Genna Cohen, a senior in social policy, was selected to present her honors thesis at the Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium (CAURS) on April 14. Her topic is "Health Mindedness During the Transition to Adulthood." Each spring, the American Undergraduate Research Society holds the symposium to allow undergraduates from six Chicago-area universities the opportunity to present their research results in a professional setting. Since CAURS has traditionally focused on the sciences, this is the first year a SESP student has been included.
"The focus on undergraduate research in SESP has produced more opportunities for bright and talented students like Genna. I am pleased to see her project on health mindedness receive this kind of recognition," notes Susan Olson, SESP assistant dean of student affairs.
Cohen will give an oral presentation on her research into how 18- to 25-year-olds understand and use health services. She interviewed 40 college students on questions such as how often they use health services, how they would respond to hypothetical illnesses and how they feel talking to a doctor. Her results include both quantitative data and analysis of free-response items.
According to her preliminary findings, young people in this age group are reluctant to seek health care, especially on campus. "It seems that individuals at this stage feel they can wait out their problems," Cohen comments. "Going to the doctor is not the first thing they're likely to do." She found that when students went to the doctor, they usually went at the insistence of someone else, and more than half saw a physician at home rather than on campus.
Cohen was especially interested in looking at routine medical decisions made by young adults because, as she says, "These set up a framework for later in life." She also noted a gap in research for this unique age group since many studies group together people ages 18 to 75.
Cohen credits the valuable help she received from her thesis advisors, Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Michael Wolf. Chase-Lansdale, a professor of human development and social policy, heads the University-wide initiative Cells to Society: The Center on Social Disparities and Health. Wolf, a 2006 alumnus of SESP's Learning Sciences program and an assistant professor at Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, has done extensive research on health literacy.
Cohen became interested in the topic of health mindedness because of both her family background and her coursework at SESP. Since her father is a doctor and several other family members are in health fields, "I grew up thinking about health," she says. Then when she took social policy coursework at SESP, she became interested in health systems. "My interests became more focused," she notes. The research methods courses she took in SESP provided "a good grounding" for doing research, she says. After graduation, Cohen's plans for the future involve entering the health field, perhaps in health policy.
Along with 14 other SESP honors seniors, Cohen will present the final results of her research from 1:30 to 3 p.m. on June 1 at Annenberg Hall. Enthusiastic about this taste of being a researcher, Cohen says, "It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work."
Last Modified: 8/14/09