Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Housing Insecurity On Community Health Outcomes: Exploring Collective Community Solutions And Housing Models In The Western Addition, Jacqueline V. Brown, Jacqueline Victoria Brown

Master's Projects and Capstones

In a city where housing is scarce and prices continue to rise, the lower income residents of the Western Addition are in panic. Historically, the Western Addition/Fillmore is ground zero for Urban Renewal. This community is still bouncing back from the negative effects of the out migration of Black residents, Japanese internment, and rapid gentrification. For twenty years, this part of the city was known as Harlem of the West due to its world-renowned Jazz and Blues composers, and is informally known as “Tha ‘Mo”. San Francisco has set the tone nationally for public, mixed income, and private housing that …

Cohort Profile: Seek, Test, Treat And Retain United States Criminal Justice Cohort., Redonna Chandler, Michael S Gordon, Bridget Kruszka, Lauren N Strand, Frederick L Altice, Irene Kuo, +Several Additional Authors

Epidemiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The STTR treatment cascade provides a framework for research aimed at improving the delivery of services, care and outcomes of PLWH. The development of effective approaches to increase HIV diagnoses and engage PLWH in subsequent steps of the treatment cascade could lead to earlier and sustained ART treatment resulting in viral suppression. There is an unmet need for research applying the treatment cascade to improve outcomes for those with criminal justice involvement.

METHODS: The Seek, Test, Treat, and Retain (STTR) criminal justice (CJ) cohort combines data from 11 studies across the HIV treatment cascade that focused on persons involved …

Female Circumcision: Attitudes, Knowledge And Beliefs Within The Deaf Community, Morgane Vincent

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Female Genital Circumcision (FGC) is a cultural practice by which female genitalia are cut for non-medical purposes. Although the Western world has seen the number of circumcised youth rise, very few studies have been conducted in developed countries. Even fewer are studies on minority groups regarding female circumcision; none explicitly involve deaf people. For this study, 76 deaf or hard of hearing individuals living in the U.S., whose primary means of communication was English or American Sign Language, completed a survey about FGC before and after viewing videos. One video showed an African woman who had experienced FGC, and the …

Addressing Childhood Lead Poisoning Through Gis: A Proactive Approach In Scott County, Iowa, Tanner Osing

2016-2017: Scott County, Iowa and the Scott County Health Department

In June 2016, Scott County Health Department (SHCD) officially partnered with the Upper Mississippi Center (UMC) at Augustana College as part of the Sustainable Working Landscapes Initiative (SWLI). The initiative’s main goal is to address childhood lead poisoning in Scott County, Iowa. While the health department has ongoing efforts to address the problem, there are still approximately 50 children testing positive for lead poisoning every year (Tibbets, 2016). Currently, as part of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and Control Program, the health department offers case management services for children poisoned under the age of six, follow-up inspections for residences, and …

Colorectal Cancer Fit Screening In The Hope Vi Population Of Jefferson County, Kentucky., Jeffrey D. Stone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using pre-post survey data collected from 209 randomly selected African American people from the population of former residents of Clarksdale and Sheppard Square public housing areas, this study explores the relationship between individual characteristics and colorectal cancer screening behavior, measured by the uptake of the Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) and by prior colorectal screening, while controlling for neighborhood factors and geographic proximity to healthcare facilities. This particular public housing population is of interest because of their relocation from the downtown area, where healthcare facilities are within walking distances, to other public housing units either in large apartment complexes or scattered …

Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Appalachian Spouses Of Combat Veterans With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Janice E. Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to identify gaps in existing knowledge regarding impacts of combat-related PTSD on the spouse and to gain an understanding of the lived experience of Appalachian Spouses of combat veterans with PTSD. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify research and findings on the impacts of combat-related PTSD on spouses of veterans and a qualitative study was conducted to gain an understanding of the lives of Appalachian spouses of combat veterans with PTSD.

