Lissette Piedra
Assistant Professor
Office location: 2107
Phone number: 217-244-5236
Email: lmpiedra@illinois.edu
Educational Background
Professor Piedra received her M.S.W. from Loyola University Chicago and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago at the School of Social Service Administration, where she received a predoctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. She has over fifteen years experience in human services including providing case management services, psychotherapy, and psychosocial support services in residential programs for homeless adults with serious mental illness. Prior to her appointment at UIUC, she lectured at the University of Chicago and conducted evaluation research at the State of Illinois Office of Mental Health Services.
Research and Practice Interests
Professor Piedra’s research interests are two-fold. First, she is interested in how race and ethnicity influence the development, delivery, and utilization of health and social services for vulnerable populations. In particular, she is interested in issues of language and acculturation. Second, she is interested in: 1) the role of institutions in mediating access to services, and 2) the enhancement of program efficacy for vulnerable individuals and families, especially immigrants and their children. Her dissertation explores some of these issues through an organizational case study that examined the development and implementation of holistic services for homeless medically-ill adults at a community respite center.
Current Research
Dr. Piedra’s research focuses on the intersection of social services and culture-related issues including race, ethnicity, language, and immigration. Specially, her research is related to developing multifaceted, social services-related interventions for limited English language proficient (LEP) patients that can be administered at the time the patient receives health care services. As a beginning step to developing more efficient delivery of mental health care services for LEP patients, Dr. Piedra has participated in a university-community partnership sponsored by the Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society that successfully established a bilingual practicum to train graduate students interested in working with LEP patients from the Francis Nelson Community Health Center. To promote the development of holistic services and to bridge the gap between practice and research, Dr. Piedra is actively involved in providers’ network groups including the Rantoul Comprehensive Community Council (RCCC) and the Latino Partnership of Champaign County (LPCC).
Recent Publications
Presentations
Piedra, L.M. (2008, February). Therapy with LEP clients: Communication competence. Guest lecturer for EPSY 520A Supervised Practice in Counseling Psychology. Educational psychology Department at University of Illinois
Piedra, L.M. (2008, March). Bridging the “chasm”: How social workers can help immigrant families. Continuing Education Presentation for the University of Illinois School of Social Work. Urbana, IL
Piedra, L.M. (2008, April). Engaging in Catalytic Change: Social Entrepreneurship as a Strategy to address Social Tensions on Campus. Race & Campus Climate Conference. Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Piedra, L.M. (2008, April). Getting Behind the Words: What You Need To Know About Working with Interpreters in a Mental Health Setting. Urban Health Program--Health Care Disparities Series. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Piedra, L.M. (2009, May). Human Service Workers and Organizational Context: Harnessing the Power of Humanistic Ideals. The Fifth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (QI2009). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chapters in Books
Piedra, L. M. (in press). Latinos & Spanish: The awkwardness of language in social work practice. In R. Furman & N. Negi (Eds.), Social work practice with Latinos. Chicago, IL: Lyceum Books
*+Piedra, L. M. (accepted for publication). Using social entrepreneurship as a strategy for campus climate change. In H. Neville, M.B. Huntt, & J. Chapa (Eds.) Implementing Diversity: Contemporary Challenges and Best Practices at the University of Illinois and Other Predominantly White Institutions (University of Illinois Press—contract under negotiation).Center for Democracy in a Multiracial Society: Champaign, IL.
Journals
*Engstrom, D. W., Piedra, L. M. and Min, J.W. (in press). Bilingual social workers: Language and service complexities. Administration in Social Work
*Larrison, C. R., Velez-Ortiz, D., Hernandez, P., Piedra, L. M., & Goldberg, A. (in press). Brokering culture: Where do medical interpreters fit into community health centers? Journal of Health & Social Policy
*Piedra, L. M. and Engstrom D.W. (in press). Segmented Assimilation Theory and the Life Model: An Integrated Approach to Understanding Immigrants and Their Children. Social Work