About

Dr. Cady Berkel is an Associate Professor in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on advancing prevention and implementation science to address upstream drivers of health and well-being. Her federally funded research emphasizes implementation strategies to support equitable and sustainable access to effective services across multiple systems, including primary care, maternity care, schools, community mental health, and social service systems. She has developed and tested family-centered preventive interventions that leverage familial and cultural strengths for children disproportionately affected by social determinants of health and adverse childhood experiences, such as divorce, bereavement, incarceration, and discrimination. Her community-driven research aims to increase access to comprehensive perinatal support to prevent maternal morbidity and mortality among Black, Indigenous, and Latina mothers in urban, tribal, and rural regions of Arizona. In addition to her own research, she leads several initiatives to support community-based implementation science, including the Dissemination & Implementation Affinity Network (DIAN), Mountain States partnership for Community-Engaged Dissemination and Implementation (MS-CEDI), Maternal and Child Health Translational Research Team (MCHTRT), and a NIDA-funded T32 training program in substance use prevention.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Psychology
• Political Science
• Family medicine
• Sociology
• Nursing
• Clinical psychology
• Psychiatry
• Public relations
• Business
• Social psychology
• Environmental health
• Developmental psychology
• Medical education

Selected publications

• Validation of the Observational Assessment Tool for Tailoring (OATT)

  Prevention Science · 2026-01-30

  articleOpen access

  Individually tailored interventions can address the myriad multi-level determinants of chronic health conditions. Limited measurement modalities to quantify tailoring disallow examining "active ingredient" effects on outcomes and implementation fidelity. The objective of this study is to develop and validate the Observational Assessment Tool for Tailoring (OATT) for behavioral prevention interventions. We developed the OATT and coded n = 172 videorecorded sessions from two trials of the Family Check-Up® 4 Health (FCU4Health), an individually tailored prevention and management program for behavioral health and obesogenic behaviors with English and Spanish-speaking participants. The sample was culturally diverse (> 65% Hispanic/Latino). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) tested the two-factor model. McDonald's Omega estimated internal consistency. Discriminant and predictive validity tests were conducted with FCU4Health fidelity, engagement, and health behavior outcomes, informed by the Implementation Cascade Model. CFA confirmed a two-factor structure for both trials (i.e., RMSEA ≤ 0.06, CFI and TLI of ≥ 0.95, SRMR < 0.08 chi-square p ≥ 0.05). Reliability and inter-rater reliability were good (ICC > 0.77) for both trials and English and Spanish videos. The OATT was not correlated (p > 0.05) with discriminant validity variables. Path analysis for predictive validity indicated that fidelity to the Individualized Treatment Planning factor directly predicts improvements in participant engagement (B = 0.16, p = 0.01, 95% CI [0.03-0.29]), which directly predicts improvements in parent health behaviors 12 months post-baseline (B = 0.18, p = 0.01, 95% CI [0.02-0.34]). The development of the OATT is a critical step to measure and guide tailored intervention development, implementation, and evaluation. Future studies are needed to replicate predictive validity findings and test the OATT factor structure with larger samples and different prevention initiatives.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Effectiveness of the Parent Support Program: a Randomized Controlled Trial of an Online Intervention to Increase Parental Support Among Parents and Caregivers of Trans and Nonbinary Youth

  Prevention Science · 2026-05-20

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Implementation science in integrated behavioral health: Charting the road ahead.

