Medicine and Health Commons^™

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On The Well-Being Of People Incarcerated In United States Prisons, Kimberly Rivera

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the population as a whole. However, the incarcerated population (which also experiences a variety of health disparities) has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Due to overcrowding, poor ventilation, and lack of resources, the incarcerated population already is at a heightened risk for negative health outcomes, made worse by the recent pandemic. To adapt to the rapidly changing conditions during the pandemic in 2020 and into 2022, new safety measures were implemented, but the unintended consequences associated with the implementation of these procedures have yet to be examined empirically. I conducted a qualitative content …

Covid-19, Nutrition, And Gender: An Evidence-Informed Approach To Gender-Responsive Policies And Programs, Anna Kalbarczyk, Noora-Lisa Aberman, Bregje S M Van Asperen, Rosemary Morgan, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Bianca Carducci, Rebecca Heidkamp, Saskia Osendarp, Neha Kumar, Anna Lartey

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

In addition to the direct health impacts of COVID-19, government and household mitigation measures have triggered negative indirect economic, educational, and food and health system impacts, hitting low-and middle-income countries the hardest and disproportionately affecting women and girls. We conducted a gender focused analysis on five critical and interwoven crises that have emerged because of the COVID-19 crisis and exacerbated malnutrition and food insecurity. These include restricted mobility and isolation; reduced income; food insecurity; reduced access to essential health and nutrition services; and school closures. Our approach included a theoretical gender analysis, targeted review of the literature, and a visual …

The Correlation Between Vaccine Hesitancy And Privilege: Exploring The Degree To Which Education And Income Foster Resistance To Vaccination Efforts, Sophie Goldenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Vaccine hesitancy is a public health issue of growing concern. Extensive pre-existing literature offers several explanations and conflicting viewpoints regarding reluctance toward vaccinations. However, minimal research has been done exploring the upstream social determinants driving vaccine hesitancy. Utilizing academic and gray literature and interviews with experts in the field, this study addresses this gap in knowledge with the research question: To what extent does privilege impact vaccine hesitancy and resistance? Vaccine hesitancy appears globally and is particularly concerning given the re-emergence of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). Additionally, due to inconsistent causes, vaccine hesitancy is difficult to combat. In referencing the history …

Covid-19 Vaccine Diplomacy In West Africa: Empathetic Soft-Power Or Neocolonial Intentions?, Mary Sperrazza

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the impending roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, many questions have been raised concerning the roll-out of the vaccines beyond the Global North. While some countries across the Global South have been able to purchase limited numbers of vaccines; many countries in the Global South remain highly or entirely dependent on various programs for the distribution of vaccines, such as the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) program. Another means of distribution is of individual countries of the Global North that have either higher purchasing power or are producers of one or more vaccines that have begun donating an allocated amount of …

Plotting The Literature On Precautionary Measures Of Covid-19: A Scientometric Analysis Of Web Of Science, Muhammad Shoaib, Nusrat Ali, Abeel Naseer

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study attempted to evaluate the scholarly publications on COVID-19, social distance, physical distance, social isolation, and self-isolation employing the scientometric analysis technique from 2020 to 2021. The main purpose was to consolidate the published scholarship on the COVID-19 in the Web of Science indexed documents. A total of 635 publications were found. The results indicated that social distance and COVID-19 was the top topic along with the article as a type of document, and the majority were published in the English language in 2021. The name of Gimenez-Llort L was at top of the list of authors, along with …

Research Visualization Of Different Treatment Modalities To Treat Covid-19 Infection: Bibliometric Analysis Of Pubmed Database, Abeel Naseer, Muhammad Shoaib, Nusrat Ali, Imtiaz Ahmad

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper designed to examine research published in PubMed indexed journals of different treatment modalities to treat COVID -19 infection employing bibliometric analysis technique from 2020 to 2021. The purpose was to consolidate the published scholarly work in the PubMed database on different treatment modalities including vaccine, oxygen supplementation, dexamethasone or steroids, aspirin, heparin, remdesivir, zinc, vitamin c or ascorbic acid, oxygen, anti-malarial like chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, and azithromycin or macrolides. We employed a bibliometric analysis technique and found a total of 3043 published documents. The study findings depicted that vaccine and COVID-19 top was at the top of the …

Healthcare Of Indigenous Amazonian Peoples In Response To Covid-19: Marginality, Discrimination And Revaluation Of Ancestral Knowledge In Ucayali, Peru, Doreen Montag, Marco Barboza, Lizardo Cauper, Ivan Brehaut, Isaac Alva, Aoife Bennett, José Sanchez-Choy, Juan Pablo Sarmiento Barletti, Pilar Valenzuela, José Manuyama, Italo García Murayari, Miguel Guimaraes Vásquez, Celso Aguirre Panduro, Angela Giattino, Edwin Julio Palomino Cadenas, Rodrigo Lazo, Carlos A. Delgado, Alfonso Nino, Elaine C. Flores, Maria Amalia Pesantes, Juan Pablo Murillo, Luisa Elvira Belaunde, Sergio Recuenco, Robert Chuquimbalqui, Carol Zavaleta-Cortijo

