Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Communicative Capacities Of The Medical Discourse In Authoritarian Societies : The Case Of Aids In Iran, Elham Pourtaher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the role of medical discourse in the Iranian formal public sphere. It examines how an epidemiological wave of HIV/AIDS—known as "the third wave"—highlighted nontraditional sexual behaviors in public and enabled a shift in policy and discourse by the Islamic Republic State. Through analyzing published content on HIV/AIDS from five major Iranian newspapers between 2009 and 2013, this study identified four competing narratives of the third wave which coexist and have a dynamic relationship with one another. First, the medical narrative warns of an unfolding public health crisis and provides a technical perspective to make sense of the …

The Impact Of Food Justice Advocates In Creating And Influencing Public Policy, Michael Joseph Chadukiewicz

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored the impact that food justice advocates had on creating and implementing public policy to provide access to adequate, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for the residents of New Haven, Connecticut. The problem the case study explored is in 2020 food insecurity affected 22% of the residents of New Haven, more than twice the national average. This qualitative case study used grounded theory to analyze the experiences of 31 food justice advocates that were members of a coalition of researchers, food service providers, non-profit agencies, grassroot organizations, and residents tasked with improving the city’s emergency food system. …

Impact Of Covid-19 On The Severe Acute Malnutrition Admissions Among Children Under 5 Years Of Age Seeking Nutrition Services In Afghanistan, Sahar Sayedy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the number of admissions of severe acute malnutrition among children under 5 years of age seeking nutrition services in Afghanistan especially in the provinces where the prevalence of COVID-19 was high, for the period of February – September 2020. The study used comparison and analysis of secondary datasets of the Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition – a national program for detection and management of moderate and severe acute malnutrition in the country.

This study analyzed the association between COVID-19 cases and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) admissions of …

Constructing Curriculum: Centering Identities In Sex Education, Jozette Belmont

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sex education (sex ed) is a state-by-state and school-by-school issue, and there are no federal laws which mandate medically accurate education. In New York, schools only offer one semester of health education which often happens in the last semester of twelfth grade. Further, LGBTQIA+ people’s sexual health and identities are rarely mentioned. Therefore, this project asks: What are the ways sex ed curricula and policies in New York address the needs of LGBTQIA+ youth? To answer this question, I use a critical policy analysis to compare curriculum from the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and Peer Health Exchange …

Organizational Risk In Multi-Sector Health Partnerships: A Case Study Of Oregon's Accountable Health Communities, Shauna Jean Nicole Petchel

Dissertations and Theses

The literature on collective action has documented that the perception of organizational risk -- both the uncertainty of potential outcomes and the meaning attached to them -- is an important factor in whether and how organizations engage in cross-sector collaborations. Yet there are few examples to date that document how health and social service leaders perceive organizational risks in cross-sector health partnerships focused on social determinants of health, or how their perceptions influence organizational commitment and willingness to engage in these partnerships over time.

This research aimed to fill this gap through a mixed methods case study of health and …

Regulatory Disclosure Policies And Potential Induced Changes In Behavior: An Outcome Evaluation Of Santa Clara County’S Enhanced Food Safety Program Elements, Christian Cruz

Master's Projects

Despite countless advances in food microbiology and public health regulations, foodborne illness continues to be a major strain on public health outcomes and a costly economic burden. In the United States, many agencies are responsible for ensuring the quality of food, both domestically produced and imported. States and localities are delegated the responsibility of identifying and ensuring sound practices in the latter stages of the food production process, namely the retail distribution of food products to consumers.

Regulatory policies across the nation have only recently incorporated the evidenced-based principles of hazard risk management (Law, 2003). Still, food-related acute gastrointestinal illnesses …

Right Size Me : Policy Responses To The Obesity Eidemic And Behavioral Change, Wenhui Feng

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Obesity is a critical health and social concern. Almost 40% of American adults are obese, creating more than $300 billion dollars in annual medical costs. While obesity is a public concern that has been on the policy agenda for some time, obesity policies have proven difficult to formulate, adopt and implement in practice. In this dissertation, I explore three obesity-related policies – adoption of obesity prevention policies by local health department, calorie labeling on restaurant menus and food assistance benefits – and find the importance of ideological and political considerations for obesity policies at different stages in the policy process …

Let Me Upgrade You: Common Measures In Public Health Accreditation Action Plans, Gurleen K. Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to understand the success rates for health departments pursuing and achieving accreditation in version 1.0 and 1.5 of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) standards and measures. During the accreditation process, health departments that present performance gaps are asked to complete an Action Plan to specify how they plan to improve to meet the desired conformity. This study will highlight specific measures that are often included in Action Plans so that health departments pursuing accreditation can be better prepared to address these common pitfalls.

