UConn School of Social Work<\/a>. He also thinks that even though his position as assistant professor is steeped in research \u2013 and some students might find that intimidating \u2013 together, they can work in tandem.<\/p>\n\u201cThe majority of students will work as clinicians and practitioners, either as psychotherapists or case managers,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s important for them to know, though, that research and clinical practice are connected. Their experiences will inform my research, and my research will inform the way they deliver services.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hong describes himself as a global health scholar, one who started his career as a medical social worker in China and went on to get his Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health from the University of Washington and Ph.D. from UCLA.<\/p>\n
And what he studies falls under a self-described \u201cbig umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n
Right now, he\u2019s considering the relationship between intimate partner violence among gay and bisexual men and an increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections, an understudied area, he says, even though research has shown the prevalence of intimate partner violence among this group is similar or higher than among heterosexual counterparts.<\/p>\n
Hong says his previous research found that as the prevalence of violence rises among gay and bisexual men, so too does the risk of mental health disorders, substance use, and HIV and STIs. He hopes to take this research a step further and look at how technology-based interventions, like eHealth and mHealth, might fit in.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy work considers the intersection of social work, public health, psychology, and implementation science to see how I can utilize those interdisciplinary approaches to address the health issues this population faces,\u201d Hong says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came from a culture where sexual and gender identity are highly stigmatized and people don\u2019t seek care after receiving an HIV diagnosis or an STI diagnosis,\u201d he continues. \u201cThat really shaped my research. I want the knowledge I generate to inform practice and policy. I want to be a part of optimizing the standard of services we have and designing new ways to help individuals access health care.\u201d<\/p>\n
The health system in China is vastly different than the United States, Hong notes, explaining that social workers\u2019 primary task in working with those who\u2019ve been diagnosed with HIV is to connect people with medical services, things like getting and taking medications and showing up for follow-up appointments.<\/p>\n
In the U.S., Hong says, supporting one\u2019s medical care isn\u2019t necessarily the focus. There\u2019s already a standard of care and treatment thanks to antiretroviral therapy that offers a life expectancy much the same as the general population.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not only talking about physical health in the U.S., we\u2019re also talking about mental health and social well-being,\u201d he says, adding that his work in California with Black sexual minority men living with HIV included a team of professionals, from medical clinicians to lawyers. \u201cThat is really different, and I appreciate that approach because physical health is just one component of the overall well-being of individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n
As he begins to establish his research lab at UConn, Hong admits he misses China, his family, and the community he left behind. They\u2019re always in his heart, he says, and have profoundly impacted the way he looks at the world and how he approaches his work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m half Korean, half Chinese,\u201d Hong says. \u201cThe U.S. is a multicultural society with people from different backgrounds and different cultures. My own experience helps me see the health disparities and think about the best approach for us as researchers to design interventions and services to address societal problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more about Hong\u2019s work here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘My work considers the intersection of social work, public health, psychology, and implementation science to see how I can utilize those interdisciplinary approaches to address the health issues this population faces’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":183575,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2269,1870],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2368],"class_list":["post-219636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inchip","category-ssw"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 17:57:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=219636"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":235078,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/219636\/revisions\/235078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/183575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=219636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=219636"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=219636"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=219636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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