Pamela J. Turbeville graduated with distinction from the University of Arizona in 1972 as a double major in Family and Consumer Sciences and Education. Upon graduating, Ms. Turbeville pursued graduate degrees (MBA in Finance from the University of Denver, MS in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Dallas) and executive education (Stanford Executive Program). She was selected to receive the 2000 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Alumni Achievement Award at the Homecoming event. Ms. Turbeville has strong family ties to the University of Arizona. Her father, John H. Turbeville, two aunts, and many other family members received UA degrees. In 2000, to support faculty research and teaching, Ms. Turbeville established The Pamela J. Turbeville Endowment in the School of Family and Consumer Sciences. Read More
Turbeville Speaker Series Presentations
Matthew Lapierre, Ph.D., University of Arizona Department of Communications
Title: Negotiating the Child's Consumer Environment: Current Challenges for Parents and Children
Abstract: The average child growing up in the United States is typically exposed to hundreds of thousands of marketing/advertising messages by the time they reach adulthood. Companies are eager to reach these young consumers because they spend their own money on products, represent a lifetime of future purchases, and are vital contributors to family spending. However, researchers and child advocates have long worried that commercial exposure is potentially harmful to children and families and that targeting children with these messages is fundamentally unfair because of children’s cognitive/affective immaturity. This talk will explore these particular issues by reviewing the author’s research on children’s consumer environments, the issues parents face regarding children’s consumer behavior, and how children’s development is specifically implicated as they enter the consumer environment.
About Dr. Lapierre: Professor Lapierre is an Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Arizona. His research explores how media affects health and well-being, particularly among children/families. Research projects include investigations of the influence of marketing cues on children’s consumer behavior, the development of children’s persuasion awareness/susceptibility, understanding how parents manage consumer issues with children, how media engagement influences gun attitudes among adults and children, and the role smartphones play in shaping our interpersonal relationships and well-being.
Evelyn Sarsar, B.A., Family Studies and Human Development at University of Arizona
Title: "Pilot Testing an App-Based Meditation Intervention Among Firefighters During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Abstract: Firefighters are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working to transport and treat sick patients. Fear of contracting the virus and constant vigilance of not infecting family members is a significant source of stress for firefighters and impacts their well-being and physiological functioning. Aimed at addressing this stress, the current study implemented a pilot intervention project focused on reducing distress and improving well-being during the pandemic with a 10-day app-based meditation intervention designed to reduce stressful thoughts by promoting awareness (i.e., mindfulness), appreciation of connections to others, insight about unconscious beliefs, and purpose.
Anna Josephson, Ph.D., University of Arizona's Agricultural and Resource Economics
Title: “COVID-19 and Food Insecurity: Impacts on Families”
Abstract: The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected food security globally and in the United States. Since the pandemic began to impact Arizonans in the spring of 2020, many have experienced new and persistent food insecurity: almost one in three (32%) Arizona households experienced food insecurity since March of 2020, a 28% increase from the year prior to the pandemic. Further, Hispanic households, households with children, and households that experienced a job disruption were more likely to be both persistently and newly food insecure. This presentation presents an overview of changes in food security rate, perceived worries and challenges about food security, as well as behavioral changes and strategies adopted since the pandemic.
Brian Mayer, Ph.D., University of Arizona's College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Title: "Essential but Ill-Prepared: Mental Health Effects among Grocery Store Workers during COVID-19’s First Wave in Arizona"
Abstract: Frontline essential workers face elevated risks of exposure to COVID-19 due to the interactive nature of their jobs which require high volumes of interaction with both the general public and co-workers. The impact of these elevated risks on the mental health of essential workers, especially outside the healthcare sector, remain inadequately studied. To address this knowledge gap, we examined correlations between perceptions of workplace risks and mental health distress among grocery store workers in Arizona. We collected the first statewide sample of essential workers outside the healthcare sector focused on mental health and wellbeing. 3,344 grocery store workers in Arizona completed an online survey in July 2020. We used multiple regression models to identify demographic and work-based correlates of mental health distress. Mental health distress among respondents was alarmingly high, with 19.4% reporting severe and 16.8% reporting moderate levels. Perceptions of workplace safety were strongly correlated with lower levels of mental health distress (B=-1.44, se=0.20) and perceived stress (B=-0.97, se= 0.16). Financially disadvantaged workers, along with younger employees, reported higher levels of mental distress. Perceptions of safety and protection in the workplace were significantly correlated with availability of safety trainings, social distancing, and policies governing customer behaviors. Results reveal high levels of mental health distress among grocery store workers who are at the epicenter of political and cultural controversies surrounding preventative public health strategies. Lacking adequate training and protections, they are at increased risk for both contracting and transmitting COVID-19 and mental health problems.
