Faculty & Staff

Faculty

Gum, Amber, PhD

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Title: Professor
Phone: (813) 974-1980
Office: MHC 2632A
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Curriculum Vitae


Dr. Gum is a Professor in the Department of Mental Health Law & Policy, Louis de la Parte 91社区 Mental Health Institute, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences, with appointments in the Department of Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, USF Health; and the College of Public Health, USF Health. Dr. Gum conducts research on mental health services for older adults and medical patients; teaches classes in behavioral health services and public health; and engages in community and professional service. Dr. Gum maintains an active license in clinical psychology in the state of 91社区 (since 2004).

Important: For patient referrals and other patient-related matters, please call the USF General Internal Medicine Clinic at TGH Healthpark at 813-236-5302 (fax: 813-236-5332).

Education

  • 2002 - PhD - Clinical Psychology - University of Kansas
  • 1997 - MA - Psychology - Wake Forest University
  • 1995 - BA - Psychology, Honors College - Southwest Missouri State University (renamed                Missouri State University in 2005)

Research Interests

Dr. Gum aims to improve well-being for older adults and medical patients, through applied research in behavioral health services and trauma-informed care in medical and aging service settings.

Do More Feel Better: Behavioral activation for depressed senior center clients

Dr. Gum leads a 5-year grant (1R01MH124956-01) from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), to conduct a randomized controlled trial of behavioral activation for depressed senior center clients delivered by a volunteer coach or master鈥檚 level clinician (NCT04621877). This project is part of a multi-site trial with University of Washington (PI: Raue) and Cornell University (PI: Sirey). This project is in collaboration with Hillsborough County Department of Aging Services, as described in a press release found here. Individuals interested in joining this project can email domorefeelbetter@usf.edu.

myPATH, a patient-centered Partnership Addressing Trauma and Healing

Dr. Gum directs myPATH, a partnership of 20 individuals who collectively have diverse professional and lived experiences related to trauma. myPATH develops and conducts research related to trauma in primary care patients and has been supported by two prior contracts (summarized here and here) from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to build capacity toward developing research to improve care for primary care patients with trauma histories. The Partnership has built relationships with larger networks, developed training for stakeholders in patient-centered research and trauma-informed care, and gathered input from stakeholders to build a sustainable Collaborative and prepare to conduct research together. Our long-term goal is to conduct and disseminate research that evaluates patient-centered outcomes for evidence-based interventions for primary care patients with trauma. Our training curriculum is available online for free, and some providers can earn up to 3 free CEUs. The training in trauma-informed, stakeholder-driven research and its evaluation has been recently published in Health Expectations. Individuals interested in getting involved with myPATH can email mypathcollaborative@usf.edu. 

Adverse outcomes for older adults in aging services

Dr. Gum also completed a 2-year grant from the RRF Foundation for Aging to study risks and protective factors leading to different outcomes (functional decline, long-term care placement, and death) between clients receiving services from the aging service provider network and clients on waiting lists for these services (Co-PI: Lawrence Schonfeld). Findings to date have been published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and Journal of Applied Gerontology.

Guidance for primary care providers working with distressed patients

Dr. Gum and colleagues published a review paper in The BMJ that summarizes research evidence and concrete guidance for primary care providers working with distressed patients.

Dr. Gum also collaborates with Dr. Kyaien Conner in MHLP on a PCORI-funded RCT of the Care Transitions Intervention with or without Peer Support for preventing rehospitalization in Black and Hispanic older adults. In the past, Dr. Gum has received funding as Principal Investigator from NIMH, PCORI, SAMHSA (subcontract), Retirement Research Foundation, Institute for Optimal Aging, and USF internal grants programs. Dr. Gum has collaborated on grants from NIMH, NSF, and SAMHSA. In 2015-2016, Dr. Gum was a U.S. Fulbright Core Scholar to Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She also was a trainee of an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco, in mental health services research (2002-2004); NIMH Summer Research Institute in Geriatric Psychiatry (2004); NIH Summer Research Institute in Cross-Systems Health Services Research (2008); and NIMH Advanced Research Institute in Geriatric Mental Health (2009-2011).

Recent Publications

For a complete list of journal articles, please see NCBI My Bibliography:

Gum, A. M., Green, O., Dassa, A., Klausner, K., Gewirtz-Meydan, A., & Ayalon, L. (2022).  Behavioral activation for live-in migrant home care workers and care recipients in Israel: A pilot study. Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 41(3):219-235. doi: 10.1080/01621424.2022.2054393

Gum, A. M., Goldsworthy, M., Guerra, L., Salloum, A., Grau, M., Gottstein, S., Horvath, C., Fields, A., Crowder, J., Holley, R., Ruth, L. J., & Hanna, K. (2022). Trauma-informed patient and public-engaged research: Development and evaluation of an online training programme. Health Expectations. doi: 10.1111/hex.13668

Gum, A., Jensen, C., Schonfeld, L., Conner, K., & Guerra, L. (2022). A pilot study of brief,          stepped behavioral activation for primary care patients with depressive symptoms.                Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings. doi: 0.1007/s10880-022-09864-x

Raue, P. J., Sirey, J. A., Gum, A. M., Hawrilenko, M., & Fisher, D. M. (2022). Protocol for a          collaborative randomised effectiveness trial of lay-delivered versus clinician-delivered            behavioural activation in senior centres. BMJ Open, 12:e066497. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-          2022-066497

Schonfeld, L., Bell, J., Goldsworthy, M., Kip, K. Gum, A.M., Conner, K.O., Green, O.,                    Wagoner, F., Parkinson, K., Melling, K.A., & Markwood, S. (2022). Screening and priority-          setting to determine home- and community-based aging services for older Floridians.            Journal of Applied Gerontology. 41(3):699-708. doi: 10.1177/07334648211012508

Conner, K. O., Gum, A. M., Schonfeld, L., Kosyluk, K., Anderson, E., Baker-Douglan, J., ... & Reynolds, C. F. (2021). Enhancing care transitions intervention with peer support to improve outcomes among older adults with co-occurring clinical depression: A pilot study. Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 40(4), 324-339.

Green, O., Gum, A. M., Greene, J., Ayalon, L., Chiriboga, D., & Brown, L. M. (2020).                      Should I鈥檝e stayed or should I鈥檝e went? What residents of continuing care retirement              communities and former candidates think and feel one year after their decision: A                  quantitative longitudinal comparison. Ageing and Society, 40, 25-42. doi:                                    10.1017/S0144686X1800096X 

Gum, A. M., Epstein-Lubow, G., Gaudiano, B., Wittink, M., & Horvath, C. (2019). Brief behavioural strategies for distressed primary care patients. The BMJ (formerly The British Medical Journal), 366, l5360. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l5360

Gum, A. M., Green, O., Schonfeld., L., Conner, K., Rigg, K., Wagoner, F., Melling, K., &                Parkinson, K. (2019). Longitudinal analysis of mortality for older adults receiving or                  waiting for aging network services. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. doi:                  10.1111/jgs.16232

Shinan-Altman, S., Gum, A. M., & Ayalon, L. (2019). Moving to a continuing care retirement community or staying in the community? A comparison between American and Israeli older adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology. doi:10.1177/0733464819879015