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| Barbara K. Rimer, Ph.D.
Professor, Dean |  |
Research Interests
Barbara K. Rimer, Dr.P.H. was trained in health behavior and health administration at the University of Michigan (M.P.H. 1973) and the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (Dr.P.H. 1981) with a major emphasis on health communication. There are three main foci for her research. In the first, building on past research in such areas as mammography and genetic testing, she aims to develop effective and efficient methods to help people make decisions about difficult health choices or recommendations about which there is controversy.
In a second, related area of study, her research focuses on finding the Minimum Intervention Needed for Change (M.I.N.C.). In a world of increasingly scarce resources, it is critical that we find the most effective ways to facilitate positive changes in health behavior while giving people the amount and type of intervention needed to achieve such changes. In a new 5-year study to be funded by the NCI, Rimer and her colleagues (including co-investigators Bowling and Linnan from UNC and Lipkus and Skinner from Duke) will test a series of stepped interventions to determine the M.I.N.C. Among the interventions will be persuasive communications delivered by print or automated telephone reminders. The population for the study is a random sample of women adherent to screening, aged 40-75 years and members of The North Carolina Teachers' and State Employees' Comprehensive Major Medical Plan (SHP) administered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). Colleagues from the SHP and BCBSNC are co-investigators.
In a third area of study, represented by the Health eCommunities Project, Rimer and colleagues (including Gilles Frydman, President, Association of Cancer Online Resources (ACOR), Bowling, Meier, Ribisl and Golin) will evaluate the impact of participation in ACOR's cancer-related listservs on cancer patients, survivors and family members and caregivers. This is the largest study to date of online support and is being funded as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's eHealth Initiative.
Thus, Rimer's research focuses on facilitating informed decision making and positive changes in health behavior using efficient, effective strategies that combine new and traditional channels for reaching people.
Recent Accomplishments and Honors
Dr. Rimer recently returned to North Carolina from the National Cancer Institute where she oversaw the development of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences from its inception in 1997 through 2002. In that capacity, she received the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service in 2000. She also was given the Distinguished Service Award by the American Cancer Society in 2000. In 2003, she was selected as an Alumni Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also an appointed member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Task Force for Community Prevention Services. In that capacity, she contributes to the development of evidence reviews in a number of health-related areas.
During the period at NCI, Dr. Rimer continued to collaborate with colleagues at Duke University Medical Center on a program project focused on risk communication for which she had been Principal Investigator. Rimer and colleagues (2002, 2003) showed that combinations of tailored print and tailored telephone interventions increased women's knowledge and accuracy of their risk perceptions about breast cancer and mammography and their use of mammography.
Training
Expertise:
Development and evaluation of behavior change interventions, especially those for individuals (e.g., tailored print and telephone counseling interventions) and health providers; cancer; women's health and cancer; new media; decision making in areas of uncertainty
Publications
Glanz, K., Rimer, B.K., Lewis, F.M. (2003). Health Behavior and Health Education: Theory, Research, and Practice. Third Edition. (3 chapters co-authored with editors) San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Meissner, H.I., Rimer, B.K., Davis, W.W., Eisner, E.J., Siegler, I.C. (2003). Another Round in the Mammography Controversy. Journal of Women's Health, 12(3):261-276.
Swan, J., Breen, N., Coates, R.J., Rimer, B.K., Lee, N.C. (2003). Progress in Cancer Screening Practices in the United States: Results from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey. Cancer, 97(6):1528-1540.
Skinner, C.S., Schildkraut, J.M., Berry, D., Calingaert, B., Marcom, B.K., Sugarman, J., Winer, E.P., Iglehart, J.D., Futreal, P. A.,
Rimer, B.K. (2002). Pre-Counseling Education Materials for BRCA Testing: Does Tailoring Make A Difference? Genetic Testing, 6(2):93-105.
McBride, C.M., Bastian, L.A, Halabi, S., Fish, L., Lipkus, I.M., Bosworth, H.B., Rimer, B.K., Siegler, I.C. (2002). A Tailored Intervention to Aid Decision-Making About Hormone Replacement Therapy. American Journal of Public Health, 92(7):1112-1114.
Rimer, B.K., Halabi, S., Skinner, C.S., Lipkus, I.M., Strigo, T.S., Kaplan, E.B., Samsa, G.P. (2002). Effects of a Mammography Decision-Making Intervention at 12 and 24 Months. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22(4):247-257.
Legler, J., Meissner, H.I., Coyne, C., Breen, N., Chollette, V., Rimer, B.K. (2002). The Effectiveness of Interventions to Promote Mammography Among Women With Historically Lower Rates of Screening. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 11:59-71.
Rimer, B.K., Halabi, S., Skinner, C.S., Kaplan, E.B., Crawford, Y., Samsa, G.P., Strigo, T.S., Lipkus. I.M. (2001). The Short-Term Impact of Tailored Mammography Decision-Making Interventions. Patient Education and Counseling, 43(3):269-285.
E-mail: brimer@unc.edu
Telephone: 919-843-8088
FAX: 919-966-1787
Address: Chapel Hill, NC