The systematic review identified 16 qualitative studies conducted between 1988 and 2016 in five countries spanning five wars. Regardless of the country of …

A Rural And Urban Study Of The Food Environment In Select Nevada Geographies, Joseph Nickelson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

National and county level examination of urban and rural food environments has taken place, but primary validation of venue existence and in-venue data are lacking. The literature show disparities in access to healthy foods through low density of large grocers/supermarkets, low variety and quality of produce and higher prices for a healthy diet in rural versus urban geographies. Rural areas are of unique concern due to poor health indicators such as higher obesity rates, higher diabetes rates, lower incomes and lower educations than urban residents. The goal of this study was to explore differences in the community and consumer level …

Substance Use, Treatment, And Demographic Characteristics Of Pregnant Women Entering Treatment For Opioid Use Disorder Differ By United States Census Region., Dennis J Hand, Vanessa L Short, Diane J Abatemarco

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Papers

Opioid use disorder (OUD) among pregnant women increased substantially between 1992 and 2012 across the United States, with the greatest increases occurring in the southern states. We analyzed the 2013 Treatment Episodes Database-Admissions to determine how substances used, characteristics of treatment, and demographics of pregnant women entering treatment for opioid use disorder vary between geographical regions. Analyses were restricted to cases where women reported being pregnant at the time of admission and reported opioids as the primary substance problem leading to the treatment admission. Characteristics were compared between U.S. census regions using Chi-square tests and logistic regression with the South …

Correlates Of Human Papillomavirus (Hpv) Vaccine Acceptance In Appalachian Tennessee, Oluwatosin Ariyo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most prevalent sexually transmitted infection in the U.S., where one HPV-related cancer is diagnosed every 20 minutes. The most common HPV-related cancer is cervical cancer, with an estimated incidence of 12,000 cases annually, a third of which lead to death. Cervical cancer disparately affects women of ethnic minority groups and geographically isolated regions, such as Appalachia. Tennessee ranks third highest in cervical cancer incidence in the country. Many cases of cervical cancer could be prevented through vaccination against HPV, however, vaccination rates for females in Tennessee are among the lowest in the country. This mixed-methods …

An Epidemiological Study Of Obesity Among Asian Americans In California, United States, Shaoqing Gong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Obesity has reached epidemic levels in the United States (U.S.). Despite an increasing number of studies on obesity, a very few have addressed this debilitating condition among Asian American adults. The overall objective of this study is to utilize the latest cycles of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) to better understand obesity and identify its correlates among Asian Americans. The study population comprised Asian American adults aged 18 years or older from the CHIS with data pooled from the 2013 and 2014 survey years. Obesity (≥27.5 kg/m²) was defined using the World Health Organization (WHO) Asian body …

Salmonella And Aeromonas Contamination In A 303(D) Listed Water Body Compared To Fecal Indicators & Water Quality Parameters, Elizabeth M. Morgan Ms.

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Since the passage of the Clean Water Act, concern about surface water quality has increased. Reducing exposure to pathogens and adverse impacts on human health because of contact with surface waters has become the focus of many regulatory agencies. Fecal pollution is often a cause of surface water impairment. Fecal indicators, such as fecal coliforms and Escherichia coli, are used as surrogates to evaluate the presence or absence of fecal pollution. However, a growing body of research has shown that these species lack key characteristics necessary to be adequate indicators. As such, explorations into the efficacy of indicator species …

Can Global Health Governance Contend With Transnational Corporate Activities? A Case Study On The Chinese Tobacco Industry, Xing Gao

Geography Honors Projects

In the past two decades, China’s state-owned tobacco enterprise (CNTC) has expanded its operation and influence abroad under the “going global” strategy. These globalization activities directly and indirectly impact the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), the first international treaty signed under the WHO auspices. In this project, I explore how certain CNTC expansionary strategies undermine FCTC articles, as well as the ways in which FCTC articles have failed to curb the tobacco industry’s transnational growth. Using international political economy as an overarching framework for the analysis of global health governance, I argue that the FCTC fails to halt the …

Prescribed Fire And Deer Ticks: A Management Method For The Primary Vector Of Lyme Disease In The Eastern United States, Shane M. Tripp

