Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Fork In The Road: Uncovering The Impact Of Industrial Animal Agriculture On The Physical Health Of Communities Of Color, Mariana Zepeda

Population Health Research Brief Series

Nearly all (99%) farmed animals in the U.S. come from Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are industrial agriculture facilities defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as operations where animals are raised in confinement and meet animal size and waste material thresholds. Communities located near CAFOs, which tend to have high shares of low-income and racial/ethnic minority residents, are at risk of exposure to CAFO-related air and water pollutants. This brief summarizes the health risks for communities located near CAFOs. Additionally, it calls for government regulations that improve transparency, management, and consumer empowerment.

Infant Mortality Rates Vary Substantially Across Regions Of The United States, Marissa Merrifield

Population Health Research Brief Series

Infant mortality rates are higher in the United States than in its high-income peer countries. Additionally, infant mortality rates vary within the U.S., with much higher rates in some geographic regions compared to others. This data slice uses data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to compare infant mortality rates by geographic region in the U.S. between 2017-2021. The results show that the infant mortality rate was the highest in the South and lowest in the Northeast and West.

What Factors Increase Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementia?, Elizabeth Vásquez, Kai Zhang

Population Health Research Brief Series

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia and ranks 7th in the leading causes of death in the United States (U.S.). This data slice uses nationwide data from 3,155 counties in the U.S. to identify the factors that best predict county-level rates of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRDs) in 2018. The results indicate that insufficient sleep, consuming less than one serving of fruits and vegetables per day, having no high school diploma, Black population percentage, and social vulnerability were among the leading factors predicting county-level ADRD prevalence.

Black Women Have The Highest Maternal Mortality Rate In The United States, Tori-Ann Haywood

Population Health Research Brief Series

The U.S. maternal mortality rate is consistently higher than its high-income peer countries. Since 2018 maternal mortality rates in the U.S. have steadily increased for all ethnoracial groups. This data slice uses data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics to describe U.S. maternity mortality rates for women ages 15-45 across different ethnoracial groups between 2018-2022. Results show that, except for non-Hispanic (NH) Asian women, ethnoracial minority women have higher maternal death rates than NH White women.

Bridging The Gap: Reducing Disparities In Reproductive Healthcare For Black And White Women, Emma Weiden

Population Health Research Brief Series

A woman’s reproductive healthcare experience in the United States can vary dramatically depending on her race. In 2020, the pregnancy-related mortality rate in the U.S. was 40.8 deaths per 100,000 live births for Black women, which is more than three times the rate among White women (12.7 per 100,000). This brief summarizes disparities in reproductive healthcare outcomes for Black women compared to White women in the U.S., advocates for policy changes, and provides recommendations for addressing racial disparities to create more equitable reproductive healthcare.

Covid-19 Mortality Rates Were Higher In States That Limited Governments From Enacting Public Health Emergency Orders, Xue Zhang, Mildred Warner, Gen Meredith

Center for Policy Research

State and local governments enacted various public health emergency policies during the COVID-19 pandemic that resulted in lower infection and death rates than would have occurred without these policies. However, some states limited emergency public health authority of state executives, state governors, and state and local officials during the pandemic. This brief summarizes the results of a study that used data from the Center for Public Health Law Research and Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker to explore which states passed laws that limited emergency public health authority during the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of those limitations on COVID-19 death …

Psychosocial Interventions Among Patients With Cancer And Their Family Caregivers In The Sub-Saharan Region: A Systematic Review, Ting Guan, Yousef Qan’Ir, Jamie Conklin, Chifundo Colleta Zimba, Agatha Bula, Wongani Jumbo, Kondwani Wella, Patrick Mapulanga, Samuel A.M. Bingo, Evelyn Chilemba, Jennifer Haley, Nilda Peragallo Montano, Ashley Leak Bryant, Lixin Song

Social Work - All Scholarship

Cancer is becoming a public health issue in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

This systematic review aims to synthesise psychosocial interventions and

their effects on the health outcomes of adult cancer patients and their

family caregivers in SSA. We identified eligible publications in English

language from PubMed, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health

Literature Plus with Full Text, Embase, APA PsycInfo, Scopus, and

African Index Medicus databases. We included psychosocial

interventions targeted adult cancer patients/survivors or their family

caregivers in SSA. This review identified five psychosocial interventions

from six studies that support adult cancer patients and their family

caregivers in …

Opioid Treatment Programs Can Reduce Opioid-Related Emergency Department Visits And Foster Care Placements, Lindsey Rose Bullinger, Vivian Wang, Kenneth A. Feder

Population Health Research Brief Series

The U.S. opioid epidemic has led not only to unprecedented increases in opioid overdoses, functional impairment, and deaths among adults but also harmed children. After lifting a long-standing moratorium on drug treatment programs and increasing the number of medication-assisted opioid treatment programs (OTPs), Indiana saw a decrease in emergency overdose treatments and foster care placements. This brief explores the positive effects of medication-assisted treatments on children and their caregivers and the cost savings for foster care agencies.

