Scholar Profiles
Elizabeth Wack
2004 - 2005 University Scholar
Mentor: Garret Evans
College of Public Health and Health Professions
"I applied to the USP to strengthen my research skills while gaining an understanding of the environment within which I hope to someday work. Throughout this year I hope to learn what makes a successful researcher, scientist and clinician."
Elizabeth is a senior majoring in psychology with a minor in anthropology. Her academic interests include global psychology, depression, the provision of mental health care in rural communities and self-destructive behavior in adolescents. She is a member of Golden Key International Honors Society and UF’s triathlon team, Tri-Gators. She also works as a phone counselor at the Alachua County Crisis Center.
Research Description:
The Effectiveness of the Prevention Management Team
The objective of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the Prevention Management Team (PMT)—a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency case review and services planning consortium designed to evaluate at-risk children and coordinate social services delivery in rural Columbia County. This study will investigate whether or not each participating agency perceives that they have an active and contributing role in the process of evaluation and referral, whether parents perceive that their child is being provided the appropriate services and that the process is not burdensome, and whether teachers and guidance counselors perceive that the PMT is a timely and valuable service for treatment of their students.
Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected from three important entities most involved with the PMT process: the agencies, the parents/guardians, and the school representatives (teachers and guidance counselors) through which the children are initially referred. Effectiveness will be determined by several factors gathered from surveys and phone interviews. The primary analysis of data will include descriptive statistics. However, the data will be tested for normality and parametric or non-parametric tests will be selected to analyze the differences in perceptions among subgroups of parents, school personnel, and agency participants.
Back to Profiles
Back to the Journal of Undergraduate Research
