For
me, the most rewarding aspect of academic work is the opportunity for discovery
and growth. I gain new knowledge, perspectives and ideas from my students and
colleagues, just as they learn from me. As
a teacher in a department of social work, I encourage students to critically
examine social work practice and assumptions, and I emphasize the importance of
lifelong learning. As a scholar, I strive to follow these same practices, which
I believe are essential for the well-being and continued development of the
social work profession.
Prior
to my life as an academic professional, I worked over 14 years as a social work
practitioner in Pennsylvania, New York and Wisconsin. My practice experience serving diverse
populations in a variety of settings provided a strong underpinning for my
scholarly endeavors in both teaching and research. I received my Ph.D. from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998, and subsequently became a faculty
member, first at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then at Governors
State University.
My
research has focused primarily on older adults, disabilities and family
caregiving. Early in my academic career,
I conducted and published a number of studies on aging parents of adults with
developmental disabilities. Most of
these addressed the role of fathers, differences between mothers and fathers
and implications for service delivery.
In 2002, I was one of 10 social work academicians nationwide to be named
a Hartford Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholar. The award included funding for a study of
frail older case management clients who live with younger family members also
in need of care (i.e., younger adults with disabilities and/or minors).
More recently,
through a GSU University Research Grant, I conducted a study on the needs of
older Arab Americans and their younger caregivers residing in the Chicago
Southwest suburbs. From 2008 through
2011, I was external evaluator for the federally funded “Career Tracks to
Employment” program of SouthSTAR Services, a community agency serving
individuals with disabilities. I have
also co-authored articles on end-of life care and on Chinese elderly. In addition, I have authored publications related
to school social work, and was co-investigator on a federally funded study
titled “Substance abusing, court involved mothers: A preliminary study.”
At
GSU, I primarily teach courses related to social welfare policy and program
evaluation. Additionally, I developed
and gained approval from the Illinois State Board of Education for a School
Social Work Concentration, launched in fall 2012. I am coordinator of the concentration and
teach the “Policy for School Social Workers” course. I am also an active member
of the GSU Faculty Senate and the Senate’s Education Policies Committee.
Much
of my research can be considered a form of community service, since it has
involved collaboration with community agencies. Additionally, I have served as a volunteer in
a number of community organizations. Most
notably, since 2007, I have served on the Advisory Council of AgeOptions, the
Suburban Cook County Area Agency on Aging.
PUBLICATIONS
Articles in
Refereed Journals
Li, L.W.,
Essex, E. L., Long, Y. (2014). Quality of life as perceived by older persons
with chronic illness in rural and urban Shandong, China. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 29, 417-428.
Li., L. W.,
Long, Y., Essex, E. L., Sui, Y., & Gao, L. (2012). Elderly Chinese and
their family caregivers’ perceptions of good care: A qualitative study in
Shandong, China. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 55, 609-625.
Chung, K., Essex,
E. L., & Samson, L. (2009). Does caregiver knowledge matter for hospice
enrollment and beyond? Pilot study of minority hospice patients. American Journal of Hospice & Palliative
Medicine, 26, 165-171.
Chung, K.,
Essex, E. L., & Samson, L. (2008). Ethnic variation in timing of hospice
referral: Does having no informal caregiver matter? Journal of Palliative Medicine, 11, 484-491.
Essex, E. L.,
& Biegel, D. (2007). Older case management clients with younger family
members in need of care: Interdependencies and well-being. Care Management Journals:Journal
of Case Management, 8, 162-170.
Essex, E. L., Petras, D., & Massat, C. M. (2006). Predictors
of loneliness among court-involved and
substance abusing mothers. Women &
Criminal Justice, 17, 63-74.
Essex, E. L., & Hong, J. (2005). Older
caregiving parents: Division of household labor, marital satisfaction, and
caregiver burden. Family Relations, 54, 448-460.
Essex,
E. L., & Massat, C. R. (2005). Preparing school social workers for their
wider role: Policy as practice. School Social Work Journal, 28, 1-19.
Essex, E. L.,
Newsome, W. S., & Moses, H. (2004). Caring for grandparent-headed families:
Challenges and opportunities for school social workers. School Social Work
Journal, 28, 1-19.
Essex, E. L.
(2002). Mothers and fathers of adults with mental retardation: Feelings of
intergenerational closeness. Family Relations, 51, 156-165.
