Staff Biography

Carolyn Swenson, MSPH, RN, FNP

Senior Project Manager, Guidelines/SBIRT

Carolyn received a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College in Latin American studies and biology, a master's degree in nursing from Pace University, and another master's in public health from the University of Colorado. She has worked at HealthTeamWorks since 2005, coordinating guideline development, managing quality improvement projects and providing training for primary care clinics, public health departments and other healthcare settings. She focuses on motivational interviewing, general preventive health services, depression, tobacco cessation, SBIRT (to address unhealthy alcohol and drug use), adult and pediatric immunizations, diabetes and child health improvement.

Carolyn's areas of expertise include evaluation, survey design, conducting focus groups, collaborating with community partners (including nonhealth professionals), training trainers and lay health workers, translating evidence into practice, cultural competence, and writing for professional and lay audiences. Her background includes work on a Navajo Indian reservation, with Latino migrant farm workers, in a refugee camp in Sudan and with immigrant survivors of war and torture. She has also coordinated population-based research on diabetes and aging in rural Colorado. Carolyn enjoys writing, music, swimming, hiking, snowshoeing and volunteer work.