Digital Commons Network^™

Exposure To Fine Particulate Matter During Pregnancy And Risk Of Preterm Birth Among Women In New Jersey, Ohio, And Pennsylvania, 2000–2005, Kristen M. Rappazzo, Julie L. Daniels, Lynne C. Messer, Charles Poole, Danelle T. Lobdell

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Particulate matter < 2.5 micrometers in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5) has been variably associated with preterm birth (PTB).

Objective: We classified preterm births into four categories (20–27, 28–31, 32–34, and 35–36 weeks completed gestation) and estimated risk differences (RD) for each category in association with a 1-µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 exposure during each week of gestation.

Methods: We assembled a cohort of singleton pregnancies that completed at least 20 weeks of gestation during 2000-2005 using live birth certificate data from three states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey) (n = 1,940,213; 8% PTB). We estimated mean PM2.5 exposures for each week of gestation from monitor-corrected Community Multi-Scale Air Quality modeling data. RDs were …

Power To The People? An Evaluation Of State-Level Environmental Justice Policies, Angela Michelle Hines

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities of color in America lacking economical, educational, and political power have been largely invisible in the process of making major policy decisions. This is lack of access to decision-making venues has been viewed by many as the reason behind marginalized populations bearing the brunt of many societal burdens. The Environmental Justice Movement legitimized the claims of inadequate access to the decision-making process concerning environmental conditions in which African-Americans lived and worked. Through the use of disruptive actions reminiscent of those used throughout the Civil Rights Movement, the plight of communities plagued by the daily presence of hazardous waste gained …

Strategies To Reduce The Harmful Effects Of Extreme Heat Events: A Four-City Study, Jalonne L. White-Newsome, Sabrina Mccormick, Natalie R. Sampson, Miatta A. Buxton, Marie S. O'Neill, Carina J. Gronlund, Kathryn C. Conlon, Edith A. Parker

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Extreme heat events (EHEs) are becoming more intense, more frequent and longer lasting in the 21st century. These events can disproportionately impact the health of low-income, minority, and urban populations. To better understand heat-related intervention strategies used by four U.S. cities, we conducted 73 semi-structured interviews with government and non-governmental organization leaders representing public health, general social services, emergency management, meteorology, and the environmental planning sectors in Detroit, MI; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA and Phoenix, AZ—cities selected for their diverse demographics, climates, and climate adaptation strategies. We identified activities these leaders used to reduce the harmful effects of …

Lethal But Legal: Corporations, Consumption, And Protecting Public Health (Preface), Nicholas Freudenberg

Publications and Research

Decisions made by the food, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical, gun, and automobile industries have a greater impact on today's health than the decisions of scientists and policymakers. As the collective influence of corporations has grown, governments around the world have stepped back from their responsibility to protect public health by privatizing key services, weakening regulations, and cutting funding for consumer and environmental protection. Today's corporations are increasingly free to make decisions that benefit their bottom line at the expense of public health.

Lethal but Legal examines how corporations have impacted -- and plagued -- public health over the last century, first …

Strategies Employed By Inner-City Activists To Reduce Alcohol-Related Problems And Advance Social Justice, Laurie Drabble, Denise Herd

Faculty Publications

This study explored strategies employed by activists engaged in efforts to change policies and laws related to selling and promoting alcoholic beverages based on in-depth interviews with 184 social activists in seven U.S. major cities. Nine strategies aimed at improving local conditions and influencing policy were described by activists across regional contexts. Grassroots mobilization was central to all other strategies, which included the creation or enforcement of laws, meeting with elected officials, media advocacy, working with police/law enforcement, education and training, direct action, changing community norms, and negotiating with store owners.

Elucidating Perceived And Actual Cancer Risk In Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Differentially Impacted By Environmental Hazards To Inform Future Public Health Interventions, Lashanta J. Rice

Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities, economically disadvantaged and medically underserved groups bear a disproportionate amount of the cancer burden. Myriad social and environmental factors attribute to these disparities including disparate exposures to environmental pollutants, which account for two percent of all cancer deaths nationally. There is empirical evidence demonstrating risk perceptions and cancer worry are shaped by race/ethnicity and social and environmental experiences. Cancer risk perceptions among Non-Whites, especially Blacks compared to Whites is lower for various reasons. Low perceived cancer risk may explain persistent cancer disparities, since protective health behaviors are higher among persons who perceive …

A Comparison Of Water-Related Perceptions And Practices Among Residents Living In Colonias In West Texas And South New Mexico, Relying On Container Or Well Water, Lydia Berenice Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

In the U.S. - Mexico border region, colonia residents must cope with the lack of clean water supply and other basic sanitary services. Because of the lack of infrastructure, colonia residents rely on alternative water supplies including either private wells or hauled water stored in large above-ground containers. Little is known about residents' perceptions of their water supplies, their use practices, and how water-related use and perceptions might differ between colonia residents relying on well water or container water. The purpose of this study was to examine the water-related perceptions and practices of people living in colonias, and to …

The Mosakowski Institute For Public Enterprise Five Year Report, Mosakowski Institute

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

This report contains the highlights of the first five years of Clark University’s Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise. It includes a description of the Institute’s founding, its commitment to use-inspired research, transformational educational experiences, and community connectedness, the Institute’s leadership and finances, and a listing of projects undertaken and faculty partners.

