Helene Starks

Current research interests include issues related to palliative and end-of-life care for patients, their family members, clinicians, and health systems; medical decision-making and clinician-patient communication; qualitative and mixed methods research; stakeholder engagement; implementation and dissemination science; and quality improvement and systems change. Earlier work focused on community-based participatory research and research ethics, especially involving indigenous communities and vulnerable human subjects in research.

Helene Starks, PhD MPH, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Departments of Health Services, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics at the University of Washington. She is also the Director of the Metrics, Quality and Evaluation Core for the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence and core faculty in the Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care, offered jointly by the Schools of Nursing and Medicine. She received an MPH in Health Policy and Administration from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA in Communications and PhD in Health Services Research from the University of Washington. Dr. Starks’ current research interests include issues related to palliative and end-of-life care for patients, their family members, clinicians, and health systems; medical decision-making and clinician-patient communication; qualitative and mixed methods research; stakeholder engagement; implementation and dissemination science; and quality improvement and systems change. Earlier work focused on community-based participatory research and research ethics, especially involving indigenous communities and vulnerable human subjects in research. Her teaching focuses on qualitative and mixed research methods, patient-centered narrative medicine, and quality metrics and systems integration for palliative care programs. She is core faculty in the Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care, which is a 15-credit hybrid online program for interprofessional palliative care providers. As Director of the Metrics, Quality & Evaluation Core for the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Excellence, she led the development and implementation of metrics reporting system to support all 4 UW Medicine hospitals is achieving certification in specialty palliative care from The Joint Commission in Spring 2016. She is also part of a team developing ongoing quality metrics using electronic health records data for 18 measures of quality primary and specialty palliative care. She currently serves on the Quality Committee for the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) to promote further dissemination of these quality metrics.

Recent Publications:

• Starks H, Vig EK, Pearlman RA. Advance care planning. In Palliative Care: Core Skills and Clinical Competencies. Emanuel, L.L. and Librach, S.L., eds. Saunders-Elsevier, Philadelphia, 2007; Revised 2nd edition, 2011.
• James RD, Starks H. Bringing the “best science” to bear on youth suicide: Why community perspectives matter. In Achieving Justice in Genomic Translation: Rethinking the Pathway to Benefit. Burke W, Edwards K, Goering S, Holland S, Trinidad S, eds. Oxford University Press, New York, 2011.
• Edwards KL, Lemke AA, Trinidad SB, Lewis SM, Starks H, Quinn Griffin M, Wiesner GL and the GRRIP Consortium. Attitudes toward genetic research review: Results from a survey of human genetics researchers. Public Health Genomics 2011; DOI: 10.1159/000324931.
• Fredriksen-Goldsen K, Shiu CS, Starks H, Chen WT, Simoni J, Pearson C, Zhao H, Zhang F. “You must take the medications for you and for me”: Family caregivers in China promoting HIV medication adherence. Under revision for AIDS Patient Care and STDs 2011; in press.
• Lemke AA, Trinidad SB, Edwards KL, Starks H, Wiesner GL and the GRRIP Consortium Attitudes toward genetic research review: Results from a national survey of professionals involved in human subjects protection. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 2010; 5(1):83-91.
• Meacham M, Starks H, Burke W. Fryer-Edwards K. Researcher perspectives on disclosure of unanticipated findings in genetic research. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics 2010; 5(3):31–41.
• Starks H, Morris MA, Yorkston K, Gray R, Johnson K. Being in- or out-of-sync: A qualitative study of couples’ adaptation to change in multiple sclerosis. Disability and Rehabilitation 2010; 32(3):196-206.
• Starks H, Diehr, P, Curtis JR. The challenge of selection bias and confounding in palliative care research. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2009; 12(2):181-187.
• Starks H, Simoni J, Zhao H, Huang B, Fredriksen-Goldsen K, Pearson C, Chen WT, Lu L, Zhang F. Conceptualizing antiretroviral adherence in Beijing, China. AIDS Care, 2008; 20(6):607-14.
• Valencia-Garcia D, Starks H, Simoni J, Strick L. After the fall from grace: Negotiation of new identities among HIV-positive Peruvian women. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 2008; 10(7):739-752.
• Starks H, Trinidad SB. Choose your method: A comparison of phenomenology, discourse analysis, and grounded theory. Qualitative Health Research, 2007; 17(10):1372-80.

Recent Talks

• Starks H, West KM, Straub L. “Stakeholder views on data sharing policies: Who wins, who loses, and why?” Exploring the ELSI Universe, 2011 ELSI Congress, Chapel Hill, NC. April 12-14, 2011.
• Holland S, Starks H, Fullerton SM, Burke W. “Justice in translation: Achieving benefit for all from genomic science.” Exploring the ELSI Universe, 2011 ELSI Congress, Chapel Hill, NC. April 12-14, 2011.
• Starks H, Farber S, Vig E, VandeKiefft G. “Words that work: Patient-centered strategies for difficult conversations.” Half-day, pre-conference workshop, American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine/Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC. February 16-19, 2011.
• Starks H, Wang S. “Predictors of referrals to an inpatient palliative care consult service.” Paper presentation, American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine/Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC. February 16-19, 2011.
• Awards, Honors and Grants Received:

National Research Service Award (NRSA) Pre-doctoral Traineeship, Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), Grant No. T32 HS-013853, 2003-2004