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Dr. Arthur Henry Eliassen

Dr. Arthur Henry Eliassen

Dr. Arthur Henry Eliassen

Associate Professor of SociologySocial Sciences
Phone
713-221-2763
Office
N1067

Biography

After many years in the printing and publishing industries, Dr. Eliassen returned to graduate school and completed his Ph.D. in August 2006. Following a nine-month teaching appointment at Arkansas State University, he accepted his current position at the University of Houston-Downtown (beginning Fall 2007). At UHD, he has coordinated local arrangements for the inter-university fall Health Disparities course; developed a University Seminar in Health and Aging for transfer students; and participated in degree program planning in Health and Behavioral Sciences, Gerontology, and Religious Studies.

Degrees Earned

Ph.D. (Sociology of Health and Aging), Florida State University, 2006

M.S. (Sociology), Florida State University, 2002

M.Div. (Ministerial Studies), Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, 1971

B.A. (Psychology), Florida State University, 1967

Courses Taught

  • HEA 2302 Introduction to Epidemiology and Biostatistics
  • HEA 4302 Health Policy and Politics
  • SOC 1303 Introduction to Sociology
  • SOC 3309 Health, Illness, and Society
  • SOC 3313 Drug Use and Society
  • SOC 4318 Aging in a Changing Society
  • SOS 2304 Research Methods in the Social Sciences
  • SOS 3304 Death and Dying
  • SOS 3312 Statistics in the Social Sciences
  • SOS 3313 Disparities in Health in America
  • SOS 4301 Special Projects in the Social Sciences

Experience Qualifications

Dr. Eliassen's recent publications and presentations focus on power relations and health disparity, biopsychosocial challenges associated with aging, and the relationship of religiosity to gender, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic differences in mental and physical health. He has also conducted research in the sociology of work and education and in the social distribution of mortality. His current teaching areas include Medical Sociology, Aging/Social Gerontology, Health Disparities, Epidemiology, Health Policy and Politics, and Death and Dying. He has also taught Introduction to Sociology, Research Methods, Statistics, Drug Use and Society, Sociology of Religion, and Social Problems.

Teaching Experience:

  • University of Houston-Downtown - Associate Professor of Sociology, 2015-
  • University of Houston-Downtown - Assistant Professor of Sociology, 2007-15
  • Arkansas State University - Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology, 2006-07
  • Florida State University - Graduate Teaching Assistant/Instructor in Sociology, 2003-06

Academic Scholarship/Research/Creative Endeavors:

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2014. "Religious Involvement and Readiness to Confirm Reported Physical Disability." Journal of Religion and Health 53(5):1427-39.

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2013. "The Usefulness of Health Disparity: Stumbling Blocks in the Path to Social Equity." Journal of Community Positive Practices 13(1):3-25. Published online April 22, 2013 (http://www.jppc.ro/reviste/JCPP%20Nr.%201%202013/articole/art01.pdf).

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2013. "Religious Coping and Depression in Young Adulthood: Effects of Global Stress Exposure and Pre-Teenage Religious Service Attendance." Review of Religious Research 55(3):413-33.

Gayman, Mathew D., R. Jay Turner, Andrew M. Cislo, and A. Henry Eliassen. 2011. "Early Adolescent Family Experiences and Perceived Social Support in Young Adulthood." The Journal of Early Adolescence 31(6):880-908.

More Information

Publications:

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2016. "Power Relations and Health Care Communication in Older Adulthood: Educating Recipients and Providers." The Gerontologist 56(6):990-96. doi:10.1093/geront/gnv095. (Available free from publisher: https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/56/6/990/2952893/Power-Relations-and-Health-Care-Communication-in).

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2014. "Religious Involvement and Readiness to Confirm Reported Physical Disability." Journal of Religion and Health 53(5):1427-39. doi:10.1007/s10943-013-9763-5.

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2013. "The Usefulness of Health Disparity: Stumbling Blocks in the Path to Social Equity." Journal of Community Positive Practices 13(1):3-25. Published online April 22 (http://www.jppc.ro/reviste/JCPP%20Nr.%201%202013/articole/art01.pdf).

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2013. "Religious Coping and Depression in Young Adulthood: Effects of Global Stress Exposure and Pre-Teenage Religious Service Attendance." Review of Religious Research 55(3):413-33. doi:10.1007/s13644-013-0110-9.

Gayman, Mathew D., R. Jay Turner, Andrew M. Cislo, and A.Henry Eliassen. 2011. "Early Adolescent Family Experiences and Perceived Social Support in Young Adulthood." The Journal of Early Adolescence 31(6):880-908. doi:10.1177/0272431610376247.

Eliassen, A. Henry, John Taylor, and Donald A. Lloyd. 2005. "Subjective Religiosity and Depression in the Transition to Adulthood." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44(2):187-99. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00275.x.

Presentations:

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2016. "Market Justice versus Social Justice: Disease Management or Health Promotion?" Presented at the 66th Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, August 19, Seattle, WA.

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2015. "Visual Impairment and Falls in Older Adults - Documenting Environmental Hazards." Presented at the 4th Annual Symposium on Gerontology-Geriatrics Awareness and Education, University of Houston-Downtown, February 21, Houston, TX.

Eliassen, A. Henry. 2014. "Power Relations and Healthcare Communication in Older Adulthood: Educating Providers and Recipients." Presented at the 40th Annual Meeting and Leadership Conference of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education, March 1, Denver, CO.

Seeber, Jim, Henry Eliassen, and Beth VanDerveer. 2008. "Helping Older People Be Their Own Best Doctors." Participant presentation at the Summer Institute, "Age and EngAGEment in the Classroom," Syracuse University Gerontology Center, May 22, Syracuse, NY.