CFACE Partners with the Governor’s Institute in Advocacy of Military Wellness
The Center for Family and Community Engagement (CFACE) would like to recognize Dr. Sam Cacace for her recent accomplishments in support of military wellness. Dr. Cacace is a research scholar specializing in experimental and quantitative psychology, military psychology and group dynamics. At the Center, Dr. Cacace sits on the Center’s leadership team, and heads the Center’s Military Wellness Lab.
At the beginning of the year, Dr. Cacace and her team were awarded a six-month contract with the Governor’s Institute to assist in the analysis and utilization of NC Serves’ — North Carolina’s primary care coordination center for active-duty military, military families and veterans — existing and future data collection processes. The current contract is designed to improve both internal processes for data collection, market penetration and special, demographically-targeted interventions that aim to provide services for those in the military community in greatest need. Research data will be retrieved across North Carolina, including from NCServes Western Carolina, NCServes Central Carolina, NCServes Metrolina, and NCServes Coastal marketplaces. Together, these coordination centers serve all 100 counties in the state. Additionally, this project will improve the value of external stakeholder reporting, such as care providers and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.
Through monthly reporting, the Wellness Lab’s team is working with NCServes client, referral and service episode data in order to provide continuous support in identifying key insights into demographic predictors behind need resolution for military and veteran families. Additionally, Dr. Cacace is working directly with leadership of the Governor’s Institute, NCServes, and Vaya Health to develop predictive analytics to enhance market penetration and services through NCServes, create strategies for better data collection to enhance predictive potential, and to assure efficacy of the new Veteran Support Specialist Certificate Course, designed and hosted by the Governor’s Institute. Together, these efforts will culminate into better services that directly support those in the military community who need it most.
Dr. Cacace and her team work directly with UniteUs, the software and data collection platform where all NCServes client data are stored, to provide insights into the NCServes market, and with the Governor’s Institute for improving data collection from these clients. Beyond serving immediate needs, the Center works with leadership members of the Governor’s Institute and NCServes to generate new strategies to backfill missing data and create more streamlined processes for data collection and reporting. Additionally, the Center works directly with the Governor’s Institute to create efficacious evaluation and analytical tools for the Veteran Support Specialist certification course.
Stay tuned for more information on Dr. Cacace and her team’s research at the Center, as we will be highlighting more veteran wellness initiatives in the future.
