HANNAH GETACHEW-SMITH

Hannah (Badal) Getachew-Smith (she/her) is an evaluator and public health professional. She is currently the Lead Behavioral Scientist for the Research and Evaluation Team within the Prevention Communication Branch in the Division of HIV Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She recently completed her doctorate in the Media, Technology, and Society program within the Department of Communication Studies at Northwestern University. She was trained in public health with an emphasis on behavioral sciences and health education, earning a Master of Public Health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Hannah is also a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES).

At Northwestern, Hannah was a Presidential Fellow and worked with Dr. Courtney Scherr in the Health Communication Interaction Design Lab to develop and evaluate interventions to facilitate difficult conversations in health. Hannah’s research focused on the evaluation of digital health interventions that address health disparities.

PUBLICATIONS

  1. Getachew-Smith, H., King, A. J., Marshall-Fricker, C., & Scherr, C. L. (2021). Process evaluation of health communication media campaigns: A systematic review. American Journal of Health Promotion. https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171211052279
  2. Scherr, C. L., Ramesh, S., Getachew-Smith, H., Kalke, K., Fischhoff, B., & Vadaparampil, S. T. (2021). How patients deal with an ambiguous medical test: Decision-making after genetic testing. Patient Education and Counseling. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2020.10.020
  3. Scherr, C. L., Getachew-Smith, H., Ross, A. A., Marshall-Fricker, C. G., Shrestha, N., Brooks, K., Fischhoff, B., & Vadaparampil, S. T. (2020). A modern dilemma: How experts grapple with ambiguous genetic test results. Medical Decision Making, 40(5), 655-668. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X20935864
  4. Scherr, C. L., Getachew-Smith, H., Sudec, L. J., Brooks, J., & Roberts, M. Y. (2020). The identification of developmental delays and engagement with early intervention services: Exploring parents’ sensemaking processes. Social Science & Medicine, 255, 112941. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112941
  5. Getachew-Smith, H., Ross, A. A., Scherr, C. L., Dean, M., & Clements, M. L. (2020). Previving: How unaffected women with a BRCA1/2 mutation navigate previvor identity. Health Communication, 35(10), 1256-1265. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2019.1625002
  6. Arguedas, A. A. R., Scherr, C. L., Dean, M., Badal, H. J., & Clements, M. (2019). Intersections of health and gender imperatives: Stratified decision-making among women with a BRCA mutation. BioSocieties, 15(2), 245-269. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41292-019-00154-8
  7. Badal, H. J., Boudewyns, V., Uhrig, J. D., August, E. M., Ruddle, P., & Stryker, J. E. (2019). Testing Makes Us Stronger™: Evaluating the correlation between exposure and intermediate outcomes targeted by the campaign’s messages. Patient Education and Counseling, 102(1), 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2018.08.037
  8. Boudewyns, V., Paquin, R. S., Uhrig, J. D., Badal, H. J., August, E., & Stryker, J. E. (2018). An interrupted time series evaluation of the Testing Makes Us Stronger HIV campaign for black gay and bisexual men in the United States. Journal of Health Communication, 23(10-11), 865-873. https://doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2018.1528318
  9. Badal, H. J., Stryker, J. E., DeLuca, N., & Purcell, D. W. (2018). Swipe right: Dating website and app use among men who have sex with men. AIDS and Behavior, 22(4),1265-1272. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-017-1882-7
  10. Habarta, N., Boudewyns, V., Badal, H. J., Johnston, J., Uhrig, J., Green, D., Ruddle, P., Rosenthal, J., & Stryker, J. E. (2017). Testing Makes Us Stronger: Analysis of the effects of exposure to CDC’s Testing Makes Us Stronger campaign on HIV testing behavior among black gay and bisexual men. AIDS Education and Prevention, 29(3), 228-240. https://doi.org/10.1521/aeap.2017.29.3.228
  11. Dunlop, A. L., Dretler, A. W., Badal, H. J., & Logue, K. M. (2013). Acceptability and potential impact of brief preconception health risk assessment and counseling in the WIC setting. American Journal of Health Promotion, 27(sp3), S58-S65. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.120109-QUAL-7
  12. Dunlop, A. L., Logue, K. M., Thorne, C., & Badal, H. J. (2013). Change in women’s knowledge of general and personal preconception health risks following targeted brief counseling in publicly funded primary care settings. American Journal of Health Promotion, 27(sp3), S50-S57. https://doi.org/10.4278/ajhp.120116-QUAN-39

SELECTED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

  1. Getachew-Smith, H., Scherr, C. L., Moe, S., Mohanty, N., Smith, J. D., Davis, M. M., & Wakschlag, L. S. (2022, November 6-9). Pediatric clinician perceptions about engagement with an app for early identification of developmental and social-emotional delays and disabilities [Oral presentation]. 150th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
  2. Ray, M., Getachew-Smith, H., & Cheng, E. (2022, November 6-9). Data needs for early identification of developmental delays and disabilities among young children: Results of a convenience survey of early childhood programs [Oral presentation]. 150th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
  3. Getachew-Smith, H., & Adebayo, N. (2021, April 6-9). Measuring engagement with behavior change apps for groups experiencing disadvantages: Findings from a systematic review [Poster presentation]. 43rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
  4. Mobley, A., Getachew-Smith, H., Clayman, M., Mordell, L., Dohan, S., Jain, S., & Arora, V. (2021, April 6-9). Communication about COVID-19 mitigation strategies among Illinois healthcare professionals: A pilot study [Poster presentation]. 43rd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Baltimore, MD.
  5. Getachew-Smith, H., Budzyn, S., Broughton, A., Green, K., & Webber, D. (2021, November 8-12). Evaluating the Act Early Response to COVID-19 project: Process evaluation of a national project to improve early identification of developmental delays and disabilities among young children during the COVID-19 pandemic [Oral presentation]. 35th American Evaluation Association Conference, Washington, DC.
  6. Getachew-Smith, H., Budzyn, S., Broughton, A., Howe, E., Green, K., & Webber, D. (2021, October 24-27). Needs assessment: Exploring COVID-19 impacts on early identification of developmental delays and disabilities among young children birth to five years [Oral presentation]. 149th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
  7. Getachew-Smith, H., Scherr, C. L., Fakhari, H., Sudec, L., & Roberts, M. (2021, April 12-16). Parent experiences with participation in Early Intervention services for developmental delays [Oral presentation]. 42nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Orlando, FL.
  8. Getachew-Smith, H., King, A. J., Marshall-Fricker, C., & Scherr, C. L. (2020, November 19-22). Process evaluation in health communication campaigns: A systematic review [Oral presentation]. 106th National Communication Association Annual Convention, Indianapolis, IN.
  9. Scherr, C. L., Kalke, K., Getachew-Smith, H., Marshall-Fricker, C., Dholakia, N., Hoell, C., Shubat Baldridge, A., Rasmussen-Torvik, L., Aufox, S., Smith, M. E., & Chisholm, R. (2020, November 19-22). The impact of illness orientation and genetic determinism on risk perception in participants prior to undergoing genome sequencing [Oral presentation]. 106th National Communication Association Annual Convention, Indianapolis, IN. *Top Paper Applied Health Communication Division
  10. Getachew-Smith, H. (2020, October 24-28). Examining digital health intervention engagement in communication: Findings from a scoping review [Oral presentation]. 148th American Public Health Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.