School of Social Work

People

Valire Carr Copeland

Associate Professor, School of Social Work and Graduate School of Public Health
Ph.D. Program Director
Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

2211 Cathedral of Learning
412-624-6324
E-mail: sswvcc@pitt.edu

Biography

Dr. Copeland is an associate professor in the School of Social Work and Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, the associate director of the Public Health Social Work Training Program, and faculty affiliate in the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health. She also co-directs the Center for Minority Health’s Cultural Competency, Health Literacy, and Participatory Research Core. She is Co-Director of the Faculty Diversity Seminar, Office of the Provost & Senior Vice Chancellor.

Dr. Copeland received her BSW (1977) from Livingstone College, her MSW (1978), MPH (1988), and PhD (1989) from the University of Pittsburgh.

Professional Specialties

Her research and publications have focused directly on minority health and mental health disparities in service delivery, program planning, and treatment engagement for women and children. Dr. Copeland’s current scholarship focuses on culturally competent engagement and intervention strategies and their impact on minority health disparities. Dr. Copeland’s areas of interest include: child health policy, maternal and child health services programs, and the health/mental health status of African American women and children.

Teaching

  • Social Work Interventive Methods I
  • Social Work Interventive Methods II
  • Health Systems and Public Policy
  • Human Behavior: Health and Mental Health
  • Theories of Health Behavior and Health Education
  • Clinical Social Work with African American Families

Selected Publications

  • Copeland, V.C. & Butler, J. (2008). “Reconceptualizing Access: Using a Cultural Competence Approach to Improve Access to Mental Health Services for African American Women”. Social Work and Public Health, Vol. 23, #2.

  • Copeland, V.C. & Henry, B.N. (2008). Maternal and Child Health. Encyclopedia of Social Work, 20th Edition.Oxford Press: New York. Volume 3, p.192-195.

  • Watzlaf, V., Copeland, V.C., Columbus, M.  (2007). Enhancing Interdisciplinary Communication: Electronic Health Record Technology for Health and Rehabilitation Students.  In  Diversity Across the Curriculum,  Jerome Branche, John Mullennix, and Ellen R. Cohn (Eds).  Anker Publishing Company, Inc. Chapter 34, 200-205

  • Copeland, V.C.  (2006). Disparities in Mental Health Service Utilization among Low-Income African American Adolescents: Closing the Gap by Enhancing Practitioner’s Competence” Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, Volume 23, #4, August, 407-431(25).

  • Copeland, V.C. (2005). “African Americans: Disparities in Health Care Access and Utilization.” Health and Social Work, Vol. 30, #3, 265-270.
  • Copeland, V.C. (2005). “Physicians and Social Workers: Collaborating for 100 Years.” Bulletin: Allegheny County Medical Society. Vol. 94, #8, 380-385.
  • Copeland, V.C., Koeske, G., Greeno, C. (2004). “Child and Mother Client Satisfaction Scores Regarding Mental Health Services: Race, Age, and Gender.” Research on Social Work Practice. Volume 14, Number 6, 434-442.
  • Copeland, V.C., Scholle, S., Binko, J.A (2003). “Patient Satisfaction: Views of Doctor-Patient Relationships from African American Women.” Journal of Health and Social Policy. Volume 17, #2, pp. 35-47.
  • Wexler, S. & Copeland, V.C. (2003). “Combating Family Poverty: A Review of the American Welfare System,” in Wallace, H.M., Green, G., Jaros, K.,(Eds), Health and Welfare for Families in the 21st Century, 2nd Ed. Boston: Jones & Bartlett. Unit 2, Article 1, pp. 119-137.
  • Wilkinson, D.S., Rounds, K.A., and Copeland, V.C., (2002). “Infusing Public Health Content into Foundation and Advanced Social Work Courses.” Journal of Teaching in Social Work, Volume 22, Number 3/4
  • Stork, E., Scholle, S., Greeno, C., Copeland, V.C., Kelleher, K. (2001). “Monitoring and Enforcing Cultural Competence in Medicaid Managed Behavioral Health Care.” Mental Health Services Research Volume 3, Number 3.

Affiliations, Associations, Consultation

  • National Association of Social Workers (NASW)
  • American Public Health Association (APHA)
  • Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
  • Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC), Presbyterian Church (USA)
  • Journal of Health and Social Policy
  • Journal of Social Service Research