Public Health Education and Promotion Commons^™

Increasing Patient Education On Proper Antibiotic Stewardship, Arif S. Ahsan

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Antibiotic resistance is a growing public health issue in the United States. Coinciding with this, patients often inappropriately self-treat infections using antibiotics. Locally, this causes complications in treating patients in an outpatient setting, and nationally, this causes an increased economic burden on the United States healthcare system. A handout was developed for distribution at pharmacies in order to better educate patients on proper antibiotic stewardship, based on information that providers believed to be most important for patients to know.

Community Health Interventions To Reduce The Burden Of Radon-Related Lung Cancer, Benjamin Weaver

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Exposure to radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. One in seven homes in Vermont has elevated levels of radon, but most patients are unaware of radon as a risk factor for lung cancer or that radon testing and mitigation services are available to them. To promote increased testing and mitigation of radon we screened patients presenting to a Family Medicine practice in Vermont about whether they had had these services done in their home. We also developed a patient education resource for providers to give to patients who had more questions about radon …

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 …

Evaluation Of Geo-Social Networking Application Use Among Young Adults, Caleb Seufert

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Background: Since 2009 geosocial networking applications (GNAs) have rapidly emerged as a new technological platform for users to communicate, date, and meet for sex. Popular GNAs include Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, Plenty of Fish, and many more. GNA’s are unique to traditional dating websites in that they allow users to connect with each other based on geographic proximity of their mobile phones. Given the pervasiveness of technology usage among young adults, it is important to understand the potential risks and benefits that GNA-facilitated communication poses on sexual health, emotional well-being, and safety. Popular GNA’s, like Tinder, estimate the majority of …

Improving Community Health With Affordable Internet Access, Joshua Jeremy Pothen

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Internet access is associated with increases in health information seeking and benefits in health statuses. However, many individuals of low socioeconomic status (SES) lack Internet access, thereby creating significant disadvantages from a health perspective. In this project, we describe a potential project for providing affordable Internet access to a neighborhood of Newport, VT containing many SES individuals. This network includes a splash page that provides regular health event promotion and health information dissemination to everyone connecting the network. We then discuss how to determine the impacts of the Internet on multiple aspects of health within the community.