Research Summary
Grant Sunada focuses on identifying and addressing determinants of health inequities and health behaviors through community-driven research, capacity building, and systems change. Through this process, he seeks to document mediating/moderating relationships between social determinants, health behaviors, provider behaviors, and mental/physical health outcomes.
Education
- BA, International Studies, Utah State University
- Master of Public Health, Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University. Project: Assessing the emergency obstetric care system in Pursat, Cambodia through the UN Process Indicators and positive deviant mothers. https://apha.confex.com/apha/136am/webprogram/Paper188448.html
- PhD, Public Health, University of Utah. Project: A longitudinal study of women coaching women through motivational interviewing and the interrelationships between depression, health behaviors, and changes in obesity
Biography
Grant Sunada has been the Health Officer and Public Health Director for San Juan County, Utah since 2021.
Previously, he was a Visiting Instructor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine andtaught health equity, cultural humility, and community engagement within the Division of Physician Assistant (PA) Studies. His research focus is on community-driven approaches to reducing health inequities. He completed his my master’s practicum in rural Cambodia with the Reproductive and Child Health Alliance and his dissertation among five racial and ethnic minority communities in Salt Lake Valley. He also worked for the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program at the Utah Department of Health for over 4 years, which included facilitating a Telehealth-based continuing education program for diabetes educators and working with the Utah Indian Health Advisory Board. He brings experience working in not-for-profit organizations, public schools, and public health to the table when collaborating across disciplines to better understand and address social determinants of health, inspire sustainable health behaviors, and promote the scholarship of health equity throughout the world.
His dissertation explored interrelationships between motivational interviewing, health behaviors, depression, and changes in obesity as part of a community-based participatory research project completed as a member of the Community Faces of Utah (CFU): a community-academic-government collaborative, which includes leaders of the African immigrant/refugee, African American, American Indian, Hispanic/Latino, and Pacific Islander communities in the Salt Lake Valley, as well as representatives from the University of Utah and the Utah Department of Health. Each member aimed to sets aside egos, participate in multi-directional learning, value each other’s diverse contributions, and promote health across the “7 domains”: physical, mental, financial, spiritual, environmental, intellectual, and social.
He, his wife, and their four children also promote the “7 domains of health” at home and in the community by dancing, being outdoors, being life-long learners, and making each other laugh.