  Families Systems & Health · 2025-12-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Integrated behavioral health (IBH) has become a cornerstone of efforts to improve access, quality, and coordination of care across physical and behavioral health systems. Yet despite decades of progress, implementation of IBH remains inconsistent, and the mechanisms that drive successful integration are still not well understood. Implementation science offers a roadmap for moving the field from innovation to impact, providing systematic methods to identify contextual determinants, test strategies that address them, and evaluate the outcomes that matter most. This commentary outlines the development of implementation science and its growing relevance to IBH, briefly summarizes what is currently known about IBH implementation, and offers guidance for advancing the field through future scholarship in Families, Systems, and Health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Predicting Travel Time and Distance for Statistics Netherlands Interviewers with Machine Learning

  2025-09-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The usual observation strategy of Statistics Netherlands surveys is via the Internet with follow-ups for nonrespondents by telephone or face-to-face interviews. The face-to-face interviewers work from their homes and receive sample addresses every month. The approach strategy includes a maximum of six visits, evenly spread over the days and parts of the days of the month in question. The interviewers schedule their visits themselves. It is not obvious in advance how much travel time and distance are needed to complete an interviewer’s work package. This paper provides a model to estimate travel time and distance of these work packages, applying machine learning techniques to interviewers’ travel declarations. According to Mean Absolute Percentage Error, the best way to predict the travel distance is to use a Support Vector Regression model with a log-log plus one transformation. The log-log transformation ensures homoscedasticity. The plus one, is for the cyclists who have zero declarations, because they do not get a km-reimbursement. The explanatory variables in the model are road distance, distance to the ideal interviewer’s residence, radius of the circle containing the addresses, number of addresses, urbanity of the interviewer’s residence, means of the interviewer’s transport, region, province and month. In order to predict travel time, according to Mean Absolute Percentage Error, it is also best to use a Support Vector Regression, this time with a log-log transformation. Again, the log-log transformation is used to remove heteroscedasticity from the model. Plus, one is not necessary here, as travel time is always accounted for. The same explanatory variables are used as in the model for travel distance, with road distance replaced by road time. Both road distance and time are determined by an offline server with routing.

  PublisherDOI

• RE-AIMing for health equity: Using RE-AIM to evaluate equitable implementation of the family check-up 4 health.

  Psychological Services · 2025-06-23 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  A primary goal of implementation science (IS) is to promote access to evidence-based practice; however, without careful attention to equity, IS may inadvertently reify inequities for priority populations who are most affected by access barriers and health inequities. Recently, there has been a push to integrate health equity concepts into IS frameworks. Yet, empirical examples are limited. This study sought to fill that gap by providing an example application of the RE-AIM framework extension for health equity in the evaluation of a family-based preventive intervention implemented in primary care for our priority population: Latinx, Black/African American, and Native American children. The Family Check-Up 4 Health (FCU4Health) is an individually tailored preventive intervention, adapted from the evidence-based Family Check-Up, for delivery in primary care settings. Data came from a Type 2 effectiveness-implementation hybrid study conducted with multiple primary care organizations in the Phoenix area, with 240 children (85% in the priority population) and their parents/caregivers. We present descriptive data guided by the RE-AIM framework's extension for health equity. Quantitative details about adoption and maintenance are supplemented with descriptions of implementation determinants, provided by partners at each site who coauthored this article. Concerning adoption, three of six organizations approached went on to implement the FCU4Health during the trial. Adoption appeared to be driven by perceived appropriateness, relative advantage, and research-related constraints. Reach: Across multiple stages from initial approach to initiation of services, reach was higher for our priority population, although differences were not statistically significant. Implementation: There were no significant differences in fidelity, active participation, and the completion or quality of home practice between our priority and nonpriority populations. Concerning dosage, coordinators spent more time working with families in our priority population on referrals to resources. Maintenance: None of the organizations continued to implement beyond the trial, which was primarily driven by feasibility. The results provide an exemplar of how the RE-AIM equity extension can be applied to assess the ability of preventive interventions to promote equitable implementation in routine primary care settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• “I feel like it's just really become second nature, almost like the screen’s not there”: a qualitative case study of the transition to telehealth for home visitation program to support fragile infants due to the COVID-19 pandemic

