Barbara Jones, Ph.D., is the Josleen and Frances Lockhart Memorial Professor for Direct Practice in Social Work, University Distinguished Professor, associate dean for health affairs, and director of the Institute for Collaborative Health Research and Practice at the at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. At Dell Medical School, Jones is chair of the Department of Health Social Work, and professor in the Departments of Health Social Work, Population Health, and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is also a founding steering committee member of the UT Austin Center for Health Interprofessional Practice and Education (IPE) with colleagues at Dell Medical School, School of Nursing and College of Pharmacy.
Jones is a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow of the National Academies of Practice and vice-chair of the Social Work Academy. She is the past president of APOSW and 2013 APOSW Social Worker of the Year. Jones was co-investigator on ExCEL in Social Work, an NCI-funded project to train oncology social workers, for which she received the 2014 APOS Outstanding Training and Education Award. She is a PDIA Social Work Scholar, and recipient of the PDIA Social Work Leadership Award. She serves on the national advisory board of the Cambia Health Foundation Sojourns Scholars Leadership Program, on the steering committee of the National Pediatric Palliative Care Research Network and on the board of the Social Work in Hospice and Palliative Care Network.
Jones’ research focuses on improving care for children, adolescents and young adults with cancer and their families. Her current research focuses on palliative care, pediatric oncology social work interventions, and adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors. Her work has been funded by National Institutes of Health, Palliative Care Research Network, Seton Healthcare System, Texas State Department of Health and various foundations resulting in publications in top tier journals, including Pediatrics, Cancer, Pediatric Blood and Cancer, and Journal of Cancer Survivorship.
Professional Interests
Pediatric palliative and end-of-life care, grief and loss, childhood cancer survivors, adolescent and young adult oncology, children with medical complexity, parenting interventions in pediatrics, resilience, meaning-making and post traumatic growth, interprofessional education, integrated behavioral health, medical ethics, and international social work.
Posts
Research
- Rethinking cancer caregiver support: A pilot dyadic intervention (2022)
- Early integrated telemedicine versus in-person palliative care for patients with advanced lung cancer (2022)
- Wonders and Worries: Testing a psychosocial intervention for children who have a parent with cancer (2021)
- Communicating Oncologic Prognosis with Empathy (COPE): Evaluation of a standardized, interprofessional instrument (2020)
- Children with special health care needs and transition (2019)
- Hope and meaning-making in individuals with advanced cancer (2019)
- Communicating Oncologic Prognosis with Empathy (COPE) (2018)
- Peer-support preferences among adolescent and young adult oncology patients (2018)
- Exploring the experiences of Latino adolescent young adults with advanced cancer and those who care for them (2018)
- Comprehensive care of children with medical complexity (2017)
- Breast and cervical cancer screening among Hispanic women in rural Texas (2016)
- Cancer care for the whole patient: An oncology social work response (2014)
- American Cancer Society Doctoral Research Grant in Clinical Oncology Social Work: Annemarie Conlon (2010)
- Voices of Struggle: Understanding and Memorializing the Fight Against Texas Proposition #2 (2007)
- Meaning of cancer survivorship for Hispanic adolescents (2006)
- Childhood cancer survivor resiliency (2005)
- Seton Health Care Children’s Comprehensive Care: Mixed Methodology Study (2012-2015)
- Resilience of Parents of Children with Cancer (2013)
- Understanding the Communication of Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer (2012)
- Pediatric Enhancing Connections: A Qualitative Study of an Intervention for Mothers of Children with Cancer (2012)
- LiveSTRONG Emotional Support Navigation Services Evaluation (2012)
- Pediatric Palliative Care Priorities in Central Texas (2007-2010)
- National Study of Pediatric Palliative Care Research Priorities (2009)
- Health Promotion Needs of Latino Adolescent Cancer Survivors (2009)
- Mindfulness Meditation for Children with Cancer and their Parents (2008)
- Breast Cancer Patient Navigation Needs Assessment in Central Texas (2008)
- Assessment of Substance Use and Risky Behaviors and Health Promotion Needs of Childhood Cancer Survivors (2006-2007)
- Assessment of PICU Staff Comfort and Confidence in Pediatric Palliative Care (2006)