Speaker 1: Madeleine deBlois, MEd, ScD, Community Research, Evaluation & Development at University of Arizona
Title: "Caregiving Changes for Working Families Raising Young Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic"
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic's effect on traditional school and child care arrangements can be enormously stressful for parents and caregivers and has the potential to widen pre-existing inequities in work, income, and well-being. The shuttering of out-of-home care and education means that working parents are spending an average of 27 additional hours per week on education and household tasks since the beginning of the pandemic, and women in particular are spending 15 more hours on these tasks than men. Mothers, particularly of young children, are reducing their working hours much more than fathers and women who do not have children. This session will share findings from the RII-sponsored UArizona Care Study which took place during fall 2020 and aimed to document the burden and potential implications of these responsibilities on parents and caregivers during the pandemic. We will discuss what types of changes in child care families have experienced as well as choices that caregivers are weighing (e.g., leaving their jobs to care for children) to manage those changes. Additionally, we examine how stress and anxiety levels vary by job roles, age of children, gender, and other factors. We conclude with a summary of possible supports for working parents as they continue to try to balance family and work responsibilities.
Speaker 2: Zhenqiang Zhao, M.S. & Sei Eun Kim, M.S., Family Studies and Human Development at University of Arizona
Title: "Asian Voices during the Pandemic: Changes in Ethnic Identity, Discrimination, and Activism"
Abstract: This study aimed to examine the perceptions of ethnic identity and experiences racial discrimination and activism among Asian students at the University of Arizona during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the emergence of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19), Asians in the U.S. have encountered increased anti-Asian discrimination. As the pandemic continues, it is unknown to what extent heightened anti-Asian discrimination affects Asian individual’s ethnic identities, their sense of connection to intragroup activism, and overall well-being. Guided by Asian Critical Theory (AsianCrit) with an intersectional lens, this study examines how the anti-Asian landscape during Covid-19 has impacted diverse Asian students, both international and domestic, at the University of Arizona.
Speaker 3: Amanda E. Sokan, Ph.D., MHA, LL.B, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health - Phoenix Campus
Title: Older Adults and the Impact of COVID-19: Preliminary Lessons from a Two-State Study
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to highlight the experiences of the aging population with COVID-19, including psychosocial, behavioral responses to the pandemic and older adult's overall well-being. Participants include a diverse sample of older adults from various ethnic, racial, socioeconomic, and geographic backgrounds. Preliminary results indicate self-reported changes in psychosocial aspects of health, behavior, and perceived well-being in response to COVID-19.
Ada Wilkinson-Lee, Ph.D., University of Arizona Department of Mexican American Studies
Title: Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Health Disparities in Latinx Communities
Abstract: In this session, Dr. Wilkinson-Lee will explore the benefits and strategies of using community-based participatory research approaches in order to conduct culturally responsive research within Latinx communities. Latinxs in Arizona are disproportionately affected by chronic disease and social conditions that contribute to health disparities. Dr. Wilkinson-Lee’s centered research efforts have focused on community health workers (CHWs),or promotoras,as agents of health and social change. Trusted members of the communities they serve, CHWs are frontline public health workers who understand and represent community needs within and outside traditional health systems.She will provide examples from her current research projects to illustrate how collaborating with community health workers and community action boards, guide the research agenda and provide additional assets to how data is collected, interpreted and utilized to create evidence-based prevention approaches meant to advance systemic policy changes at various institutional levels.
Danielle Hiraldo, Ph.D., Native Nations Institute University of Arizona
Title: Sovereignty in a Pandemic: Tribal Codes as Preparedness
Abstract: Indigenous Peoples globally and in the (so called) U.S. have combatted and continue to face disease, genocide, and erasure, often wielded as settler colonial policies with systemic effects that seek to eradicate Indigenous communities. Many Native nations in the U.S. have asserted their inherent sovereign authority to protect their citizens by passing tribal public health and emergency codes to support their public health infrastructures. While the current COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone, marginalized and Indigenous communities in the U.S experience disproportionate burdens of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality, and socioeconomic and environmental impacts. In this brief research report, we examine 41 publicly available tribal public health and emergency preparedness codes to gain a better understanding of the institutional public health capacity that exists during this time. Of the codes collected, only 5 mention any data sharing provisions with local, state, and federal officials while 51.2% of codes collected mention communicable diseases. The existence of these public health institutions is not directly tied to the outcomes found during the current pandemic; however, it is plausible that having such codes in place make responding to public health crises now and in the future less reactionary and more proactive in meeting community needs. These tribal institutions advance the public health outcomes that we all want to see in our communities.
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