Basic Information

Name: Betty Chewning
Title: Professor
Institution: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Discipline: Psychology
Years of experience: 20

Description

Three keywords describing expertise and interest:

1. patient-centered
2. self-management

Description of field of expertise, major interests, and consultation topics:

I have several years of experience conducting randomized controlled trials with NIH and AHRQ funding. Based in a School of Pharmacy, I’m a psychologist who studies the patient perspective, communication process and outcomes, interventions to promote medication self-management and tai chi practice adherence and outcomes. My teaching includes communication skills in experiential labs as well as social behavioral theory in a graduate course. Among my areas of research are studies with adolescents, young adult patients, older adults, American Indian populations, African Americans. I have a deep commitment to promoting communication partnerships between pharmacists and patients on a range of topics, many of them stigmatized. Tobacco use, contraception, opioids are examples. I have conducted considerable dissemination and implementation (D&I) research, am currently a co-PI or PI for three D&I studies, one of which is across three states using our BMQ in a computer- based format with patients. For much of this work I facilitate stakeholder engagement to aid participatory planning of implementation and dissemination in diverse cultures. Several of my earlier and current research grants address diversity issues in underserved communities to which I have a deep commitment.

Brief biography:

I am a professor in the University of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy teaching patient- provider communication. Standardized patient-student interactions are taped and analyzed weekly across a semester to help students improve their communication skills. I served for 30 years as the founding Director of the Sonderegger Research Center and have considerable experience conducting randomized controlled trials with NIH and AHRQ funding. I was honored to be awarded the 2020 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Paul R. Dawson Award for Excellence in Patient Care Research for innovative and impactful research in the areas of social determinants of health, patient communications, and the medication use experience.