Rachel Hoopsick, PhD, MS, MPH, MCHES
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rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Rachel Hoopsick, PhD, MS, MPH, MCHES
@rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
2.4K followers 670 following 200 posts
First Gen Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at University of Illinois | Studying drug use & mental health | UB alum🤘🏼🌹🌈🍉
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rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
No pizza party or company swag is going to fix the reality of what it’s like to be a healthcare worker in the US. Our pilot data suggest that moral injury is prevalent among HCWs and may affect suicidal thoughts and behaviors doi.org/10.1080/1555...
ABSTRACT Research suggests that moral injury (i.e., perpetrating, witness-ing, or failing to prevent acts that transgress one's moral beliefs, values, or ethics) is associated with a range of adverse psychological sequelae among military-connected populations, including suicidality. However, little is known about how moral injury is associated with suicidality among healthcare workers or if these associations differ by gender. We collected self-reported data from a sample of United States healthcare workers (N= 200), including a modified Moral Injury Events Scale and items related to suicidality (i.e., past-year suicide thoughts, suicide plans, suicide attempts). We examined the cross-sectional relationships between moral injury and these measures of suicidality using separate logistic regression models and examined for differences by gender. Greater moral injury was significantly associated with higher odds of past- year suicidal thoughts (aOR = 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.09) and associated with suicide planning (aOR = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.12) and suicide attempt at a trend-level (aOR = 1.07, 95% Cl: 0.99, 1.16). There were no statistically significant differences in these associations by gender. Results suggest that suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts of healthcare workers may be driven, in part, by morally injurious events experienced in the workplace.
October 11, 2025 at 12:14 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
I bet you’ll get some interesting data from this @drseanmullen.bsky.social! Can’t wait to hear what people are most misinformed on.
100% 20/20 questions correct Epidemiologist’s Nightmare
September 11, 2025 at 10:56 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
The MS thesis of PhD student Sylvia Okon is now a peer-reviewed journal article! We found that compassion fatigue was associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors among healthcare workers, underscoring the need for systems-level support and targeted interventions to protect worker well‑being.
Associations between compassion fatigue and suicidality among healthcare workers in the United States (abstract) Background: The psychological well-being of healthcare workers affects not only their own health but also patient care quality, making it critical to examine the mental health needs of the healthcare workforce. While compassion fatigue (i.e., depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and career dissatisfaction) and suicidality have been studied separately among healthcare workers, their relationship with each other remains understudied. This study investigates the associations between compassion fatigue and past-year suicidal thoughts, suicide planning, and suicide attempts among a diverse sample of healthcare workers. Methods: We collected cross-sectional data from a sample of U.S. healthcare workers (N = 200). Logistic regression models examined relationships between compassion fatigue and past-year suicidal thoughts, planning, and attempts, separately. Final models controlled for gender and occupational setting (hospital vs. other). Results: Suicidality was prevalent: 14 % of participants reported past-year suicidal thoughts, 6.0 % reported suicide planning, and 3.5 % reported a suicide attempt. Greater compassion fatigue was significantly associated with increased odds of past-year suicidal thoughts (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.04, 1.16), suicide planning (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.02, 1.19), and suicide attempts (OR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.21). After controlling for gender and occupational setting, these associations remained significant for suicidal thoughts (aOR = 1.09, 95 % CI: 1.04, 1.16), suicide planning (aOR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.02, 1.19), and suicide attempts (aOR = 1.10, 95 % CI: 1.01, 1.21). Conclusions: Findings suggest that higher compassion fatigue is linked to increased suicidality among healthcare workers, highlighting the need to address compassion fatigue as a potential risk factor
August 1, 2025 at 8:31 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Our latest paper presents the findings from a pilot study to understand why PWID access contactless harm reduction services. People who used a vending machine did not differ in their ability to engage in harm-reducing behaviors compared to those who used in-person services. doi.org/10.1186/s129...
Harm reduction self-efficacy and motivations for contactless supply access among a sample of syringe services program participants Background Contactless harm reduction supply methods (e.g., vending machines, mail order, mobile delivery) have become prevalent in the United States. However, this approach has faced some criticisms, including the notion that, unlike staffed syringe services programs, contactless methods do not provide face-to-face support, education, or referrals to treatment, potentially limiting their overall impact. Methods We collected self-reported data from a sample of people who inject drugs who accessed a syringe services program (N=50), including their demographics, harm reduction self-efficacy (i.e., confidence to employ specific health-preserving coping skills in high-risk drug using situations), and motivations for contactless harm reduction supply access via vending machine. We explored differences in the participants' demographics and harm reduction self-efficacy by usual method of harm reduction supply access (in-person vs. vending machine). Results Participants accessed the harm reduction supply vending machine primarily out of convenience (66%) and limited syringe services program hours (56%). Fear of being seen by someone they knew (28%), law enforcement (34%), and social services (22%) were also motivators. Overall, harm reduction self-efficacy was highest for safer injection practices but lowest for reducing drug use. We did not find any significant differences in participants' demographics or harm reduction self-efficacy by access method. Conclusions People who access harm reduction supplies in person and through contactless methods may not meaningfully differ in terms of their demographics and harm reduction self-efficacy, and contactless harm reduction supply methods are more convenient than in-person services. Findings support continued reductions to barriers of harm reduction services.
