Digital Commons Network^™

America At A Glance: Social Isolation And Loneliness During The First Wave Of Covid-19, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Health and Wellness

Social isolation and loneliness are a public health concern because they are associated with poor mental and physical health outcomes and mortality. To learn more about how COVID-19 and related responses (i.e. stay-at-home orders) may contribute to feelings of social isolation and loneliness among people with disabilities, we compared data from two cross-sectional samples collected before and after the first wave of “stay-at-home” orders. Post-COVID rural and urban samples reported significantly more interactions with family and close friends. Post-COVID urban respondents reported significantly lower rates of feeling left out, while the post-COVID rural respondents reported similar rates.

The Assessment Of Co2 Exposures, Workload Demands, And Musculoskeletal Disorder Risk On Heart Rate For Select Craft Brewery Job Tasks, David L. Huizen

Dissertations

Americans have embraced craft beer, and the ensuing demand has resulted in an ever-increasing number of craft breweries opening over the past 20 years. Craft brewers are generally small employers and, as such, lack the resources necessary to address the safety and health of their employees adequately. Brewers face many safety and health hazards in their work environment. These hazards include exposures to carbon dioxide (CO₂), workload demand, and MSD risk. It is essential to evaluate these hazards in craft breweries as they handle carbon dioxide (CO₂) differently than large breweries by having the CO_{2 …}

A Qualitative Inquiry Exploring Help-Seeking Behaviors And Resilience Strategies Women With Disabilities Utilize When Experiencing Gender-Based Violence In Rural Communities, Kimberly Ann Aguillard

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Women with disabilities (WWD) are at pronounced risk of experiencing multiple forms of severe and prolonged violence, and they face barriers to accessing help. A multitude of factors associated with disability and rurality may compound the experience of violence, including geographic and social isolation, forcing WWD in rural settings to navigate extremely dangerous situations with limited avenues for accessing help and securing safety. This research explored how women with disabilities experiencing violence while living in rural communities navigate programs and policies, make decisions about seeking and securing help, and build resilience despite experiencing violence. The current study methodology empowers this …

The Legacy Of Mining In Southwest Missouri: Past And Present Conditions Of The Tri-State Mining District, Anastasia M C Mcclanahan

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The historic Tri-State Mining District (TSMD) of southwestern Missouri, southeastern Kansas, and northeastern Oklahoma has a history of lead and zinc mining that extended over a hundred years. During the district’s peak production period, the TSMD was one of the world’s largest producers of lead and zinc. The mining activities in the TSMD produced economic growth that supported the local communities and were essential to the victory of the Allied Forces during World War I and World War II. Beginning in the 1920s, the mining activities in the district slowly began to cease due to depletion of metal ores and …

Responding To Covid-19: How Massachusetts Senior Centers Are Adapting, Ceara Somerville, Caitlin Coyle, Jan Mutchler

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the United States with force and speed. Massachusetts is one of the hardest hit states in nation, with over 120,000 cases and over 8,500 deaths to date. Local governments across the Commonwealth have had to work quickly to meet the needs of their constituents in a constantly changing environment. With older adults being at high risk of contracting COVID-19, having more severe symptoms, and at higher risk of dying from the disease, special efforts are warranted to ensure that they are supported in their efforts to maintain physical distance while meeting needs for food and …

The Surveillance For Enteric Fever In Asia Project (Seap), Severe Typhoid Fever Surveillance In Africa (Seta), Surveillance Of Enteric Fever In India (Sefi), And Strategic Typhoid Alliance Across Africa And Asia (Strataa) Population-Based Enteric Fever Studies: A Review Of Methodological Similarities And Differences, Megan E. Carey, William R. Macwrigh, Justin Im, James E. Meiring, Malick M. Gibani, Se Eun Park, Ashley Longley, Hyon Jin Jeon, Caitlin Hemlock, Mohammad Tahir Yousafzai, Farah Qamar

