects an understanding of the multiple factors that determine health and the need for a strong public health orientation in all of its work.
What We Offer
The Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility ensures that global health, service learning, and social responsibility are infused throughout the curriculum and educational experience for our students. The LCC strives to provide a global health experience for all interested students at least once during their time as an Emory Nursing student.
Explore service learning
Research
Health Workforce Information Systems
Project Overview
The global shortage of healthcare workers, particularly nurses, requires that nations efficiently and effectively manage their health workforce. However, one of the major problems that developing countries face in assessing workforce capacity is the lack of electronic database systems that can be analyzed for monitoring and staffing needs. To address this problem, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is partnering with Emory University SON to assist countries in developing human resource information systems (HRIS). Currently, Emory and CDC have projects ongoing in Kenya and Zambia. Click to learn more.
Project Contact
Martha Rogers
LCC Director
404.358.1033
mrogers@taskforce.org
African Regional Collaborative
Program Overview
The African Health Professions Regulatory Collaborative for Nurses and Midwives (ARC) was created to help participating countries implement joint problem-solving approaches that target national issues affecting the health workforce. The School of Nursing works with a partnership comprised of the Commonwealth Secretariat, the East, Central and Southern Africa College of Nursing (ECSACON), the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation, the Task Force for Global Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The collaborative draws from the leadership of nursing in each member country and is focused on a regional approach. The ARC framework is adapted from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) evidence-based clinical collaborative model. The ARC convenes regional meetings, awards short-term grants to improve nursing and midwifery regulation; and provides targeted technical assistance to help ensure successful implementation of these grants. Learn more.
Program Contact
Ken Hepburn, PhD
khepbur@emory.edu
404.712.9286
Muadi Mukenge, MA
Project Director, African Regional Collaborative
muadi.mukenge@emory.edu
404.727.3184
The Girasoles Study
Trends in global warming place vulnerable agricultural workers at increased risk for heat-related illness (HRI). Agricultural workers are highly susceptible to heat stress, given occupational exposure to hot, humid environments. The average heat-related death rate for agricultural workers is nearly 20 times greater than for the overall U.S. workforce.
The purpose of the Girasoles (sunflower) study is to:
1. Characterize worker exposure to heat related hazards and work activity characteristics of fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida
2. Characterize the physiologic heat stress response and worker vulnerability to heat exposures among fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida; and
3. Determine the extent to which heat related hazards and worker vulnerability influence heat stress response among fernery, crop, and nursery workers in Central Florida.
This work provides critical information regarding the heat-related hazards of agricultural work and supports the development of interventions to decrease the risks of HRI associated with the work environment of farmworkers.
This work is conducted in partnership with the Farmworkers Association of Florida whose mission is to build power among farmworker and rural low-income communities to respond to and gain control over the social, political, workplace, economic, health, and environmental justice issues that impact their lives.
Community Outreach and Resources
Facing the Sun
Facing the Sun gives voice to South Florida’s agricultural workers confronting heat related illnesses, and follows a team of researchers and community advocates working to protect their health. Researchers at Emory University partnered with the Farmworker Association of Florida to conduct collaborative research on heat related illness in Florida through The Girasoles Study. Produced in collaboration with La Isla Network, this film provides a first-hand view of the experiences of agricultural workers interwoven with the story of The Girasoles Study. Facing the Sun documents the problem of heat illness, the research addressing it in Florida, and the goal of working with employers to make workplaces safer through the development and implementation of sustainable interventions.
The Invisible Ones
Community Resources
In the News
Vox | The disturbing hypothesis for the sudden uptick in chronic kidney disease
Study Team and Research
Emory University Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Linda McCauley, PhD, RN Principal Investigator
Valarie Mac, PhD, RN Investigator
Vicki Hertzberg, PhD Investigator, Lead Statistician
Lisa Elon, MS, Data Manager
Jacqueline Mix, PhD, Post-Doctoral Researcher
Roxanna Chicas, RN, Graduate Student
Abby Mutic, PhD, MSN, CNM
Farmworkers Association of Florida
Jose Antonio Tovar-Aguilar, PhD, Principal Investigator
Joan Flocks, JD, Investigator
Jeannie Economos, Health and Safety Coordinator
Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli, Research Coordinator
To learn more about this study please contact Valerie Mac at Valerie.mac@emory.edu.
