Shelley Cohen Konrad PhD, LCSW, FNAP is the Director of the School of Social Work, Professor in the School of Social Work and Director of the  Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC). A clinical social worker by training Shelley specializes in practice with children and families. Her book, Practice with Children and Families: A Relational Perspective was published in 2013 and a second edition will be coming out in 2019. In 1988 Shelley established Touchstone Psychotherapy Associates, a mental health collaborative designed to meet the complex needs of children, families, and carers. She co-founded the Kids First Center in 1997, a Portland-based non-profit program serving children, parenting partners, and families experiencing divorce, family disruption, and parental separation. She is a contributing author of the book What Kids Want Grown-ups to know about Separation & Divorce, a resource for families published in 2008 by the Kids First Collaborative. Shelley is passionate about her work in pediatric health, wellness, and end-of-life care. She serves as a consultant to child-centered organizations as well as hospice and bereavement practices.

Shelley is committed to improving the quality of health and health-related care for all people. In 2010 she was named director of UNE's Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC). IPEC designs and implements educational programming that brings together students and faculty to learn about, from and with each other. The purpose of shared learning is to prepare graduates to be both excellent in their chosen fields as well as proficient members of practice teams. The overall aims of interprofessional education are to improve patient safety and advance equitable quality health care. As activists and collaborators social workers have pivotal leadership and membership roles on interprofessional healthcare teams.

Shelley's research and scholarship focuses on children and families; the use of the arts in health education: health perspectives of vulnerable populations, relational learning, and interprofessional education and care. She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Interprofessional Care and the Journal of Family Social Work. Her own work is widely published in peer-reviewed journals. She travels nationally and internationally to present her scholarship and research. Shelley is an avid reader, art collector, gardener, baker, lover of the ocean, and enjoys time with her family on the coast of Maine.

Recent publications include:

2018    Pardue, K.T., Cohen Konrad, S., & Dunbar, D.M. Weaving interprofessional education into nursing curricula.  In M. Oermann, J. DeGagne, & B. Phillips (Eds.), Teaching in nursing and the role of the educator (Chapter 8, pp. 135-152).  New York: Springer Publishing Company.

2017    Cohen Konrad, S. Art in Social Work: Equivocation, Evidence, and Ethical Quandaries, Research on Social Work Practice, 1-5. DOI: 10.1177/104973151773589

2017    Rubin, M., Cohen Konrad, S., Nimmagadda, J., Scheyett, A., & Dunn, K. Social Work and Interprofessional Education: Integration, Intersectionality, and Institutional Leadership. Social Work Education, 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2017.1363174

2017    Cohen Konrad, S. C., Cavanaugh, J., Hall, K., Rodriguez, K., & Pardue, K. T. A five-session interprofessional team immersion program for health professions students. Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice, 6, 49-54.

2016    Pardue, K. T. & Cohen Konrad, S. Leveraging Online Learning and Creative Narrative to Advance Interprofessional Competency Development. Collaborative Healthcare: Interprofessional Practice, Education and Evaluation (JCIPE): Vol. 7: Issue. 1, Article 3. Available at: http://jdc.jefferson.edu/jcipe/vol7/iss1/3

2016    Pardue, K. T., Konrad, S. C., Morton, J., & Mason, T. Community-based Interprofessional Education: Partnerships Promoting Health and Well-being, Chapter 7, In E. Speakman, Interprofessional Education in Nursing.

2015    Morton, M. L., Withers, M., Konrad, S. C., Buterbaugh, C. & Spence, R (2015). Bridging the gaps: An early integrated support collaborative for at risk mothers in rural Maine. WORK: The Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 44, 1-11.

2014    Dow, A., Blue, A. V., Konrad, S. C., Earnest, M., & Reeves, S. Interprofessional Leadership in the United States. In D. Forman, M. Jones, & J. Thistlewaite (Eds.). Leadership development for interprofessional education and collaborative practice. New York: Palgrave McMillan.

2013    Konrad, S. C. (2013). Social Work Practice with Children and Families: A                                                 Relational Perspective. Chicago: Lyceum Press.

2013    Dow, A., Konrad, S. C., Blue, A. V., Earnest, M., & Reeves, S. (2013). The Moving Target: Outcomes of Interprofessional Education, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 27, (5), 353-355.

Please contact Dr. Cohen Konrad at scohenkonrad@une.edu or 207 221-4514 if you're interested in continuing a conversation.