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The United States is currently amid a public health crisis caused by the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, that is responsible for Lyme disease. A deer tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector for these bacteria in the Eastern United States and its explosive population increase and range expansion in the past several decades is responsible for the rapid spread of the disease. Understanding the cause of this growth is dependent on the habitat characteristics that determine the deer tick’s abilities to survive, reproduce, and disperse into new areas and the changes that may have released it from historic limits. Fire suppression …

Geographic Variation Within The Military Health System, Linda G. Kimsey, Samuel Olaiya, Chad Smith, Andrew Hoburg, Stuart R. Lipsitz, Tracey Koehlmoos, Louis L. Nguyen, Joel S. Weissman

Health Policy & Management: Faculty Publications (2006-2018)

Background: This study seeks to quantify variation in healthcare utilization and per capita costs using system-defined geographic regions based on enrollee residence within the Military Health System (MHS).

Methods: Data for fiscal years 2007 – 2010 were obtained from the Military Health System under a data sharing agreement with the Defense Health Agency (DHA). DHA manages all aspects of the Department of Defense Military Health System, including TRICARE. Adjusted rates were calculated for per capita costs and for two procedures with high interest to the MHS- back surgery and Cesarean sections for TRICARE Prime and Plus enrollees. Coefficients of variation …

Poverty In The Land Of Plenty? Deconstructing Role Of Community-Based Organizations In A Small Community, John Kevin Trainor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using the lens of a community-based childhood obesity intervention, it is possible to examine the role of non-profit organizations in community development and to deconstruct the “community” in community-based research and identify the many competing interests within a community. This contextual understanding includes how the community is formed, how a community’s agenda is set, and who will complete the tasks outlined in that agenda. In applied anthropological settings and public health interventions that are community-based, it is essential to understand the context of community and which community (or communities) the researcher is working with to ensure that the data you …

Equity And Community-Based Health Insurance: How Does Insurance Coverage Affect Health Seeking Behavior Among Disadvantaged Groups In India?, Hazel Hering

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The objective of this study is to examine how Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) can promote equity by improving health seeking behavior across gender and geography. Using a CBHI scheme from the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) as a case study, trends in claims filed between October 2016 and March 2017 are compared to the distribution of memberships in order to investigate whether health insurance coverage positively impacts health seeking behavior among disadvantaged groups, and what barriers to access exist when the burden of medical costs are reduced. This study concludes that the number of male and female claims in the sample …

Cuba’S Use Of Medical Diplomacy: Establishing Global Significance And Influence, Juan Herzberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project aims to assess the importance of medical diplomacy as a foreign policy strategy for Cuba, as well as a means by which the small island nation has managed to gain geopolitical prominence in the current international political sphere. Through the analysis of Cuba’s medical internationalism, its impact on the health of populations across the world, its oil-for-doctors trade agreements with Venezuela, and its involvement in initiatives like the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), it becomes easier to see the link between medical diplomacy and geopolitical power, which Cuba has been successfully garnering since its 1959 Revolution …

The Disappearance Of Nyoman And Ketut, Laura Michelle Garvie

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Causal Pathways From Enteropathogens To Environmental Enteropathy: Findings From The Mal-Ed Birth Cohort Study, Margaret N. Kosek, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Anita K. M. Zaidi, Imran Ahmed, Syed Asad Ali, Muneera Rasheed, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Ali Turab, Didar Alam, Shahida Qureshi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Environmental enteropathy (EE), the adverse impact of frequent and numerous enteric infections on the gut resulting in a state of persistent immune activation and altered permeability, has been proposed as a key determinant of growth failure in children in low- and middle-income populations. A theory-driven systems model to critically evaluate pathways through which enteropathogens, gut permeability, and intestinal and systemic inflammation affect child growth was conducted within the framework of the Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) birth cohort study that included children from eight countries. …

Are Our Policy Makers On Board? What Policy Makers Think Of The Social Determinants, Health Disparities, And Health In All Policies, M. Lelinneth B. Novilla, Michael C. Goates, Spencer Calder, Tabetha Ellis, Kraymer Eppich, Laura A. Galvao, Noyra Melissa Quintana, David Mateos

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: We impact our health by “how we manage our affairs in society.”¹ The unequal distribution of power, money, and resources creates a collective social milieu with disparities in health between and within countries. Tackling health inequities require addressing the health implications of the “toxic combination of poor social policies and bad politics.”¹ But how do U.S. policy makers view the social determinants of health?

