Ava DiNola is a rising senior and Honors student at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., pursuing a double major in Psychology and Social Work on the B.A. track. Ava has always been particularly attuned to the needs of others, and finds immense reward in working with communities of low-income and high need. She seeks to understand how barriers to mental health access impact the individual, particularly those residing in underserved regions, such as rural Appalachia, where she calls home. In order to diversify the landscape of mental healthcare to include more underrepresented regions, Ava hopes to seek out solutions and interventions that can be translated to serve these communities, not just regions with high resources and ample access to care.
This summer, Ava assisted Dr. Ohemaa Poku on The Child and Adolescent Self-Awareness and Health Study (CASAH), a longitudinal study that assesses health outcomes for individuals exposed to and infected by perinatally-acquired HIV in New York City. In discovering that she had a profound interest in place security and living environment as a critical factor related to health outcomes for HIV-infected individuals, Ava was curious as to how she could incorporate HIV-related mental health interventions into rural regions, and to learn more about their present barriers in access to care. To expand upon the innovative work already done with CASAH, Ava focused her research on creating a literature review and personal perspective analysis that examined technological interventions implemented in Appalachian and rural communities, and worked to create her own solutions for mitigating these gaps. She additionally assisted other CASAH researchers on analyzing the results for a study that examined the interplay between socioeconomic status, medical adherence, and mental health amongst young adults with PHIV.
Ava is humbled to be a part of an internship that taught her new research skills, and allowed her to form relationships with all of the incredibly talented and kind mentors and fellow interns. She feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this experience, and how she has been able to utilize her personal experiences and passion for her community into her work this summer. She looks forward to seeing what the future holds for her, as she intends to continue work with low-income communities in the legal space as a social worker one day!