Kia Skrine Jeffers, PhD, RN, PHN
Assistant Professor
In the United States, older African Americans have some of the highest rates of cardiometabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, obesity) and their related complications compared to most racial/ethnic subgroups. Researchers have identified social and structural determinants of health that help explain these cardiometabolic disease disparities. Disentangling and disrupting the complex relationship between structural barriers (e.g., laws, policies, institutionalized racism) and the cardiometabolic health of African Americans using traditional and non-traditional scientific approaches is a central theme in my research program. This includes investigating the historical, intergenerational, and contemporary experiences African American older adults have had that contribute to their excess rates of preventable disease and premature death relative to their non-Black counterparts. In my research, I aim to: 1) identify ways structural barriers (e.g., structural racism) contribute to cardiometabolic health disparities among African Americans and ways to intervene on a structural level; 2) develop community-partnered interventions that protect against structural barriers and support health equity and social justice among African Americans and other marginalized populations; and, 3) use innovative approaches for health interventions and research dissemination, including theatre and media.
Faculty Research and Clinical Expertise
Research: Structural racism and health, social determinants of health, health equity, aging, cardiometabolic disease prevention, diabetes self-management, community-based/partnered participatory research (CBPR/CPPR), research-based theatre interventions
Clinical: Faith Community Nursing, Community Nursing, Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME), Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)
Education
North Carolina A&T State University, BA, Broadcast Journalism
University of California, Los Angeles, MSN
University of California, Los Angeles, PhD
National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA, Postdoctoral Fellowship
Honors and Awards
| 2008-2009 | Recipient, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing Scholarship |
| 2009 | Inductee, Sigma Theta Tau International, the Honor Society of Nursing |
| 2009-2010 | Young Scholar, UCLA School of Nursing Young Scholars Program |
| 2010-2014 | Recipient, Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship (four-year doctoral fellowship) |
| 2012 | Recipient, UCLA School of Nursing Annual Research Days Best Speaker Award |
| 2014 | Recipient, UCLA CTSI TL1 Translational Science Predoctoral Summer Training Fellowship |
| 2014-2015 | Recipient, Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program Scholarship |
| 2015 | Recipient, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Gerontological Society of America Pre-Conference Workshop Scholarship |
| 2015-2016 | Recipient, Kaiser Permanente/Deloras Jones RN Scholarship |
| 2017 | Recipient, Yale School of Nursing Summer Intensive Training |
| 2017-2018 | Recipient, UCLA/CDU Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research/Center for Health Improvement for Minority Elderly (RCMAR/CHIME) pilot award |
| 2017-2019 | Recipient, California Arts Council Research in the Arts award |
| 2018-2019 | Recipient, USC/UCLA Center for Biodemography & Population Health Scholar |
| 2018-2019 | Recipient, UCLA CTSI TL1 Translational Science Postdoctoral Training Fellowship |
Publications
Skrine Jeffers, K., Cadogan, M., Heilemann, M.V., & Phillips, L.R. (2019). Assessing informal and formal diabetes knowledge in the care of older African Americans with uncontrolled diabetes. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 45(2), 35-41.
Bruce, M., Skrine Jeffers, K., King-Robinson, J., & Norris, K.C. (2018). Contemplative practices: A strategy to improve health and reduce disparities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(10), E2253.
Narain, K., Jeffers, KS, Bean-Mayberry, B., Canelo, I., Darling, J., & Yano, E. (2018). The association of food insufficiency with patient activation among women Veterans using Veterans Administration healthcare: A cross-sectional analysis. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 33(9), 1417-1418.
Mango, J., Saks, E., Skrine Jeffers, K., Wells, M., Chung, B., Jones, L., Wells, K. (2018). Addressing mental health stigma through the arts: Development of a stakeholder-academic partnered program. The Behavior Therapist, 41(4), 200-208.
Phillips, LR., Salem, BE, Jeffers, KS, Kim, H, Ruiz, ME, Salem, N, & Woods, DL. (2015). Developing and proposing the Ethno-cultural Gerontological Nursing Model. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(2), 118-128.
Kim, H., Woods, DL, Phillips, LR, Ruiz, ME, Salem, B, Jeffers, K, Salem, N. (2015). Nursing assistants’ communication styles in Korean American older adults with dementia: A review of the literature. (2015). Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 26(2),185-192.
Book Chapters
Ford, C.L. & Skrine Jeffers, K. (in press). Critical Race Theory’s anti-racism approaches: Moving from the ivory tower to the frontlines of public health. In C.L. Ford, D.M. Griffith, M.A. Bruce, & K. Gilbert (Eds.) Racism: Science and Tools for the Public Health Professional. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association Press.