Mental and Social Health Commons^™

Who Will Care For The Early Care And Education Workforce? Covid-19 And The Need To Support Early Childhood Educators’ Emotional Well-Being, Mark Nagasawa, Kate Tarrant

Straus Center for Young Children & Families

This brief report describes issues and opportunities related to early childhood educators' emotional well-being that emerged from a survey exploring how the COVID-19 was affecting early educators across New York City and New York State (n=3355). Among our key findings were: (1) that mental health support was the most frequently identified need (n=910); (2) professional mental health was the least reported approach to coping (n=216); and (3) how those teaching and caring remotely were approximately one-and-a- half times more likely to rate their emotional well-being as lower than those whose sites were closed (CI 95% 1.157, 1.896). We argue, given …

Perspectives On Indigenous Mental Health, Erika Alegria

Honours Bachelor of Early Childhood Leadership (HBECL) Capstone Research Posters

The primary purpose of this study was to explore the diverse perspectives of social service practitioners on the mental health of indigenous youth and communities while examining current methods of practice used in mental health services. This qualitative research study used a narrative design and collected data through a total of five semi-structured, face-to-face interviews involving two Child and Youth Workers, and three Social Workers; three of these five participants are also Registered Early Childhood Educators. The primary research question investigated in this study was: what are Social Service practitioners’ perspectives of how they support mental health issues in indigenous …

In Utero Drug Exposure Impact On Infant Health, Katie Edwards, Lisa M. Borges, Carlie J. Schoenherr

Lake Campus Research Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Drug use during pregnancy has many impacts on the baby’s and mother’s health. Prenatal drug use affects a child’s development during his or her life. When exposed to in utero drug use the baby tends to have a lower birth weight, preterm birth, and intrauterine growth restrictions compared to a baby not exposed to drugs. The number of infants being born with withdrawal to drugs is increasing. This is an important problem because the number of fetuses exposed in utero to drugs is increasing. Research shows that exposure does pose a risk to the fetus and birth outcomes. Finding and …

Barriers And Promoters Of Retention Of Direct Care Workers In Community Mental Health Agencies, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway, Brent Khan, Mogens (Bill) Baerentzen, Zaeema Naveed

Reports: Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska

Demand for behavioral health direct-care providers is increasing due to shortage of licensed behavioral health providers. However, high turnover has been reported among them with limited exploratory research. The present study aimed to identify a wide variety of barriers and promoters of retention and strategies to retain direct care workers. An online, self-administered survey designed to measure demographics, job satisfaction, perceived importance of various job aspects, intention to leave, perceived stress and sources of stress was administered among 179 direct care workers from four agencies. Multiple logistic regression exhibited higher odds of intending to leave for those who had higher …

The Impact Of Toxic Masculinity On Men's Mental Health, Amardeep Grewal

Sociology Student Work Collection

My project is about how toxic masculinity can affect men’s mental health. I discuss about how social norms of a man can negatively affect mental health.

Harm Reduction In The Emergency Department, Alexa J. Golden

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The number of overdose deaths in Vermont has been trending up over the past several years. A majority of these fatalities involved synthetic opioid fentanyl. The Emergency Department (ED) at Central Vermont Medical Center delivers medication assisted treatment (MAT) through the Rapid Access to MAT (RAM) program. This program has connected many people in the region to treatment for opiate use disorder. However it was identified that we lacked connection to harm reduction services for those not interested in MAT. Harm reduction education was provided for recovery coaches and ED nursing staff. Harm reduction kits containing life-saving supplies such as …

Narrative Medicine: Perspectives On Opioid Maintenance, Noorin Damji

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

People who experience opioid addiction often feel marginalized by healthcare workers, or stigmatized by the medical system. Additionally, there are not enough medical providers to meet the needs of people who struggle with opioid addiction. These factors create barriers that prevent the medical establishment from effectively meeting the needs of people who experience addiction. This project compiles rich perspectives of patients on opioid maintenance treatment to share with medical students and providers to foster greater empathy for these patients, and positive attitudes toward managing substance use disorder among future medical providers.

Coping Skills For Daily Life: Cost-Effective Strategies To Prevent And Address Mental Health Disorders, Shae Ian Rowlandson

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Mental health disorders, along with their associated cost and negative outcomes, have continued to persist in Vermont and have become one of the largest, growing challenges to public health in the United States. Unfortunately, Vermont does not appear to have enough resources or providers to optimally address it. Concurrently, coping strategies of minimal cost that have the potential to prevent or address mental health disorders may often be underutilized or misconstrued by the population. A pamphlet providing information on evidenced, cost-effective coping strategies was designed and distributed to providers and patients to enable patients with the skills to help themselves …

Addressing Adolescent And Young Adult Mental Health During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Megan Boyer

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This quality improvement project at South Burlington Family Medicine aimed to investigate the mental health of individuals ages 13-25 in our practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eligible patients received a PHQ-9 questionnaire with two additional questions related to COVID-19. Recommendations for future interventions to serve this population were made based on these preliminary findings, with the goal of doing a full PDSA cycle in the near future.

Medication-Assisted Treatment In The Hudson Headwaters Health Network, Jordan Munger

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Background: Opioid use results in over 45,000 overdose deaths annually in the US, with rural areas disproportionately affected. While medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder (OUD) is an effective intervention available through outpatient primary care, less than 25% of patients with OUD are currently in treatment. This study explored factors associated with patient retention in an MAT program offered by Hudson Headwaters, a Federally Qualified Health Center that serves a vast and mostly rural region of Northeastern New York.

Methods: We included a total of 354 patients diagnosed with OUD who had at least two appointments for MAT between …

Screening And Monitoring Social Determinants Of Health For Migrant Workers In Vermont, Richard Brach

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Promoting Physical Activity In School-Aged Children During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Abigail H. Belser

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, children and adolescents are engaging in less physical activity and are increasing their sedentary behavior. These changes can lead to long-lasting negative lifestyle behaviors, which increases risk of health complications.

To ensure safety during the pandemic, guidelines have created restrictions on physical education and sports, which are both primary physical activity outlets for children and adolescents. Children and adolescents have to find alternate ways and resources to meet the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity daily.

An informational pamphlet was created to educate parents and children of current physical activity recommendations, with resources and ideas …

Hhhn Clinicians' Beliefs, Barriers, And Motivations Surrounding Mat, Casandra Nowicki

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) consists of using medications that act on the same receptors as opioids to treat opioid use disorder (OUD). MAT providers require formal training and a DEA waiver in order to prescribe certain medications. Providers were asked to complete a survey about the beliefs, barriers, and motivations surrounding MAT to provide valuable insight into what the future of MAT might look like at a specific nonprofit network of community health centers in upstate New York.