2012-2013 Hccp Year-End Summary, Kristen S. Cloutier

Year-end Summaries

No abstract provided.

Social Ecological Constraints To Park Use In Communities With Proximate Park Access, J. Aaron Hipp, Deepti Adlakha, Ravikumar Chockalingam

Brown School Faculty Publications

Evidence correlates physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived constraints to park use in low-income communities facing significant health disparities, but with proximate access to underutilized parks. The authors used a series of focus groups with families, teens, and older adults in neighborhoods with similar demographic distribution and parks over 125 acres in size. Constraints to park use varied across age groups as well as across social ecological levels, with perceived constraints to individuals, user groups, communities, and society. Policies and interventions aimed …

Potential Health Impacts Of Heavy Metals On Hiv-Infected Population In Usa, Xiaohui Xu, Hui Hu, Amy B. Dailey, Greg Kearney, Evelyn O. Talbott, Robert L. Cook

Health Sciences Faculty Publications

Purpose: Noninfectious comorbidities such as cardiovascular diseases have become increasingly prevalent and occur earlier in life in persons with HIV infection. Despite the emerging body of literature linking environmental exposures to chronic disease outcomes in the general population, the impacts of environmental exposures have received little attention in HIV-infected population. The aim of this study is to investigate whether individuals living with HIV have elevated prevalence of heavy metals compared to non-HIV infected individuals in United States.

Methods: We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2010 to compare exposures to heavy metals including cadmium, lead, and total …

Allostatic Load Amplifies The Effect Of Blood Lead Levels On Elevated Blood Pressure Among Middle-Aged U.S. Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study, Ami R. Zota, Edmond R. Shenassa, Rachel Morello-Frosch

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

Scientists and regulators have sought to understand whether and how physiologic dysregulation due to chronic stress exposure may enhance vulnerability to the adverse health effects of toxicant exposures. We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine whether allostatic load (AL), a composite measure of physiologic response to chronic exposure to stress, amplifies the effect of lead exposure on blood pressure among middle-aged adults.

Methods

We analyzed associations between blood lead levels and blood pressure in a nationally representative sample of 8,194 U.S. adults (aged 40-65 years) participating in the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, 1999--2008. Outcomes were elevated systolic …

Livestock-Associated Methicillin And Multidrug Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Is Present Among Industrial, Not Antibiotic-Free Livestock Operation Workers In North Carolina, Jessica L. Rinsky, Maya Nadimpalli, Steve Wing, Devon Hall, Dothula Baron, Lance B. Price, Jesper Larsen, Marc Stegger, Jill Stewart, Christopher D. Heaney

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Objectives

Administration of antibiotics to food animals may select for drug-resistant pathogens of clinical significance, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In the United States, studies have examined prevalence of MRSA carriage among individuals exposed to livestock, but prevalence of multidrug-resistant S. aureus (MDRSA) carriage and the association with livestock raised with versus without antibiotic selective pressure remains unclear. We aimed to examine prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility, and molecular characteristics of S. aureus among industrial livestock operation (ILO) and antibiotic-free livestock operation (AFLO) workers and household members in North Carolina.

Methods

Participants in this cross-sectional study were interviewed and provided a …

Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding Of Healthy Development For African American Youth, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the …

Public Health Aspects Of The Daugherty Water For Food Institute Strategic Plan, Eleanor G. Rogan, Bruce Grogan, Terry Huang, Alan Kolok, Risto Rautiainen, Oscar Araz, Christopher Fisher, Andrew Jameton, Ashish Joshi, Sharon Meaker-Medcalf, Jim P. Stimpson, Melissa Tibbits

Reports: College of Public Health

The University of Nebraska College of Public Health is committed to contributing to the research, service and education programs of the Daugherty Water for Food Institute. The College can offer a wide variety of expertise that can contribute to programs related to water, food and health. This document has been written to highlight the areas in which College faculty have particular interests, knowledge and experience to contribute.

