Digital Commons Network^™

A Population-Based Investigation Of Health-Care Needs And Preferences In American Adults With Multiple Sclerosis, Chungyi Chiu, Malachy Bishop, Bradley Mcdaniels, Byung-Jin Kim, Lebogang Tiro

Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education Faculty Publications

Background: Comprehensive and effective multiple sclerosis (MS) health care requires understanding of patients’ needs, preferences, and priorities. Objective: To evaluate priorities of patients with MS for their MS care. Methods: Participants included 3003 Americans with MS recruited through the National MS Society and the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis patient registry. Participants completed a comprehensive questionnaire on aspects of their health-care experiences. Results: Participants identified the top 3 health-care priorities as (1) the affordability of MS health care, (2) ensuring that non-MS health-care providers have more education about MS and how it can interact with other conditions, and …

Brain Health Innovation Diplomacy: A Model Binding Diverse Disciplines To Manage The Promise And Perils Of Technological Innovation, Kylie Ternes, Vijeth Iyengar, Helen Lavretsky, Walter D. Dawson, Laura Booi, Agustin Ibanez, Ipsit Vahia, Charles Reynolds, Steven Dekosky, Jeffrey Cummings, Bruce Miller, Carla Perissinotto, Jeffrey Kaye, Harris A. Eyre

Institute on Aging Publications

Background: Brain health diplomacy aims to influence the global policy environment for brain health (i.e. dementia, depression, and other mind/brain disorders) and bridges the disciplines of global brain health, international affairs, management, law, and economics. Determinants of brain health include educational attainment, diet, access to health care, physical activity, social support, and environmental exposures, as well as chronic brain disorders and treatment. Global challenges associated with these determinants include large-scale conflicts and consequent mass migration, chemical contaminants, air quality, socioeconomic status, climate change, and global population aging. Given the rapidly advancing technological innovations impacting brain health, it is paramount to …

Appalachian Environmental Health Literacy: Building Knowledge And Skills To Protect Health, Anna G. Hoover, Annie Koempel, W. Jay Christian, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Kelly G. Pennell, Steven Evans, Malissa Mcalister, Lindell E. Ormsbee, Dawn Brewer

Journal of Appalachian Health

Environmental health literacy (EHL) is an emerging, multidisciplinary field that promotes understanding of how environmental exposures can affect human health. After discussing the regional relevance of environmental health knowledge and skills, this article describes three ongoing Appalachian projects that are focused on measuring and building EHL.

Cancer Health Disparities Among African Americans: A Socioecological Approach, Seth M. Spitzley

The Hilltop Review

Research shows that health outcomes are influenced by race or ethnicity, socioeconomic status, education and literacy levels, and the physical environment (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014). The health statuses of minority groups, such as African Americans, are adversely impacted by inequality (Randall, 2009). In Kalamazoo, Michigan, the leading cause of death for all residents in Kalamazoo County was cancer, where black individuals have the highest death rate among any other racial or ethnic group. That African Americans comprise less than 11% of the population in Kalamazoo County thus suggests that African Americans are disproportionately impacted by cancer …

Effects Of Quantitative Literacy On Healthcare Decision-Making: An Aural Context, Robert G. Root, Sonia Bhala

Numeracy

We propose a relationship between sensory modality, numerical formatting, and performance on a survey simulating healthcare decision-making. We examine the current literature on aural health literacy, and specifically aural literacy coupled with health numeracy. We then create a survey instrument called the Bhala test for this purpose and demonstrate that it is moderately internally consistent and provides results that correlate with the NUMi assessment, a widely accepted measure of health numeracy. The quantitative information provided in the Bhala test has two treatments, percentage and natural frequency formats, in an effort to determine which format is easier for subjects to use …

New York State’S Population Is Aging: Will Communities Be Ready?, Claire Pendergrast

Population Health Research Brief Series

The population is aging nation-wide, and New York State is no exception. 3.2 million New Yorkers (nearly one in six), are aged 65 and older, and the older adult population is growing faster than any other group in the state. This issue brief explains what it means to “age in place” and how New York State is responding to the large increase in older adults state wide.

