Dr. Karon L. Phillips is a public health gerontologist working in the Washington, D.C. area. She completed her Master of Public Health (Health Policy and Management concentration) and her Ph.D. in Aging Studies from the University of South Florida. The work she completed for her dissertation examined multiple indicators related to cultural competence, including predictors of having a provider of the same race/ethnicity, client perceptions of the cultural competence of their health care providers, and overall satisfaction with care reported by a diverse sample of adults ages 50 to 99.
Dr. Phillips’ current research interest is centered on the study, and ultimate elimination, of health disparities among older minority populations through cultural competence, improving health literacy, and community-based interventions. She has led multiple Chronic Disease Self-Management Program classes, a program developed by the Stanford Patient Education Research Center, to several groups of seniors in the community. The overall goal of this program is to encourage older adults to become better self-managers of their health. She is also a certified Care Transition Coach, which enables her to assist with care transitions in low-income and older adult populations.