Digital Commons Network^™

Haiti Earthquake January 2010: What Actions And Policies Can The Government Of Haiti Implement To Improve Emergency Management Response, Steve Cohen

Master's Projects

In 2010, Haiti experienced a devastating earthquake that destroyed much of its capital city and the governmental offices that should have guided the response to the disaster. This research focuses on how Haiti can benefit from the Caribbean Disaster Management Agency’s standards for disaster resilience as it works to recover from the earthquake. Unfortunately, Haiti has long been dependent on assistance from non-governmental organizations due to its extreme poverty; its recovery is complicated by the need to integrate disaster assistance and on-going economic and social assistance into its development of a more resilient society.

Assessing City Preparedness For A Biological Attack, Joseph T. Moore

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of preparedness by local communities in the event of a biological attack is a predicament that will result in chaos and an increase in casualties. Assessing city preparedness is essential in the event of a biological attack. The potential for an enormous number of casualties is real; it is imperative, therefore, for local communities to be prepared in the event of a biological attack. This descriptive single case study investigated whether one city in the southeastern United States is prepared for a biological attack. System theory provided the theoretical framework for this research, with the unit of analysis …

Energy Efficiency Technologies For Buildings: Potential For Energy, Cost, And Carbon Emission Savings, Bukola S. Jimoh

CMC Senior Theses

Buildings are a significant energy consumer and are responsible for an increasingly large percent of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, currently between 30 and 40 percent. Energy efficiency presents unique opportunities for building owners to reduce their environmental footprint and add value through cost savings, tax deductions, and increased market value. An analysis of 183 samples of efficiency measures in seven technology categories found that 74% of efficiency investments had a positive net present value. Building automation system and chiller plant improvements had the highest mean energy and carbon dioxide savings per square foot. Additionally, building automation systems had, on average …

Between "Voluntary Migrants" And War Refugees: The Health Of The Shan Burmese Migrant Workers In Northern Thailand, Nishant Verma, Celina Su, Coralie Chan, Peter Muennig

Publications and Research

The Shan are a large migrant group from Burma (Myanmar) found within Thailand. While some Shan migrate to escape the civil war within Burma, others migrate for economic opportunity. Despite the size of this population, little is known about their health. Our study highlights the need for expanded access to primary care among this Shan population. Despite the arduous and trying journeys of these Shan migrants, they do not display the level of health sometimes attributed to health selection among immigrant groups.

The World Health Report 2000: A Case Study On The Indonesia National Health System, Jerico Franciscus Pardosi

Kesmas

Laporan Kesehatan Dunia (LKD) tahun 2000, yang memfokuskan pada program peningkatan kinerja sistem kesehatan, mengundang banyak pro dan kontra. Artikel ini menilai secara kritis laporan tersebut terhadap sistem kesehatan nasional Indonesia. Artikel ini membahas unsur-unsur model evaluasi WHO, pembobotan indikator yang digunakan, ukuran variabel, dan sumber data. Sebanyak 191 negara di dunia, Indonesia telah mencapai total peringkat 106, dengan tingkat kesehatan dan distribusi kesehatan masing-masing pada posisi 103 dan 156. Lebih lanjut, ketanggapan dan keadilan pembiayaan kesehatan masing-masing berada pada peringkat 63-64 dan 73. Sementara itu, indikator pengeluaran kesehatan berada pada peringkat 154 dengan kinerja Sistem Kesehatan Nasional Indonesia untuk …

Community's Safety Net: A Comparative Analysis Of The Role Of Nonprofit Hospitals In Barrow And Clayton Counties In Providing Services To Its Medicaid Population, Carlene Coggins, Julie John

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Nonprofit hospitals serve as part of the healthcare safety net to deliver a significant level of care to low-income, uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid and other vulnerable groups in society. Safety net hospitals are defined as those hospitals where at least 10 percent of the costs of care provided is uncompensated. Nonprofit hospitals are granted tax exemptions from the government and in exchange they are required to meet community benefit standards which include offering care to a relatively large proportion of uninsured or socially disadvantaged individuals.

