About

Tai Mendenhall is a Professor in the Couple & Family Therapy Specialization at the University of Minnesota. He is a Medical Family Therapist and serves as the Director of the UMN Medical Reserve Corps’ Mental Health Disaster-Response Teams. His research examines collaborative family health care and community-based participatory research focused on public health issues.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Medicine
• Political Science
• Finance
• Nursing
• Medical emergency
• Social psychology
• Business
• Pathology
• Gerontology
• Family medicine
• Psychotherapist

Selected publications

• An Examination of the Lived Experiences of College Student Mentors and Their Experiences of Flourishing in a Youth Mentoring Program

  Journal of Community Psychology · 2025-06-03 · 1 citations

  article

  This study examined college students' perceptions about whether volunteering as a youth mentor impacts their experience of flourishing. The aim was to examine how specific experiences in the mentoring program (e.g., relationships with staff and peers, belonging to an organization, and skill development) may lead to flourishing. This study was conducted using a phenomenological study design and was guided by the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Participants (N = 9) were recruited on a midwestern campus from a voluntary program where college students mentor youth in an after-school setting. Aspects of the mentoring experience that contribute to college students' experience of flourishing and opportunities for growth were examined.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of HF Pharmacological Therapy on the Durability of Favorable Response After LVAD Weaning: A VAD Wean Registry Analysis

  The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation · 2025-04-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Family systems scholarship in integrated health: Where have we been? Where are we going?

  Families Systems & Health · 2025-06-01 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  (FSH) is representative of one of the longest standing foci emphasized in the journal. We highlight how patients navigate health challenges within relational and social contexts (e.g., marriages, committed partnerships, friendships, and communities). By co-owning problems and coconstructing solutions, we recognize how patients fare better in couple, family, and social groups compared to when they function alone. Systemic interventions, community-based participatory research, and other means of pursuing health collectively are recognized and embraced in this emphasis area. As associate editors, we are highly committed to publishing innovative work aligned with these tenets. In this article, we discuss (1) current knowledge: what do we know? and; (2) what is next? identified needs, suggestions, and invitations for future submissions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Advancing integrated health care through family, systems, and health: A brief report.

  Families Systems & Health · 2025-03-01

  article

  INTRODUCTION: Despite continued efforts to substantiate models and measures, primary care organizations continue to struggle with the implementation of integrated health care (IHC). The incoming editors of Families, Systems, & Health (FSH), a peer-reviewed journal that promotes IHC, seek to define practical and applicable processes and structures that can be adopted to improve patients' mental and behavioral health outcomes vis-a-vis IHC. This brief report assessed coverage of the IHC content areas in articles published in FSH between 2018 and 2023 and informs the coeditors next steps in adopting a framework focused on sustainable integration efforts. METHOD: To assess coverage, we conducted a rigorous and comprehensive analysis following the PSALSAR method. A total of 357 articles were analyzed and categorized across 15 thematic content areas operationalized according to the Lexicon for Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration. RESULTS: Findings showed that practice management (17.8%), family systems (14.6%), workforce development (13.2%), and diversity (13.2%) have been the most common content areas published in FSH. The least identified content areas included technology (5.6%), personal narratives (6.1%), and dissemination and implementation (7.4%). CONCLUSION: We recommend that FSH maintains its emphasis on practice management, workforce development, and related other topics informative to the effective practice(s) of IHC. Moving forward, we also encourage a more balanced pairing of these works with research regarding ways to organize and financially sustain said practice(s) effectively. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• “How Do I Tell My Children I Have Cancer?” Disclosing a Cancer Diagnosis to School-Aged Children: A Qualitative Study

  Journal of Medical Humanities · 2025-05-09 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Clinical Work with Female Torture Survivors: An Exploration of Service Providers’ Views

  Contemporary Family Therapy · 2024-09-13

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• “I Just Feel Overwhelmed” Overall Stress, Course-Related Stress, and Stress Management Among First-Generation and International Students at a Research University

  Journal of First-generation Student Success · 2024-06-20 · 1 citations

  article

  This mixed-methods study ascertained the causes of course-related stress — and strategies to cope with such stress — for first-generation (FG) and international undergraduate and graduate students. Using survey data from a public research university, results show FG students experiencing higher levels of overall and course-related stress — and lower abilities in stress management — than their international, domestic, and continuing generation counterparts. Teaching practices and policies that exacerbated students' struggles were recognized across foci relevant to heavy and unevenly distributed course workloads, ineffective and unsupportive instructor behaviors, and ambiguous communication about course expectations and requirements. Implications for policy, practice, and research are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Navigating Loss in Healthcare Teams: We Are in This Together

  Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics · 2024-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  This commentary highlights the vulnerability, lived-experience, and wisdom gained by providers who have navigated extraordinary stress and painful loss(es) at work. Their narratives serve to remind us that we-physicians, psychologists, nurses, chaplains, and others-are just as human as the patients and families that seek our help. The stoicism indoctrinated into us through our training is not helpful. Instead, as we reach out to each other, providers are able to offer and receive support from loved-ones and professional peers, colleagues, and mentors in a myriad of ways. As we do this together, we do better-personally and professionally.

  PublisherDOI

• Establishing an accountability benchmark for equity, diversity, and inclusion: A 10-year scoping review of Families, Systems, & Health.

  Families Systems & Health · 2024-08-22 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: (FSH) issued a statement of purpose to equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) and developed a strategic plan for promoting EDI in scientific communication and publishing. The purpose of this review was to evaluate a decade of research published in FSH prior to the journal's initiatives to improve EDI. METHOD: We utilized a scoping review to broadly review literature published in FSH that focused on topics of race, ethnicity, racism, and/or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) groups. All research studies published in FSH between 2012 and 2021 were independently assessed by two reviewers for inclusion. Charting of data from each study was based on a diversity accountability index. RESULTS: Of the 360 research studies identified, 41 were included in the review. Characteristics and frequencies of keywords, research designs, and samples among the included studies were examined, alongside the reporting of results that focused on the differences between racial/ethnic groups and within BIPOC groups. DISCUSSION: Research focused on race, ethnicity, racism, and diversity science is not well represented among published studies in FSH prior to the implementation of the above-described EDI efforts. Among articles that did focus on these topics, comparisons largely were of a racial/ethnic minority sample to a White sample. Action steps for FSH and other journals wishing to promote EDI include a thorough examination of current journal review procedures paired with the establishment of procedures for combatting bias and racism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

  PublisherDOI

• Religion and Sexuality: A Qualitative Study of Young Muslim College Students’ Experiences

  Journal of Feminist Family Therapy · 2024-07-04 · 2 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• William J. Doherty

  University of Minnesota

  32 shared

• Jerica M. Berge

  University of Minnesota Medical Center

  17 shared

• Angela L. Lamson

  13 shared

• Jennifer L. Hodgson

  East Carolina University

  9 shared

• Max Zubatsky

  Saint Louis University

  6 shared

• Ruth G. McRoy

  5 shared

• Virginia Solis Zuiker

  University of Minnesota System

  5 shared

• D. Russell Crane

  5 shared

Education

• PH.D., Family Social Science

  University of Minnesota

Awards & honors

• 2023 Marty and Jack Rossman Faculty Development Award, Unive…
• 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019 Certificate for Dedication to Student…
• 2020 Families and Health Professional Clinical Practice Awar…
• 2017 Ramsey County Public Health Award (University of Minnes…
• 2016 Wingspread Award; Collaborative Family Healthcare Assoc…