September 17, 2015
David Malewski’s dissertation, Attitude and Intention to Abuse Controlled Prescription Drugs: A Conditional Indirect Effects Model, examines the attitudes and intentions of chronic pain patients to abuse their controlled prescription drugs.

David Malewski, MS, PharmD, has been awarded the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) Foundation’s Student Award Program grant. The grant provides Dr. Malewski with $3,000 over one academic year, beginning September 2015. David is working toward his PhD in Social and Administrative Science, as well as certificates in Graduate Teaching and Science, Technology, and Public Policy.

The BCBSM Foundation is committed to improve the health of Michigan residents through the support of research and effective demonstration and evaluation projects. The goal of the Student Award Program is to support the next generation of applied researchers in health, health services and policy.

"I am honored and thrilled to have been awarded this grant to help fund my doctoral dissertation study from the BCBSM Foundation," says Malewski. “I will use the grant to help offset the costs associated with the interview and survey incentives and incidental costs associated with data collection for my dissertation research.”

David’s dissertation, Attitude and Intention to Abuse Controlled Prescription Drugs: A Conditional Indirect Effects Model, examines the attitudes and intentions of chronic pain patients to abuse their controlled prescription drugs. He plans to use focus groups and an internet-based survey with University of Michigan Health System patients in order determine whether his behavioral model of prescription drug abuse is accurate and to gather more information to inform the future development of interventions to reduce prescription drug abuse.