Increasing poverty levels due to rising unemployment, foreclosures and economic distress have placed the safety net …

Inactivation Of Ascaris Suum By Ammonia In Feces Simulating The Physical-Chemical Parameters Of The Solar Toilet Under Laboratory Conditions, Ligia Maria Cruz Espinoza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to sustainable sanitation systems is a determining factor in human health and economic development. However, more than a third of the world’s population lives without access to improved sanitation facilities. To meet the sanitation United Nations Millennium Development target, "halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation", a wide range of non conventional sanitation technologies have been implemented in developing countries, including waterless systems. These systems function by diverting urine away from feces and collecting, storing, and dehydrating the fecal material in watertight dehydration vaults. From a public …

“Mieux Vaut Prévenir Que Guérir”: The Effect Of Natural Disasters On Water- And Sanitation-Related Infectious Diseases And The Increasing Need For Disaster Preparedness, Naomi Malam

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The world is suffering from an extreme global water crisis. 1.1 billion people in the world lack access to adequate clean water, and 2.6 billion people lack access to water and sanitation. Approximately 10 million deaths per year can be attributed to this water crisis; water-borne infectious diseases play a significant role in this death toll. Diarrhoeal disease accounts for 2.6 million deaths per year and is one of the leading causes of death in many developing countries.

We are entering a period of undeniable climate change which is bringing about more natural disasters and extreme weather events than ever …

The Affordable Care Act: U.S. Vaccine Policy And Practice, Alexandra M. Stewart, Orriel L. Richardson, Marisa A. Cox, Katherine J. Hayes, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

When fully implemented, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, amended by the Health and Education Reconciliation Act will extend health insurance coverage to 94 percent of Americans while establishing a comprehensive set of strategies to improve care and contain costs. The central provisions of the Act – guaranteed affordable and accessible coverage – take effect January 1, 2014. Important insurance reforms aimed at improving coverage become effective before that date, as do a series of investments aimed at improving the accessibility and quality of health care.

This report has several aims: 1) to examine how the laws address vaccine …

Life On The Periphery: The Effects Of Urbanization On Health In A Bidonville In Bamako, Mali, Adrienne Epstein Dit Raki Bah

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the past decade, the world has crossed a threshold that a century ago would have seemed unimaginable: the majority of the global population now lives in cities.A startling pattern of rapid urbanization began in the final decades of the 20th century and continues today at a striking pace. The percentage of the global population residing in urban areas increased from 32 percent in 1955 to 47 percent in 2002, and is expected to reach 65 percent in 2015. This trend is particularly notable in the developing world, where an arrival of rural migrants in search of labor has caused …

Concurrent Sexual Partnerships Do Not Explain The Hiv Epidemics In Africa: A Systematic Review Of The Evidence, Larry Sawers, Eileen Stillwaggon

Economics Faculty Publications

The notion that concurrent sexual partnerships are especially common in sub-Saharan Africa and explain the region’s high HIV prevalence is accepted by many as conventional wisdom. In this paper, we evaluate the quantitative and qualitative evidence offered by the principal proponents of the concurrency hypothesis and analyze the mathematical model they use to establish the plausibility of the hypothesis.

We find that research seeking to establish a statistical correlation between concurrency and HIV prevalence either finds no correlation or has important limitations. Furthermore, in order to simulate rapid spread of HIV, mathematical models require unrealistic assumptions about frequency of sexual …

System Dynamics Of Diabetes In The Presence Of Social Determinants, Victoria Akins

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Diabetes is a chronic and persistent disease that is on the rise in the U.S. in spite of medical advances and current public health efforts to address it. There is a relationship between socioeconomic factors such as poverty and education and the risk of developing diabetes and the progression of the disease. A systems approach is employed to develop a dynamic hypothesis with a stock and flow model will uncover and analyze these relationships to gain a better understanding of the socioeconomic dynamics of diabetes. Social factors have a significant impact on health outcomes and their consideration is essential to …

Exploring Health Through The Lens Of Homelessness, Faith T. Adewusi

Senior Honors Projects

Homelessness is a serious economic, social and public health problem. Approximately 2.3 to 3.5 million people are estimated to be homeless nationwide and with the current recession, these numbers are expected to rise. Due to the lack of permanent living accommodations and limited access to healthcare, homeless people are more likely than domiciled people to suffer from a wide range of chronic health problem, ranging from diabetes to tuberculosis to mental illness. Healthcare problems can be seen as both the cause and the effect of homelessness.

The purpose of this study was to learn about the living conditions of the …

International Health Regulations, Andrew Weber, Nicole Lurie, Scott Dowell, Julie E. Fischer, Jennifer Kates, Stephen Morrison

Health Policy and Management Faculty Posters and Presentations

On Tuesday, April 6, 2010, the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services (GW SPHHS) hosted the annual Southby Distinguished Lectureship in Comparative Health Policy on the "International Health Regulations." This lectureship gave an overview of the U.S. Government's approach to addressing the challenges, policies, and opportunities related to both domestic and international implementation of the IHR (2005).

