Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Factors On Food Insecurity Among Syrian Refugees In Florida, Racha Sankar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Syrian refugees settled in the United States may experience food insecurity due to different socioeconomic factors that may include nutrition knowledge, language proficiency, women’s education, and perceived stress. The structure and the type of households may also contribute to food insecurity in this population.

The objective of this study was to measure food security among Syrian refugees residing in Florida. It also aimed to determine the socioeconomic factors that may attribute to food insecurity at household level.

A comprehensive 228-item questionnaire was administered to N=80 households (n=43 in rural areas, n=37 in urban areas). Families with and without children were …

Detecting, Preventing, And Treating Sexually Transmitted Diseases Among Adolescent Arrestees: An Unmet Public Health Need, Christopher Salvatore, Steven Belenko, Richard Dembo, Matthew Rollie, Kristina Childs

Christopher Salvatore

Studies of detained and incarcerated adolescent offenders in the United States indicate that these juveniles have an elevated risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, many more arrestees enter the “front end” of the juvenile justice system that is detained or incarcerated, and research into the STD risk profiles and service needs of this larger group is lacking. An expansion of STD testing (including of asymptomatic youths), prevention, and treatment is needed, as is improved knowledge about gender- and race-specific services. A pilot program in Florida has shown that juvenile justice and public health systems can collaborate to implement STD …

Medically Tailored Meals As A Prescription For Treatment Of Food-Insecure Type 2 Diabetics, Leslie J. Rabaut

Aurora Family Medicine Residents

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an immense burden to the health of our population and to our current health care system, and the weight of this burden is only projected to multiply in coming years. A nutritious diet is an indispensable aspect of diabetes treatment, and the lack of access to food engenders poor disease-state control, which correlates with increased health care utilization. Interventions aimed at improving access to food through medically tailored meals (MTMs) have demonstrated effectiveness in improving the health of food-insecure type 2 diabetic patients and reducing health care costs. Further studies are necessary to increase the …

Social Determinants Of Health And Variability In Weight Trends Of Children Of Low Income Families Living In New Mexico, Molly Aileen Morrison

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

When evaluating the prevalence of obesity rates throughout New Mexico (NM), it appears these rates have reached a plateau. A recent study conducted by the NM Department of Health (DOH) found that NM was among 19 other states that have had a first time decrease in child obesity rates among low income families. However, when examined deeper, when looking at geographical areas throughout NM, hidden geography of weight disparities become apparent. Although obesity rates may have decreased in some areas, they have increased in others. The purpose of this study is to effectively evaluate variability in weight trends between geographical …

Medically Tailored Meals As A Prescription For Treatment Of Food-Insecure Type 2 Diabetics, Leslie J. Rabaut

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an immense burden to the health of our population and to our current health care system, and the weight of this burden is only projected to multiply in coming years. A nutritious diet is an indispensable aspect of diabetes treatment, and the lack of access to food engenders poor disease-state control, which correlates with increased health care utilization. Interventions aimed at improving access to food through medically tailored meals (MTMs) have demonstrated effectiveness in improving the health of food-insecure type 2 diabetic patients and reducing health care costs. Further studies are necessary to increase the …

Creating Oral Health Awareness: Happy Teeth Make Healthy Teeth, Roseanna M. Torres, Dirien Santos, Tatyana Aksaeva, Hanna Jo, Nastassia Liaushun, Anty Lam

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Randomized Pilot Trial For A Community-Based Group Stretching Exercise Program For Chronic Low Back Pain, Marc Brodsky, Ann Hansen, Wendy Bjerke

Exercise Science Faculty Publications

Background: Authors of meta-analyses concluded that exercise therapy appears to be slightly effective at decreasing pain and improving function in adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP), particularly in health-care populations. Similar to health-care settings, community organizations provide wellness and lifestyle modification programs. Different versions of the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Y’s Way to a Healthy Back program were offered from 1974 to 2004. Champions of the YMCA program and authors of the pilot study designed a Healthy Back Curriculum to update and reintroduce the program. Objective: The research aim of this randomized pilot trial was to investigate the …

