Michelle Kazmer - Distributed knowledge in health interventions: Longitudinal qualitative approaches to participant-centered research

Abstract: For the last 10 years, I have led the qualitative research portion of the ACTS/ACTS2 program at the Florida State University College of Medicine. ACTS2, created and led by Dr. Robert L. Glueckauf, is a community-centered cognitive-behavioral intervention developed with and for Black care partners with loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other forms of progressive dementia. I will talk about the integration of qualitative research with the cognitive-behavioral therapeutic design of the intervention and with the quantitative evaluations of the intervention through all phases of the program: ACTS, which compared the efficacy of in-person and telehealth deliveries of the intervention; the ACTS2 pilot, in which the intervention is delivered by pastoral care volunteer facilitators; and the ACTS2 randomized controlled trial. 

Working with substantial amounts of longitudinal qualitative research data brings challenges and opportunities in data management, ongoing workflow, and data analysis. I will focus on three aspects of our research process and findings: (a) engaging in meaningful data collection and analysis procedures that are sustainable for our participants and with our project personnel; (b) the findings that emerge from meeting the analytic needs of the mixed-methods design and evaluation components of ACTS/ACTS2 while also delving meaningfully into the distributed knowledge aspects manifested in the data; and (c) how the findings in this program articulate with findings from other health research particularly focused on health disparities. 

Michelle M. Kazmer is a Professor in the School of Information at Florida State University, holds a courtesy faculty appointment at the FSU College of Medicine in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, and is a faculty affiliate of the FSU Institute for Successful Longevity. Her research focuses on distributed knowledge, and she explores and theorizes distributed knowledge processes. Her main scholarly agenda is in participant-centered and action research in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions that seek to address specific health disparities. Her work is collaborative and multidisciplinary and prioritizes working with students. Professor Kazmer also maintains a research agenda bringing information science theoretical perspectives to the works of Agatha Christie. She regularly teaches in the areas of information organization, information policy, information literacy, and qualitative research methods. She has a PhD in LIS from the University of Illinois, MLS from the University of Pittsburgh, and BS in mechanical engineering is from Columbia University. She has worked as a rare book cataloger, as an academic engineering/digital librarian, and as a technical information specialist for an automotive manufacturer.