Introductory remarks were given by GW School of Public Health faculty, including Josef Reum, Interim Dean; Professor Sara Rosenbaum, Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Hirsh Professor of Health Law and Policy; Richard Southby, Executive Dean Emeritus; …

The Illogic Of The Biological Weapons Taboo., Phillip M. Mccauley, Rodger A. Payne

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

April Roundtable: Genocide And Us National Interests Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

“How Genocide Became a National Security Threat” by Michael Abramowitz & Lawrence Woocher. Foreign Policy. February 26, 2010.

Effectiveness Of The Combat Operational Stress Control Training Program: Expectations Of The U.S. Marine Corps, Marek M. Sipko

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the U.S. Marine Corps combat operational stress preventive training program to determine whether the program meets the training effectiveness criteria of the Marine Corps. This evaluation entailed both qualitative and quantitative inquiries to answer the subject matter research questions.

The participants consisted of active duty and reserve Marines on active duty. For the purposes of the quantitative analysis, the researcher obtained a random sample of 480 Marines. Additionally, the researcher obtained a purposefully stratified qualitative sample of 12 active duty Marines consisting of four junior non-commissioned Marines, four staff non-commissioned officers, and four commissioned …

Changing Po2licy: The Elements For Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes, Anne Rossier Markus, Meagan Lyon, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

Childhood asthma is a serious and chronic health issue that affects one in seven U.S. children and their families, compromising their health and quality of life and placing a heavy financial burden on families as well as an enormous strain on the health care system. Treating, managing, and ultimately preventing and reducing the burden of asthma represents a critical test of the ability of the U.S. health system – health insurers, clinical care providers, and public health agencies – to work together. Our investigation found that, as a country, we already know enough to act and improve life for the …

Changing Policy: The Elements For Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes, Anne R. Markus, Meagan Lyon, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

This report lays out the facts and offers specific policy recommendations for success that could change the face of childhood asthma in America. These recommendations aim to make better use of programs and policies already in place, such as Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), as well as private sector insurance coverage and existing public health programs. The recommendations also underscore the importance of careful research -- scientific, practical, and community-based -- in order to continue to learn what works best and strengthen knowledge for future action. In a reformed health system, these initial efforts are not wasted …

Conceptions Regarding Children’S Health: An Examination Of Ethnotheories In A Sending And Receiving Community, Maria Rosario De Guzman, Jennifer Deleon, Gloria Gonzalez-Kruger, Rodrigo Cantarero

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Ethnotheories are beliefs that adults hold about children and the factors that impact upon their development. Scholars suggest that “ethnotheories” serve as cultural models that underlie motivations for parenting practices and the way adults organize children’s early experiences. This study examines Mexican adults’ ethnotheories about children’s health in two communities that are linked by transnational migrants and serve as sending and receiving communities for workers. Forty-four Mexican adults in six focus groups discussed well-being issues affecting children in their communities. Qualitative analyses using grounded theory revealed a complex conception of children’s health issues that included physical, psychological, and behavioral components …

Faktor - Faktor Yang Berhubungan Dengan Kepatuhan Petugas Terhadap Sop Imunisasi Pada Penanganan Vaksin Campak, Dini Yulianti, Anhari Achadi

Kesmas

Campak adalah penyakit yang sangat menular dan menjadi salah satu penyebab utama kematian anak di negara berkembang termasuk Indonesia. Imunisasi campak di Indonesia telah berhasil dilaksanakan dengan baik, tetapi ternyata masih banyak ditemukan kasus campak di beberapa daerah. Salah satu faktor yang diduga menjadi penyebabnya adalah daya guna vaksin yang tidak maksimal karena sistem rantai vaksin yang sangat menentukan untuk pengamanan mutu vaksin tidak berfungsi dengan baik atau para petugas imunisasi tidak melakukan penanganan vaksin sesuai dengan prosedur yang telah ditentukan. Berdasarkan atas kenyataan ini, dilakukan penelitian mengenai faktor-faktor yang berhubungan kepatuhan petugas imunisasi terhadap SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) imunisasi …

