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Hyunjin (Gina) Noh

Hyunjin Noh

PhD Program Director, Associate Professor

Contact Information

Email: hnoh1@sw.ua.edu
Office: Little Hall 1030
Phone: (205) 348-5265

Download Dr. Noh’s CV

Research Areas and Expertise

  • Palliative and Hospice Care
  • Pain Management
  • End-of-Life Care Decision Making and Communications
  • Health Disparities
  • Qualitative Methods

Education

  • BA, MA, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
  • MSSW, University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Bio

Hyunjin Noh, Ph.D., MSW, is an Associate Professor at the University of Alabama School of Social Work and the Deep South Resource Center for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Scholar. Her research areas include end-of-life care decision-making, pain and symptom management in rural communities, deprescribing and non-pharmacological pain management among chronically ill older adults, palliative care education, and racial disparities in end-of-life care. She has methodological expertise in qualitative and mixed methods.

Dr. Noh’s current research project examines the attitudes toward deprescribing and knowledge and views of non-pharmacological pain management among community-dwelling older adults with multiple chronic health conditions (funded by US Deprescribing Network (R24AG064025, National Institute on Aging). She is also an investigator of another research project examining disparities in access to and quality of health care services among Asian Americans in Alabama (University of Alabama RGC/ORED Small Grant Program). Her past funded research projects examined transportation barriers in pain management among rural residents in Alabama (Alabama Transportation Institute), factors affecting the use of hospice and palliative care among adolescent and young adult cancer patients (Palliative Care Research Cooperative: U2CNR014637, National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health), and perceptions of advance care planning by race and health status (Deep South Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research (RCMAR) Pilot Grant: National Institute on Aging). She also piloted an educational intervention program to improve palliative care knowledge among family caregivers of cognitively impaired older adults (Shiley Haynes Institute for Palliative Care Seed Grant: the Mary and Gary West Foundation).

As a researcher, she strives to take an interdisciplinary, community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach whenever possible and collaborated with multiple community-based organizations throughout the state of Alabama, such as the Area Agency on Aging, Black Belt Community Foundation, and local hospice agencies. Dr. Noh has a goal to implement statewide palliative care educational interventions tailored for different groups, such as rural caregivers, minority older adults, and immigrants, in the state of Alabama to promote palliative care knowledge in community settings.

Selected Publications

  1.  Bang, S., Noh, H., Handzo, G., Galchutt, P., & Kwak, J. (2024). Healthcare chaplains’ perspectives on working with culturally diverse patients and families. Palliative & Supportive Care, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1017/S147895152400066X
  2.  Zhang, P., Nketsiah, E., & Noh, H.* (2024). Service providers’ perspectives on barriers to end-of-life care planning among rural family caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 67(6), 825-840. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01634372.2024.2351071
  3.  Noh, H.*, Suntai, Z., Won, C., Jeong, H., & Lee, L. H. (2024). A qualitative exploration of rural older adults’ experiences with pain from chronic illnesses and its treatment. Research on Aging, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275241246279
  4. Suntai, Z., Noh, H., Lee, L., Bell, J. G., Lippe, M. P., & Lee, H. Y. (2024). Quality of care at the end of life: Applying the intersection of race and gender. The Gerontologist, 64(1), 1-9.https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad012
  5. Noh, H.*, Bui, C., & Mack, J. (2023). Factors affecting hospice use among adolescents and young adult (AYA) cancer patients. Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology, 12(2), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.1089/jayao.2021.0225
  6. Jeong, H., & Noh, H. (2023). Resilience as a Protective Factor in Older Adult Suicide: A Rapid Review. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 66(8), 1005–1018.  https://doi.org/10.1080/01634372.2023.2202729
  7. Suntai, Z., Noh, H., & Jeong, H. (2023). Racial and ethnic differences in retrospective end-of-Life outcomes: A systematic review. Death Studies, 47(9), 1006-1024. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2022.2155888
  8. Noh, H.*, Lee. H. Y., Luo, Y., & Lee, L. H. (2022). Willingness to Discuss End-of-Life Care Wishes among Rural African Americans. The Journal of Applied Gerontology, 41 (7), 1763-1772, https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221084174   
  9. Noh, H.*, Lee, H. Y., Lee, L. H., & Luo, Y. (2021). Awareness of Hospice Care among Rural African-Americans: Findings from Social Determinants of Health Framework. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 39 (7), 822-830, https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221084174
  10. Noh, H.*, Lee, L. H., & Won, C. (2021). Educational intervention to improve palliative care knowledge among informal caregivers of cognitively impaired older adults. Palliative & Supportive Care, 19(5), 515-523. doi:10.1017/s1478951520001200.
  11. Douglas, J., Jung, S., Noh, H., Ellis, A., & Ferguson, C. (2020). ‘If they don’t like you, they are not going to eat for you’: Individual and interpersonal factors affecting Certified Nursing Assistants’ ability to provide mealtime assistance to residents with dementia. The Gerontologist, 61(4), 552-562 doi:10.1093/geront/gnaa145
  12. Douglas, J., Jung, S., Noh, H., Ellis, A., & Ferguson, C. (2020). Organizational and healthcare policy barriers to providing mealtime assistance to nursing home residents with dementia: An original research article. Seniors Housing & Care Journal, 28(1), 3-11.