Research Interests
Professor Piedra’s research interests explores the social consequences of an increasingly diverse society by examining how the language and culture of immigrants affect their access to and use of social and health services. Specifically, her analyses have focused on three interrelated topics, as they apply to Latino immigrants: (1) the mental health service barriers created by linguistic and cultural incongruence, (2) the increased need for bilingual and interpretational services in communities with rapidly growing immigrant populations, and (3) the adaption of interventions to these new service contexts through university and community partnerships. Her recent work builds on this conceptual foundation by adapting a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) to meet the linguistic and cultural needs of depressed immigrant mothers living in communities with new Hispanic populations. Subsequently, she developed Vida Alegre [Happy/Contented Life], a 10-week group CBT to address maternal depression and that trains bilingual BSW and graduate students to implement the model. Dr. Piedra plans to test this intervention in other new growth communities in Illinois and throughout the U.S.
Education
BA, Psychology, Syracus University, 1992
MSW, Loyola University, 1997
PhD, Social Work, University of Chicago, 2006
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor, School of Social Work
Associate Professor, Latina/Latino Studies
Associate Professor, Women & Gender in Global Perspectives
Recent Publications
Piedra, L. M. (2023). Is that all?—Reflections on beginnings, endings, and hopeful transitions. qualitative social work, 22(1), 3-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250221147438
Piedra, L. M., Howe, M. J. K., Ridings, J., Montoya, Y., & Conrad, K. J. (2022). Convivir (to Coexist) and Other Insights: Results From the Positive Aging for Latinos Study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, [073346482110692]. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648211069269
Piedra, L. M., & Lanesskog, D. (2022). In this issue…p <.05 and other qualitative musings. qualitative social work, 21(2), 235-241. https://doi.org/10.1177/14733250221080531
Piedra, L. M., Howe, M. J. K., Francis, J., Montoya, Y., & Gutwein, M. (2022). Latinos and the Pandemic: Results from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project-COVID-19 Study. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 41(5), 1465-1472. [7334648211066920]. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648211066920
Piedra, L. M., Escobar-Sawicki, C., & Wilson Smith, C. (Accepted/In press). Reimagining Social Work Education: A Systems-Thinking Approach to a BSW/MSW Program for Community College Students. Journal of Social Work Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/10437797.2022.2144977