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Articles and Research

"Systematic and persistent discrimination against Indigenous Peoples translates into differential health outcomes when analysed through ethnicity and/or mother tongue.1 In Peru, morbidity and mortality rates among Indigenous Peoples for COVID-19 appear to confirm this.2 The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the historical structural violence against Indigenous Peoples that currently takes a disproportionate toll in the Peruvian Amazon. This equally applies to Indigenous Andean Peoples and Afro Peruvians. Indigenous Peoples in voluntary isolation and those in initial contact are at highest health risk in this pandemic as they have no previous immunity against common infectious diseases, and lack access to public healthcare …

Decomposing Differences In Coronavirus Disease 2019-Related Case-Fatality Rates Across Seventeen Nations, Ashley Wendell Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

As of 1 November 2020, estimated case-fatality rates associated with coronavirus disease 2019 are not uniformly patterned across the world and differ substantially in magnitude. Given the global spatial heterogeneity in case-fatality rates, we applied the Blinder-Oaxaca regression decomposition technique to identify how putative sociodemographic, structural, and environmental sources influence variation in case-fatality rates. We show that compositional and associational differences in country-level risk factors explain a substantial proportion of the coronavirus disease 2019-related case-fatality rate gap across nations. Asian countries fair better vis-à-vis case-fatality rate differences mainly due to variation in returns to sociodemographic, structural, and environmental sources among …

Migración Y Salud En Chile: El Impacto Del Coronavirus En La Vida De Los Migrantes, Summer Reyes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the problems in accessing health care and health care information that migrants face during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020?

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to characterize the health situation for migrants in Chile in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. Secondary objectives are to describe the barriers that migrants face with access to health and the healthcare system, to describe the perceptions and experiences that migrants have of the health care system, and to explore the different programs and campaigns that have helped migrants during the coronavirus pandemic with medical knowledge and care. …

El Rol Del Gobierno En Las Campañas Sanitarias De Vih, Covid-19 E Influenza, Sydney Reyes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: What are the differences and similarities between the three health campaigns — the flu, HIV, and COVID-19 — that the Chilean government has spread to population?

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to describe and compare the three public health campaigns — the flu, HIV, and COVID-19 — to examine the role that the Chilean government has in health education and heath promotion. The secondary objectives were to identify the differences in national health campaigns and regional campaigns as well as to show the interactions between health campaigns and indigenous people. Overall, the research project looked …

The Current State Of Migrant Health In Morocco: Pre-And Peri-Covid-19 Pandemic, Layla Babahaji

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the early 21st century, Morocco transitioned from being a predominantly transit migration country into both a transit and destination country for migrants. In 2013, the Moroccan government took significant steps to adapt the healthcare system in better integrating migrants in its policies. The government implemented the National Strategy on Immigration and Asylum that improved access to public health care for migrants. Recently, in March of 2020, Morocco declared a state of medical emergency due to the current COVID-19 pandemic that continues today. This paper addresses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the current state of migrant health in …

Leveraging Technology To Blend Large-Scale Epidemiologic Surveillance With Social And Behavioral Science Methods: Successes, Challenges, And Lessons Learned Implementing The Unite Longitudinal Cohort Study Of Hiv Risk Factors Among Sexual Minority Men In The United States, H. Jonathon Rendina, Ali J. Talan, Nicola F. Tavella, Jonathan Lopez Matos, Ruben H. Jimenez, S. Scott Jones, Brian Salfas, Drew Westmoreland

Publications and Research

The use of digital technologies to conduct large-scale research with limited interaction (i.e., no in-person contact) and objective endpoints (i.e., biological testing) has significant potential for the field of epidemiology, but limited research to date has been published on the successes and challenges of such approaches. We analyzed data from a cohort study of sexual minority men across the United States, collected using digital strategies during a 10-month period from 2017 to 2018. Overall, 113,874 individuals were screened, of whom 26,000 were invited to the study, 10,691 joined the study, and 7,957 completed all enrollment steps, including return of a …

An Analysis Of The Rajasthan Public Health System’S Response To The 2019 Dengue Insurgence, Luke Bryan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Dengue virus is in a pandemic status and is a major public health issue in the modern world. The mosquito-borne disease is largely prevalent in Asia and specifically India, where more than half of the states are considered to have complete presence of the dengue virus. The intricate infrastructure of the Indian public health system looks for dengue cases at all levels and reports to the integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP).

