Professor Emerita
Kathleen (Kathy) Knafl is a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a sociologist who has spent her entire academic career in nursing with prior faculty appointments at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Yale, University, and Oregon Health Sciences University. Throughout her 50 year career Dr. Knafl has been committed to advancing family health and understanding family response to health-related challenges. As an advocate for and expert in family research her scholarship has encompassed substantive, theoretical and methodological contributions. In collaboration with colleagues Janet Deatrick and Agatha Gallo, she led the development of the Family Management Style Framework, including development of a structured measure of family management (Family Management Measure – FaMM). Both the framework and measure have been used by investigators in multiple countries and the FaMM has been translated into 10 languages. Further information on the development, testing, and scoring of the FaMM can be found at https://nursing.unc.edu/research/support/family-mgmt-measure.
Much of Dr. Knafl’s research has involved mixed-methods designs and she has contributed to the development of analytic strategies aimed at treating the family/dyad as the unit of analysis. In addition to leading NIH funded studies of family management of childhood chronic conditions, Dr. Knafl was principal investigator for a synthesis of research on the intersection of family life and childhood chronic conditions. Dr. Knafl has served as a co-investigator and consultant on multiple NIH and privately funded grants, most often providing guidance of data collection and analysis in family research. She was a founding member of the International Family Nursing Association, serving as association treasurer for six years. She is on the editorial board of the Journal of Family Nursing and in 2018 she was awarded the Alumni Achievement Award from the University of Illinois at Chicago for her efforts to advance family health and research.
2018, Alumni Achievement Award, Alumni Association University of Illinois at Chicago
2015, International Family Nursing Association Award for Excellence in Family Nursing
2009, Frances Hill Fox Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
2007, Distinguished Contributions to Family Nursing Research Award. Journal of Family Nursing
2005, Elizabeth N. Gray Distinguished Professor, Oregon Health & Sciences University
2001, Honorary Fellow American Academy of Nursing
1997, Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Nursing and Health Care, American Academy of Nursing
1997, Alumni Association University of Illinois at Chicago Flame Award for Teaching Excellence
1993, Honorary Membership, Society for Pediatric Nurses
1990, 2000, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing Graduate Student Organization Award for Faculty Excellence
1989, Honorary Membership Sigma Theta Tau International
1978, 1980, American Journal of Nursing Book of the Year Award
Selected Publications – past 10 years
Data-Based
Deatrick, J. A., Knafl, G. J., Knafl, K., Hardie, T. L., Bressler, S., Hobbie, W., Bratton, K., Dominguez, M., Guzman, C., Rees Papinsick, A., Rees, A. L., Voisine, S., & Barakat, L. P. (2021). Mothers’ and fathers’ views of family management and health-related quality of life for young adult survivors of childhood brain tumors. Journal of psychosocial oncology, 39(5), 629–645. https://doi.org/10.1080/07347332.2020.1844845
Knafl, K., Deatrick, J, Knafl, G., Gallo, A. Grey, M., Dixon, J. (2013). Patterns of family management of childhood chronic conditions and their relationship to child and family functioning. Journal of Pediatric Nursing, 28, 523-535.
Ulrich, C. M., Knafl, K., Foxwell, A. M., Zhou, Q., Paidipati, C., Tiller, D., Ratcliffe, S. J., Wallen, G. R., Richmond, T. S., Naylor, M., Gordon, T. F., Grady, C., & Miller, V. (2021). Experiences of Patients After Withdrawal From Cancer Clinical Trials. JAMA network open, 4(8), e2120052. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.20052
Gallo, A., Patil, C., Knafl, K., Angst, D., Rondelli, D., & Saraf, S. (2019). The experience of adults with sickle cell disease and their HLA-matched adult sibling donors after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 75, 2943-2951. doi: 10.1111/jan.14152.
