About

Dr. Gayle M. Timmerman is a Professor at The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and serves as the Interim Co-Director of the Luci Baines Johnson and Ian J. Turpin Center for Gerontological Nursing. Her research focuses on health promotion, particularly related to eating patterns and weight management. She seeks to develop individualized interventions to promote healthier eating behaviors in individuals with chronic illnesses. Her current research interest is centered on Self-Management of Dietary Intake Using Mindful Eating for persons with Chronic Kidney Disease. Dr. Timmerman has conducted notable research on Mindful Restaurant Eating, which received widespread media attention and demonstrated success in helping perimenopausal women lose weight despite frequent eating out. She adapted her intervention into the SM-DIME program to improve dietary adherence among individuals with early-stage CKD, with pilot studies showing improvements in weight loss and fruit and vegetable intake. In addition to her research, Dr. Timmerman teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in health promotion and guest lectures on topics such as binge eating, weight management, behavior change, and interprofessional collaborative practice. She actively leads interprofessional education initiatives at the university level, including serving as a core member of the Steering Committee for UT's Center for Health Interprofessional Collaborative Practice. She has also completed a HRSA program grant aimed at enhancing advanced nursing education for Clinical Nurse Specialists through interprofessional care for patients with multiple chronic conditions. Recently, she led the creation of an online Clinical Teaching Toolkit for faculty and preceptors, funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Nursing
• Computer Science
• Medical education
• Management science
• Internal medicine
• Psychology
• Engineering
• Physical therapy

Selected publications

• Factors Related to Binge Eating in Korean American Women

  Western Journal of Nursing Research · 2025-12-12

  articleSenior author

  BACKGROUND: Binge eating-the uncontrolled consumption of an excessive amount of food in a short time period-is associated with weight gain, obesity, impaired quality of life, and long-term mental health problems. Despite its serious impact, there is a lack of research examining factors related to binge eating in the Korean American population, limiting the development of effective interventions tailored to this population. OBJECTIVE: To examine factors related to binge eating among Korean American women using a framework adapted from social comparison theory and the integrated cognitive and behavioral model of binge eating. METHODS: = 136) was recruited from Korean churches, community organizations, university student group websites, restaurants, and supermarkets. Included participants were women at least 18 years old, who could read English and were not pregnant or breastfeeding. RESULTS: Significant relationships were found between severity of binge eating and the factors of age, personal relative deprivation, thin-ideal internalization, self-esteem, negative affect, difficulty with emotional regulation, and dietary restraint. Hierarchical multiple regression indicated that age, difficulty with emotional regulation, and dietary restraint were significant factors associated with binge eating severity. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study will contribute to the development of culturally tailored interventions for healthy eating behaviors in women who are Korean American.

  PublisherDOI

• Nursing leadership in tobacco dependence treatment to advance health equity: An American Academy of Nursing policy manuscript

  Nursing Outlook · 2024-07-22 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Pilot Intervention for Mindful Drinking and Eating for Patients on Hemodialysis with Fluid Restrictions: Lessons Learned

  Nephrology Nursing Journal · 2023

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Medicine
  • Physical therapy
  • Nursing

  = 19) group. However, there was positive qualitative feedback from participants in exit interviews, and there were other indications of feasibility (low drop out, engagement in at-home practice according to weekly checklists). Lessons learned from this pilot study about conducting research regarding fluid restrictions for patients on hemodialysis are presented.

  PublisherDOI

• An Interprofessional Approach to Advance Care Planning

  American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine® · 2021 · 30 citations

  • Medicine
  • Nursing
  • Medical education

  CONTEXT: Advance care planning (ACP) can improve patients' outcomes at end of life, and interprofessional collaboration has been recommended to facilitate ACP. However, role confusion in ACP facilitation among team members from different disciplines exists, and health professional disciplines' expectations for interprofessional collaboration in ACP are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To review expectations of major health professional organizations for ACP competencies, in order to identify gaps and opportunities for promoting interprofessional collaboration in ACP facilitation. METHODS: Guidelines and recommendations for ACP across disciplines including chaplaincy, medicine, nursing, psychology, and social work were identified and analyzed using content analysis. Main themes were then reviewed against national consensus statements on 4 ACP outcomes (process outcomes, action outcomes, quality of care outcomes, and healthcare outcomes) and mapped into existing domains for interprofessional education competency: values/ethics, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams and teamwork. RESULTS: Three major content themes were identified: professional commitment to advocating for patients' values and self-determination, professional responsibility to facilitate ACP, and specific tasks in ACP. These themes addressed mostly process and action outcomes of ACP but not quality of care outcomes or healthcare outcomes. Few disciplines included interprofessional collaboration as part of ACP competency. CONCLUSION: There is a need for standardized competency guidelines for interprofessional collaboration in ACP as an important first step in reducing confusion among roles and other challenges in facilitating ACP. Further efforts in practice, research, and policy are needed to facilitate interprofessional ACP, achieve competencies, and improve patients' outcomes.

  PublisherDOI

• Lessons learned from eight teams: The value of pilot and feasibility studies in self-management science

  Applied Nursing Research · 2020 · 7 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Medicine
  • Psychology
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Quality of Life after Dietary Self-Management Intervention for Persons with Early Stage CKD.