How Has The Opioid Overdose Crisis Affected Child Maltreatment In The U.S.?, Alexander Chapman

Population Health Research Brief Series

This brief summarizes results from a study examining the association between U.S. county-level opioid mortality rates and child maltreatment rates from 2007 to 2017. Places with higher opioid overdose mortality rates have higher rates of child maltreatment. Poverty makes this problem worse - where the proportion of families in poverty increases, the association between fatal opioid overdose rates and child maltreatment also increases. Findings suggest that intervening in opioid use by reducing poverty has the potential to markedly decrease the incidence of child maltreatment.

The Daily Patterns Of Emergency Medical Events, Mary E. Helander, Margaret K. Formica, Dessa K. Bergen-Cico

Social Science - All Scholarship

This study examines population level daily patterns of time-stamped emergency medical service (EMS) dispatches to establish their situational predictability. Using visualization, sinusoidal regression, and statistical tests to compare empirical cumulative distributions, we analyzed 311,848,450 emergency medical call records from the U.S. National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) for years 2010 through 2022. The analysis revealed a robust daily pattern in the hourly distribution of distress calls across 33 major categories of medical emergency dispatch types. Sinusoidal regression coefficients for all types were statistically significant, mostly at the p < 0.0001 level. The coefficient of determination ($R^2$) ranged from 0.84 and 0.99 for all models, with most falling in the 0.94 to 0.99 range. The common sinusoidal pattern, peaking in mid-afternoon, demonstrates that all major categories of medical emergency dispatch types appear to be influenced by an underlying daily rhythm that is aligned with daylight hours and common sleep/wake cycles. A comparison of results with previous landmark studies revealed new and contrasting EMS patterns for several long-established peak occurrence hours--specifically for chest pain, heart problems, stroke, convulsions and seizures, and sudden cardiac arrest/death. Upon closer examination, we also found that heart attacks, diagnosed by paramedics in the field via 12-lead cardiac monitoring, followed the identified common daily pattern of a mid-afternoon peak, departing from prior generally accepted morning tendencies. Extended analysis revealed that the normative pattern prevailed across the NEMSIS data when re-organized to consider monthly, seasonal, daylight-savings vs civil time, and pre-/post- COVID-19 periods. The predictable daily EMS patterns provide impetus for more research that links daily variation with causal risk and protective factors. Our methods are straightforward and presented with detail to provide accessible and replicable implementation for researchers and practitioners.

The Unequal Burden Of Long Covid, Marc A. Garcia, Catherine Garcia, Erin Bisesti

Population Health Research Brief Series

Racial/ethnic disparities in U.S. COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths have been well documented. However, less research has focused on racial/ethnic disparities in long COVID. This data slice summarizes data from the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey and reports that although there are no significant racial/ethnic differences in overall activity limitations from long COVID, a higher percentage of Black and Hispanic/Latino adults report experiencing “significant” activity limitations compared to Whites.

Refugee Gardening: An Opportunity To Improve Economic Conditions, Food Security, And Mental Health, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Rashmi Gangamma, Bhavneet Walia, Anna Zoodsma

Population Health Research Brief Series

Every year, thousands of refugees enter the United States. Conditions prior to resettlement, such as exposure to conflict, persecution, and loss, as well as conditions after resettlement, such as isolation and adjustment to a new culture, impact refugee mental health, economic security, and food security. Refugee access to land and resources for gardening has been shown to have quality of life benefits, including enhanced food security and mental health outcomes. This research brief summarizes the results of a recent study that examined how community gardening may reduce food insecurity and adverse mental health among refugees living in Central New York. …

Plant-Centered Diets Among Older Adults: The Need For Improved Nutritional Health Messaging, Margaret Rose

Population Health Research Brief Series

By the year 2030, it is expected that 12% of the world’s population will be aged 65 years or older compared to 8.5% in 2015. This demographic shift will be accompanied by increased healthcare costs and greater demand on health care. One way aging adults may mitigate disease onset and progression is through increased consumption of plant-based foods. This issue brief examines the impact plant-based foods have on disease prevention and acceleration and calls for developing appropriate health messaging to encourage the acceptance and adoption of plant-centered diets among older adults.

