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Michelle Zechner, Ph.D.

Michelle Zechner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Professions
Program: Psychiatric Rehabilitation
Email:  michelle.zechner@rutgers.edu
Office location:
Busch Campus
Piscataway, NJ 08826

About

Michelle Zechner, Ph.D., LSW, CPRP is an Associate Professor at Rutgers-SHP, Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Counseling Programs and has focused her career on helping people recover from mental health conditions, with special expertise in health promotion initiatives and aging.
She has worked in a variety of community and inpatient settings, including nursing homes, outpatient mental health services, state psychiatric hospitals and community services for older adults. In her current role she teaches and is involved in workforce initiatives for mental health staff, implementation of evidence-based psycho-social practices in inpatient and outpatient mental health settings, developing and testing health and wellness promotion interventions in community settings, teaching students, training diverse mental health staff on best practice interventions for older persons with mental health conditions, and conducting research.
Dr. Zechner’s research includes the development of programs focused on health promotion, multi-domain wellness for people with mental health conditions, inter-professional education, physical activity promotion in persons with mental illness, and identifying best practices for use with older adults with mental health conditions. She has co-authored peer-reviewed and technical publications on health promotion for persons with mental illness, and has presented her work at local, national and international conferences. She is passionate about supporting people aging with mental health conditions to improve their emotional and physical health.