Publications
Flocks, J., Tovar, J. A., Economos, E., Mac, V. V. T., Mutic, A., Peterman, K., & McCauley, L. (2018). Lessons learned from data collection as health screening in underserved farmworker communities. Progress in community health partnerships: research, education, and action, 12(1), 93-100.
Mac, V. V. T., Tovar-Aguilar, J. A., Flocks, J., Economos, E., Hertzberg, V. S., & McCauley, L. A. (2017). Heat exposure in Central Florida fernery workers: Results of a feasibility study. Journal of agromedicine, 22(2), 89-99.
Hertzberg, V., Mac, V., Elon, L., Mutic, N., Mutic, A., Peterman, K., ... & McCauley, L. (2017). Novel analytic methods needed for real-time continuous core body temperature data. Western journal of nursing research, 39(1), 95-111.
Mutic, A. D., Mix, J. M., Elon, L., Mutic, N. J., Economos, J., Flocks, J., ... & McCauley, L. A. (2018). Classification of Heat‐Related Illness Symptoms Among Florida Farmworkers. Journal of nursing scholarship, 50(1), 74-82.
Mix, J., Elon, L., Vi Thien Mac, V., Flocks, J., Economos, E., Tovar-Aguilar, A. J., ... & McCauley, L. A. (2018). Hydration Status, Kidney Function, and Kidney Injury in Florida Agricultural Workers. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 60(5), e253-e260.
Faculty and Staff
Helen Baker, PhD, MSc, FNP-BC
Senior Clinical Instructor | Lillian Carter Center for Global Health & Social Responsibility
Coordinator, Global and Community Engagement
404.727.2157
Helen Baker, PhD, MSc, FNP-BC has a background in anthropology, French, and public health prior to starting her career in nursing. Dr. Baker spent two years working in northern Togo as a Peace Corps Health volunteer and then returned to Togo for an additional year as a Peace Corps Response volunteer working with the AgirPF project at EngenderHealth while completing her doctoral research on integrated family planning programs in urban Togo. Dr. Baker works in the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility. She is the faculty advisor for the Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive Health chapter at Emory University.
Selected Awards and Honors
IDN Thought Leadership Fellow, Institute for Developing Nations, Emory University, 2018
Jonas Scholar, Jonas Center for Nursing and Veterans Healthcare, 2014-2016
Ethics of International Research and Scholarship Case design/analysis Competition First place, Program for Scholarly Integrity, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, 2014
Woodruff Fellow, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, 2012-2017
Joan Sutton Award for Clinical Excellence and Interdisciplinary Practice, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, 2010
James P. Spradley Research Award, Macalester College Anthropology Department, 2004
View Helen Baker's faculty page here.
Lisa Nunez
Sr. Program Coordinator
404.727.6620
lisa.n.nunez@emory.edu
Lisa N. Nuñez is responsible for managing the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility (LCC) Alternative Winter/Alternative Spring Break trips for undergraduate students; summer immersion programs for graduate students; and Moultrie farmworker projects. This includes logistical arrangements for international and domestic trips (Haiti, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, West Virginia, Georgia, and others.)
For the last several years, Lisa has been also collaborating with local and national organizations aimed to promote and protect the underserved communities.
Stephanie Wendel Miller
Administrative Assistant
404.727.3130
stephanie.wendel@emory.edu
Stephanie Wendel joined the Lillian Carter Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility (LCC) in September of 2017. She supports LCC staff and faculty, and assists with logistical arrangements for international and domestic trips. These trips include LCC’s Alternative Winter/Alternative Spring break trips, Graduate Summer Immersion programs, and the Farmworker Family Health Program in Moultrie, GA.
Prior to joining LCC, Stephanie graduated from the University of North Georgia with a dual degree in Special Education and Early Childhood Education. While teaching first grade for two years, she found interest in helping local communities and wanted to support a greater cause to help communities around the world.
External Advisory Committee
Sheila Davis, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN
Marilyn Edmonson, EdD, MSN, BSN, RN
Nancy Glass – PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN
Marva Verona Lawson, MSc, Edl, BScN, CCRN, RM, RN
David Smith, AA, BA, MBA
Holly A. Williams, PhD, MN, RN
Lynda Wilson, PhD, RN FAAN