UCCS’ Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience is looking for volunteers for trauma-based research studies.
Their main study focuses on resiliency in nurses and nursing students. Future studies may focus on a variety of topics, including trauma related to mental health, natural disasters, sexual assault, first responders and secondary trauma.
Megan Wendling, a research assistant at Lyda Hill, said research typically examines resilience and protective factors in trauma populations with the goal of finding ways to bolster recovery mechanisms so survivors can better recover from their trauma.
The studies also allow UCCS graduate students and doctoral program students to get experience in the field while making advances. “This research helps inform practices of how to best treat trauma and helps advance the field in that way. The more we understand, the better we can help,” Wendling said.
Lyda Hill’s biggest contribution to the field so far is the Greater Resilence Information Toolkit (GRIT), which is a training meant to help the campus community build resilience and persevere through challenges.
“It’s basically a tool that teaches how to give people support and how to be a helper to people in your network,” Wendling said. The studies are fully confidential. The published research won’t include names or any other personal information of the volunteers, and no one besides the researchers will know the names of the volunteers.
Participants are usually compensated for their time, but it varies depending on the study and isn’t guaranteed. Studies also vary in format. Some may require the participant to fill out an online survey, but others require the participant to come in person to be interviewed.
Interested community members can sign up through the Trauma Registry, a database of volunteers available for trauma-based research studies. When a new study begins, a researcher will check the database and send out emails to eligible individuals.
The registry is open to any willing participants, including UCCS students and community members. You do not have to have trauma to sign up.
The Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience is located inside the Lane Center on North Nevada Avenue. Photo by Megan Moen.