Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Secondhand Smoke: An Examination Of The Public Health Issue In Marina, Eric J. Tallman

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey County Tobacco Control Program is a public health organization that works to solve tobacco related issues in Monterey county. Secondhand smoke exposure is a major public health issue because of its dangerous effects on human health. This project is a research report on secondhand smoke in the city of Marina. The expected outcomes of this project were to educate readers, gain information, and find an effective policy for mitigating this public health issue. Components of this project include in depth research on secondhand smoke, survey conduction regarding Marina residents opinions about the issue, and data collection of tobacco …

Eat Well, Be Well: Basic Needs Initiative's Online Hub For Nutrition Education, Misha Moseley

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Basic Needs Initiative at California State University, Monterey Bay is a department that provides students with food, housing, and wellness resources. Over half of the university's students experience food insecurity, and over 85% use non-academic resources to learn about nutrition. This project adds a dietary health section to the department’s website to increase students’ access to nutrition education. It addresses the micro-level agency problem that too few students eat a healthy, balanced diet. Unhealthy eating is a risk factor for food insecurity, so the project indirectly addresses the macro-level health problem that too many college students in California experience food …

Notice: Youth, Poc & Lgbtq+ Big Tobacco Wants You, Tucosha Lopez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Breathe California of the Bay Area, Golden Gate, and Central Coast is a 501(c)3 non-profit that works with local communities to fight lung disease. This capstone project was developed for the Tobacco Control Program and addressed how Big Tobacco disproportionately targets youth, people of color, and LGBTQ+. Less awareness of tobacco-related issues, targeted marketing schemes, and individual susceptibility to negative health behaviors result in addiction, decreased physical/mental health, and increased negative behaviors. The project was a 45-minute educational resource video to be published on the Breathe California YouTube channel. It consists of topics about the warning signs of nicotine addiction …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Healthcare Competency Training Delivery Methods, Vanessa Jennings

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Decades of research express the need to strengthen the trust between minority groups and the healthcare system through addressing and reducing cross-cultural miscommunication. Though Central Coast VNA and Hospice is a well-established organization, the rate at which underrepresented individuals (i.e., LatinX, Asian, African American, Pacific Islander) access their services is low. Issues contributing to the low number of underrepresented individuals include language barriers, a poorly structured system, and a lack of cultural competency training among the staff. The result is an underserved population, a failure to meet the agency’s mission, and a perpetuation of systemic racism. To address this problem, …

Parental Engagement To Influence Child Nutrition Habits, Mariah Van Ardenne

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Brighter Bites Salinas is a non-profit agency whose mission is to create healthy communities through fresh food. They do this by providing nutrition education to children and delivering free, fresh produce to parents. In the United States, obesity and food insecurity are common, intertwined issues among children. The contributing factors to these entangled issues are associated with living in poverty, acculturation of minority groups, and negative parental influence. The consequences of this include increased risk of chronic diseases, high-cost treatments, and mental health issues. This capstone project was created to positively engage parents in nutrition education to influence their children’s …

Should I Reduce My Red Meat Consumption?, Joshua Kojiro Bibbee

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Maintaining and improving the health of 5,000+ county employees is no easy task, but the Monterey County Health Department Employee Wellness (MCHDEW) program’s job is to do just that. There are many parts that fall under the category of health, and one area to research on is red meat consumption. A diet high in red meat can cause some of the health conditions of metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of health conditions that increase a person’s risk of heart disease. This is relevant because metabolic syndrome is found in one-third of county employees, and this contributes to increased healthcare …

Examining The History Of Racial Groups To Understand Health Disparities In Monterey County, Virginia Murillo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Monterey County Health Department’s Health Equity Scholars Academy aspires to train health workforce leaders to prioritize equity into services. Health inequities occur when there are systematic differences in the health statuses of different populations. These disparities perpetuate negative health outcomes for minority groups. In Monterey County, too few public employees are aware of the types and pervasiveness of health inequities experienced by a significant proportion of the population. A timeline was developed to provide a more accessible way to educate public employees about significant events and policies affecting Monterey County resident’s health. Content from the timeline has been incorporated …

Condom Dispenser Program, Madilynn Turner

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Health and Wellness Services (HWS) at California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) takes an integrative health approach to support the CSUMB campus community. There six entities that make up HWS, however, the Condom Dispenser Program (CDP) was implemented under Health Promotion and Education (HPE). The mission of HPE is to ensure that CSUMB community members are reaching holistic wellness through the adoption of healthy behaviors. This goal is met through programming, outreach, and education that is provided.

The need that was discovered through analysis of the National Collegiate Health Assessment (NCHA) was that students are not using condoms to prevent …

Diabetes And Effectiveness Of Gym Usage, Roberto Moore

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Central Coast YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) exists to support community members who are diagnosed as pre-diabetic. DPP participants are provided a free membership to the YMCA’s gym, but are under utilizing this resource. Some reasons that participants may not be utilizing the gym are lack of time, work schedules, the language barrier in utilizing the equipment and childcare concerns. If participants are not utilizing the gym they may not complete the program and may be at risk of contracting diabetes and possibly losing a limb. In order to understand the specific barriers for this group in utilizing this …

Interns Matter: Maximizing Integration Of Interns Into Community Agencies, Valerie Garcia

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Hope Services is a non-profit agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities in six counties. Over the years, there have been many agencies that have formed connections with Hope Services. One of these collaborative partnerships has been with CSU Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) integration of interns through their field placement program. However, recently former Hope Services South District Manager, Greg Dinsmore, witnessed a lack of utilization and integration of interns across all Hope Services agencies. Through firsthand experience as a mentor, he witnessed the benefits of utilizing interns and saw the need for further advocacy and support for the integration of interns …