COMMUNITY PARTNERS

 
 
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S.H.I.N.E Pediatric Palliative Care Program

Since Spring 2016, Dr. Rafferty has been working with two nurses from the S.H.I.N.E. pediatric and perinatal palliative care program through Blank Children's Hospital (UnityPoint Health-Des Moines) on different research projects.

The S.H.I.N.E. program provides palliative care that focuses on improving families quality of life and is provided alongside curative treatment plans.

The goal of our research projects is to improve upon the support provided to parents and families traversing complex pediatric chronic conditions.

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Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin

Dr. Rafferty worked in collaboration with the Ronald McDonald House Charities Eastern Wisconsin to assess parents uncertainty, hope, and hopelessness, during their stays at the Ronald McDonald House as their child was hospitalized.

In-depth interviews and ethnographic methods have culminated into multiple published journal articles about parents' advocacy behaviors, private information disclosures, advice-giving messages, and constructions of a “new normal.”