Cultivating Resistance: Food Justice In The Criminal Justice System, Caitlin M. Watkins

Pitzer Senior Theses

This Senior Thesis in Environmental Analysis seeks to explore the ways in which certain food-oriented programs for incarcerated women and women on parole critically resist the Prison Industrial Complex and the Industrial Food System by securing social and ecological equity through the acquisition of food justice. It focuses on three case studies: the Crossroads’ Meatless Mondays program, Fallen Fruit from Rising Women: A Crossroads Social Enterprise, and Cultivating Dreams Prison Garden Project: An Organic Garden for Women in Prison. Each project utilizes food as a tool to build community, provide valuable skill sets of cooking and gardening, and educate women …

Fertile Lands And Bodies: Connecting The Green Revolution, Pesticides, And Women’S Reproductive Health, Sarah M.K. Cycon

Pitzer Senior Theses

Environmentalists, social scientists, and economists have long critiqued the enduring impacts of the Green Revolution’s diffusion of agricultural technologies throughout the Global South. However, largely missing from the myriad analyses is the relationship between those technologies, namely pesticides, and health outcomes. This thesis explores the social and biological mechanisms through which excessive pesticide use culminated into adverse reproductive health outcomes for rural women in the Global South. Drawing together the history of the Green Revolution’s use of DDT, its social and economic impacts, and the biology of pesticide contamination in women’s bodies exposes how the Green Revolution situated women in …

The Santa Clara, 2013-02-07, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Environmental And Occupational Interventions For Primary Prevention Of Cancer: A Cross-Sectorial Policy Framework, Carolina Espina, Miquel Porta, Joachim Schüz, Ildefonso Hernández Aguado, Robert V. Percival, Carlos Dora, Terry Slevin, Julietta Rodriguez Guzman, Tim Meredith, Philip J. Landrigan, Maria Neira

Faculty Scholarship

Nearly 13 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths occur worldwide each year; 63% of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. A substantial portion of all cancers are attributable to carcinogenic exposures in the environment and the workplace.

The objective of this study was to develop an evidence-based global vision and strategy for the primary prevention of environmental and occupational cancer.

The study concluded that opportunities exist to revitalize comprehensive global cancer control policies by incorporating primary interventions against environmental and occupational carcinogens.

Biomarkers Of Maternal And Fetal Exposure To Organochlorine Pesticides Measured In Pregnant Hispanic Women From Brownsville, Texas, Ken Sexton, Jennifer J Salinas, Thomas J Mcdonald, Rose M Z Gowen, Rebecca P Miller, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Biomarkers of organochlorine pesticides were measured in both venous and umbilical cord blood from 35 pregnant Hispanic women living in Brownsville, Texas, USA. Gas chromatography with an electron capture detector was used to analyze specimens for 30 individual pesticides or their metabolites. Results indicate that blood concentrations were relatively low for most individual compounds, but that high-end (upper 10th percentile) values for total DDT were comparatively high. Although health effects associated with measured blood concentrations are uncertain, there is concern that fetal exposure to low levels of these OC compounds, either individually or in combination, might contribute to subsequent health …

Publications On Chronic Disease In Coal Dependent Communities In Central Appalachia, Susan Meacham, Phd, Suporn Sukpraput, Phd, Thomas Taber Oms I, Diana Metzger

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

CONTEXT:

Agency and nonprofit reports have traditionally been the source of health information in Appalachia. Recently, publications have appeared in the literature associating coal mining, specifically mountain top mining, with numerous chronic health conditions spurring debate among environmental and industry interest groups. Publication quantity and quality were objectively assessed. This article reports on a literature review and analysis of publications on chronic disease in coal dependent communities in Appalachia.

OBJECTIVE:

To conduct a review and analysis of original, peer reviewed research publications on chronic health conditions in communities dependent on coal mining with a focus on central Appalachia and report …

Research Week 2013, Linda Gardiner

Office of Research Institutional Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Overweight, Obesity, And Neighborhood Characteristics Among Postpartum Latinas, Colleen Keller, Michael Todd, Barbara Ainsworth, Kathryn Records, Sonia Vega-Lopez, Paska Permana, Dean Coonrod, Allison Williams

Nursing Faculty Works

Background. Weight gain during the childbearing years and failure to lose pregnancy weight after birth contribute to the development of obesity in Latinas. Design and Methods. Madres para la Salud (Mothers for Health) is a 12-month prospective, randomized controlled trial exploring a social support intervention with moderate-intensity physical activity to effect changes in body fat, systemic and fat tissue inflammation, and depression symptoms in sedentary postpartum Latinas. This paper describes the initial body composition of the sample, social support, and neighborhood contextual correlations of overweight and obese Latina mothers within the first 6 months after birth. Results. The mean body …

A Qualitative Study Of An Urban Community Garden: Creating Healthier Neighborhood Environments, Lauren Workman