Mental Health Service Use Disparities Among Latinx Communities: An Intersectional Examination Of The Role Of Skin Color, Acculturative Stress, Racial Discrimination, And Mental Health Literacy, Kirsis Allennys Dipre Montes De Oca

Dissertations - ALL

This study utilized logistic and hierarchical regression to examine the impact of skin color, acculturative stress, mental health literacy, and experiences of racial discrimination on the lifetime use of mental health services through an intersectional lens. More specifically, the current study examined the Latinx ethnic identity, US-born status, across the skin color spectrum to better understand mental health service use disparities. Participants' (n = 173) mental health service use was measured at two levels, first, the overall number of hours of sessions attended and second overall hours of sessions of specific types of mental health services attended. Results indicated skin …

Medical Visits Related To Firearm Injuries Increased During Covid-19, Rachel Chernet, Margaret K. Formica

Population Health Research Brief Series

When COVID-19 began its initial wave in the United States in March 2020, gun sales surged across the country. The increase in first time gun owners, stress, anxiety, and lack of safety training courses has corresponded with a significant increase in firearm injuries, with especially large increases in the Spring and Summer of 2020 among males, non-Hispanic Blacks, ages 20 to 29, and residents of the Midwest and South. Given the especially large rise in unintentional firearm injuries, policymakers should consider interventions that increase education, training, and regulation over safe firearm access and storage.

What Do Epidemic History And Sexual Minority Men’S Experiences Of Hiv And Covid-19 Teach Us About Pandemic Preparedness?, Amy Braksmajer, Andrew London

Population Health Research Brief Series

For many, COVID-19 feels like the first, massive, life-threatening epidemic of infectious disease they have faced. However, for sexual minority individuals who have experienced trauma and loss stemming from the HIV epidemic, there are many similarities. This brief summarizes findings from interviews with men who have lived through both pandemics as a way to gain insights into the commonalities and differences of their experiences. Findings show that men who lived through both epidemics believe the government did not do enough to respond to either crisis. To better prepare for future epidemics, public health efforts must be less fragmented, including a …

Health Policy, Equity, And The Lead Poisoning Crisis: A Conversation With Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, Mona Hanna-Attisha

Center for Policy Research

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha delivered the 33rd Annual Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy on Thursday, September 23, 2021. This year's lecture was titled, "Health Policy, Equity, and the Lead Poisoning Crisis: A Conversation with Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha"

Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAP, is founder and director of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiative, an innovative and model public health program in Flint, Michigan.

A pediatrician, scientist, activist, and author, Dr. Hanna-Attisha has testified three times before the United States Congress and was awarded the Freedom of Expression Courage Award by PEN America. She …

Proper Medication Adherence Is A Challenge For Older Snap Participants With Chronic Health Conditions, Colleen Heflin, Chinedum O. Ojinnaka, Irma Arteaga, Lauryn Quick

Population Health Research Brief Series

Diabetes and hypertension are among the leading causes of poor health and mortality in the United States. Properly taking prescribed medications to manage these conditions is critical for maintaining health and preventing complications. This is especially true for older adults, who are more likely to live with these chronic conditions. This brief summarizes findings from a study of an older adults in Missouri who participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) between 2006 and 2014. On average, 1 in 4 individuals with hypertension and 1 in 3 with diabetes did not properly take prescribed medications to manage their health …

Staying At Home: How Well Did Americans Maintain Their Health Behaviors During Covid-19?, Michael Serrur, James Rose

Population Health Research Brief Series

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a major toll on people's sense of schedule. Lack of motivation and the removal of daily routines has negatively affected health behaviors, leading to an increase in snacking and sitting around the house more frequently than before the pandemic. This brief summarizes the findings from a national survey aimed at understanding behavior change and goal setting during the pandemic and provides tips for getting back into healthy habits.

Building Back Healthier: The Role Of Public Health In State Disaster Recovery Law, Claire Pendergrast, Nicole Errett

Population Health Research Brief Series

When communities are impacted by disasters, state officials must implement efficient and competent recovery strategies with the health and wellbeing of residents in mind. This research brief summarizes findings from a peer-reviewed study showing that few U.S. states explicitly integrate public health into their disaster recovery laws, and the types of public health requirements and authorizations vary substantially across states.