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Building on previous multicountry surveillance studies of typhoid and others salmonelloses such as the Diseases of the Most Impoverished program and the Typhoid Surveillance in Africa Project, several ongoing blood culture surveillance studies are generating important data about incidence, severity, transmission, and clinical features of invasive Salmonella infections in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These studies are also characterizing drug resistance patterns in their respective study sites. Each study answers a different set of research questions and employs slightly different methodologies, and the geographies under surveillance differ in size, population density, physician practices, access to healthcare facilities, and access to …

Cluster Analysis Of Opioid Accessibility In The Carolinas Using Data From The Arcos Database And An Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Method, Michael T. Bunker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study takes advantage of transaction level data from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) database made newly available under court order by The Washington Post in July 2019. This data details individual shipments of pharmaceutical opioid analgesics from wholesalers to retail distributors. Using the Enhanced 2-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) method, this study calculated access to opioid morphine milligram equivalents (MME) per capita for census tracts in North Carolina and South Carolina during the year 2009. This study demonstrated that outlier volumes of opioid analgesics at individual pharmacies are not always …

Preface: Experiencing Cancer In Appalachian Kentucky, Michele Ellison, Robin C. Vanderpool

Journal of Appalachian Health

Connected cancer care is of increasing importance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Linking & Amplifying User-Centered Networks through Connected Health (L.A.U.N.C.H.) Collaborative in Appalachian Kentucky has pioneered a new roadmap for equipping communities with the transformative power of broadband to innovate around the future of cancer care and to better scale their ideas. The roadmap involves reaching across disciplines, including public health, anthropology, telecommunications, and user-centered design. The goal is to leverage connectivity and cancer communication research and practice to make a real difference for patients and families.

Preventive Care And Chronic Disease Management: Comparison Of Appalachian And Non-Appalachian Community Health Centers In The United States, Julie P. Marcinek, Alek Sripipatana, Sue C. Lin

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: The Appalachian region is often characterized by poor health outcomes and economic depression. Health centers (HCs) are community-based and patient-directed organizations that deliver comprehensive, culturally competent, high-quality primary healthcare services in high need areas, including Appalachia, where economic, geographic, or cultural factors can hinder access to healthcare services.

Purpose: The study compares the clinical quality performance in preventive care and chronic disease management between Appalachian HCs and their non-Appalachian counterparts.

Methods: Using 2015 Uniform Data System (UDS) health center data, bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses examine the association of Appalachian HC with performance on preventive and chronic care …

Effect And Feasibility Of District Level Scale Up Of Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Interventions In Pakistan: A Quasi-Experimental Study, Zahid Memon, Shah Muhammad, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Nimra Khan, Nadia Akseer, Atif Habib, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Introduction: Pakistan has a high burden of maternal, newborn and child morbidity and mortality. Several factors including weak scale-up of evidence-based interventions within the existing health system; lack of community awareness regarding health conditions; and poverty contribute to poor outcomes. Deaths and morbidity are largely preventable if a combination of community and facility-based interventions are rolled out at scale.
Methods and analysis: Umeed-e-Nau (UeN) (New Hope) project aims is to improve maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in eight high-burden districts of Pakistan by scaling up of evidence-based interventions. The project will assess interventions focused on, first, improving the quality …

Sociodemographic Determinants Of Physical Activity And Sport Participation Among Women In The United States, Jennifer R. Pharr, Nancy L. Lough, Angela M. Terencio

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Regular physical activity and sport participation have been shown to improve women’s health; however, research has found that better health is associated with sport participation. Little is known about the sociodemographic determinants of physical activity among women, especially among the different subcategories of physical activity (sport, conditioning exercise, recreation, and household tasks). Because of the added health benefits associated with sport participation, the purpose of this study was to examine the sociodemographic determinants among subcategories of physically active women in the United States by analyzing Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data. We used data from the 2017 national BRFSS …

Strengthening The Evidence Base For Telehealth For Abortion Service Delivery, Nadi Kaonga

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Telehealth – which is the use of information and communication technology to provide clinical services to patients remotely – provides an opportunity to extend safe abortion services to women. A recent review article on telehealth for abortion service delivery found it to be acceptable, feasible and safe when compared to in-person service delivery. Despite the promising findings, the evidence base can and should be strengthened to optimize the impact of such services for women. Areas for improvement include evaluating the efficacy and effectiveness of telehealth implementations in more remote settings and with women across variable levels of technoliteracy, conducting cost-effectiveness …

Evaluation Of Geographic Disparities In Cervical Cancer Survival Across Maine, Kaylee Underkofler, Jason Lachance

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Introduction. National data exists suggesting the existence of geographic disparities in oncology care within the United States. It is unknown whether geographic disparities present a problem for women with gynecologic malignancies locally in Maine.

