Jean Edward, PhD, RN, CHPE

Associate Professor and Director of PhD Program

Jean Edward, PhD, RN, CHPE, is an Associate Professor and Assistant Dean for Inclusive Excellence at the College of Nursing, and Nurse Scientist for UK HealthCare’s Markey Cancer Center.

Dr. Edward's program of research is focused on promoting equity in healthcare access, affordability, and health outcomes for underserved communities by intervening on the social determinants of health. She utilizes mixed methods and implementation science approaches to design and implement sustainable multi-level (patient-, provider- systems-, and community-level) interventions that promote equity in access to and affordability of care.

Her prior work has focused on establishing the impact of social determinants of health, such as health insurance literacy and socioeconomic factors, on access to care for underserved Hispanic/Latino and rural, Appalachian communities. Her current program of research is focused on improving health and financial outcomes of cancer survivors and caregivers by focusing on implementing sustainable financial and legal assistance programs within health systems to help alleviate financial toxicity and hardship. She was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to implement FINassist (Financial and Insurance Navigation Assistance)- an interdisciplinary program that enhances cost of care conversations in healthcare settings to help address financial and legal needs of patients and families with childhood cancers and hematologic disorders. She also led a National Cancer Institute-funded P30 administrative supplement to implement CC Links (Coverage and Cost-of-Care Links) - a novel, interdisciplinary financial navigation intervention for hematologic cancer survivors and their caregivers.

Dr. Edward has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Cancer Society, Kentucky Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International. She has received several recognitions, including the American Public Health Association's Public Health Nursing Junior Investigator Award. Her work has been published in over 40 peer-reviewed publications and presented at over 60 national, regional, and local conferences. She is the Associate Editor of Clinical Nursing Research, Chair of the American Public Health Association Cancer Forum’s Program Planning Committee, and steering-committee member of Health Literacy Kentucky. She is a member of the American Public Health Association, American Nurses Association, Kentucky Nurses Association, and Sigma Theta Tau International Scholarly Nursing Society.

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