Van Park, PhD, MPH
Professor
Community Health Systems
School of Nursing

Her research areas include mental health and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) caregiving.

Her current work includes a NIH/NIA R24 grant called, “Collaborative Approach for AAPI Research and Education (CARE).” The ultimate goal of CARE is to address the gap and reduce disparities in research participation among AAPI through the creation of a registry of 10,000 AAPI who are interested in participating in research. CARE is available in six languages. For more information, visit https://careregistry.ucsf.edu/.

Dr. Park also has a COVID-19 NIH/NIA administrative supplement, called, "COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of AAPI Survey Study (COMPASS)." The goal of COMPASS is a national survey to assess the effects of COVID-19 on AAPI. COMPASS aims to recruit 2,500 participants. COMPASS is available in six languages. For more information, visit https://compass.ucsf.edu/.

Dr. Park is also a Multiple Principal Investigator for a R56 NIH/NIA grant called, "Asian Cohort on Alzheimer's Disease (ACAD)." ACAD is an international collaboration with the goal of compiling a robust sample size of Asian American and Canadian subjects for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research. Making up 6% and 10% of the US and Canadian populations respectively, Asians are the fastest growing populations in both countries yet they are underrepresented in AD research. ACAD aims to address this gap by starting with a cohort of individuals of Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese ancestry, and later extending to other major Asian populations in both countries. For more information, visit https://acadstudy.org/.

She is also a Site Principal Investigator for Vietnamese Insights into Cognitive Aging Program (VIP) (PI is Oanh Meyer at UCD). VIP will develop an unprecedented longitudinal study of older Vietnamese Americans to begin addressing the dearth of cognitive aging research in this population. The overall goal is to obtain preliminary estimates of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in the community and identify ADRD risk and resilience factors in this understudied group.

She is the PI for a PCORI community engagement- dissemination project called, “Koreans Invested in Making Caregivers Health Important (KIMCHI.).” The goal of KIMCHI is to help improve the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Korean American caregivers and other stakeholders about ADRD prevention/care, advanced care planning, and potential future PCORI participation.

She has previously collaborated with a community partner, International Children Assistance Network (ICAN), on a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Engagement Award: Dissemination Initiative. The title of the award is, "Community Education for Vietnamese Americans on Dementia Caregiving and Advanced Care Planning."

Some of her past work included the Alzheimer’s Association’s Mentored New Investigator Research Grant to Promote Diversity (MNIRGD). The purpose of this three year grant (2015-18) was to culturally tailor a program to reduce stress and depression among Vietnamese American dementia caregivers.

Dr. Ta Park also received pilot grants (2017-20) from Stanford University, School of Medicine, Stanford Precision Health for Ethnic and Racial Equity (SPHERE). One study developed and evaluated a Korean drama precision mental health curriculum among English-speaking AAPI, Vietnamese-speaking persons and Korean-speaking persons. She also had several other studies investigating the role of Korean drama to de-stigmatize mental health and help-seeking. She recently completed data collection for her pilot award from SPHERE, "Texting to be Heard in Precision Health Research – Our Vietnamese American Voice." She also had two SPHERE dissemination grants: (1) Disseminating SPHERE Vietnamese Research Findings to the Vietnamese American Community; and, (2) Disseminating SPHERE Korean Research Findings to the Korean American Community. She collaborated with two community partners, ICAN and the Somang Society, respectively.

Dr. Ta Park has previous work experience with non-profit organizations on health care policy and access for the uninsured and underinsured in Los Angeles County.

