Julia F. Hastings

Dr. Julia F. Hastings is an Associate Professor in the Schools of Public Health and Social Welfare. 

Her scholarship concentrates on addressing disparities in health and mental health outcomes for underserved populations. Her research focuses on the interrelationships between race, mental health outcomes (depression), health conditions (Type II diabetes), risk and protective factors, and poverty. The research findings suggest ways for public health social work professionals to practice with awareness of cultural reality, appropriateness, and responsiveness. It is her goal to produce research that enhances health, lengthens life, and reduces the burdens of illness for racial and ethnic populations. 

Dr. Hastings has published on culturally competent research methods within African American communities, welfare participation, depression, body weight, and Type II diabetes.  She completed a NIMHD funded K-22 DREAM grant which utilized qualitative and quantitative research approaches to examine service utilization outcomes among low-income African Americans diagnosed with diabetes and depression in California and New York. 

In 2015, Dr. Hastings published a co-authored book entitled, African Americans and Depression: Signs, Symptoms, Awareness, and Interventions. Dr. Hastings was inducted as a Society for Social Work and Research Fellow in 2017.  

Currently, she is principal investigator of Black family stress and caregiving of loved ones diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. In 2019, she was named Public Health Social Worker of the Year by the PHSW Section of the American Public Health Association.

Her research grant portfolio includes funding from the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), NIMH, the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SUNY RF, the University at Albany, and several community initiatives.

Community Engagement Activities:

For her outreach efforts in the Capital District area, Dr. Hastings enjoys serving on the Albany Affiliate of the Black Child Development Institute (BCDI) community Board, the Amsterdam Task Force (a community needs driven group supported by UAlbany’s Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities), and a member of a number of other community engaged agencies. 

Dr. Hastings values her ability to participate in community engaged activities which she can utilize her research expertise. She also mentors students to become involved in university-community research partnerships in order to increase the number of undergraduate and graduate students interested in research. 

It is her goal to remain an engaged Faculty member who can seamlessly integrate her efforts in research and teaching. Moreover, she especially believes in inspiring students to participate in community-related activities that improve health outcomes for underserved populations during matriculation and long after graduation.

Professional Affiliations:

• New York State Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Advisory Board
• APHA – Public Health Social Work Section
• Black Child Development Institute Board Member
• Society for Social Work and Research Fellow (2017)

Research Interests:

• Health and mental health disparities among ethnic minority populations
• African American mental health
• Welfare participation dynamics
• Ethnic minority women’s health issues
• The interrelationships between race, mental health outcomes, health conditions, risk and protective factors, and poverty health and mental health disparities among ethnic minority populations

Current Research Projects:

• Psychiatric Epidemiology: Racial Disparities among Vulnerable Populations with Depression and Diabetes
• Alzheimer’s Disease and African American Caregiving
• Establishing Oral Health Promoting Behaviors in Parents Diagnosed with Diabetes (Chronic Illness) and Children: Views on barriers, facilitators and professional support.
• African American Faith Communities Project

Learn more about Dr. Hastings' work:

• PubMed