Healthy Eating & Active Living In Childhood In Latinx Households In Spartanburg, Sc: A Community-Engaged Qualitative Research Study On Assets And Challenges, Laura Barbas Rhoden

Community Based Research

Spartanburg County organizations have engaged in coalition-driven, data-informed work for over a decade related to healthy eating and active living in the community. Work has been exceptional with regard to data gathering, data sharing, and the piloting of evidence-based interventions. Quantitative data, such as BMI data gathered by the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) countywide through schools, as well as survey results from the Road to Better Health initiative, give some sense of community demographics and needs. However, this large-scale picture reveals little about experiences at the household level and is of limited use in determining ways to …

Invisible Poverty: Awareness, Attitudes, And Action, Joseph W. Johnson

Doctor of Ministry Theses

In small-town rural America, we do not tend to see poverty. Poverty is relatively invisible, especially among our youth and children. Invisible Poverty explores the issues, challenges, stereotypes, and causes of small-town rural poverty while presenting possible solutions. Drawing from Alvin Luedke, Craig Van Gelder, Alan Roxburgh, Patrick Keifert, Cynthia Duncan, and Shannon Jung, Invisible Poverty presents a missional theology of accompaniment seeking justice and avoiding shame. In an effort to understand the complexity of rural poverty, Invisible Poverty asks; How might Action Research interventions affect awareness, attitudes, and actions of the congregation concerning the issues of poverty?

Leveraging The Power Of Mutual Aid, Coalitions, Leadership, And Advocacy During Covid-19, Daniela Domínguez, Dellanira García, David A. Martínez, Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga

Psychology

The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the norms, patterns, and power structures in the United States that privilege certain groups of people over others. This manuscript describes COVID-19 as an unprecedented catalyst for social transformation that underscores the need for multi-level and cross-sectoral solutions to address systemic changes to improve health equity for all. The authors propose that the American Psychological Association and its membership can initiate systemic change, in part, by: (a) supporting mutual aid organizations that prioritize the needs of vulnerable communities; (b) leveraging the efforts and strides APA psychologists have already made within the association, in …

#Realcollege During The Pandemic: New Evidence On Basic Needs Insecurity And Student Well-Being, Sara Goldrick-Rab, Vanessa Coca, Gregory Kienzl, Carrie R. Welton, Sonja Dahl, Sarah Magnelia, Sarah Magnelia

Rebuilding the Launchpad: Serving Students During Covid Resource Library

In March 2020, the coronavirus pandemic struck American higher education. Colleges closed campuses, students lost jobs, and emergency resources failed to meet the demands caused by the crisis. This report examines the pandemic’s impact on students, from their basic needs security to their well-being, as indicated by employment status, academic engagement, and mental health.

No. 42: The Role Of Infrastructure Access In Urban Household Vulnerability To Food Insecurity In Southern Cities, Cameron Mccordic, Bruce Frayne, James Sgro

Hungry Cities Partnership

The geographical concentration of poverty in informal neighbourhoods across cities is a common socioeconomic feature of the urban form. Many of these impoverished areas also suffer from limited access to urban infrastructure. Given the expense and planning necessary to develop urban infrastructure, these areas are socially vulnerable in part because of their exclusion from urban master plans. This vulnerability is made more severe by the knock-on impacts of limited infrastructure access on other aspects of human insecurity. This paper uses HCP data to assess the predictive relationship between household infrastructure access and food insecurity across five case-study cities (Mexico City, …

No. 38: Reconceptualizing Informal Economic Governance: Implications From Cape Town, South Africa, Graeme Young

Hungry Cities Partnership

As awareness of the centrality of informality in urban development processes in the Global South is slowly incorporated into the international development agenda, a full understanding of the myriad ways in which informal economic activity is governed has become increasingly urgent. This discussion paper seeks to address this need through an analysis of informal economic governance in Cape Town, South Africa. It first outlines a general theoretical framework for understanding the governance of informal economies that focuses on the logics that inform governance, the systems in which governance take place, the modes in which governance operates, and the forms that …

