Digital Commons Network^™

Increasing Accessibility To Newborn Hearing Screening For Out-Of-Hospital Births, Katherine Russum

Student and Trainee Scholarship

The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MECDHH), in collaboration with the Maine Newborn Hearing program, and participating midwives embarked on a pilot program to increase accessibility to newborn hearing screening for out-of-hospital births. Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) guidelines recommend screening infants for hearing differences by 1 month of age, evaluation by 3 months of age, and being enrolled in early intervention by 6 months of age. Most infants who have a missed hearing screen after 1 month of age have consistently been infants born outside the hospital setting.

Step 1 Of Maine Cdc Maternal & Child Health Title V Block Grant Needs Assessment: Gathering Community Input, Elizabeth Deliso

Student and Trainee Scholarship

The Maine Center for Disease Control (ME CDC) receives funding through the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) Title V Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant Program, which creates Federal/State partnerships to address the health services needs of 5 population domains: women, infants, children, children with special health care needs, & adolescents. Every 5 years Maine must conduct a needs assessment to determine its priorities for the next 5 years. Currently Maine is in Step 1 (highlighted in graphic below) of the Needs Assessment Process for 2025-2030. This step involves gathering community input.

Maine Educational Center For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Advisory Council, Fozia Robleh

Student and Trainee Scholarship

The Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MECDHH) plays a crucial role in supporting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing across Maine. One of its primary focuses is on providing quality education and support services to deaf and hard of hearing children and their families. MECDHH primarily serves individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, including children, adolescents, and adults, across the state of Maine. Their services and programs are designed to support these individuals in various aspects of their lives, including education, communication, accessibility, and advocacy. Additionally, MECDHH also works with families, …

Exploring The Influence Of Trauma-Informed Care On Pelvic Examinations For Women, Sarah Dodge, Madison Child, Madison Shirland, Chloe Smith, Claudia Fox, Grace Fernandez

Non-Thesis Student Work

Trauma-informed care (TIC) has become increasingly common in discussions regarding women’s health. TIC refers to a clinical approach that implements compassion, respect, and acknowledges the impact of trauma on patients. In the United States, pelvic exams are routinely performed on women over 21 for gynecological abnormalities. Many of these women present with histories of post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and other psychological comorbidities. These histories greatly influence women’s behaviors, including their likelihood to seek gynecological care in fear of being retraumatized. A literature search was conducted to determine the impact of TIC on the rates of women …

Understanding Occupational Injury And Substance Use Issues Among Workers In The Shellfish And Lobster Industries, Tora Johnson, Katherine Weatherford Darling, Debra Kantor, Joseph Spiller, Oliver G. Jones, Lois-Ann Kuntz, Tara Casimir, Amy Dowley, Greyson Kurtz, Lauren Sachs, Linda Silka, Bridie Mcgreavy

Maine Policy Review

In 2022, American lobster (Homarus americanus) and softshell clam (Mya arenaria) harvests contributed $283 million to Downeast Maine’s economy, employing thousands of harvesters. Harvesting is grueling work. Pain from work-related injuries precedes most opioid deaths, and workers in fisheries are disproportionately at risk. Harvesters are typically self-employed and often uninsured or underinsured, complicating access to care. Prior studies have focused on injury risk or drug use among harvesters without revealing how injury, pain and substance use intertwine with cultural, social and regulatory factors. This study examined the socio-ecologically embedded injury/ pain/ substance use process with surveys of harvesters (n=106) and …

The Reversal Of Roe Vs. Wade And Its Effect On Contraception Access In The U.S., Jessica Dupler, Abby Enck

Non-Thesis Student Work

Over the past year, there has been a shift in the United States healthcare system following the Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade. This shift has caused a burden to fall on contraceptive use across states that either prohibited abortion or permitted it. This information poses the following question: In women of reproductive age living in the U.S., has the reversal of Roe v. Wade impacted birth control access in U.S. states with limited abortion rights compared to U.S. states that do not limit abortions over the past year? A literature search was conducted on CINAHL, PubMed, and Google …

Scaling Up The Relevance Of Land-Sea Connections In Coastal Bacteria Pollution Vulnerability, Bea E. Van Dam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bacteria pollution closures of Maine’s coastal shellfish harvest areas have substantial negative consequences for coastal businesses and communities. Sustainability solutions for Maine’s shellfish harvesting areas and businesses require new types of knowledge and information to protect water quality and public health while avoiding unnecessary fishery closures. Coastal management agencies have interests in tools to support science-based management decision-making related to pollution and sustainability solutions for businesses and communities.