Analyses of the IDSP and trends of dengue cases was done in response to dengue outbreaks throughout the state. Geographic information system (GIS) maps were created to evaluate a …

Kalkidan ('Promise'): Addressing Marital Transmission Of Hiv In Ethiopia, Banchiamlack Dessalegn, Annabel Erulkar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This program brief describes a Population Council initiative in three low-income areas of Ethiopia. Kalkidan (Amharic for “Promise”) is a three-year program designed to increase discussion and information-sharing on HIV and related topics between marital partners; to promote HIV prevention and health service utilization within marriage, including prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV; and to build husbands’ support of their wives, as well as investment in their health and that of their children. Kalkidan recruits and trains community-based mentors to lead parallel discussion groups of husbands and wives, who periodically come together for joint sessions. The Population Council is …

Implementing Incentive-Based Hiv Interventions In Zambia: The Compact Model, Sam Kalibala, Waimar Tun, Chabu Kangale, Jill Keesbury, Ray Handema, Mwaka Monze

HIV and AIDS

The Population Council received a cooperative agreement from USAID to implement the Community Mobilization for Preventive Action (COMPACT) project, to develop and determine the feasibility of “community compacts” as an innovative approach to prevent HIV in Zambian communities. The aim is to mobilize the communities through a capacity-building process that enables them to identify HIV prevention targets, develop interventions to achieve those targets, and measure the results. This study determined baseline levels of key indicators related to HIV, sexual behaviors, gender-based violence, alcohol abuse, and reproductive health. These baseline measures will be compared with midline and endline levels to assess …

Motivations For Entering Volunteer Service And Factors Affecting Productivity: A Mixed Method Survey Of Steps-Ovc Volunteer Hiv Caregivers In Zambia, Jessica Price, Tina Moyo, Stephanie Topp, Drosin Mulenga, Mardieh Dennis, Mathew Ngunga

HIV and AIDS

This study by the Population Council and the Zambia-Led Prevention Initiative was designed to examine the motivations of individuals volunteering as STEPS-OVC caregivers; to explore their experiences in service, including perceived barriers to carrying out their volunteer work and if, and how, their expectations for volunteering had been met or not; to assess individuals’ intent to continue caregiving; and to ascertain factors associated with volunteer productivity. Two main findings stand out from this study: that communitarian and religious helping values were virtually universal in the study population, and that a majority of the volunteers indicated economic and material interests and …

Health Disparities Experienced By People With Disabilities In The Us: A Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Study, Jennifer Renee Pharr, Timothy J. Bungum

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990; since then research has shown that people with disabilities continue to experience barriers to health care. The purpose of this study was to compare utilization of preventive services, chronic disease rates, and engagement in health risk behaviors of participants with differing severities of disabilities to those without disabilities. This study was a secondary analysis of 2010 data collected in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System national survey in the United States. Rao Chi square test and logistic regression were employed. Participants with disabilities had significantly higher adjusted odds ratios for all …

Positive Action For Hiv In Schools In Kenya, Francis Obare, Harriet Birungi, Monica Wanjiru, Sheila Bayley, John Kiunjuri, Mary Omondi, Rob Burnet, Bridget Deacon

Reproductive Health

The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of using comic books, role models, and edutainment to communicate HIV and AIDS messages to in-school young people in Kenya, with a view to improving their knowledge about the epidemic, enhancing communication about it, and promoting positive attitudes and behavior among them. The study was implemented by the Population Council in eight secondary schools in Nairobi, as part of the APHIA II Operations Research Project in collaboration with the AIDS Control Unit in the Ministry of Education, Well Told Story, and the National AIDS/STI Control Programme. The study found that …

Study Guide For United In Anger: A History Of Act Up, Matt Brim

Open Educational Resources

The United in Anger Study Guide facilitates classroom and activist engagement with Jim Hubbard’s 2012 documentary, United in Anger: A History of ACT UP. The Study Guide contains discussion sections, projects and exercises, and resources for further research about the activism of the New York chapter of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power). The Study Guide is a free, interactive, multimedia resource for understanding the legacy of ACT UP, the film’s role in preserving that legacy, and its meaning for viewers' lives.

Household Survey To Evaluate The Zambia-Led Prevention Initiative: Baseline Report, Zambia-Led Prevention Initiative

HIV and AIDS

With an estimated HIV prevalence of 14.3 percent among men and women age 15–49, Zambia is one of the sub-Saharan African countries most affected by the HIV and AIDS pandemic. The Zambia-led Prevention Initiative Program (ZPI) was developed by a consortium led by FHI360, with the Population Council as the evaluation partner. This study determined baseline levels of key indicators related to HIV, gender-based violence, and reproductive health. Additionally, the baseline findings provide critical insights into key areas for interventions in Zambia and highlights variability in the populations across provinces and between males and females that provide valuable guidance for …

Disease Prevalence And Behavioral Risk In Nevada, Shannon M. Monnat

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Throughout the last several years, people living in the United States have engaged in intense debates about health care reform, costs, and mandates. What is often missing from these debates is arguably the key issue in American health: What is making us sick in the first place?