No. 18: Inclusive Growth And Informal Vending In Maputo's Food Markets, Inês Raimundo, Jeremy Wagner, Jonathan Crush, Ezequiel Abrahamo, Cameron Mccordic

Hungry Cities Partnership

This report builds on, and should be read in conjunction with related work on informality in the Mozambican capital by the Southern African Migration Program (SAMP) (Chikanda and Raimundo 2017, Crush et al 2015, Peberdy 2000), the African Food Security Urban Network (AFSUN) (Raimundo et al 2013), and the Hungry Cities Partnership (HCP). The HCP has produced two reports that provide essential context. HCP Report No. 2, The Urban Food System of Maputo, Mozambique (Chikanda et al 2016), provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge about the nature and operation of Maputo’s food system. It demonstrates the importance of the …

No. 45: Food Security Policy Responses To Covid-19 In Wuhan And Nanjing, China, Yi-Shin Chang, Zhenzhong Si, Steffanie Scott, Taiyang Zhong, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

After decades of famine and thousands of deaths caused by food shortages and starvation, China was able to achieve food security for the majority of its population through ensuring food availability. Despite this, during COVID-19, the government needed to heighten their responses to ensure food security and faced several challenges in doing so. This paper analyzes Chinese policies around food security during COVID-19 in two cities: Wuhan and Nanjing. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s definition of food security and the four pillars it identifies (availability, access, utilization, and stability) are used to provide a framework for this analysis. …

Indicators Of The Metroscape: Show Us The Money, Portland State University. Population Research Center

Metroscape

Chart showing census-based allocation for Medicare, Medicaid and other programs (2017), for each of the United States.

Biology 4920g: Companion Planting In The Community, Jacquline A. Nathaniel

Community Engaged Learning Final Projects

LIFE*SPIN is a local organization in London, Ontario that provides resources to individuals and families dependent on low income to ultimately break the poverty cycle by encouraging sustainable living and self-sufficiency. For this Seminar in Biology course, Maria Bata and I partnered with LIFE*SPIN to plan and execute a "Seeding Planting Party" to teach children about basic botany, nutrition, and leadership. The following final paper for this seminar discusses the project deliverables and efforts, biological research concerning companion planting, and personal reflection on this experience.

No. 39: Urban Food Governance Perspectives In Changing African And Southern Cities, Gareth Haysom

Hungry Cities Partnership

The key urban food governance question in African and other Southern cities is understanding the role that appropriate infrastructures could play in delivering positive outcomes in the urban food system. This discussion paper looks at urban food governance needs in African cities and reflects on the governance actions required in order to respond to wider food system changes and challenges. It argues that food in the African city is a public good and discusses the role that a state (and city government) should play in enabling access. The paper finds that the normalization of food poverty, the absence of agency, …

No. 41: Migration And Food Security In Cities Of The Global South, Abel Chikanda, Jonathan Crush, Godfrey Tawodzera

Hungry Cities Partnership

South-South migration is an important, though poorly researched, component of the global migration regime. This discussion paper focuses on the movement of migrants from one country in the Global South to live and work in urban areas of another. While they move from one country to another for a variety of reasons and with variable outcomes, the vast majority of South-South migrants move to cities in countries of destination where employment and livelihood opportunities are greatest. The authors find that the data for generating an overall picture of the global distribution of South-South migrants in cities is patchy and dated …

No. 43: Revisiting China’S Supermarket Revolution: Evidence From Nanjing City, Yuan Yuan, Taiyang Zhong, Zhenzhong Si, Xianjin Huang, Jonathan Crush

Hungry Cities Partnership

Like many emerging economies in the Global South, China is experiencing major transformations of its national and local food system characterized by the rise of supermarkets. There has been an ongoing debate on the relationship between the supermarket and the wet market in developing countries. Drawing on data from a city-wide supermarket mapping and surveys conducted in Nanjing in 2019, this paper revisits China’s “supermarketization” process and challenges the prediction of supermarket domination. It reveals that Nanjing’s food retailing system has been shaped by the complementarity and co-evolution of the wet market and the supermarket with great policy support. It …

Nasis Winter 2020: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

No abstract provided.