• The Collaborative Approach for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Research and Education (CARE): A recruitment registry for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, aging, and caregiver-related research.
  Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association 2022 Ta Park VM, Meyer OL, Tsoh JY, Kanaya AM, Tzuang M, Nam B, Vuong Q, Bang J, Hinton L, Gallagher-Thompson D, Grill JD
• Future directions to address sleep health disparity among Asian American immigrants.
  Sleep 2022 Song Y, Ta Park VM, Martin JL
• Social support as a moderator of physical disability and mental health in older Vietnamese immigrants in the U.S.: Results from the Vietnamese aging and care survey (VACS).
  Geriatric nursing (New York, N.Y.) 2022 Miyawaki CE, Liu M, Park VT, Tran MT, Markides KS
• Discrimination Experiences during COVID-19 among a National, Multi-Lingual, Community-Based Sample of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: COMPASS Findings.
  International journal of environmental research and public health 2022 Ta Park VM, Dougan MM, Meyer OL, Nam B, Tzuang M, Park LG, Vuong Q, Bang J, Tsoh JY
• Use of Korean dramas to facilitate precision mental health understanding and discussion for Asian Americans.
  Health promotion international 2021 Ta Park VM, Park CJ, Kim C, Nguyen NCY, Tran AT, Chiang A, Rho SJ, Olaisen RH, Vuong Q, Rosas LG, Cho MK
• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders' perspectives on participating in the CARE recruitment research registry for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, aging, and caregiving research.
  Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.) 2021 Ta Park V, Grill JD, Zhu J, Nguyen K, Nam B, Tsoh J, Kanaya A, Vuong Q, Bang J, Nguyen NCY, Cho IH, Gallagher-Thompson D, Hinton L, Meyer OL
• Vaccine willingness: Findings from the COVID-19 effects on the mental and physical health of Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders survey study (COMPASS).
  Preventive medicine reports 2021 Ta Park VM, Dougan M, Meyer OL, Nam B, Tzuang M, Park LG, Vuong Q, Tsoh JY
• Differences in COVID-19 Vaccine Concerns Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: The COMPASS Survey.
  Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities 2021 Ta Park V, Dougan M, Meyer O, Nam B, Tzuang M, Park L, Vuong Q, Tsoh J
• Motivation to Participate in Precision Health Research and Acceptability of Texting as a Recruitment and Intervention Strategy Among Vietnamese Americans: Qualitative Study.
  JMIR mHealth and uHealth 2021 Ta Park V, Kim A, Cho IH, Nam B, Nguyen K, Vuong Q, Periyakoil VS, Hong YA
• Patients' Use of Social Media for Diabetes Self-Care: Systematic Review.
  Journal of medical Internet research 2020 Elnaggar A, Ta Park V, Lee SJ, Bender M, Siegmund LA, Park LG
• Perspectives on Precision Health Among Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities and the Physicians That Serve Them.
  Ethnicity & disease 2020 Rosas LG, Nasrallah C, Park VT, Vasquez JJ, Duron Y, Garrick O, Hattin R, Cho M, David SP, Evans J, McClinton-Brown R, Martin C
• Promising Results from the Use of a Korean Drama to Address Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors on School Bullying and Mental Health among Asian American College-Aged Students.
  International journal of environmental research and public health 2020 Ta Park VM, Suen Diwata J, Win N, Ton V, Nam B, Rajabally W, Jones VC
• Vietnamese American Dementia Caregivers' Perceptions and Experiences of a Culturally Tailored, Evidence-Based Program to Reduce Stress and Depression.
  Journal of gerontological nursing 2019 Ta Park VM, Ton V, Yeo G, Tiet QQ, Vuong Q, Gallagher-Thompson D
• Caregiving for Community-Dwelling Older Persons in South Korea: Current Formal and Informal Care Use and Expectation.
  Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society 2019 Park E, Kim N, Ta Park VM, Rhee Y
• Promising results from a pilot study to reduce distress in Vietnamese American dementia and memory loss caregivers.
  Alzheimer's & dementia (New York, N. Y.) 2019 Ta Park VM, Ton V, Tiet QQ, Vuong Q, Yeo G, Gallagher-Thompson D
• Using Korean Dramas as a Precision Mental Health Education Tool for Asian Americans: A Pilot Study.
  International journal of environmental research and public health 2019 Ta Park VM, Olaisen RH, Vuong Q, Rosas LG, Cho MK
• Chinese American Women's Experiences with Postpartum Depressive Symptoms and Mental Health Help-Seeking Behaviors.
  MCN. The American journal of maternal child nursing 2019 Ta Park VM, Goyal D, Suen J, Win N, Tsoh JY
• Depression and Help-Seeking Among Native Hawaiian Women.
  The journal of behavioral health services & research 2018 Ta Park VM, Kaholokula JK, Chao PJ, Antonio M
• Perspectives and Insights from Vietnamese American Mental Health Professionals on How to Culturally Tailor a Vietnamese Dementia Caregiving Program.