  Discover Medicine · 2024-09-10 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  A subset of early childhood home visitation programs support fragile infants and prevent hospital readmission as infants transition out of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) into their home. However, the COVID-19 pandemic initiated an unexpected change in the delivery of home visitation care to adhere to social distancing guidelines, resulting in a rapid transition into telehealth services. In this study, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff from a NICU-transition home visitation program in Arizona. The Modified Technology Acceptance Model (MTAM) was used to evaluate the experiences of in-person to telehealth home visitations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapid Qualitative Analysis Method was utilized to generate a thematic analysis. Three major themes were identified: staff-centric, family-centric, and the experience of collective adjustment to the stressors of the pandemic. Participants faced challenges transitioning to telehealth visits, including not being able to physically demonstrate development skills on the infant. However, the telehealth model allowed staff to serve a larger geographic area, as well as allowing them to build a larger caseload as they had more control over their schedule. Staff also noted that families appreciated telehealth home visits as an added layer of health protection for their fragile infants. Because the transition to telehealth was abruptly necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the study participants did not have the option to not use telehealth; thus, in the future, the MTAM framework could benefit from adaptions that address the rapid adoption of technology due to large disruptors such as COVID-19.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effects of the Pathways for African American Success Program: Reductions in Adolescent Depression Through the Promotion of Racial Equity-Informed Parenting and Racial Pride

  Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion · 2024-08-04 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  African American adolescents face persistent disparities in depression and related behavioral health outcomes, which have been attributed to experiences with discrimination. The integrative model for the study of stress in Black American families provides a comprehensive perspective on how historical and current discrimination has direct and indirect effects on child behavioral health. Culturally based protective mechanisms (e.g., racial socialization) have been demonstrated to buffer adolescents from the negative effects of discrimination. The Pathways for African American Success (PAAS) program was developed as a scalable eHealth preventive intervention to facilitate parents' use of strategies to protect their children from exposure to racism and the disproportionate consequences of risk behaviors, which we label as racial equity-informed parenting. Using data from a randomized effectiveness trial of PAAS and following stress and resilience approaches, we tested multiple hypotheses about the nature of discrimination as a source of risk, as well as program-driven improvements in adolescent racial pride as a source of protection. Our risk model indicated adolescent depression was associated with their own (direct) and their parents' (indirect) experience of discrimination. Mediation analyses showed that program-driven improvements in adolescent racial pride served as a risk reducer/compensatory factor. Findings of moderation analyses, however, showed the negative effects of discrimination, even when racial pride was high. Implications for theory and cultural tailoring of evidence-based preventive interventions are presented.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Applying the resource management principle to achieve community engagement and experimental rigor in the multiphase optimization strategy framework

  Implementation Research and Practice · 2024-01-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Preventing and treating mental health and substance use problems requires effective, affordable, scalable, and efficient interventions. The multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) framework guides researchers through a phased and systematic process of developing optimized interventions. However, new methods of systematically incorporating information about implementation constraints across MOST phases are needed. We propose that early and sustained integration of community-engaged methods within MOST is a promising strategy for enhancing an optimized intervention's potential for implementation. In this article, we outline the advantages of using community-engaged methods throughout the intervention optimization process, with a focus on the Preparation and Optimization Phases of MOST. We discuss the role of experimental designs in optimization research and highlight potential challenges in conducting rigorous experiments in community settings. We then demonstrate how relying on the resource management principle to select experimental designs across MOST phases is a promising strategy for maintaining both experimental rigor and community responsiveness. We end with an applied example illustrating a community-engaged approach to optimize an intervention to reduce the risk for mental health problems and substance use problems among children with incarcerated parents.

  PublisherDOI

• [Effects of a smoke-free policy on healthcare staff attitudes and aggression in psychiatry].