Petras, D. D.,
Massat, C. R., & Essex, E. L. (2002). Overcoming hopelessness and social
isolation: The ENGAGE model for working with neglecting families toward
permanence. Child Welfare, 81, 225-248.
Essex, E. L.,
Seltzer, M. M., & Krauss, M. W. (1999). Differences in coping effectiveness
and well-being among aging mothers and fathers of adults with mental
retardation. American Journal on
Mental Retardation, 104, 545-563.
Essex, E. L.,
Seltzer, M. M., & Krauss, M. W. (1997). Residential transitions of adults
with mental retardation: Predictors of waiting list use and placement. American
Journal on Mental Retardation, 101, 613-629.
Campbell, J. A.,
& Essex, E. L. (1994). Factors affecting parents in their future planning
for a son or daughter with developmental disabilities. Education and
Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, 29,
222-228.
Campbell, J. A.,
Essex, E. L. & Held, G. (1994). Issues in chemical dependency treatment and
after-care for people with learning differences. Health and Social Work,
19, 63-70.
Book Chapters
Essex, E.,
Shalabi, I., & Adam, N. (2010). Identifying the social service needs of
Arab American elders. In E. P. Stanford
& G. Koskovich (Eds.), Diversity
& aging in the 21st century: The power of inclusion (pp.
89-93). Washington, DC: AARP.
Massat, C. R., Essex,
E. L., Hare, I., & Harris Rome, S. (2009).
The developing social, political, and economic context for school social work. In
C. R. Massat, R. Constable, S. McDonald, & J. P. Flynn (Eds.), School social work: Practice, policy, and research (7th ed., pp. 114-139).
Chicago:
Lyceum.
Essex, E. L., Petras, D. & Massat, C. M. (2006). Predictors
of loneliness among court-involved and
substance abusing mothers. In J. A. Swartz, P. O’Brien, & A. J. Lurigio (Eds.), Drugs,
women, and justice: Roles of the criminal justice system for drug-affected women (pp. 63-74). Binghamton, NY:
Haworth Press. (Also published in Women&
Criminal Justice as listed above under “articles”).
Hsieh, C., & Essex, E. (2006).
Measuring client satisfaction among older adults and families. In B. Berkman (Ed.), The
Oxford handbook
of social work in health and agingpp. 1009-1017). New York: Oxford University
Press.
Essex, E. L.,
Seltzer, M. M., & Krauss, M. W. (2002). Fathers as caregivers for adult
children with mental retardation. In B. J. Kramer & E. H. Thompson (Eds.), Men
as caregivers: Theory, research, and service implications (pp. 250-268). New York: Springer.
Seltzer, G. B.,
& Essex, E. L. (1998). Service needs of persons with mental retardation and
other developmental disabilities. In S. M. Allen & V. Mor (Eds.), Living
in the community with disability: Service needs, use, and systems (pp.
197-218). New York: Springer.
Newsletter Articles
Essex, E. L.,
Adam, N. M., Moukahal, W., & Tabahi, S. (2009, December). Exploring the
needs of Arab American older adults. What’s Hot,Issue 1: Minority
Aging Research, p. 13.
[Newsletter of the Gerontological Society of America]. (Published abstract
from paper presentation at the GSA
Annual Scientific Meeting in November 2009).
Petras, D., Massat, C. M., & Essex, E. L. (2006). Service needs of
substance abusing mothers involved with the criminal justice system. Women, Girls, and Criminal Justice, 7(5),
73-77.
Essex, E. L.,
Seltzer, M. M., & Krauss, M.W. (1995). Launching patterns in families of
adults with developmental disabilities. AddVantage, 7(1), 1. Newsletter
of the Rehabilitation Research and Training
Center on Aging with
Mental Retardation, University
of Illinois at Chicago.
Syllabus
Syllabus for course, Social Welfare
Policy and Services, posted on CSWE Gero-Ed Center web site as model for infusion of
gerontology into a foundation policy course (2005 to present; retrieve at http://www.cswe.org/default.aspx?id=18973)
Doctoral
Dissertation
Essex, E.
(1998). Parental caregivers of adults
with mental retardation: The experience of older fathers and mothers.(Doctoral
dissertation, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1998). Dissertation Abstracts International, 59-08, 3208.
Manual
Williams, R. T.,
& Essex. E. (1992). Directory of Wisconsin
farm and rural community groups. Madison,
WI: University of Wisconsin-Madison
Extension.
Link to Full CV