Sheila Barnhart

Sheila Barnhart

Associate Professor

Patterson Office Tower

Areas of Expertise

  • SW 600
  • SW 602
  • SW 724

Highlighted Publications

Current Projects

  • Identifying Social Ecological Assets that Support Youth Health and Well-being. This project seeks to explore resources and supports for optimal health and well-being within the places and spaces that youth engage.
  • Salutogenic Pathways between Communities and Youth Academic and Social Outcomes. This project seeks to understand direct and indirect promotive pathways between communities and youth outcomes.
  • Aprender y Utilizar Decisiones Apreciables (AyUDA)—Learning and Utilizing Significant Choices. This project tests the efficacy of a culturally grounded intervention to prevent obesogenic behaviors among Spanish Speaking families in Kentucky.

Student & Research Availability

  • Accepting Students in Programs: Doctoral | Masters
  • Available Student Positions: Not provided
  • Research or Interest Area Key Words: Child and adolescent physical and mental health, family well-being, neighborhood processes, community supports, economic strain and hardship, youth, single-parent and marginalized families, social ecological assets.

Alma Mater

The Ohio State University

Get to Know Sheila

Dr. Sheila Barnhart is an Associate Professor in the University of Kentucky College of Social Work. Her scholarship aims to advance health and well-being among children, adolescents, and families, especially those affected by economic strains and hardships. Trained as both a social work clinician and researcher, Dr. Barnhart integrates advanced statistical methods with a strengths-based, social–ecological framework to identify promotive and protective pathways that support health and well-being and mitigate risk. Dr. Barnhart’s research portfolio spans neighborhood processes, family economic stress, adolescent mental health, and culturally responsive interventions, with a particular emphasis on Latinx families, single-parent households, and youth involved in child welfare systems. She has led and contributed to multiple interdisciplinary, externally and internally funded projects, including serving as Co–Principal Investigator on a UNITE-sponsored pilot study examining cultural health beliefs and wellness among Latinx families, and as Co-Investigator on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Assisted Outpatient Treatment Pilot Program. She was also selected as a DREAM Scholar through the University of Kentucky’s Disparities Researchers Equalizing Access for all coMmunities program, supporting her work on family stress and economic hardship among Hispanic/Latinx populations. Her scholarship is widely published in leading interdisciplinary journals such as Journal of Youth and Adolescence, Child Abuse & Neglect, Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, and Journal of Teaching in Social Work, often in collaboration with scholars across social work, public health, psychology, and medicine. These collaborations reflect her commitment to team-based science and translational research that informs policy, practice, and education. Dr. Barnhart is deeply committed to teaching and mentorship. She serves as Course Coordinator and instructor for core MSW practice courses, including Social Work Practice with Individuals and Families and Assessment and Treatment Planning, where she emphasizes applied clinical decision-making, culturally responsive assessment, and preparation for complex service settings. Her instructional expertise is reflected in her scholarship on social work pedagogy and mentorship of MSW and doctoral students. Through her teaching, research, and service, Dr. Barnhart remains deeply committed to cultivating the next generation of social work practitioners and scholars.