The Impact Of Nutritional Changes On Dietary Inflammatory Index: New Soul Study, Callie Mclean

Senior Theses

The Impact of Nutritional Changes on Dietary Inflammatory Index: NEWSoul

Callie McLean; Gabrielle Turner-McGrievy, PhD, MS, RD; Michael Wirth, PhD; Anthony Crimarco, MS

Background: Historically, a soul food diet consisted of mainly plant-based foods in West Africa and evolved to a mostly meat-based diet in the Southeastern United States. As a result, many soul foods today often exceed the recommended dietary guidelines for saturated fats and cholesterol. This is important to consider for dietary interventions focusing on African American populations, since they are at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease and chronic illness compared to all other ethnic groups. One …

Improving The Quality Of Consumer Health Information On Wikipedia: Case Series., Shira Schecter Weiner, Jill S. Horbacewicz, Lane Rasberry, Yocheved Bensinger-Brody

The School of Health Sciences Publications and Research

BACKGROUND: Wikipedia is one of the most consulted health resources in the world. Since the public is using health information from Wikipedia to make health care decisions, improving the quality of that health information is in the public interest. The open editable content design of Wikipedia and quality control processes in place provide an opportunity to add high-value, evidence-based information and take an active role in improving the health care information infrastructure.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this project was to enhance Wikipedia health pages using high-quality, current research findings and track the persistence of those edits and number of page …

Strategies Hospital Administrators Utilize To Optimize Patient Services, Vicente Njoku

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hospital administrators face challenges that arise from environmental factors or psychosocial factors, and lack resources to deliver valuable medical services to stakeholders, including patients and employees. A multicase study served to explore experiences and gain a broader perspective of hospital administrators' use of strategies to optimize patient services. Ten hospital administrators from acute care hospitals in Nevada and California were purposefully selected from the population of hospital managers with a minimum of 2 years of documented experience in successfully implementing management strategies to improve patient services. The conceptual framework was Drucker's management theory. Data were collected from semistructured interviews with …

Public Education/Public Health Perspectives On Collaboration-Influence On High School Completion, Claudette Virginia Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The research problem focused on the use of collaboration by managers, supervisors, consultants, and professional staff in a department of public education and health to address disparities in on-time high school completion rates. The purpose of the study was to examine the perspectives of individuals in these public sectors on the use of collaboration as a means to improve on-time high school completion rates for African American and Hispanic students. The theoretical foundation and conceptual framework for the study were John Rawls's theory of justice and Amartya Sen's capability approach. The key research question involved how individuals in the public …

Association Between Education And Health Outcomes Among Adults With Disabilities: Evidence From Shanghai, China, Tong Ge, Qi Zhang, Jun Lu, Gang Chen, Mei Sun, Xiaohong Li

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background

Adults with disabilities often have worse health outcomes than do their peers without disabilities. While education is a key determinant of health, there is little research available on the health disparities across education levels among adults with disabilities in developing countries. We therefore examined the association between health outcomes and education among adults with disabilities in Shanghai, China.

Methods

We used the health examination records of 42,715 adults with disabilities in Shanghai in 2014. Five health outcomes, including two diseases (fatty liver and hemorrhoids) and three risk factors (overweight [body mass index ≥ 24]), high blood glucose, and high …

Quality Improvement: Cervical Cancer Screening Rates Within Hudson Headwaters Health Network, Dylon K. Gookin

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Nearly 8 out of every 100,000 people are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year. However, powerful screening tools exist that enable us to detect and manage cervical changes before they develop into cervical cancer. In spite of this, cervical cancer screening rates remain low for many providers. This public health project sought to identify and address a cause for low cervical cancer screening rates within the Hudson Headwaters Health Network. A literature review determined that education and mailed invitation letters were proven methods for improving cervical cancer screening rates. Following a review of the local population demographics, West Mountain Health …