OBJECTIVE: Determine U.S. policy makers’ awareness for the social determinants of health, health inequities, and health in all policies; identify the social determinants of health perceived as legislative priorities; list factors identified/perceived …

P01. Examining The Community Food Environments For Elementary School-Aged Children In The City Of London And Middlesex County, Ontario, Catherine Dubreck

Western Research Forum

Background: Childhood obesity is a growing public health issue. In Canada, one in four children/youth are overweight or obese. Research suggests diet plays a crucial role in childhood obesity, and that prevalence rates of overweight or obesity among children in a neighborhood may relate to area socioeconomic characteristics and other environmental factors. The community nutrition environment (e.g., the type, location, and accessibility of food outlets) can influence dietary habits.

Methods: Using ArcGIS, public and private elementary school addresses were geocoded, food outlets were mapped, and both junk food outlet density and the modified retail food environment index were …

"We Need Help In The Delta": Barriers To Health Promotion Among Older African-American Men In The Mississippi Delta, Sherry C. Wang, Lashaundrea Crook, Carol Connell, Kathleen Yadrick

Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to better understand the barriers to health promotion among African American older men living in the rural Mississippi Delta. A qualitative, intrinsic case study approach was used to explore the phenomenon of health and the barriers to promoting men’s health within the unique context of the Delta. Data included one key informant interview and two focus group interviews with 14 men, with the majority between the ages of 41 and 55 years. Focus group participants were lay community members as well as members of a volunteer community health advisors men’s group. Findings underscore the …

A Blueprint To Evaluate One Health, Simon R. Rüegg, Barry J. Mcmahon, Barbara Häsler, Roberto Esposito, Helen O'Shea, Et Al

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

One Health (OH) positions health professionals as agents for change and provides a platform to manage determinants of health that are often not comprehensively captured in medicine or public health alone. However, due to the organization of societies and disciplines, and the sectoral allocation of resources, the development of transdisciplinary approaches requires effort and perseverance. Therefore, there is a need to provide evidence on the added value of OH for governments, researchers, funding bodies, and stakeholders. This paper outlines a conceptual framework of what OH approaches can encompass and the added values they can provide. The framework was developed during …

Integrating Malaria Surveillance With Climate Data For Outbreak Detection And Forecasting: The Epidemia System, Christopher L. Merkord, Yi Liu, Abere Mihretie, Teklehaymanot Gebrehiwot, Worku Awoke, Estifanos Bayabil, Geoffrey M. Henebry, Gebeyaw T. Kassa, Mastewal Lake, Michael C. Wimberly

GSCE Faculty Publications

Background: Early indication of an emerging malaria epidemic can provide an opportunity for proactive interventions. Challenges to the identification of nascent malaria epidemics include obtaining recent epidemiological surveillance data, spatially and temporally harmonizing this information with timely data on environmental precursors, applying models for early detection and early warning, and communicating results to public health officials. Automated web-based informatics systems can provide a solution to these problems, but their implementation in real-world settings has been limited.
Methods: The Epidemic Prognosis Incorporating Disease and Environmental Monitoring for Integrated Assessment (EPIDEMIA) computer system was designed and implemented to integrate disease surveillance with …

Expanding Intersectionality Praxis: Informing Culturally-Responsive Programming For Black And Latino Gay And Bisexual Young Men, Justin T. Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Black/Latino gay/bisexual young men face a multitude of health disparities caused by various determinants of health. However, despite the awareness of the gaps, health intervention research rarely explores the impact of current health intervention strategies on Black/Latino gay/bisexual young men’s overall health and well-being. Traditional health interventions are deficit-based, health condition-specific, and often limited in their cultural-specificity. As health-related fields move toward holistic, evidence-based practices, new primary prevention approaches need to emerge. Using qualitative investigation strategies, this study included primary analysis of participatory workshop artifacts, and secondary analysis of survey and focus group data. This study identified critical factors necessary …