  Clinical gerontologist 2018 Ta Park V, Nguyen K, Tran Y, Yeo G, Tiet Q, Suen J, Gallagher-Thompson D
• Postpartum Traditions, Mental Health, and Help-Seeking Considerations Among Vietnamese American Women: a Mixed-Methods Pilot Study.
  The journal of behavioral health services & research 2017 Ta Park VM, Goyal D, Nguyen T, Lien H, Rosidi D
• Postpartum Depression Among Asian Indian Mothers.
  MCN. The American journal of maternal child nursing 2015 Goyal D, Park VT, McNiesh S
• Disparities in intimate partner violence prenatal counseling: setting a baseline for the implementation of the Guidelines for Women's Preventive Services.
  Hawai'i journal of medicine & public health : a journal of Asia Pacific Medicine & Public Health 2014 Ta Park VM, Hayes DK, Humphreys J
• A Qualitative Examination about Providers’ Perceptions and Recommendations Regarding the Role of Public Librarians in Addressing Communities’ Health Literacy
  QQML (Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries) Journal 2014 Ta Park, V.M., Luo, L., & Rosidi, D.
• Text 4 Health: Addressing Consumer Health Information Needs via Text Reference Service
  Reference and User Services Quarterly 2014 Luo, L., & Ta Park, V.M.
• Smoking abstinence-related expectancies among American Indians, African Americans, and women: potential mechanisms of tobacco-related disparities.
  Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors 2013 Hendricks PS, Westmaas JL, Ta Park VM, Thorne CB, Wood SB, Baker MR, Lawler RM, Webb Hooper M, Delucchi KL, Hall SM
• Preparing Public Librarians for Consumer Health Information Service: A Nation-wide Study
  Library and Information Science Research 2013 Luo, L, & Ta Park, V.M.
• An assessment of community capacity to prevent adolescent alcohol consumption.
  Health promotion practice 2012 Williams RJ, Kittinger DS, Ta VM, Nihoa WK, Payne C, Nigg CR
• Prevalence, patterns, and correlates of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the United States: variations by race/ethnicity.
  Comprehensive psychiatry 2011 Mericle AA, Ta Park VM, Holck P, Arria AM
• Fire prevention in Delaware: a case study of fire and life safety initiatives.
  Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP 2011 Frattaroli S, Gielen AC, Piver-Renna J, Pollack KM, Ta VM
• Patients' reports about medical doctors' inquiries on their mental health: do generational status, ethnicity and mental health/substance use disorders matter?
  Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2011 Ta VM, Holck P, Chen T, Zane N
• Trends in alcohol use among Hawai'i adolescents.
  Hawaii medical journal 2010 Ta VM, Kittinger DS, Pham LA, Williams RJ, Eller LN, Nigg CR
• Cultural identity and conceptualization of depression among Native Hawaiian women
  AAPI Nexus Journal 2010 Ta, V.M., Chao, P., & Kaholokula, K.
• Generational status and family cohesion effects on the receipt of mental health services among Asian Americans: findings from the National Latino and Asian American Study.
  American journal of public health 2010 Ta VM, Holck P, Gee GC
• Disparities in self-reported postpartum depression among Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Women in Hawaii: Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), 2004-2007.
  Maternal and child health journal 2009 Hayes DK, Ta VM, Hurwitz EL, Mitchell-Box KM, Fuddy LJ
• Social connections, immigration-related factors, and self-rated physical and mental health among Asian Americans.
  Social science & medicine (1982) 2009 Zhang W, Ta VM
• Racial differences in the association between partner abuse and barriers to prenatal health care among Asian and native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander women.
  Maternal and child health journal 2009 Ta VM, Hayes D
• A longitudinal analysis of depressive symptoms among Asian and Pacific Islander mothers at-risk for child maltreatment.
  Community mental health journal 2008 Ta VM, Juon HS, Gielen AC, Steinwachs D, McFarlane E, Duggan A
• Substance abuse among native Hawaiian women in the United States: a review of current literature and recommendations for future research.
  Journal of psychoactive drugs 2008 Ta VM, Chen T
• The implementation and utility of fire incident reporting systems: the Delaware experience.
  Journal of community health 2008 Bergen G, Frattaroli S, Ballesteros MF, Ta VM, Beach C, Gielen AC
• Disparities in use of mental health and substance abuse services by Asian and Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander women.
  The journal of behavioral health services & research 2007 Ta VM, Juon HS, Gielen AC, Steinwachs D, Duggan A
• Evaluated community fire safety interventions in the United States: a review of current literature.
  Journal of community health 2006 Ta VM, Frattaroli S, Bergen G, Gielen AC