Indiana University Fort Wayne

Biography

Dr. Sula Hood is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at IUPUI.  She holds a doctorate in Health Promotion from the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences.  Dr. Hood has extensive training and experience in community-engaged health disparities research funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), including a two-year NCI-funded traineeship in Eliminating Health Disparities completed in the nationally-recognized Health Communication Research Laboratory (HCRL), formerly at Saint Louis University.  Dr. Hood also completed a two-year NCI-funded postdoctoral fellowship in Cancer Health Disparities at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health. 

Dr. Hood’s research agenda has a strong emphasis on addressing chronic disease health disparities in ethnic minority and underserved populations. In particular, her research seeks to identify mechanisms and develop culturally appropriate approaches to increase social support and health communication as critical strategies for promoting chronic disease prevention, coping, and self-management.  Dr. Hood values multidisciplinary research collaborations, and has worked in teams to develop and test innovative community-based health promotion interventions in unique settings such as barbershops and family reunions. Dr. Hood’s series of interrelated studies, completed within her Communicating about Health Across Related GEnerations (C.H.A.R.G.E) project, have investigated health information sharing processes and norms in African American familial networks. Dr. Hood's research utilizes mixed-methods, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methodology, including social network analysis.

Research Interests

• Health Disparities
• Family Health
• Men’s Health
• Health Communication
• Social Support
• Mixed-Methods Research
• Social Network Analysis
• Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR)

Selected Publications

• Hood, S., Golembiewski, E., Sow, H., Benbow, K., Prather, J., Robison, L.D., & Martin-Hagler, E. (2019) “Structural and Contextual Patterns in Family Health History Knowledge among African American Adults: A Mixed-Methods Social Network Analysis Study.” Journal of Social Structure, 20(3): 96-118.
• Hood, S., Irby-Shasanmi, A., de Groot, M., Martin, E., & LaJoie, A.S. (2018) “Understanding Diabetes-Related Distress Characteristics and Psychosocial Support Preferences of Urban African American Adults Living With Type 2 Diabetes: A Mixed-Methods Study.” Diabetes Education, 44(2):144-157.
• Hood, S., Hall, M., Dixon, C., Jolly, D., Linnan, L., (2017) “Organizational-level Recruitment of Barbershops as Intervention Study Sites: Health Promotion among Black Men.” Health Promotion Practice (accepted January 19, 2017)
• Caito, N.M., Hood, S., & Thompson, V.L. (2014) “Discussing Cancer: Communication with African Americans.” Social Work in Health Care, 53(6):519-31.
• Hood, S., Linnan, L., Jolly, D., Muqueeth, S., Hall, M., Dixon, C., Robinson, S., (2014) “Using the PRECEDE Planning Approach to Develop a Physical Activity Intervention for African American Men Who Visit Barbershops: Results from the FITShop Study.” American Journal of Men’s Health, (in press)
• Linnan, L., Fisher, E., & Hood, S. (2013) “The Power and Potential of Peer Support in Workplace Interventions.” American Journal of Health Promotion, September/October; 28(1): TAHP1-12.
• Chlebowy, D. O., Hood, S., & LaJoie, A. S. (2013). Gender Differences in Diabetes Self-management among African American Adults. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 35(6), 703-721.
• Chlebowy, D. O., Hood, S., & LaJoie, A. S. (2010). Facilitators and Barriers to Self-management of Type 2 Diabetes among Urban African American Adults: Focus Group Findings. The Diabetes Educator, 36(6), 897-905.
• Hood, S., Thompson, V. L., Cogbill, S., Arnold, L. D., Talley, M., & Caito, N. M. (2010). African American's self-report patterns using the National Cancer Institute Colorectal Cancer Screening questionnaire. Journal of Cancer Education, 25(3), 431-436.