July 28, 2025 at 4:24 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Update for OG epitwitter: Remember when you helped crowdfund to help Sylvia get to the US? She just finished her MS and will be continuing on with her PhD. Many thanks again for supporting this promising young scholar! Her future is so bright 💙
Sylvia wearing her graduation regalia for the University of Illinois
May 18, 2025 at 3:04 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
What even is this?? Please don't include questions like this in a recommendation form.
If you fast forwarded 10-20 years , who would this student most closely resemble? (Select all that apply) followed by images of various well-known famous people with no context.
March 17, 2025 at 2:47 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Our latest paper in Armed Forces & Society suggests that reservists' motivations for joining the military may play a role in post-deployment mental health: doi.org/10.1177/0095...
Abstract The link between combat exposure and mental health among military service members has been well-established, and reservists are at increased risk. This study uses a subset of cross-sectional data (N = 239) from Operation: SAFETY, an ongoing study of U.S. Army Reserve/National Guard soldiers, to examine the moderating effects of reasons for joining the military on the relations between combat exposure and post-deployment mental health symptomatology. Soldiers who served for reasons associated with “wanting a military life” had an increasingly higher likelihood of anxiety symptomatology with greater combat exposure. Conversely, soldiers who served for reasons associated with “wanting material benefits” reported fewer mental health symptoms as combat exposure increased.
February 19, 2025 at 4:35 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
This is VILE
www.cdc.gov/hiv-data/ind...
Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it. HIV SURVEILLANCE
February 15, 2025 at 2:21 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
www.medpagetoday.com/special-repo...
"These unprecedented restrictions on scientific information are a threat not only to the integrity of the data itself, but also to the ways in which we respond to that information, including how healthcare professionals provide patient care, and ultimately, the health of populations - especially those that are already made vulnerable in so many other ways," Hoopsick told MedPage Today.
February 12, 2025 at 10:37 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Some real revisionist stuff. My public health colleague (not a federal employee) had a 2017 paper pulled from a CDC journal…due to acknowledging that racial disparities exist. #EpiSky 🛟
Hey fellow researchers- if you have published in any government sponsored journals you may want to check and see if you work has been censored. My paper on "Recruiting Community Partners for Veggie Van: Strategies and Lessons Learned From a Mobile Market Intervention in North Carolina" has been taken down from the CDC's Preventing Chronic Disease Journal website, likely because it has the following statement in it "Organizations serving low-income, diverse populations were identified as the priority for recruitment because of significantly lower rates of fruit and vegetable consumption among these groups in North Carolina." Ironically it can still be found in NIH's archive because we are required by law to make all findings from our federally funded research publicly available.
February 10, 2025 at 2:09 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
The webpages for YRBSS and BRFSS are just…gone #episky 🛟
The page you're looking for was not found.
January 31, 2025 at 11:30 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Our team’s latest paper, led by PhD student Sylvia Okon, suggests that healthcare workers’ experiences at work may contribute to their substance use and that those in lower-wage support occupations may be made most vulnerable to the effects of occupational stressors.

doi.org/10.1016/j.ab...
Work-related stress has been well-examined among physicians, but little is known about how it might affect drug use or healthcare workers in lower-wage occupations characterized by high job demands and low occupational autonomy (e.g., medical assistants, nursing assistants). We collected data from a diverse sample of healthcare workers (N = 200) and separately examined the cross-sectional relationships between several work-related experiences (i.e., compassion satisfaction, burnout, and secondary traumatic stress) and measures of current drug use (i.e., non-medical use of prescription drugs [NMUPD], cannabis use, and illicit drug use). We then examined for differences in these relationships by occupational level (i.e., prescriber/administrator vs. other healthcare worker). In main effects models, greater burnout and secondary traumatic stress were both associated with higher odds of NMUPD, cannabis use, and illicit drug use (ps < 0.01). Greater compassion satisfaction was associated with lower odds of illicit drug use (p < 0.05), but not with NMUPD or cannabis use (ps > 0.05). There was a significant interaction between secondary traumatic stress and occupational level on NMUPD (p < 0.05) such that there was no relationship among prescribers/administrators, but the likelihood of NMUPD increased with greater secondary traumatic stress among other healthcare workers. Similar trend-level interactions were observed between secondary traumatic stress and occupational level on cannabis use (p < 0.10) and between burnout and occupational level on NMUPD. Burnout and secondary traumatic stress may contribute to drug use, and lower-wage healthcare workers may be especially vulnerable.
