Susan Offutt, PhD

Dr. Susan Offutt is an assistant professor at the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota (UND) School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She works with various state and federal projects as a facilitator and researcher. Dr. Offutt serves as course director for the UND Interprofessional Health Care Course, works with state tobacco projects and conducts research relating to rural healthcare issues. She also is also a faculty member in the UND Early Childhood Education Department.

Dr. Offutt has over 20 years of working with children and families in rural settings. She has served a speech/language pathologist, pre-school screening coordinator and a center director for Head Start programs in three rural North Dakota counties. She was project director for the North Dakota Family to Family Network, project coordinator for the North Dakota State Planning Grant for Traumatic Brain Injury and dissemination director for Upper Midwest Rural Research Center.

Dr. Offutt is an independent consultant who is active in Head Start program evaluation reviews on a national level and an early childhood consultant for the North Dakota Right Track home visit program. Currently, she is Chair of the Board of Directors for the Anne Carlsen Center for Children in Jamestown, N.D. Dr. Offutt has extensive experience in the planning and implementation of new programs at the local and state levels. She initiated the design of three rural Head Start programs and the statewide parent-to-parent support program for families raising children with special needs. She has served on the Governor's Committee for Children and Youth and has been a grant reviewer for the Children's Trust Fund.

Dr. Offutt received her Bachelor of Science degree in speech pathology from Mankato State University in Minnesota and her Master of Science degree in special education and her Doctorate of Philosophy degree UND.

Contact Information:

Tel:	(701) 777-6084
Email:	soffutt@medicine.nodak.edu
Web site:	http://ruralhealth.und.edu

Projects

• Evaluation of Northwest Women's Chemical Health Initiative -- Evaluates the process and outcomes of the treatment support and recovery services for substance abusing women who are pregnant or have dependent children.
• Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Evaluation -- The purpose of this evaluation is to develop a model that examines the factors related to the completion of statewide goals and objectives.

Publications

• Traumatic Brain Injury, Offutt, S., Winter 2005
  Discusses traumatic brain injury (TBI) prevalence, causes, services needed, and the TBI planning grant.
• Findings from the North Dakota Assessment of Traumatic Brain Injury Needs and Resources, Muus, K., Offutt, S., Cogan, M., Medalen, R., & Haugen, E., November 2005
  Through the North Dakota Department of Health’s federally-funded TBI Planning grant, Center for Rural Health researchers and project staff conducted an assessment of needs and resources for persons with TBI and their families in the state. The findings of the assessment are discussed in this report.

Presentations

• North Dakota Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Grant
  Presented by Offutt, S., Wagner, S., Gibbens, B., & Kruger, R. on Oct 30, 2007 at the Traumatic Brain Injury State Partnership Grant Advisory Committee Meeting, Bismarck, ND.
  
• Achieve Maximum Impact With Your Message
  Presented by Offutt, S., Sande, K., & Scurry, A. on May 17, 2007 at the National Rural Health Association Annual Conference, Anchorage, AK.
  
• Effects of Pesticide Exposure on Learning and Development
  Presented by Moulton, P., Petros, T., Pyle, S., Ferraro, R., Kerr, P., Offutt, S., & Barr, D. on Sep 19, 2006 at the Regional Children’s Environmental Health Summit, Vail, CO.
  
• Barriers to Services for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury
  Presented by Muus, K., Cogan, M., Offutt, S., & Medalen, R. on Mar 9, 2006 at the Federal Traumatic Brain Injury Interagency Conference, Bethesda, MD.
  Poster presentation that outlines the barriers to services for persons with traumatic brain injury.
• Focusing on Traumatic Brain Injury in North Dakota
  Presented by Offutt, S., Medalen, R., & Muus, K. on Mar 8, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
  Poster presentation outlining the activities of the North Dakota Traumatic Brain Injury Planning grant.
• Healthcare Challenges of Rural North Dakota: Successful Strategies for Healthy Communities
  Presented by Offutt, S. & Miller, M. on Mar 8, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
  Offers a strategy for community engagement based on the process used for the "Rural Health Dialogues."