Theses and Dissertations

Neighborhoods influence population level health; the places where people live, work, and grow are an essential setting for health promotion interventions. In efforts to create healthier neighborhood environments, there is a movement to better understand neighborhood social characteristics. The neighborhood social environment potentially includes social relationships (including trust and cohesion), networks, norms, and the resources that may be generated from relationships. In addition, more work is needed to learn about how people may become engaged in neighborhood initiatives. Community gardens are a 1) potential strategy to promote health at community and individual levels 2) mechanism to involve community members in …

Identifying Environmental Health Priorities In Underserved Populations: A Study Of Rural Versus Urban Communities, M. C. Bernhard, M. B. Evans, S. T. Kent, E. Johnson, S. L. Threadgill, S. M. Becker

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Objectives- Understanding and effectively addressing persistent health disparities in minority communities requires a clear picture of members' concerns and priorities. This study was intended to engage residents in urban and rural communities in order to identify environmental health priorities. Specific emphasis was placed on how the communities: defined the term environment; their perceptions of environmental exposures as affecting their health; specific priorities in their communities; and differences in urban versus rural populations.

Study design- A community-engaged approach was used to develop and implement focus groups and compare environmental health priorities in urban versus rural communities.

Methods- A total of eight …

Increasing The Relevance Of Research To Underserved Communities: Lessons Learned From A Retreat To Engage Community Health Workers With Researchers, Heather Angier, Noelle Wiggins, Jessica Gregg, Rachel Gold, Jennifer E. Devoe

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article presents information on a community retreat developed to seek input from community health workers (CHWs) to increase the relevance of our research to underserved communities in Oregon. Retreats facilitating dialogue between researchers and CHWs could yield important insight to enhance the significance of research for communities.

Kota Sehat Sebagai Bentuk Sustainable Communities Best Practice, Oedojo Soedirham

Kesmas

Kota Sehat merupakan proyek World Health Organization (WHO) yang diluncurkan pada pertengahan tahun 1980-an dengan mengambil tempat untuk yang pertama kali adalah kota-kota di Eropa. Konsep Kota Sehat adalah konsep lama sekaligus baru. “Lama” berarti telah lama manusia berusaha untuk membuat kota lebih sehat sejak awal peradaban perkotaan (urban civilization). “Baru” dalam manifestasinya sebagai satu sarana utama promosi kesehatan – kesehatan masyarakat baru (new public health) – dalam pencarian Sehat untuk Semua (Health for All). Hal tersebut dipandang sebagai “a means of legitimizing, nurturing, and supporting the process of community empowerment”. Artikel ini mengulas Kota Sehat dalam konteks sustainable communities. …

Cumulative Risk And A Call For Action In Environmental Justice Communities, H. P. Hynes, Russ Lopez

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Health disparities, social inequalities, and environmental injustice cumulatively affect individual and community vulnerability and overall health; yet health researchers, social scientists and environmental scientists generally study them separately. Cumulative risk assessment in poor, racially segregated, economically isolated and medically underserved communities needs to account for their multiple layers of vulnerability, including greater susceptibility, greater exposure, less preparedness to cope, and less ability to recover in the face of exposure. Recommendations for evidence-based action in environmental justice communities include: reducing pollution in communities of highest burden; building on community resources; redressing inequality when doing community-based research; and creating a screening framework …

Identifying Risk Factors For Disparities In Breast Cancer Mortality Among African-American And Hispanic Women, Nancy Tian, Pierre Goovaerts, T. Benjamin Zhan, T. Edwin Chow, J. Gaines Wilson

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Background: This study evaluated the risk factors associated with racial disparities in female breast cancer mortality for African-American and Hispanic women at the census tract level in Texas from 1995 to 2005.

Methods: Data on female breast cancer cases were obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry. Socioeconomic and demographic data were collected from Census 2000. Network distance and driving times to mammography facilities were estimated using Geographic Information System techniques. Demographic, poverty and spatial accessibility factors were constructed using principal component analysis. Logistic regression models were developed to predict the census tracts with significant racial disparities in breast cancer mortality …

Application Of A Novel Method For Assessing Cumulative Risk Burden By County, Jennifer J. Salinas, Manasi Shah, Bassent Abdelbary, Jennifer L. Gay, Ken Sexton

Physician Assistant Studies Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to apply the Human Security Index (HSI) as a tool to detect social and economic cumulative risk burden at a county-level in the state of Texas. The HSI is an index comprising a network of three sub-components or “fabrics”; the Economic, Environmental, and Social Fabrics. We hypothesized that the HSI will be a useful instrument for identifying and analyzing socioeconomic conditions that contribute to cumulative risk burden in vulnerable counties. We expected to identify statistical associations between cumulative risk burden and (a) ethnic concentration and (b) geographic proximity to the Texas-Mexico border. Findings from …