Prior research into land-sea connections has demonstrated uses of geographic information and statistical methods to facilitate management and science communication. Research in Maine has focused on identification and comparison of attributes influencing …

The Relationship Between Intuitive Eating And Body Mass Index And Diet Quality In College Students, Ashley A. Reynolds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective

The objective of this research was to explore the influence of intuitive eating (IE) on body mass index (BMI) and diet quality (DQ) among college students.

Methods

A cross-sectional convenience sample of college students completed an online survey consisting of the short-Healthy Eating Index (SHEI) and the Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (23 items). Body mass index was calculated using self-reported height and weight. Descriptive statistics were used to assess group characteristics. A linear regression was used to test if IE scores significantly predicted BMI. An independent t-test was used to compare BMIs of students with IE scores above and below …

A Social And Ecological Approach To Mosquito Species Distribution Across Land Use In Bangor, Maine, Megan L. Schierer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mosquitoes are ubiquitous pests and infectious disease vectors. However, not all mosquito species bite humans, or are competent pathogen vectors between bloodmeal hosts. Along with climatic variables like temperature and rainfall, mosquito species distribution is determined by aquatic habitat availability for juvenile mosquito development, and terrestrial habitat and host availability for adult mosquitoes. There is variation in the preferred aquatic habitat for gravid female oviposition and subsequent larval development. Some mosquito species’ oviposition and development are associated with ephemeral water sources (e.g., floodplains), others prefer more permanent water sources (e.g., bogs or vernal pools). Other mosquitoes have evolved to occupy …

The Effects Of Peers For Young Adults On Anxiety And Quality Of Life For Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Alysha Cecile Dagg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social skills deficits as well as comorbid anxiety are two characteristics commonly experienced by people with Autism Spectrum Disorder - Level 1 (ASD-1; American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These characteristics are also both contributors to a lower quality of life for young adults (Smith et al., 2019). The current study aimed to identify how the quality of life and anxiety are affected by social skills intervention, specifically the PEERS® for Young Adults program (Laugeson, 2017). PEERS® for Young Adults is an evidence-based social skills intervention intended to support individuals with ASD-1 (Laugeson, 2017). Prior research has demonstrated its success in both …

Advancing Data Equity To Improve Health Equity For People With Disabilities (Pwd), Michelle Fong

Policy Analysis

Up to 26% of adults and 4.3% of children (nearly 70.6 million people) in the US have at least one disability. This is the largest population with consistent health disparities and intersects with all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. Equity is at the core of public health practice. Health data linked with disability data provide accountability and a basis for trust in leaders who seek meaningful health progress for people with disabilities (PWD). Disability data gaps hide health disparities and perspectives of PWD, perpetuating harmful biases.The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US law that upholds civil …

Policy Brief: Advancing Data Equity To Improve Health Equity For People With Disabilities (Pwd), Michelle Fong

Student and Trainee Scholarship

Up to 26% of adults and 4.3% of children (nearly 70.6 million people) in the US have at least one disability. This is the largest population with consistent health disparities and intersects with all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. Equity is at the core of public health practice. Health data linked with disability data provide accountability and a basis for trust in leaders who seek meaningful health progress for people with disabilities (PWD). Disability data gaps hide health disparities and perspectives of PWD, perpetuating harmful biases.The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US law that upholds civil …

An Examination Of The Social And Ecological Risk Factors For Lyme Disease Exposure Amon High School Students In Penobscot County, Maine, Willow Throckmorton-Hansford

Honors College

The intertwining effects of biological and social factors recently have led to a dramatic increase in Lyme disease cases in Maine. These factors include environmental exposure to ticks, a lack of knowledge of prevention measures against ticks, and an increasing population of blacklegged ticks throughout the state. High school students have seldom been used as a group of interest involving Lyme disease prevention research, yet they may be exposed to ticks while engaging in extracurricular activities, outdoor recreation, and in-class lessons that occur outdoors. In addition, social and ecological factors contributing to this issue have never been investigated in tandem …

Imagining Gender Euphorias, Willow Wind

Honors College

Our society needs to talk about gender, but we aren’t very good at it. Avoiding these discussions has harmful impacts on body image and various health disparities (The Trevor Project, 2020). What if we have better and regular conversations about ways we can positively experience gender? This study’s model of negotiating gender can be used by families and educators seeking affirming exploratory learning opportunities. Insights into meanings of gender euphoria help validate diverse sets of experiences, informing a broader cultural discourse that increasingly questions gender binarism (Griffin, 2020).