Methods: This study is a non-experimental, secondary …

Evaluation Instruction In Council On Education For Public Health Accredited Master Of Public Health Schools And Programs, Kristin Ann Hobson

Dissertations

Despite the increasing role of evaluation in public health practice and research (Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health [ASPH], 2006; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 1998; Public Health Functions Steering Committee, 2008; United States Government Accountability Office [GAO], 2012), as well as Henry and Mark’s (2003) assertion of a need for systematic evidence on evaluation training and education, the literature continues to lack studies on evaluation instruction in Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) schools and programs. As such, this study explored evaluation instruction in CEPH-accredited MPH schools and programs in the following …

Beliefs, Costs, And Policies Influencing African American Men's Decisions On Psa Screening, Mary Frances Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the growing concerns about routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in men, little is known about the societal and economic impact of screening among the African American population. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore beliefs among African American men about PSA screening, funding for screening, and the role of the United States Preventive Service Task Force in addressing the problem. Guided by rational choice theory, data collection consisted of completion of a health beliefs survey, face-to-face interviews, field notes taken during interview, and interview audio recording. The population for the study included African American men residing …

A Green Oasis: What Makes Community Gardens Worth Saving? While Researchers Amass Evidence Of Benefits, Advocates Develop New Strategy To Prove Their Value., Joel Wolfram

Capstones

Green Valley Community Garden in Brownsville, Brooklyn, is one of about a dozen gardens on land owned by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development that are being uprooted by plans to build affordable housing. The gardeners are fighting back to prevent the garden’s destruction, saying that the food-producing green space is a source of healthy eating in a community with high rates of health problems, like diabetes and obesity. Researchers are attempting to tease out the public health benefits of community gardens as one metric of their value, but the science is still catching up with …

Developing A Vermont Nurse Triage Line: A Systems Improvement Project, Andrew D. Kehl

College of Nursing and Health Sciences Nursing Master Project Publications

Nurse Triage Lines (NTL) have been utilized since the 1970s as a healthcare service delivery model. The efficacy of their utilization has been proven in non-acute, mainly primary care settings. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic in the United States, NTLs proved their efficacy in an acute emergency event. The Minnesota FluLine, the exemplar case study, showed a significant reduction in unnecessary healthcare resource utilization as well as a significant economic cost savings.

This project performed an organizational assessment for the Vermont Department of Health (VDH) focused on implementing an NTL. Through qualitative semi-structured interviews with key informants, key themes surround …

Relationship Between Modality And The Degree Of Knowledge Retention In Bioterrorism Training, Gaylon Rashun Crawford

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A public health workforce must be trained to react quickly, especially in the case of terrorist attack. Political leaders and emergency management experts have often cited inadequate emergency training as a contributing factor in the public health system's failed preparations for a bioterrorist event. As a result of these failures, billions of dollars have been allocated towards correcting infrastructure deficiencies including training for public health nurses (PHNs), who are critical to a communitywide medical response. This quantitative study used Pearson's correlation and a multivariate regression analysis to evaluate the most effective modality of bioterrorism training (BTT) for PHNs working in …

Listening To The Ranks: Perceptions Of The U.S. Air Force Occupational Health And Safety Training, Melissa Jo Breunig

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Occupational health and safety hazards are abundant in military environments. Due to the hazardous occupational settings, injuries remain a public health concern in the United States military. Public health plays a critical role in injury reduction by addressing the need for comprehensive safety education training, and more specifically, exposure related injuries. A secondary data analysis was completed using Communication Theory as the overarching framework to analyze 13 qualitative interviews conducted with Airmen to gain their perceptions of the occupational health and safety training at Nellis and Creech Air Force Base (AFB). Pedagogy and training content were the two main themes …

Influence Of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs On Acetaminophen-Related Liver Toxicity, Aaron Barcelo

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

No executive summary.

Evaluating The Healthy States Initiative Policy Forums, Jessica Harmon

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Since 2005, The Council of State Governments (CSG) has participated in a cooperative agreement funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called the Healthy States Initiative. The initiative promotes public health by providing information resources to state legislators through publications and public health forums. CSG is interested in information about the impact of the public health forums on state legislators. More specifically, they would like to know if the forums have encouraged the participants to produce public health legislation, to support funding for public health projects, and to work closely with colleagues and various groups to improve …

The Influence Of Veterinary Schools On The Veterinary Labor Market, Kyle Bosh

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Problem Statement:

Does the presence of a veterinary school in a state influence the supply of veterinarians practicing in that state? Citizens and animals in states without a veterinary school are at a disadvantage if the presence of a veterinary school significantly improves public health and access to medical services in those states that have a veterinary school.

Research Strategy:

The unit of analysis in this study is 50 states and the District of Columbia. The study is designed as a cross-sectional analysis of 2006 pet, 2002 livestock, 2006 human, labor, and economic data. The study uses simultaneous equations to …

Nevada "Nurselessness": An Acute Or Chronic Condition? An Examination Of The Etiology And Possible Treatment Alternatives, Jeanine Warren-Newmon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Data released by the Department of Health and Human Services in February, 2001, revealed that Nevada has the lowest number of registered nurses per 100,000 population in the nation. The state’s population is growing faster than the nursing programs are currently able to produce new graduates. Current predictions are that the existing nursing shortage will become more severe and have a longer duration than has ever before been experienced. While there may not be one single identifiable causative factor, the aging nursing workforce, low unemployment, and the universal nature of the shortage magnify the problem. This paper focuses on the …

Southern Appalachian Settlement Schools As Early Initiators Of Integrated Services, Eloise H. Jurgens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This historical-descriptive study examined Southern Appalachian settlement schools as early initiators of integrated health and social services with education from the 1900s through the 1970s. Three schools were studied: Hindman Settlement School (KY), Pine Mountain Settlement School (KY) and Crossnore School, Inc. (NC). The purpose of the study was to determine the type and extent of services provided, the relationship of the settlement schools with their respective county public school system, and the transfer, if any, of integrated services from the settlement schools to public schools as the public schools took over educational responsibilities once offered by the settlement schools. …