  PubMed · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  <span class="Bold">Background</span> The prevalence of smoking among patients with psychiatric disorders is 3-4 times higher than the general population. However, smoking is still permitted in many psychiatric clinics. The National Prevention Agreement (2018) mandates that all psychiatric wards be smoke-free by 2025. The UMC Utrecht clinics have been smoke-free since November 2020. <span class="Bold">Aim</span> To examine healthcare workers&rsquo; attitudes before and after implementing the smoke-free policy. <span class="Bold">Method</span> In an observational study with quantitative data analysis, data were collected in one center from healthcare workers in psychiatry departments with surveys. We collected demographic information, smoking status, attitudes towards the smoke-free policy, and its impact on patients and care. Incidents of aggression were prospectively recorded and reported in the MAP (aggression incidents in patient care). <span class="Bold">Results</span> Out of 172 healthcare workers invited to participate, 30% (n = 52) completed the pre-implementation survey, and 20% (n = 34) completed the post-implementation survey. Prior to implementation, 62% (n = 32/52) of healthcare workers had a positive attitude towards the smoke-free policy, which increased to 77% (n = 26/34) post-implementation. Expectations of increased aggression incidents were reported by 62% (n = 32/52) during the pre-implementation phase. The number of aggression incidents was 46 in the one-year period before implementation (November 2019 &ndash; February 2020) and 45 incidents after implementation (November 2020 &ndash; February 2021). <span class="Bold">Conclusion</span> This study supports the implementation of a smoke-free policy in psychiatric clinics due to the lack of a significant increase in aggression incidents. Healthcare workers perceived this outcome and observed quicker granting of &lsquo;green&rsquo; freedoms.

  PublisherOA PDF

• A Scoping Review of Tailoring in Pediatric Obesity Interventions

  Childhood Obesity · 2024-07-15 · 3 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Background: Families with children who have or are at risk for obesity have differing needs and a one-size-fits-all approach can negatively impact program retention, engagement, and outcomes. Individually tailored interventions could engage families and children through identifying and prioritizing desired areas of focus. Despite literature defining tailoring as individualized treatment informed by assessment of behaviors, intervention application varies. This review aims to exhibit the use of the term “tailor” in pediatric obesity interventions and propose a uniform definition. Methods: We conducted a scoping review following PRISMA-ScR guidelines among peer-reviewed pediatric obesity prevention and management interventions published between 1995 and 2021. We categorized 69 studies into 6 groups: (1) individually tailored interventions, (2) computer-tailored interventions/tailored health messaging, (3) a protocolized group intervention with a tailored component, (4) only using the term tailor in the title, abstract, introduction, or discussion, e) using the term tailor to describe another term, and (5) interventions described as culturally tailored. Results: The scoping review exhibited a range of uses and lack of explicit definitions of tailoring in pediatric obesity interventions including some that deviate from individualized designs. Effective tailored interventions incorporated validated assessments for behaviors and multilevel determinants, and recipient-informed choice of target behavior(s) and programming. Conclusions: We urge interventionists to use tailoring to describe individualized, assessment-driven interventions and to clearly define how an intervention is tailored. This can elucidate the role of tailoring and its potential for addressing the heterogeneity of behavioral and social determinants for the prevention and management of pediatric obesity.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant U18DP006255

  NIH · $3.8M · 2018

• Implementation of Evidence-Based Preventive Parenting Programs

  NIH · $2.7M · 2013–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Justin D. Smith

  University of Utah

  40 shared

• Anne M. Mauricio

  University of Oregon

  17 shared

• Sharlene A. Wolchik

  Arizona State University

  17 shared

• Irwin N. Sandler

  Arizona State University

  15 shared

• Velma McBride Murry

  Vanderbilt University Medical Center

  15 shared

• Thomas J. Dishion

  14 shared

• Jenn‐Yun Tein

  Realistic Education in Action Coalition to Foster Health

  11 shared

• Emily Fu

  University Health Network

  11 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Child and Family Development

  University of Georgia

  2006

• Other, Qualitative Research

  University of Georgia

  2006

• B.A., Psychology

  George Washington University

  1998

• Other

  Prevention Research Center, Arizona State University

  2010

• Other

  Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

  2007

• Other

  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

  2001