This study explores conceptualizations and enactment of gender euphoria across demographics and …

Evaluating Edna Metabarcoding As A Mic-Roe-Scopic Net To Catch Salmon Pathogens, Noah Burby

Honors College

Wild Atlantic salmon in the Gulf of Maine (GOM) is a Distinct Population Segment (DPS) that has been listed since 2000 as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The current challenge is year-over-year decreases in the number of mature salmon returning to the Penobscot River for reproduction. Early detection of pathogen presence could allow for the identification of infection and the application of corrective measures. Environmental DNA (eDNA) is simply DNA that is collected from environmental samples (e.g., water, air, and soils), which consists of whole microorganisms and genetic …

Analyzing The Use Of Social Media To Communicate The Intersection Of The Gut Microbiome And Mental Illness, Grace Lafrance

Honors College

This study examines the availability and accuracy of information about the connection between the gut microbiome and the brain, specifically mental illness. Mental illness is a general term used to describe nearly 300 mental disorders, though the two most common, anxiety and depression, were of specific interest for this study. The current biological/ neural theories for anxiety and depression do not adequately illustrate many other factors that influence the development of mental illness. After determining that Generation Z is one of the age groups most affected by these mental illnesses, social media was used to analyze the availability of the …

Reducing Plastic Pollution In The Ocean: Mycobuoys As A Potential Solution, Sue S. Van Hook

Maine Policy Review

Natural mushroom mycelium-based MycoBuoys are an alternative to ubiquitous plastic flotation devices used in Maine aquaculture, fisheries and harbors. They fit perfectly into a circular economic model where natural resources are borrowed for a specific purpose and are returned as elements at the end of product life. MycoBuoys may be composted or used as mulch where 100% of the material enhances soil nutrients upon decomposition. In contrast to this cradle-to-cradle product, currently ubiquitous Stryofoam buoys have expensive end life costs in terms of ecosystem and organismal health consequences. Styrene is a known carcinogen, and the foam particles degrade into smaller …

The Process Of Planning A Professional Conference, Erin Wood

Poster Presentations

Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing is planning a spring conference for parent and professionals to bring together and raise awareness of parents and professionals in the Deaf and hard of hearing community. They are taking family-based feedback of needs in the field and are using a conference to support those in this community and address those needs to a broad range of professionals and families.

Restoring Caregiver Health Through Story Stewardship, Andrea Dole

Poster Presentations

Parents and guardians of people with disabilities in the US often work overtime advocating, teaching, and leading in multiple arenas and systems for the human rights and dignity of their loved ones. These caregivers need safe spaces to be seen, listened to, and supported on a human level in their ongoing work. To provide quality, attuned care and model inclusion for their loved ones with disabilities, a caregiver must have spaces where they can experience that care and inclusion themselves. Peer-led restorative circles and story stewardship practices are promising models to provide mutual support, deep listening, and inclusion, in a …

Maine Educational Center For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing (Mecdhh): Needs Assessment, Hamda Ahmed

Poster Presentations

MECDHH/GBSD has formed a collaborative partnership with several statewide agencies in Maine that serves children who are deaf or hard of hearing and their families. Early screening for children is necessary to provide them the right services. Based on research done in 2018, approximately one in three children did not receive any follow up testing and received no diagnosis. In addition, the social determinants of health plays a big role when it comes to service delivery knowing that Maine is mostly a rural area. In this presentation, we will focus on the activities and the needed priorities identified in the …

Social Isolation During The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Impact On Maine's Nursing Homes, Tanya Roy

Honors College

The COVID-19 pandemic has created several challenges within the healthcare industry and has highlighted the impact of social isolation on older adults in Maine’s nursing homes. The older adult population, defined as individuals 65 years and older, has been identified with increased risk in contracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, older adults were placed on strict isolation precautions and confined within their nursing home setting, many residing only in their rooms. With Maine having the oldest population in the United States, this created a need for further investigation into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lived …

Impact Of Probiotics On Black Soldier Fly Larvae Transmission Of Stenotrophomonas Maltophilia, Emily Marie Mclaughlin

Honors College

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen which can cause a variety of infections, especially in immunocompromised individuals. It has recently been found that black soldier flies can act as carriers for S. maltophilia (Callegari et al., 2020). I have investigated how probiotics impact their vector capabilities. Black soldier fly larvae have been fed substrate spiked with S. maltophilia. After several days of feeding, the larvae were investigated by PCR and plating (Sveensson-Stadler et al., 2011). Two groups of larvae were fed with potatoes infected with S. maltophilia. Persistence of S. maltophilia was determined using PCR by taking samples …

How Physical Activity Implementation Strategies Changed During The Covid-19 Pandemic In Schools Enrolled In The Let’S Go! Program, Alexandra Peary