Education

MSW, University of Pittsburgh
Ph.D., Rutgers University

Professional Achievements

Research

Dr. Zechner’s Research Profile

Publications

Title Authors Where and When
Perspectives on Functional Mobility in Older Adults with SMI: Commentary
Zechner, M. & Anderson, E.Z.
American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 2023 Jun 6;S1064-7481(23)00312-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2023.05.013. 2023
Dental Pre-Doctoral Student Perceptions About Serious Mental Illness: Concerns and Role Clarification.
Zechner, M., Singhal, V., Murphy, A., York, J., Karyczak, S. & Muhammad, A.
Journal of Dental Education, 87, 639-645, doi/10.1002/jdd.13156. 2023
Evaluating the Impact of an Educational Program on Stigmatizing Attitudes in Dental Hygiene Students.
Zechner, M. Karyczak, S., Murphy, A., Vasilenko, G., McMahon, K., Drucks, C., and Singhal., R.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 23, 121-141. 2022
Physical Therapy Students’ Perceptions for Working with Persons with Mental Illness in the United States.
Zechner, M., Anderson, E., Murphy, A., Zazzarino, A. & Karyczak, S.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 11, 367. 2022
Bridging religion and spirituality with gestalt psychotherapy to improve clinical symptoms: Preliminary findings using gestalt pastoral care.
Thomas, M., Crabtree, M., Janvier, D., Craner, W., Zechner, M., & Bussian, L. B.
Psychotherapy, 59(3), 400–404. 2022
Old before their time: Comparisons of people with SMI and healthy older adults
Zechner, M. R., Anderson, E. Z., & Gill, K. J.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 45(1), 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000496 2022
Multidimensional Wellness for People Aging With Mental Health Conditions: A Proposed Framework.
Zechner, M. , Swarbrick, P., Fullen, M., Barrett, N., Santos, S. & Pratt, C.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 45, 160-169. https://doi.org/10.1037/prj0000510. 2022
Exploring Dental Students’ Perceptions of Mental Illness to Address Unmet Needs.
Zechner, M., Singhal, V., Murphy, A., and Karyczak, S.
The Open Dentistry Journal, 16, http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/18742106-v16-e2112240. 2022
Faculty-Led Virtual Level 1 Community Fieldwork during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Benaroya, T. L., Swarbrick, M., Zechner, M., Murphy, A. A., & Cimmino, M.
Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 6 (2). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2022.060217. 2022
Self-Care for All: Sharing a Caregiver Program During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Swarbrick, P., Nemec,P., Gould Folgerite, S., Spagnolo,A., Zechner, M., Lundquist, M. C., Townsend, M.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 23(3), 189-200. 2020
Service learning experiences of Doctor of Physical Therapy students with a severe mental illness population?
Karyczak, S., Murphy, A., Zechner, M., Anderson, E., & Zazzarino, A.
Journal of Education and Health Promotion, 9, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.4103/jehp.jehp_298_20 DOI: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_298_20
Challenges Experienced by Behavioral Health Organizations in New York Resulting from COVID-19: A Qualitative Analysis
Murphy, A., Karyczak, S., Dolce, J., Zechner, M., Bates, F., & Rothplatz-Puglia, P.
Community Mental Health Journal, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00731-3
Moving PsyR Workforce Training and Support Online During COVID-19, Strategies and Reach.
Bartholomew, T., Sperduto, J., Reinhardt-Wood, D., Birkmann, J., Zechner, M., & Kinter, K.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 23, 1-8
Care2Caregivers: A Retrospective Examination of Needs Addressed and Services Provided by a Peer Support Helpline.
Zechner, M., Lundquist, M. C., Swarbrick, M., & Wey, A.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 58(10), 13-16. 2020
Engaging older adults using Tai Chi at a psychiatric hospital.
Zechner, M., McDonald, M, King, T., Jahnke, R., & Monroy-Miller, C.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 21, 344-354, 2019
Multi-Dimensional Wellness Interventions for Older Adults with Serious Mental Illness: A Systematic Literature Review.
Zechner, M., Pratt, C., Barrett, N., Dreker, M. & Santos, S.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. Advance online publication, April 2019
Faculty Mentorship in Allied Health Schools: An Evaluation of a Mentorship Initiative.
Barrett, N., Murphy, A., Zechner, M., & Malenczak, D.
Journal of Allied Health Professions, 48, 134-139, 2019
Tools for Moving On: Adapting an evidenced based housing curriculum for Individuals Receiving Services in an Inpatient Psychiatric Setting to Prepare for Community Living.
Sperduto, J., Zechner, M., Spagnolo, A. & Giacobbe, G.
Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 57,23-29, 2019
Sensitizing inpatient mental health staff to the challenges of aging.
Zechner, M., Birkmann, J. C., Sperduto, J., & Pratt, C.
Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services, 56(4), 12-16, 2018
Fidelity to the structural and clinical aspects of the illness management and recovery program in an institutional setting: A six year study.
Bartholomew, T., Zechner, M. R., Birkmann, J. C., Reinhardt-Wood, D. L., Kinter, K. T., Sperduto, J., Cook, R., & Giantini, M.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 21 (1-2). 102-114, 2019
Predictors of Physical Activity in Persons with Mental Illness: A Social Cognitive Model.
Zechner, M. & Gill, K.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. 39(4), 321-335, 2016
Wellness for Life: A Pilot Inter-Professional Intervention to Address MetS
Gill, K., Zechner, M., Anderson, E., Swarbrick, M. & Murphy, A.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 39, 147-153, 2016
The relationship of illness management and recovery to state hospital readmission.
Bartholomew, T., & Zechner, M.
The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 2014202(9), 647-650. 2014
Balanced Life: A pilot wellness program for older adults in psychiatric hospitals.
Zechner, M., & Kirchner, M. P.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 36(1), 42-57. 2013
Wellness coaching: A new role for peers.
Swarbrick, P., Murphy, A., Zechner, M., Spagnolo, A. & Gill, K.
Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 34(4), 328-331. 2011
A wellness approach to addressing tobacco in mental health settings: Learning about healthy living.
Williams, J., Ziedonis, D., Vreeland, B., Speelman-Edwards, N., Zechner, M., Williams, M., Rahim, R., Karimi, L., Molnar, M., & Eilers, R.
American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 12, 352-369. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487760903248580. 2009
Co-morbid psychiatric and medical disorders: Challenges and strategies.
Gill, K., Murphy, A., Zechner, M., Swarbrick, M., & Spagnolo, A.
Journal of Rehabilitation, 75 (3), 32-40. 2009
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