Patricia Barrington, PhD

Patricia Barrington, teaches health promotion and planning, changing health behaviors, stress management, theory and foundation of health promotion, and worksite wellness. 

Barrington has been developing, implementing, and managing health promotion programs and disease prevention initiatives for the past 30 years at military bases, non-profit organizations, and community collaborations. 

She leverages her experience in tobacco and alcohol prevention education with her desire to improve the quality of life of UWF employees, faculty and students, and residents of surrounding communities. In 2014, she led the task force to develop a tobacco policy for the UWF campus. The result of the task force’s effort was a tobacco-free campus policy which went into effect in 2016.  

Barrington holds several leadership positions, influencing public policy and programs in health promotion. She was appointed by the Governor of Florida as a state representative for the Florida Tobacco Advisory Council in 2015; president of the Florida Society of Public Health Education; chair of Healthy Environments Are Tobacco-free Partnership in Escambia County; and first vice president for Community Drug and Alcohol Council.    

At UWF since 2005, she is committed to supporting the next generation of community educators by providing undergraduate students with the opportunity to gain valuable experience through internships in the community. Many of her former students who are working in the field of health promotion return to UWF to mentor undergraduate students, sharing their experience and providing advice on the current job market. 

She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bradley University, and a master's and doctorate in community health education from the University of West Florida.