Need Vs. Supply Analysis Of The New Haven Public Bus System, Stan Mathis

Yale Day of Data

ABSTRACT:

The aim of the study was to assess how well the public transportation system of New Haven County was matched to the public transit need using publicly available geospatial datasets from state and federal sources. Geospatial bus stop data was extracted from public State of Connecticut data sets. Census tract geography was extracted from US Census TIGER files while census tract aggregated household vehicle access data was queried from the American Community Survey data access server. A census tract’s Need was defined as percentage of households reporting access to zero vehicles; its supply was defined as the number of …

Vaccine Coverage And Adherence To Epi Schedules In Eight Resource Poor Settings In The Mal-Ed Cohort Study, Christel Hoest, Jessica C. Seidman, Gwenyth Lee, James A. Platts-Mills, Syed Asad Ali, Maribel Paredes Olortegui, Pascal Bessong, Ram Chandyo, Sudhir Babji, Venkata Raghava Mohan

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Launched in 1974, the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) is estimated to prevent two-three million deaths annually from polio, diphtheria, tuberculosis, pertussis, measles, and tetanus. Additional lives could be saved through better understanding what influences adherence to the EPI schedule in specific settings.
Methods: The Etiology, Risk Factors and Interactions of Enteric Infections and Malnutrition and the Consequences for Child Health and Development (MAL-ED) study followed cohorts in eight sites in South Asia, Africa, and South America and monitored vaccine receipt over the first two years of life for the children enrolled in the study. Vaccination histories were obtained …

Conceptualizing Care Continua: Lessons From Hiv, Hepatitis C Virus, Tuberculosis And Implications For The Development Of Improved Care And Prevention Continua, David C. Periman, Ashly E. Jordan, Denis Nash

Publications and Research

Background: To examine the application of continuum models to tuberculosis, HIV, and other conditions; to theorize the concept of continua; and to learn lessons that could inform the development of improved care and prevention continua as public health metrics.

Methods: An analytic review of literature drawn from several fields of health care.

Results: The continuum construct is now part of public health evaluation systems for HIV, and is increasingly used in public health and the medical literature. Issues with the comparability and optimal design of care continuum models have been raised, and their methodologic and theoretic underpinnings and scope of …

Demographic Differences And Annual Trends In Childhood And Adolescent Cancer Incidence And Mortality In Michigan During The Period 1999-2012, Gergana Kodjebacheva, Jeremy Blankenship, Lenwood Hayman, Shan Parker

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background. Michigan has declining economic conditions and factories that release pollutants. During the period 1999-2012, only 10 out of 50 states had an overall cancer incidence rate that was higher than that in Michigan. It is not known how children’s cancer rates in Michigan vary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, and year as well as how these rates compare to those in the U.S.

Method: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database obtained cancer incidence and mortality data from cancer registries and death certificates. We compared age-adjusted incidence and mortality cancer rates by gender, race/ethnicity, and year for children …

A Comparison Of Measured And Self-Reported Blood Pressure Status Among Low-Income Housing Residents In New York City, James H. Williams Ab, Dustin T. Duncan Scd, Jonathan Cantor Ms, Brian Elbel Phd Mph, Gbenga Ogedegbe Md Ms Mph, Joseph Ravenell Md Ms

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Self-report is widely used to measure hypertension prevalence in population-based studies, but there is little research comparing self-report with measured blood pressure among low-income populations. The objective of this study was to compare self-reported and measured blood pressure status among a sample of low-income housing residents in New York City (n=118). We completed a cross-sectional analysis comparing self-report with measured blood pressure status. We determined the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value (PPV) of each self-report metric. Of the sample, 68.1% was Black, 71.1% had a household income under $25,000/year, and 28.5% did not complete high school. In our study, …