Methods. Data for each cervical cancer case diagnosed or treated under the MaineHealth system between 2007 and 2011 were acquired from the MaineHealth Network Registry. Average annual incidence and 5-year survival were calculated for each county in Maine and were mapped using geographic information systems (GIS) software. Next, cases were divided into 2 groups: those residing less than or equal to 60 miles from the sole …

America At A Glance: Covid-19 And Disability In Rural Areas, Rtc: Rural, University Of Montana Rural Institute

Health and Wellness

To learn more about COVID-19 impacts on rural people with disabilities, we conducted a survey in late April/early May to explore rural and urban differences in COVID-19 health risks, adherence to public health recommendations, and trust in different information sources. We focused on people with disabilities because they often experience higher rates of secondary health conditions that place them at heightened risk of COVID-19 complications. Summary findings: Rural respondents reported higher rates of COVID-19 health risk factors, but less adherence to public health recommendations. Overall, individuals with health risk factors reported adopting fewer public health recommendations than individuals without health …

Covid-19 And Management Education: Reflections On Challenges, Opportunities, And Potential Futures, Steve Brammer, Timothy Clark

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

COVID-19 is having profound impacts on tertiary education globally. Border closures, cuts to aviation capacity, mandatory quarantine on entering a country, restrictions on mass gatherings, and social distancing all pose challenges to higher education (HE) institutions. Business Schools (BSs) have larger and more internationally diverse cohorts of students and staff, generating particular challenges, but also often have more mature digital and remote education capabilities that enable responses to COVID-19. Therefore, exploring emergent evidence on how BSs are likely to be affected by COVID-19 over the short, medium, and long term is of significant importance to our community. In this commentary, …

Detroit Food Metrics Report 2019, Alex B. Hill

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Research Publications

This report provides a snapshot of data and information on Detroit’s food system as well as trends over time. The report includes a broad range of programs and initiatives that local organizations, the Detroit Food Policy Council, and the City of Detroit are undertaking to address food insecurity, increase healthy food access and awareness, and support a more sustainable and just food system.

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Covid-19: Evidence From Six Large Cities, Joseph Benitez, Charles J. Courtemanche, Aaron Yelowitz

Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise Working Papers

As of June 2020, the coronavirus pandemic has led to more than 2.3 million confirmed infections and 121 thousand fatalities in the United States, with starkly different incidence by race and ethnicity. Our study examines racial and ethnic disparities in confirmed COVID-19 cases across six diverse cities – Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, New York City, San Diego, and St. Louis – at the ZIP code level (covering 436 “neighborhoods” with a population of 17.7 million). Our analysis links these outcomes to six separate data sources to control for demographics; housing; socioeconomic status; occupation; transportation modes; health care access; long-run opportunity, as …

Delivering Water, Sanitation And Hygiene Interventions To Women And Children In Conflict Settings: A Systematic Review, Daina Als, Sarah Meteke, Marianne Stefopulos, Michelle F. Gaffey, Mahdis Kamali, Mariella Munyuzangabo, Shailja Shah, Reena P. Jain, Amruta Radhakrishnan, Fahad J. Siddiqui, Anushka Ataullahjan, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Woman and Child Health

Background: Access to safe water and sanitation facilities and the adoption of effective hygiene practices are fundamental to reducing maternal and child morbidity and mortality globally. In armed conflict settings, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure poses major health risks for women and children. This review aimed to synthesise the existing information on WASH interventions being delivered to women and children in conflict settings in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to identify the personnel, sites and platforms being used to deliver such interventions.
Methods: We conducted a systematic search for publications indexed in four databases, and grey literature …

