Mental Health and Psychiatry

Biography

Dr. Patricia Howard received her undergraduate degree in nursing from the University of Louisville and her masters degree in nursing from the University of Kentucky. In 1992, she completed the Doctor of Philosophy in nursing at UK. The focus of her doctoral research, partially funded by an American Nurses Foundation grant, was maternal caregiving of adult children with schizophrenia. This research was extended in a University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center grant in which she investigated the extent to which fathers participated in caregiving for their adult children diagnosed with schizophrenia. Dr. Howard is a member of the University’s Graduate School. In the College of Nursing, she is associate dean of the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. She also teaches in the PhD, DNP and MSN programs. Since 1996, she has been engaged in research funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Kentucky Department for Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services. Currently, she is co-principal investigator of the SAMHSA-funded Kentucky Medication Algorithm Project (KyMAP). The overall goal of the KyMAP initiative is to implement, train, and evaluate the evidence-based practice called medication algorithms. In addition, Dr. Howard participated in a national study designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of KyMAP research instruments. Her previous research included funded projects that investigated consumer and family satisfaction with mental health services in Kentucky’s public mental health system, part of Kentucky?s development of a statewide plan for measuring outcomes of mental health care. She was also an investigator in a SAMHSA-funded study designed to implement the Trauma Informed Care model to reduce use of section and restraints in Kentucky?s public psychiatric hospitals. Dr. Howard?s research has been published in Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, International Psychiatry, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, and Psychiatric Services. She has presented the results of her research at regional, national and international levels, including Sigma Theta Tau International, the American Nurses Association Council of Nurse Researchers, the International Society for Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing (ISPN), the Southern Nursing Research Society, and the National Association of Mental Health Program Directors Research Institute. In 2005 she was appointed to a three-year term on the editorial board of Archives of Psychiatric Nursing.

Research Interest

Post-traumatic stress disorder Addictions Mood/Anxiety disorders Behavior genetics