The Contextual Impact Of Income Inequality On Social Capital And Adverse Social Outcomes, Jeannie Schiff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An interdisciplinary approach to policy and governance recognizes that many social welfare problems are interrelated, and policy-makers have long recognized a need to address the root causes of these problems. There is much evidence that income inequality is one of these root causes but research suggesting the effect of income inequality is mediated by social capital has complicated the relationship, as have theories of causality that take different approaches. This study takes an ecological approach to these issues to test the relationship between income inequality, social capital and selected adverse outcomes proposed by the relative income hypothesis. The relative income …

A Fourth Amendment For The Poor Alone: Subconstitutional Status And The Myth Of The Inviolate Home, Jordan C. Budd

Law Faculty Scholarship

For much of our nation’s history, the poor have faced pervasive discrimination in the exercise of fundamental rights. Nowhere has the impairment been more severe than in the area of privacy. This Article considers the enduring legacy of this tradition with respect to the Fourth Amendment right to domestic privacy. Far from a matter of receding historical interest, the diminution of the poor’s right to privacy has accelerated in recent years and now represents a powerful theme within the jurisprudence of poverty. Triggering this development has been a series of challenges to aggressive administrative practices adopted by localities in the …

Social Capital Influences In Women At Risk For Poor Pregnancy Outcomes, Jennifer James-Mesloh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Poor pregnancy outcomes such as prematurity, low birth weight and infant mortality are societal indicators of a nation’s health status. These indicators have remained at exceptionally high rates in the United States despite the levels of resources and technology. In the quest to understand that discrepancy, among the ranges of theories and models for explaining poor pregnancy outcomes an emerging concept is coming to attention: social capital. In order to test whether maternal social capital has an impact on pregnancy outcome, women in a Healthy Start program were surveyed over a 13-month period to assess their social capital levels and …

Do Relationships Matter? Assessing The Association Between Relationship Design And Contractor Performance, Anna A. Amirkhanyan, Hyun Joon Kim, Kristina T. Lambright

Public Administration Faculty Scholarship

Contracting relationships vary in the extent to which they are complete and involve formal contract specification as well as the extent to which they are based on strong relationships and rely on cooperation and trust. Where a contracting arrangement falls on these two continuums constitutes what this paper refers to as "relationship design" and is likely to impact contractor performance. We use data from a survey of child-care centers and Head Start agencies in Ohio to examine the association between the design of contracting relationships and contractor performance. Contractor performance is assessed in two ways: an objective measure of violations …

Scientific Certainty In A Time Of Uncertainty: Predicting Vulnerability Of Canada’S First Nations To The H1n1/09 Pandemic, Nicholas Spence

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.

The Health Information Technology Provisions In The American Recovery And Reinvestment Act Of 2009, Taylor Burke

Health Policy and Management Faculty Publications

This installment of Law and the Public’s Health explores the comprehensive reforms contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, whose implementation is expected to transform the use of health information technology as part of Medicare, Medicaid, and public health practice.

Referral Mechanism Improves Uptake Of Art Services For Hiv+ Fp Clients, Population Council

Reproductive Health

An operations research intervention by the Population Council in Kenya aimed to design a referral framework for linking HIV‐positive family planning (FP) clients to treatment and care in selected health facilities. The project also assessed the acceptability and effectiveness in increasing the number of eligible HIV‐positive FP clients receiving HIV care and treatment services. This summary details the effort to improve the linkage between FP services and comprehensive care centers that led to a dramatic increase in the proportions of HIV-positive clients in FP clinics who go on to receive HIV/AIDS treatment and care services at the same facility. Recommendations …

Cost, Quality And Access: An Analysis Of Health Care In The United States, Canada And The United Kingdom, Katherine Elizabeth Reidy

Honors Program Theses

Comparing international health care systems assists in identifying effective reforms to address three constant problems within health care around the globe: cost, quality and access. Until recently, the United States health care scheme has been administered through private enterprise while Canada and the United Kingdom have implemented national forms of health care. In order to determine which system more effectively deals issues related to cost, quality, and access, statistical information was gathered to compare each system based on cost, quality and access. Such statistics include but are not limited to waiting times for specialized care, financial expenditures for each country …

The Relationship Between Obesity And Skin And Soft Tissue Infections, Juliana Swiney

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Problem:

It is well known that our country is experiencing an obesity epidemic: 33.9% of all adults are obese (BMI>30) and 67% of adults are either overweight or obese (BMI>25). Obesity is a risk factor for several serious disease states such as, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, heart disease and some types of cancer. It also has a less well defined relationship with skin and soft tissue infections.

Although it is known that excessive weight increases the opportunity for harmful skin conditions, this relationship has not been as well studied. Some of the mechanisms that predispose obese people to …