PI Highlight
Dr. Susan I. Woodruff
Dr. Susan Woodruff is an epidemiologist and professor in the School of Social Work in the College of Health and Human Services. She has been conducting health-related research for over 20 years, and has been successful in securing several million dollars for her work from agencies including the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute, Tobacco-related Disease Research Program, Department of Defense, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Dr. Woodruff’s work focuses primarily on testing innovative interventions to reduce chronic disease risk factors in at-risk, often underserved, populations.
Research highlights:
Life Shift/Shift Gears is a randomized trial to assess the effect of a public health approach to reduce illicit drug use among emergency department (ED) patients, individuals who are in general, at high risk for a variety of behavioral risk factors. Evidence shows that the majority of people who use illicit substances do not meet clinical criteria for abuse and dependence, underscoring the importance of identification and intervention with these individuals to prevent progression to a greater stage of abuse. Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an opportunistic approach that has shown promise for reducing alcohol misuse when delivered during a teachable moment with patients in ED and trauma units. Paraprofessional bilingual health educators trained in motivational interviewing deliver a brief intervention matched to the patient’s level of risk. The present ongoing study has enrolled 700 drug users from two large safety net EDs. Dr. Woodruff along with Drs. John Clapp, Audrey Shillington, and Melinda Hohman are now analyzing data testing the effect of SBIRT on drug use relative to changes that may be seen in an attention placebo control group that receives the same amount of attention but in a different content area.
Evaluating Youth Advocacy for Policy and Environmental Changes that Support Active Communities. Concern about the childhood obesity epidemic is a given, but solutions are likely to be long-term and multifaceted. Most think a comprehensive approach that pairs individual responsibility with policy and environmental changes that make healthy choices in nutrition and physical activity available will prove most effective in reversing the obesity trend. Among the most innovative approaches are youth-led advocacy programs that target environmental and policy change in adolescents’ own schools and neighborhoods, strategies similar to the youth advocacy efforts successful in tobacco control. About a dozen county-funded local programs, collectively called YEAH! (Youth Engagement and Action for Health), are participating in community action to combat obesity and advance active living. YEAH! empowers youth to objectively assess their own environments, prioritize school or neighborhood issues based on those assessments, and develop and implement an action plan to advocate with decision-makers for changes. Dr. Woodruff and colleagues from the Health Policy Consulting Group have been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research Program to evaluate the processes and impact of the YEAH! advocacy programs. Outcomes will include changes in participating youths’ attitudes and behaviors toward advocacy and active living, as well as actual changes in policy.
Center for Alcohol and Drug Studies. Dr. Woodruff is a research scientist at The Center for Alcohol and Drug Studies, a project of San Diego State University School of Social Work. The mission of the Center is to generate and disseminate knowledge in the area of alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention and treatment, as well as to provide science-based treatment and prevention interventions, technical assistance, and service provision. The Center specializes in research and evaluation design with an emphasis on socio-behavioral research and applied evaluation. The multi-disciplinary staff have decades of experience in research and evaluation and are highly committed to scientific excellence. For more information about the center, visit the Center for Alcohol & Drug Studies website.
Dr. Woodruff can be reached at:
San Diego State University
School of Social Work
HH 203D
San Diego, CA 92182
Voice: (619) 594-3475
FAX: (619) 594-5991
swoodruff@projects.sdsu.edu