Kris Barnekow

Dr. Barnekow’s interests in interprofessional education have resulted in involvement in MCH training and leadership grants. She currently serves as the Milwaukee Link training coordinator in the Wisconsin Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Program. In addition, she is a discipline mentor in the UW-Milwaukee Pipeline Training Program for undergraduate students. Her personal experiences in MCH training programs and clinical experiences as a pediatric occupational therapist have shaped her research, teaching, and service.

As a clinician who provided occupational therapy services in programs for children between the ages of birth to three, Dr. Barnekow became acutely aware of significant issues facing families who reside in the urban area of Milwaukee. Significantly influenced by community-based clinical practice, Dr. Barnekow’s research, mentoring, and service interests evolved into four primary areas including: 1) promotion of co-occupational engagement or shared participation between caregivers and children, 2) early identification of developmental disorders in children and social emotional disorders in mothers of children with special needs, 3) identification of health literacy barriers that inhibit parents’ ability to engage care for their children, and most recently 4) enhancement of fatherhood participation through health literacy strategies to decrease infant mortality in the African American community.