Evans named to government health-care advocacy post

University of Florida psychologist Garret Evans, Psy.D., is one of fewer than 30 people to be appointed a Primary Health Care Fellow by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The fellowships are designed to bring together a multidisciplinary group of primary heath-care leaders from around the world to meet and work with top government, congressional and private sector health-care officials in the nation’s capital. The intensive six-month fellowships include three weeks of on-site training, during which participants will study primary health-care policy, education and research to become more effective advocates for improving primary health care at all levels of government and the private sector. Sessions on leadership development and media training are also offered to assist fellows with their advocacy role.

An associate professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions’ department of clinical and health psychology and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences’ department of family, youth and community sciences, Evans focuses his clinical and research interests on school-based mental health strategies, community-based approaches to violence prevention and innovative models of rural behavioral health service delivery. He is the director of the National Rural Behavioral Health Center.