Evaluating Public Posting, Goal Setting, And Rewards To Increase Physical Activity In Children, Bryon G. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In Experiments 1 and 2 we evaluated a pedometer-based intervention consisting of public posting between two teams of students, with additional self-monitoring, goal setting, and reinforcement components, to increase physical activity during school recess. In the absence of self-monitoring, performance feedback alone did not increase physical activity levels above those observed during baseline. Additionally, higher levels of physical activity were observed when goal-setting was introduced, with the highest levels of activity observed when raffle tickets could be earned for exceeding a specified step-total goal. In Experiment 3 we removed the team component and evaluated similar intervention components across an entire …

Predictors Of Biologic Use And Satisfaction Among Patients With Psoriasis: An Analysis And Geographic Visualization Of The 2016 And 2017 National Psoriasis Foundation Annual Surveys, Clinton W. Enos, Hadiza I. Galadima, Arjun Saini, Stacie Bell, Michael Siegel, Abby S. Van Voorhees

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: There are an increasing number of biologic therapies approved for the treatment of psoriasis. Previous reports have identified undertreatment as a concern in the United States. Undertreatment has been associated with decreased patient satisfaction and increased morbidity.

Objectives: Assess biologic use and satisfaction among respondents to the 2016 and 2017 National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) Annual Surveys.

Methods: Retrospective data analysis of the 2016 and 2017 NPF Annual Survey responses from individuals with psoriasis. ArcGIS Pro software was utilized to generate maps and perform an optimized hot spot analysis of moderate-to-severe psoriasis and biologic use.

Results: …

Using Spatial Methods To Better Understand Food Insecurity And Snap Under-Participation In Texas, Ryan Ramphul

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The overall objective of this research is to use spatial methods to better understand food insecurity and SNAP under-participation in Texas. Paper 1 assesses whether a sample of community dwelling Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, who screen positive for food insecurity at healthcare locations in Harris County, exhibit a spatial pattern in terms of where they live. In other words, it tests whether or not there are statistically significant neighborhood hot spots or cold spots of food insecurity against a null hypothesis of complete spatial randomness. This approach is novel because it uses address-level data on patients who report being food …

Measuring The Impact Of Covid-19 On Older Adults In Massachusetts, Ceara Somerville, Jan Mutchler, Caitlin Coyle

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

The spread of COVID-19 across the United States has affected every facet of life since early 2020. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are currently over 4 million cases across the nation and over 146,000 deaths from the virus. Massachusetts has been one of the states hit hardest, with over 100,000 confirmed cases and more than 8,000 deaths to date. The Commonwealth currently trails only New York and New Jersey in number of deaths. While cases surge around the country, Massachusetts has seen some leveling out of positive cases since the beginning of July. Though …

No More “Social Distancing” But Practice Physical Separation, Debasree Das Gupta, David W. S. Wong

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Though not a new term, “social distancing” exploded onto the global stage as an expression to publicize the only means currently available to control the transmission of COVID-19. This term is increasingly being adopted and translated into the vernacular to inform and guide public behavior in most, if not all, countries around the world. However, any effective global response requires direct and unambiguous communication and sharing of ideas across communities with different cultural backgrounds as well as between researchers and responders across the disciplinary spectrum. Unfortunately, social distancing is a misnomer. The current use of social distancing – separating ourselves …

Perceptions Of Stakeholders About The Role Of Health System In Suicide Prevention In Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, Anila Anjum, Tazeen S. Ali, Nousheen Pradhan, Murad M. Khan Dr., Rozina Karmaliani Professor

Community Health Sciences

Background: Suicide is a serious global public health problem, with more than 800,000 people dying by suicide worldwide every year. 79% of suicides happen in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where lack of national suicide prevention programs coupled with inadequate MH facilities for early identification and treatment of mental disorders add to seriousness of the problems. Although there is paucity of research, studies suggest that the rate of suicide in district Ghizer, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), in northern Pakistan may be higher compared to rest of the country.
Methods: This study aimed to explore the perceptions of stakeholders about the role of …

The City Of Louisville Encapsulates The United States Demographics, Stephen P. Furmanek, Connor Glick, Thomas Chandler, Mahder A. Tella, William A. Mattingly, Julio A. Ramirez, Timothy L. Wiemken

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: One weakness that applies to all population-based studies performed in the United States (US) is that investigators perform population-based extrapolations without providing objective statistical evidence to show how well a particular city is a suitable surrogate for the US. The objective of this study was to propose and utilize a novel computational metric to compare individual US cities with the US average.