Deatrick, J., Barakat, L., Knafl, G., Hobie, W., Ogle, S., Ginsberg, J., Fisher, M., Hardie, T., Reilly, M., Broden, E., Toth, J., San Giacomo, Knafl, K. (2018). Patterns of family management for adolescent and young adult brain tumor survivors. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 321-332. doi: 10.1037/fam0000352.
Theory and Methods
Kelly, K, Knafl K. , Keller S, & Hinds, P. (2021). Thematic expansion: A new strategy for theory development. Western journal of Nursing Research (10):962-971. doi: 10.1177/0193945920984795
Van Riper, M., Knafl, G., Barbieri-Figueiredo, M., Caples, M., Choi, H., de Graaf, G., Duarte, E. D., Honda, J., Marta, E., Phetrasuwan, S., Alfieri, S., Angelo, M., Deoisres, W., Fleming, L., Dos Santos, A., Rocha da Silva, M., Skelton, B., van der Veek, S., & Knafl, K. (2021). Measurement of family management in families of individuals with Down Syndrome: A cross-cultural investigation. Journal of Family Nursing, 27(1), 8–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1074840720975167
Knafl, K., & Van Riper, M. (2017). Tips for developing a successful family research proposal. Journal of Family Nursing, 23, 450-460. doi: 10.1177/1074840717743248.
Knafl, K., Leeman, J., Havill, N., Crandell, J., & Sandelowski, M. (2015). Delimiting family in syntheses of research on childhood conditions and family life. Family Process, 54, 173- 184. doi: 10.1111/famp.12101
Knafl, A., Deatrick, J., & Havill, N. (2012). Continued development of the Family Management Style Framework. Journal of Family Nursing, 18, 11-34. doi:10.1177/1074840711427294.
Research Synthesis
Knafl KA, Deatrick JA, Gallo AM, Skelton B. (2021). Tracing the Use of the Family Management Framework and Measure: A Scoping Review. Journal of Family Research 27(2):87-106. doi: 10.1177/1074840721994331
Skelton, B., Knafl, K., Van Riper, M., Fleming, L., & Swallow, V. (2021). Care Coordination
Needs of Families of Children with Down Syndrome: A Scoping Review to Inform Development of mHealth Applications for Families. Children (Basel, Switzerland), 8(7), 558. https://doi.org/10.3390
Havill, N., Fleming, L., & Knafl, K. (2019). Well siblings of children with chronic illness: A synthesis research study. (2019). Research in Nursing & Health, 42, 334-348. doi: 10.1002/nur.21978
Knafl, K., Havill, N., Leeman, J., Fleming, L., Crandell, J., & Sandelowski, M. (2016). The
Nature of family engagement in interventions for children with chronic conditions. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 39, 690-723. doi: 10.1177/0193945916664700.
Knafl, K., Leeman, J., Havill, N., Crandell, J., & Sandelowski, M. (2015). Delimiting family in syntheses of research on childhood chronic conditions and family life. Family process, 54(1), 173–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12101
Co-investigator, “How Parent Constructs Affect Parent and Family Wellbeing after a Child’s Death” funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, R091NR015831, 9/29/15–6/30/19.
Co-investigator, “Retention in Cancer Clinical Trials: Modeling Patient-Participants’ Risk-Benefit” (R01CA196131 awarded to C. Ulrich), Funded by the National Institute of Cancer 2014–2019.
Principal Investigator, “Mixed-Methods Synthesis of Research on Childhood Chronic Conditions and Family” (R01NR01445), Funded by the National Institute for Nursing Research, 2011–2016, $1,347,026.
Co-investigator, “Measuring Self-Management of Type 1 Diabetes in Youth” (R01NR08579 awarded to L. Schilling), Funded by the National Center for Nursing Research, 2004–2007.
Co-investigator, “Preventing Type 2 Diabetes in At-Risk Youth” (R01 NR008579 awarded to M. Grey), funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research, 09/01/03–06/30/05.