Lyme Disease In The U.S.: Where Is Risk Highest?, Mary E. Helander

Population Health Research Brief Series

Over 30,000 Lyme disease cases are reported to the CDC annually. Lyme disease, which is carried by ticks, can lead to numerous debilitating health conditions and even death. This data slice describes the geographic distribution of Lyme disease in the U.S. from 2009-2018 and summarizes prevention strategies.

Stroke: Identifying Symptoms And Acting Fast To Save Lives And Prevent Permanent Disabilities, Mary E. Helander, Bernard Appiah, Miriam Mutambudzi

Population Health Research Brief Series

Stroke is the 5^th leading cause of death in the United States. Strokes and their long-term effects are preventable. Recognizing the symptoms of stroke and acting quickly can prevent death and minimize long-term disabilities. Family members and bystanders have an important role to play. This issue brief describes stroke symptoms and prevention guidelines, summarizes the information 9-1-1 callers should be prepared to provide when someone is having a stroke, and discusses the importance of acting quickly to save lives and long-term damage.

The Public Good, Bad Policies, And Tough Times: When Profit And Public Interests Collide, Austin Mcneill Brown, Shannon M. Monnat

Population Health Research Brief Series

Privatization of public goods maximizes corporate profits while providing minimal benefits or protections to public health. When calamities such as infectious disease pandemics, natural disasters, and severe weather strike, privatized systems often fail to respond adequately. This issue brief describes how privatization of public goods undermines public health, damages public trust, and erodes democracy and provides suggestions for how we can rethink policies to value people over profits instead of valuing profits over people.

Unmet Needs Are Associated With Increased Stress And Poor Physical And Mental Health In Early Adulthood, Colleen Heflin, Katie Green, Ying Huang, Asiya Validova

Population Health Research Brief Series

Material hardship, such as not being able to pay bills, negatively affects both physical and mental health. This research brief examines how different types of material hardship (difficulty paying for food, bills, and health care) are associated with self-rated health, depression, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts among U.S. young adults (ages 24-32).

Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Development Increased Income For Rural Pennsylvania Families, But Youth Obesity Rates Remained High, Molly A. Martin

Population Health Research Brief Series

A new study finds that despite increased income due to MarcellusShale, childhood obesity in rural PA remain unchanged.

Expanding Public Insurance Eligibility Increases Substance Use Treatment Provider Acceptance Of Public Insurance And Increases Adolescent Access To Treatment, Sarah Hamersma, Catherine Maclean

Population Health Research Brief Series

Expanding eligibility thresholds for Medicaid and CHIP leads to increased access to and use of substance use treatment among adolescents.

Covid-19 Risk For Individuals With Intellectual And/Or Developmental Disabilities Varies By Type Of Residential Setting, Ashlyn W.W.A. Wong, Scott D. Landes

Population Health Research Brief Series

COVID-19 case and fatality rates are higher for people with IDD who are living in Skilled Nursing Facilities compared with those living in other types of facilities or those living in individual residences or their family home.

Less Worthy Lives? We Must Prioritize People With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities In Covid-19 Vaccine Allocation, Scott D. Landes, Margaret A. Turk, Katherine E. Mcdonald, Maya Sabatello

Population Health Research Brief Series

Individuals with developmental and intellectual disability should prioritized during COVID-19 vaccination allocation.

Health Have, Health Have Nots In A Time Of Covid-19, Sandro Galea

Center for Policy Research

In this brief, my goal is to talk about something which has animated a lot of my thinking and writing in the past decade. It is how our health is fundamentally socially patterned and reflects the world around us. This has been true for decades in this country, and one could also argue, globally, however this brief will focus on this topic at the national level. As you will see, I will talk mostly of health haves and health have nots in general, but as we progress, show how COVID-19 has made this evermore apparent.

Harm Reduction In Prison Settings: A Relevant Approach To Reduce Hiv Transmission?, Amine Ghrabi

English Language Institute

Harm reduction defines a set of policies and interventions aiming to address the adverse health consequences associated with drug use. Compared to the general population, prisoners are disproportionally affected by HIV. Thanks to its strong emphasis on public health and human rights principles, harm reduction can effectively reduce transmission of HIV inside prison settings.