Faculty Profile

Carol Riker, M.S.N., R.N.

Associate Professor
Faculty Status: Undergraduate
Education: M.S.N., University of Kentucky, 1974
Interests: Health promotion, especially for children and teens; tobacco policy to promote prevention and cessation
Phone: (859) 323-6615
E-mail: riker@uky.edu

Research Links for Carol Riker

Carol Riker is a faculty associate with the UK Tobacco Policy Research Program and co-investigator and community advisor for the NHLBI-funded study, An Intervention for Promoting Smoke-free Policy in Rural Kentucky. She also leads the biannual statewide Workplace and School Tobacco Policy studies and is the technical assistance coordinator for the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy. Riker developed a coalition guidebook, Growing People: Building and Maintaining Coalitions for Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation.

Riker received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Michigan and her master's degree from the University of Kentucky. She has taught public health nursing for the College since 1974 and currently teaches health promotion in the first clinical nursing course. She has collaborated with schools and local health departments in youth health promotion initiatives for heart health, safety, and HIV prevention. She has been an active advocate for seat belt safety and tobacco use prevention.

In 2001 Riker received the Louise J. Zegeer award for undergraduate teaching from UK College of Nursing. In 2005 she received a Person of Promise Award from the Family Care Center Volunteer Board in Lexington. In 2006 she received a Service Recognition Award from the Kentucky School Nurses Association and also a Community Empowerment Center Award for contributions to the Gainesway community in Lexington. She received the Wethington Award in 2006 and 2007 from the College of Nursing for her research productivity. In November 2007 she was among the first seven recipients of the University of Kentucky Provost's Distinguished Service Professors Award, which honors faculty for their consistently high level of achievement in their contributions to their disciplines and the University.

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Recent Publications

Butler, K.M., Rayens, M.K., Zhang, M., Maggio, L.G., Riker, C., & Hahn, E.J. (2009). Tobacco dependence treatment education with undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 48(5), 249-254.

Hahn, E.J., Hoehne, A., Riker, C.A., Hickman, A., Butler, K.M, & Findlay, J. (2008). Teen smokers’ perceptions of tobacco Purchase, Use, and Possession laws. Kentucky Journal of Communication, 27(2), 95-106.

Peden, A.R., Rayens, M.K., Hall, L.A., Hahn, E.J., Riker, C., Ashford, K., & Zhang, M. (2008). Nicotine addiction in pregnancy: Preliminary efficacy of a mental health intervention. Addictive Disorders and Their Treatment, 7(4), 179-189.

Lee, K. Hahn, E.J., Riker, C., Head, S., Seither, P. (2007). Immediate impact of smoke-free laws on indoor air quality. Southern Medical Journal, 100(9), 885-889.

Hahn, E.J., Riker, C.A., Butler, K., Cavendish, S., Lewis, P., Maggio Greathouse, L.W., Nunley, V. (2007). Enforcement of tobacco Purchase, Use, and Possession laws in four Kentucky communities. Policy, Politics, and Nursing Practice, 8(2), 140-147.

Research:

	An Intervention for Promoting Smoke-Free Policy in Rural Kentucky
	Mental Health and Smoking During and After Pregnancy
	Kentucky Tobacco Policy Research Program (Web site)
	The Impact of Purchase, Use, and Possession Laws on Social Sources of Tobacco Products

Read about the Tobacco Policy Research Program

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