Margaret Scisney-Matlock, PhD, MA, RN, FAAN


Professor Emerita
Room 2160 NURS1

University of Michigan School of Nursing
400 North Ingalls Building
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5482

Telephone: (743)763-0002

Interests

  • Cardiovascular risk
  • Illness representations
  • Lifestyle modifications
  • Medication compliance
  • Dietary adherence

Dr. Scisney-Matlock is a nationally recognized nursing scientist and educator whose research focuses on transforming the understanding and care of hypertension for women from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Since 1998, she has been conducting research that underscores this primary scholarly/teaching interest, focusing on relationships between cognitive representations of disease and health-related behavior, hypertension treatment regimes, and dietary approaches to reduce blood pressure for women from racially and geographically diverse backgrounds. More recently, she has expanded her research to include a computer-generated tool that provides a program of self-care activities to enhance adherence to the DASH diet which is effective for lowering blood pressure in women. As Principal Investigator on several grants to establish proof of the concept, Dr. Scisney-Matlock laid the groundwork for the translation of a theoretically derived cognitive-behavioral intervention to clinical practice with potential for commercialization.

Current Research Grants and Programs

  • Principal Investigator: Improving Blood Pressure with Women’s and Men’s Hypertension Experiences and Emerging Lifestyles Intervention (WHEELS-I). Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation Michigan’s Call for Addressing the Three Leading Causes of Death in Michigan.

Teaching

Dr. Scisney-Matlock is committed to excellence in education and is particularly interested in how campuses incorporate diversity into their programs. Her action research studies on this topic have resulted in editorials and peer-reviewed publications that strategically address a gap that exists in the area of cultural competence in nursing education. Of her articles which discuss the systematic infusion of diversity content into the undergraduate curriculum, one was selected for full review by the National Institute of Health’s Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), as evidence for Strategies for Improving Minority Healthcare Quality. In 2008, this article was also cited and included among articles selected for a systematic review on diversity, published by researchers at Pennsylvania State University in 2008. As an educator, Dr. Scisney-Matlock's philosophy of teaching is deeply and profoundly grounded in being principled and maintaining high standards for the University of Michigan. In teaching at the School of Nursing, she aims to provide students with effective educational experiences that help them learn about the impact of illness and disease processes on human functioning, to apply empirically based nursing treatment systems, and to value and maintain the vitality of the profession through commitment, courage, and communication.

Affiliations / Service

  • Member, American Society of Hypertension (Conference Presenter)
  • Member, Association of Black Faculty in Higher Education - Research Committee (Past Board Member)
  • Member, International Society of Hypertension in Blacks (Chair, Behavioral Strategies Committee; Board Member, Abstract Reviewer)
  • Member at large, International Society of Hypertension in Blacks - Program Committee
  • Member, Midwest Nursing Research Society - Chronicity and Research Sections
  • Conference Presenter, National Association of Ethnic and Race Relations in Higher Education

Notable Awards / Honors

  • Fellow, Medical Innovation Center, University of Michigan, 2010
  • Fellow, Institute of Excellence, National Association Black Nurses, 2008
  • Fellow, American Academy Nursing , 2004
  • University of Michigan’s Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award, Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, 1999
  • University of Michigan’s Distinguished Career Service Award, Association of Black Administrators, Faculty and Staff, 1998

Education

  • PhD - Sociology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 1985
  • MA - Sociology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 1981
  • MSN, Indiana University, School of Nursing, Indianapolis, IN, 1973
  • BSN, Murray State University, School of Nursing, Murray, KY, 1973

Publication Highlights

  • Flack J, et al, (2010). Management of high blood pressure in African Americans: An update of the ISHIB Consensus Statement, Clinical Guidelines for Treatment of Hypertension, Hypertension, accepted

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Batts-Turner ML, Bosworth HB, Coverson D, Dennison CR, Dunbar-Jacob JM, Giger JN, Van Harrison R, Jones L, Ogedegbe G, Shah NR, Strickland OL, & Jamerson KA. (2009) Strategies for sustained behavioral modification as part of hypertension management. Post Graduate Medicine, May (121): 3,147-157.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Grand, A., Steigerwalt S & Normolle,D. (2009). Reliability and reproducibility of clinic and home blood pressure measurements in hypertensive women according to age and ethnicity. Blood Pressure Monitoring, April (2):49-57.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Kachorek L, McClerking C, & Glazewski C (2006). Development and evaluation of DASH diet tailored messages for hypertension treatment. Applied Nursing Research, 19:78-87.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Makos G, Saunders T, Jackson F, & Steigerwalt S (2004). Comparison of quality-of-hypertension-care indicators for groups treated by physician versus groups treated by physician-nurse team. American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 16:17-23.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, & Watkins K (2003). Validity of the cognitive representations of hypertension scales. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 33:1-19.

  • Scisney-Matlock M (2003, May 17). High blood pressure: Seeing is believing. WebMD Health News Archive, [http://www.webmd.com/hypertension-high blood pressure/news/20030516/high blood pressure-seeing-is-believing].

  • Scisney-Matlock M, & Matlock J (2001). Promoting understanding of diversity through mentoring undergraduate students. In Reinarz A, & White E (Eds), New Directions for Teaching and Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Watkins K, & Colling K (2001). The interaction of age and cognitive representations in predicting blood pressure. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 23(4):476-489.

  • Scisney-Matlock M (2000). Systematic methods to enhance diversity knowledge gained: A proposed path to professional richness. Journal of Cultural Diversity, Summer, 7(2):41-47.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, Algase D, Boehm S, Coleman-Burns P, Oakley D, Rogers AE, Yeo S, Young E, & Yu M (2000). Measuring behavior: Electronic devices in nursing studies. Applied Nursing Research, 13(2):97-102.

  • Scisney-Matlock M, & Watkins K (1999). Examination of factor structure of the cognitive representations of hypertension scale for ethnic equivalence. Ethnicity & Disease, 9(1):33-47.

  • Scisney-Matlock M (1998). Reliability and validity of the lifestyle cognitive representations scales. Journal of Association of Black Faculty in Higher Education, 9(2):28-34.

  • Scisney-Matlock M (1997). Cognitive science constructs to guide nursing interventions for adults with essential hypertension: Part I. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, 1(1):6-11.

  • Scisney-Matlock M (1997). Cognitive science constructs to guide nursing interventions for adults with essential hypertension: Part II. Journal of Theory Construction & Testing, 1(2):35-39.