January 12, 2025 at 7:35 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
I earned my code with a meme about capitalist landlords that tickled the funny bone of @realqrampage.fightins.online
Tweet text: Hello! I am making my periodic appearance to announce that I once again have one (1) invite code to bl*esky. If you’re interested in receiving this invite, please post your concise thoughts about landlords below to be considered. Reply: Is this a pigeon meme with text “Landlords be like…is this a profit opportunity?” butterfly labeled “basic human need for shelter”
November 23, 2024 at 4:10 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Kendra (@kendraa.bsky.social) is a true public health comrade, the @deathpanel.bsky.social transcriptionist, and a master crafter. Give her a follow on this app and support her shop: threadyhandmade.com
https://threadyhandmade.com/ cat ornament https://threadyhandmade.com/ Frog ornament https://threadyhandmade.com/ Octopus boxy pouch https://threadyhandmade.com/ Porcupine bookmark
November 21, 2024 at 2:05 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
www.reckon.news/justice/2024...
Beyond its failure to bring about major policy change, being fed the lie that political participation means voting for the lesser of two evils has limited our imagination of what is truly possible for our world. By design, it has forced us to accept mass suffering and mass death as normal. It has told us that things like basic human rights and universal healthcare are outlandish fantasies. Rather than demanding the changes needed to build a world in which everyone can live with dignity, health and safety, it tells us that things could be worse, so therefore, we should choose something that appears just a little bit better.
January 13, 2024 at 9:57 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Never-deployed reservists often aren’t eligible for VA healthcare for their mental and physical health concerns, but they don’t have confidence in civilian HCPs to address their needs. See our latest in Psychology, Health & Medicine: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Image of abstract of published paper available at the link provided.
January 9, 2024 at 4:46 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
It’s fun to have get togethers with these other parents and get all the kids to make a circle pit. Metal babies really soften the blow of aging.
Baby wearing a deftones onesie and a hat
December 27, 2023 at 3:05 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
I got your name in the secret santa gift exchange
Screen shot of Walmart webpage selling a coffee mug with the ICD code for poisoning by caffeine, intentional self harm
December 11, 2023 at 2:12 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Throwback to teaching epi by cookies:
Plate of triangle sugar cookies with diagrams for mediation, moderation, confounding, and the epi triad
December 10, 2023 at 2:53 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
So proud of my students! Here’s Community Health PhD student Ben Campbell presenting on moral injury and suicidality among healthcare workers and Psych junior Rachel Sun presenting on the needs and harm reduction preferences of SSP participants!
Ben in a bright pink blazer standing next to his poster talking to a conference attendee Rachel in a black pantsuit standing in front of her poster while describing it to a group of conference attendees
November 12, 2023 at 10:01 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
SOS 🛟 #EpiSky
Screenshot of numerous school emails reporting positive COVID cases with details redacted
November 7, 2023 at 4:35 PM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Work with me! We’re hiring 2 full time teaching positions in the area of veterans’ health as a part of an exciting joint initiative between the MPH and MSW programs @UofIllinois

Public Health: illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Social Work: illinois.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Aerial photo of the University of Illinois campus
November 3, 2023 at 2:00 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Congrats to PhD student Tonazzina Sauda on giving her 1st big lecture! In her words “Being a foreign student, I always thought it would be difficult…due to varied cultural backgrounds and because English is not my native language…Now that I see myself, I feel so proud” 👏🏼
Two photos of Tonazzina giving a lecture in a large lecture hall. She is standing behind a desk in front of a projector screen and holding a microphone.
October 20, 2023 at 2:44 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Looking forward to being a co-I on this project engaging veteran suicide loss survivors. Big congrats to PI Jeni Hunniecut on this PCORI award to do really important work!
pcori Request ID #: 32770 Project Title: Surviving a Battle Buddy's Suicide: Postvention PCOR with Reserve and National Guard Veterans Dear Jeni Hunniecutt and Jon Wilkins, Congratulations on being recommended for PCORI funding! I am writing today to notify you of your points of contact during the Contract activation period. Over the next few weeks, PCORI will be working with you and your staff to activate your contract. With that said, your points of contact are the following:
October 20, 2023 at 2:07 AM
rachelhoopsick.bsky.social
Interested in a PhD in Community Health from the University of Illinois? Our *virtual* PhD recruitment day is coming up! Register now at ahs.illinois.edu/phd-day-2023
Ph.D. RECRUITMENT DAY I Earn a Ph.D. from the UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Join us to learn more about our Ph.D. programs • Community Health • Kinesiology • Recreation, Sport and Tourism • Speech and Hearing Science EVENT DETAILS Tuesday, October 24 at 10 am via Zoom Deadline to register is Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Register now at ahs.illinois.edu/phd-day-2023 or scan the QR code. COLLEGE OF APPLIED HEALTH
October 13, 2023 at 11:53 AM