Zlatka Russinova
Director of Research
Dr. Zlatka Russinova is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Principle Investigator at the Center. She currently is a Principal Co-Investigator for the NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Aging among Adults with Serious Mental Illnesses as well as another RRTC grant on Improving the Employment Outcomes among People with Serious Mental Illnesses.
As part of these grants, she leads projects that aim to enhance the community living and wellness of older adults with psychiatric disabilities. Zlatka is currently exploring the use of AI as a tool to increase client engagement in supported employment services. She is the Principal Investigator for the NIDILRR-funded Disability Rehabilitation Research Program (DRRP) grant aiming to enhance the supported employment services for people with psychiatric disabilities with a module addressing workplace prejudice and discrimination.
Dr. Russinova has led the development and evaluation of several recovery-oriented interventions incorporating Photovoice methodology as an empowerment tool to promote proactive coping with prejudice and discrimination, engagement in vocational services, and community participation. She has also directed projects exploring various aspects of recovery, such as vocational recovery and successful employment, the role of spirituality in recovery and the use of alternative therapies, and mental health practitioners’ recovery-promoting competence.
Areas of Expertise
- Vocational recovery and sustained employment of people with serious mental illnesses
- Interventions enhancing the employment outcomes of people with serious mental illnesses
- Understanding and enhancing the healthy aging of people with serious mental illnesses
- Psychiatric prejudice and discrimination
- Enhancing the community participation of people with serious mental illnesses
- Photovoice as a tool to understand and promote the recovery of people with serious mental illnesses
- Mental health and rehabilitation providers’ recovery-promoting competencies