- Email:
- chhansen@indiana.edu
Dr. Cathlene Hardy Hansen directs the Indiana Secondary Transition Resource Center, a project of the Center on Community Living and Careers at Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, and is Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health.
Cathlene is committed to building healthy, inclusive, socially just communities who enjoy accessing a greater quality of life. Her work promotes social health strategies, such as appreciative inquiry and community based participatory action in research, teaching and practice. These specific strategies empower participants to have transformative life experiences, becoming personal wellbeing experts and advocates for others, where programmatic research can actually become the intervention for participants and policymakers.
Degrees
Cathlene holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Individualized Studies in Social Psychology from George Mason University, a Master’s of Public Affairs from Indiana University and a Doctorate in Health Behavior and Family Health Policy from the Indiana University School of Public Health.
Personal Statement
Understanding the needs of people with disabilities begs a civil rights lens and I consider myself an activist for a respectful, inclusive, diverse world. My work as a researcher and teacher of grounded-theory, created the Family-Capital Theory of Role Exchange (FaCTRE) inspiring a new look at elements of poverty (ill-being) and wealth (wellbeing). Grounded theory analysis show how elements of emotional empathy and cognitive empathy are uniquely related to traditional components of social capital's bonding and bridging. My personal passion is fueled by the efforts of my three children, one living with cerebral palsy, to help create individual and collective resilience and wellbeing across bio-psycho-socio-ecological spheres throughout the life-course for all people. This model can guide personal and family decision-making as well as inform better resource allocation and public policy at all levels, potentially limiting much social injustice and preventable health disparities.
Research Interests
- Transition to Adulthood for Students and their families.
- Measures of Wealth and Poverty beyond Money.
- Teaching strategies to Improve Student Outcomes.
- Transformative Strategies in Diverse Settings across topics.
- Measures of Compliance and Quality in Secondary Transition
Publications
- Willingness to Disclose Sexually Transmitted Infection Status to Sex Partners Among College-Aged Men in the United States; Journal of Sexually Transmitted Diseases; 43(3): 204-6; Mar 2016
- Hansen, C. Hardy. (2014). Assessing the campus-family capital theory of role exchange: a model for collective resilience and wellbeing.[Bloomington, Indiana]: Indiana University
- Predictors of Sexting in a University Population; Journal of Adolescent Health; 52(2): S87 Jan 2013
Awards and Honors
- Gamma Beta Chapter of the Delta Omega Society; Honorary Public Health Society: Delta Omega, April 8, 2015
- Shaffer Professional Staff Award: Dean of Students Award, Spring 2015
- “One Team” Award U.S. Army; Community Command, Aschaffenburg, Germany, Spring 1990