  PubMed · 2019-03-06 · 8 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Dietary recommendations that potentially delay the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) can be perceived as restrictive and unpalatable, negatively impacting quality of life (QOL). This pilot study examined the effect of a six-week small group intervention, "Self-Management of Dietary Intake Using Mindful Eating," on QOL, health literacy, and dietary self-efficacy among persons with CKD Stages 1-3. Improvements (n=19) were found from pre-test to post-test in total scores for Kidney Disease Quality of Life Short Form-36 (p=0.003), health literacy (p=0.001), and self-efficacy (p=0.003). The intervention had promising results for improving both diet management and QOL, which supports further testing in randomized control trials.

  Publisher

• Using Simulation to Teach Interprofessional Communication in Palliative Care (FR482A)

  Journal of Pain and Symptom Management · 2019-01-23

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using Videoconferencing for Verbal Reports to Improve Clinical Nurse Specialist Student Performance

  Clinical Nurse Specialist · 2018-11-29 · 4 citations

  articleSenior author

  PURPOSE: Clear, concise verbal reports are essential to clinical nurse specialists' practice, yet current literature addressing the development of this skill is sparse. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of using videoconferencing for verbal reports as a learning strategy for improving clinical nurse specialist students' communication competencies and advanced practice decision making. DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT: Videoconferencing, using iPad minis issued to faculty and students, was used routinely for verbal reports on clinical cases to faculty, which included immediate faculty feedback. A verbal report template of patient chief complaint, applicable history, review of systems, physical examination/labs, differential diagnoses, and management was developed and provided to students. OUTCOME: Initial student verbal reports were disorganized, lengthy, lacking content, or containing extraneous details. After students routinely gave verbal reports via videoconferencing, verbal report time for the class decreased from more than 20 minutes to 3 to 5 minutes and the accuracy of reports also increased. CONCLUSION: A concise, clinically relevant verbal report template, combined with videoconferencing that allowed for frequent and immediate feedback from faculty, improved student communication competencies. Current technology, such as tablets and smart phones, provide videoconferencing opportunities that can be used to enhance learning for students.

  PublisherDOI

• Food Sources of Sodium in Korean Americans With Type 2 Diabetes: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease

  Journal of Transcultural Nursing · 2018-07-05 · 7 citations

  articleOpen access

  INTRODUCTION: Excess sodium intake can increase the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, common comorbidities for those with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The purpose of this study is to describe sodium intake and high sodium food sources among Korean Americans (KAs) with T2DM. METHOD: This study, a descriptive, secondary analysis of baseline data from a clinical trial for diabetes, recruited KAs with T2DM ( n = 232) from the community. RESULTS: Average dietary sodium intake was 3,433 mg. Major sources of dietary sodium were from bicultural diets: noodles and dumplings, Korean-style soups, kimchi, breads and snacks, and boiled or seasoned vegetables. Participants who consumed excessive sodium were more likely to consume more calories and be male, married, and more recently diagnosed with T2DM. DISCUSSION: High consumption of sodium among KAs with T2DM supports the need to develop effective, tailored interventions addressing dietary sodium that incorporates the individual's culture.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Feasibility study of a combined lifestyle behaviors and asthma self‐management intervention for school‐aged children

  Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing · 2018-07-01 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility of delivering an intervention that combines healthy lifestyle behaviors related to weight management with asthma self-management, the Living Healthy with Asthma intervention, to children who have asthma. METHODS AND DESIGN: Using a mixed design, the feasibility study of the 12-week Living Healthy with Asthma intervention was conducted with a single group of children diagnosed with asthma. Pretest and posttest data were collected on asthma-related (self-management, metered dose inhaler [MDI] skill, asthma severity, quality of life [QOL]), and healthy lifestyle variables (body mass index [BMI], dietary quality). A matched comparison sample was drawn from a separate study that tested the same asthma self-management component (single intervention) used in the feasibility study to determine if the Living Healthy with Asthma intervention worked as well as the single intervention for improving children's asthma self-management. RESULTS: Thirteen school-aged children were enrolled in the feasibility study. There were significant reductions in BMI z-scores (P = 0.007), and improvements in vegetable servings (P = 0.03), MDI skill (P = 0.005), children's QOL (P < 0.001), and parents' QOL (P = 0.03). When comparing the feasibility group with the matched comparison group (n = 13), there were no significant differences in asthma self-management, MDI skill, or asthma severity after the interventions. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Findings supported the feasibility of implementing the combined intervention, and it was not inferior to the single intervention-which supports nurses' efforts to help families manage multiple health problems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R15NR004481

  NIH · $132k · 2002

• NIH Grant F31NR006551

  NIH · $29k

Frequent coauthors

• Heather Becker

  Kansas City University

  15 shared

• Lorraine O. Walker

  The University of Texas at Austin

  13 shared

• Alexa K. Stuifbergen

  National Institute of Nursing Research

  12 shared

• Vicki Kullberg

  The University of Texas at Austin

  10 shared

• Holli Temple

  Austin College

  8 shared

• Miranda Bryant

  University of Washington

  6 shared

• Adama Brown

  The University of Texas at Austin

  6 shared

• Eileen R. Fowles

  Walden University

  6 shared

Awards & honors

• HRSA program grant, “Enhancing the Advanced Nursing Educatio…
• Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board grant for Clinical…