Rebecca Keele has been in nursing education for over 40 years. Her clinical expertise includes working with vulnerable populations such as the homeless and Hispanic populations living in underserved Colonia populations living along the US-Mexico border. Her program of research centers on promoting physical activity and healthy eating with diverse populations including nurses and Mexican Americans living with diabetes. She has garnered external funding to develop the infrastructure needed to pursue comparative effectiveness research with the Mexican American population living in Southern NM Border Region. With her experience in instrument development, she developed the Exercise Motivation Questionnaire-Mexican American (EMQ-MA) that she uses in developing a tailored physical activity prescription for this population. Dr. Keele also authored a research book entitled Nursing Research and Evidence-Based Practice: Ten Steps to Success that has been used by many schools of nursing across the country.
Before coming to TWU, Dr. Keele was a faculty member within the School of Nursing at New Mexico State University for 20 years. Located in Las Cruces, NM, approximately 30 minutes from Ciudad, Juárez provided her with many opportunities to work with underserved populations. During that time, she worked with community health nursing students supervising clinical experiences in many of the border communities. She has experience working with community health workers called "promotoras" as a researcher and a clinician.
Dr. Keele's research is focused on promoting physical activity and healthy eating with patients that have type 2 diabetes and live in underserved border communities. Most recently, she has been translating this experience to Laredo, TX. Dr. Keele just completed a research project which involved surveying physical activity motives of border residents that use the local community center. She has also been successfully externally funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Education:
- ANCC certified in Public Health Nursing as a Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Ph.D., University of Kansas
- M.S., University of Kansas
- B.S.N, University of Central Arkansas
Interests/Expertise:
- Instrument Development
- Physical Activity
- Healthy Eating
- Mexican American Populations
- Health Disparities
- Underserved Populations
- Reversal Theory
- Health Promotion
- Disease Prevention
- Population Health
Professional Affiliations:
- Phi Kappa Phi
- Sigma Theta Tau