Aging Trends And Challenges In Nevada, Jennifer Reid Keene, Kathryn Mcclain, Jacqueline Ragin

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Societal aging is one of the most important social trends of the 21st century. It affects our political, social, and economic institutions and also the nature of our interpersonal and family relationships (Quadagno 2011). In the coming decades, both as individuals and as a society, we will have to make important decisions regarding the consequences of our aging population. Policy makers, families, businesses, local, state, and federal governments, health care providers will have to meet the growing needs of the older population in the U.S. and in Nevada.

Shaping The Operations Research Agenda For Antiretroviral-Based Prevention Products For Women: Gels And Rings, Martha Brady, C. Elizabeth Mcgrory

HIV and AIDS

This report summarizes discussions from a two-day international experts consultation meeting in 2012 on preparing for the successful introduction of women-centered antiretroviral-based HIV prevention methods. It examines the limits and expectations of operations research in antiretroviral health technologies.

Nonclinical Development Needs And Regulatory Requirements For Multipurpose Prevention Technologies: A Primer, Joseph W. Romano, Martha Brady, Judy Manning

HIV and AIDS

This summary outlines key development elements that will be necessary for various configurations of multipurpose prevention products for the simultaneous prevention of HIV, sexually transmitted infections, and/or pregnancy.

Assessing And Improving Self-Reporting Of Male Circumcision In Zambia And Swaziland, Paul C. Hewett, Nicole Haberland, Barbara Mensch, Louis Apicella

HIV and AIDS

The Male Circumcision (MC) Partnership was established with the support of the Gates Foundation and PEPFAR to scale up MC services in Zambia, in collaboration with the Zambian government. The MC Partnership is a five-year project led by Population Services International (Society for Family Health, Zambia), in partnership with Jhpiego, Marie Stopes International (MSI), and the Population Council. The ultimate objective of this study is to provide researchers and program managers with evidence-based recommendations for the collection of self-reported data on MC status through an assessment of different methods to describe and explain MC. Specifically, the study assessed tools for …

The Experiences Of Men Engaged In Transactional Sex With Other Men In Urban Nigeria—A Size Estimation And Qualitative Study, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

Reports on a mixed-method research study to estimate the population size and understand the experiences of a sub-group of men who have sex with men presumed to be at particularly high risk of infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections: men who engage in transactional sex with other men.

Prevalence And Correlates Of Hiv Infection In A Cohort Of Male Injection Drug Users In Delhi, Waimar Tun, Vartika Sharma, Mary Philip Sebastian, Ira Madan, Amita Yadav, Meredith Sheehy, Dean Lewis, Ibou Thior, Avina Sarna

HIV and AIDS

Baseline assessment of HIV infection among male injection drug users to understand the correlates of HIV infection and high risk injection practices and sexual behavior in Delhi, India.

Getting Real With Youth-Friendly Services In Africa: Report Of A Satellite Session At The Xix International Aids Conference, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

Overview of an AIDS 2013 satellite session which aimed to engage young people with and react to the study findings and in the light of the findings, discuss and share their perspectives, experiences and concerns about how responsive existing policies, programs and services are to the HIV prevention and impact mitigation needs of young Africans.

Who’S Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework: A Milestone In Global Governance For Health, Lawrence O. Gostin, David P. Fidler

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

In May 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework for the Sharing of Influenza Viruses and Access to Vaccines and Other Benefits (PIP Framework). The PIP Framework’s adoption ended years of difficult negotiations, which began after Indonesia refused to share samples of avian influenza A (H5N1) with WHO in late 2006. Indonesia justified its actions on the need to create more equitable access for developing countries to benefits, such as vaccines and antivirals, derived from research and development on shared influenza virus samples. The global health community feared that failure to share influenza virus samples …

Community Health Workers Can Effectively Provide Information And Referrals To People Living With Hiv In Their Communities, Population Council

Reproductive Health

A number of studies reported high levels of sexually transmitted infections among people living with HIV (PLHIV). Unfortunately, prevention interventions targeting PLHIV in the community are not common in Kenya, and most PLHIV who are not on ART have limited access to prevention information and risk-reduction counseling. The Population Council’s APHIA II Operations Research Project conducted a research project to address these gaps. This study was conducted in 2010 in collaboration with the International Center for Reproductive Health and the National AIDS and STI Control Programme. The findings show that the intervention had a number of positive outcomes and concludes …