Methods: This was a secondary data analysis of publicly available databases containing US sociodemographic, economic, and health-related data. In total, 58 demographic, housing, economic, health behavior, and health status variables for each US city with a residential …

Reconsidering The Obstetrical Dilemma: Correlations Between Head And Pelvic Size, Kelsey Catrice Fox

LSU Master's Theses

The Obstetrical Dilemma (OD) theory has become canon in biological anthropology. The OD posits that i] dystocia results from bipedal mothers and encephalized infants, ii] contrasting selection for bipedality and obstetrics hinders locomotive efficiency, and iii] the contradicting requirement of the fetus being small enough to pass through the birth canal yet being cognitively advanced enough to cling to its mother after birth. Females, theoretically, exhibit deficient gait efficiency for the sake of successful childbirth. An obstetric advantage theory has been posited where taller individuals with a larger head size have larger pelves. If the distance between the acetabulae increases …

Ua3/10 Big Red Restart, Wku President's Office - Caboni

WKU Administration Documents

Report regarding reopening procedures for WKU after COVID-19 shutdown.

Compliance Of Smokeless Tobacco Supply Chain Actors And Products With Tobacco Control Laws In Bangladesh, India And Pakistan: Protocol For A Multicentre Sequential Mixed-Methods Study, Zohaib Khan, Rumana Huque, Aziz Sheikh, Anne Readshaw, Jappe Eckhardt, Cath Jackson, Mona Kanaan, Romaina Iqbal, Zohaib Akhter, Javaid Khan

Community Health Sciences

Introduction: South Asia is home to more than 300 million smokeless tobacco (ST) users. Bangladesh, India and Pakistan as signatories to the Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (FCTC) have developed policies aimed at curbing the use of tobacco. The objective of this study is to assess the compliance of ST point-of-sale (POS) vendors and the supply chain with the articles of the FCTC and specifically with national tobacco control laws. We also aim to assess disparities in compliance with tobacco control laws between ST and smoked tobacco products.
Methods and analysis: The study will be carried out at two sites …

Living Arrangements And Food Security Of A Sample Of Older Palestinian Refugees In Lebanon, Nadine R. Sahyoun, Anniebelle Sassine, Anna Vaudin, Fayrouz Sakr-Ashour, Hala Ghattas Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Background

Although we know of the relationship between food insecurity, poor dietary intake and health outcomes, there are limited studies examining the determinants of food insecurity in older adults in developing countries. This study describes the living arrangement and characteristics of protracted Palestinian refugees in Lebanon aged 60 years and older and, the status and determinants of household food insecurity.

Methods

Two surveys, representative of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon (2010 and 2015), were appended and used to examine living arrangement of older adults and household food security. Our final pooled sample included 5412 households and 24,540 individuals. Of these individuals, …

Pediatric Outpatient Utilization By Differing Medicaid Payment Models In The United States., Therese L Canares, Ari Friedman, Jonathan Rodean, Rebecca R Burns, Deena Berkowitz, Matt Hall, Elizabeth Alpern, Amanda Montalbano

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: In the United States (US), Medicaid capitated managed care costs are controlled by optimizing patients' healthcare utilization. Adults in capitated plans utilize primary care providers (PCP) more than emergency departments (ED), compared to fee-for-service (FFS). Pediatric data are lacking. We aim to determine the association between US capitated and FFS Medicaid payment models and children's outpatient utilization.

METHODS: This retrospective cohort compared outpatient utilization between two payment models of US Medicaid enrollees aged 1-18 years using Truven's 2014 Marketscan Medicaid database. Children enrolled > 11 months were included, and were excluded for eligibility due to disability/complex chronic condition, lack of …