Honors College

Childhood obesity is a serious public health issue in the United States. Many children fail to meet the recommended daily physical activity of 60 minutes. Poor metabolic health at a young age puts children and adolescents at a significantly higher risk of developing chronic health issues in adulthood. With the potential to further exacerbate the obesity epidemic, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic challenged students’ abilities to participate in structured physical activity, such as recess and physical education, due to school closures, strict social distancing guidelines, and hybrid or remote models of learning. This lack of structure and opportunities for …

Maine Naloxone Distribution Initiative Project-To-Date Totals Through September 30, 2021, Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center

Health & Public Safety

In July 2019, the Maine Naloxone Distribution Initiative (MNDI) launched an overdose education, prevention, and naloxone distribution project. Public health and harm reduction partners, known as Tier 1 Distributors, began distributing state-supplied naloxone rescue kits across Maine to clinicians, community partners, and end users. This brief provides information on naloxone distribution and reported overdose reversals by the Tier 1 organizations comprising the MNDI from the initiation of the project through September 2021, with a particular emphasis on the third quarter of 2021.

The Effect Of Waste And Waste Management On The University Of Maine And Community During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Alexis Welch

Honors College

The Covid-19 pandemic closed the University of Maine the second week of March. Quickly following, most of the country was on lockdown. The virus also has directly affected the University of Maine and its waste stream due to the drastic changes in population and the types of waste being produced. The purpose of this study is to first analyze the direct effects on the amount of waste produced per category on campus in 2019 compared to 2020. The main categories are municipal solid waste, single stream, compost, demo debris, metals, electronics, hazardous waste, universal waste, and biowaste. The second purpose …

A Comprehensive Look Into The Rates Of Obesity In African American And White 6-11-Year-Old Children Relating To Their Socioeconomic Status And Caloric Intake From Fast Food, Sophia Lafrance

Honors College

Obesity levels in adults and children in the United States and around the world have been closely monitored for years. Research in the field of obesity has demonstrated a clear understanding that with increased calorie consumption compared to calories expended, an overall weight gain will occur. Through a collection of cited resources about the factors that affect obesity, a research problem arose considering what is accounting for the increase in calories in groups of children with high rates of obesity. Socioeconomic status has a major influence on the environment that children are raised in, and this factor can affect both …

Exploring The Intersection Of Race, Socioeconomic Status, Breastfeeding And Breast Cancer, Joanna Lafrance

Honors College

This thesis examines the negative correlation between breastfeeding duration and breast cancer rates and how they may intersect with race and socioeconomic status for Black women in the United States. There is well documented evidence that exclusive breastfeeding for at least six months, as recommended by the American Pediatric Association, has numerous benefits to both mother and baby, specifically in decreasing the mother’s lifetime risk of developing breast cancer (1). Similarly, many resources state a negative correlation between number of offspring and breast cancer risk. However, after a systematic analysis of 91 articles was conducted, it appears that statements like …

The Role Of Medicaid For Children With Special Health Care Needs And Disabilities, 2020-2021 Cohort Of New Hampshire-Maine Leadership Education In Neurodevelopmental And Related Disabilities Program Trainees

Policy Analysis

Medicaid plays a critical role in protecting the health and well-being of US children, covering half of infants and toddlers as well as two-thirds of children with special health care needs and disabilities. Since its inception in 1965, Medicaid has provided health coverage for low-income children. For some time, while many children with special health care needs and disabilities were covered under the income eligibility criteria, a large share were not. A major shift occurred in 1982 during the Reagan administration with the creation of the Katie Beckett program, which allowed Medicaid eligibility for medical services in the home (rather …

History Of Deer Herd Reduction For Tick Control On Maine’S Offshore Islands, Susan P. Elias, Benjamin B. Stone, Peter W. Rand, Charles B. Lubelczyk, Robert P. Smith Md

Maine Policy Review

The incidence of Lyme disease in Maine is associated with high abundance of blacklegged (deer) ticks, which in turn has been partly attributed to local overabundance of white-tailed deer. With evidence from Monhegan Island that the complete removal of deer reduced ticks and risk of contracting Lyme disease, nine other offshore communities initiated efforts to cull deer. We reviewed and summarized available histories of deer management on Maine’s offshore islands. Concern about Lyme disease provided the overarching impetus for deer culls. Culls mostly occurred on islands that have no regular firearms hunting season, island communities have been challenged to control …

Moving Upstream: Health And Prosperity During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lisa Miller, Deborah Deatrick

Maine Policy Review

According to Lisa Miller and Deborah Deatrick, everyone everywhere was unprepared for a disruption of the magnitude caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As COVID-19 spread, new fissures emerged. Early efforts by government public health agencies stumbled, revealing system weaknesses from decades of neglect and underfunding. They go on to describe the efforts of Maine public health advocates to form the Maine Alliance to Health and Prosperity and outline the Alliance's plans for the future.