Acculturative Experiences Of African American Military Wives In An Arctic Environment, Demetria Roshan White

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

United States military wives typically relocate every few years with their active-duty husbands. But little is known about the acculturative stress and stressors associated with relocating and reestablishing a military home in an Arctic environment. This qualitative research focused on African American women who were also military wives and the acculturative stress they encountered in relocating to an Arctic environment. Face to face interviews provided a platform for 10 military wives to share their personal experiences. The acculturative stress that African American military wives’ acculturative stress and stressors encountered in relocating from a non-Arctic to an Arctic environment are not …

The Summer Treatment Program’S Effect On Behaviorally Challenged Orthodox Jewish Children, Dovid Rudomin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The Summer Treatment Program (STP) is an 8-week, research-based, behavior modification approach utilizing a unique point system that has been shown to improve the noncompliant behavior of children in a day camp setting. Due to religious reasons, the children of the Orthodox Jewish (OJ) community are unable to attend the original STP. Guided by behaviorism, the purpose of this research study was to assess whether a faith-based STP is effective in improving the noncompliant behavior of OJ behaviorally challenged children. In this study, the relationship between the completion of the STP and the behaviors of hyperactivity, aggression, conduct, anxiety, attention, …

A Hunger For Justice : Everyday Forms Of Latinx Resistance In New York State's Capital Region, Cassandra Andrusz- Ho Ching

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Low-income racialized communities have always disproportionately struggled with food system inequities. However, after the 2008 financial crisis, conditions have become more precarious, especially in Latinx communities. This context has resulted in intensified food system inequities, manifesting as food insecurity, high food pricing, inconsistent and partial food programming, diet related diseases, low wages, worker and environmental rights abuses. This dissertation examines how low-income Latinx communities, respond to these intensified inequities in the New York State Capital Region from 2008-2018. Through qualitative research, interviews and observations, I assess the nature and context of everyday practices that undermine or resist food system inequities, …

Job Training And So Much More For Low-Income Older Adults: The Senior Community Service Employment Program, Cal J. Halvorsen, Olga Yulikova

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

An important anti-poverty program for older Americans is facing a serious problem: The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) was deemed “ineffective” by the Department of Labor. The department’s 2020 budget, in fact, proposes the program’s elimination. SCSEP, which places low-income adults aged 55 and older with multiple barriers to work in on-the-job training in nonprofit and public agencies while providing a modest stipend, has the goal of helping participants to transition into unsubsidized, gainful employment. Yet measures used to determine the program’s effectiveness focus solely on employment outcomes, ignoring important outcomes related to health and social engagement. This commentary …

Older Workers In The Time Of Covid-19: The Senior Community Service Employment Program And Implications For Social Work, Cal J. Halvorsen, Olga Yulikova

Harvey A. Friedman Center for Aging

It has long been the goal of many gerontological social work scholars to increase the ability and opportunity for people to be engaged in paid and unpaid work throughout the life course. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing and exacerbating the financial insecurity of many older adults. In this paper, we review information related to older workers and how they might be affected by this pandemic and its aftermath, paying particular attention to the most socioeconomically and physically vulnerable older workers. We also offer first-hand experiences from our careers working with and conducting scholarship on older workers, paying particular attention …

Covid-19 And Lgbt Rights, Suzanne B. Goldberg

Faculty Scholarship

Even in the best of times, LGBT individuals have legal vulnerabilities in employment, housing, healthcare and other domains resulting from a combination of persistent bias and uneven protection against discrimination. In this time of COVID-19, these vulnerabilities combine to amplify both the legal and health risks that LGBT people face.

This essay focuses on several risks that are particularly linked to being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, with the recognition that these vulnerabilities are often intensified by discrimination based on race, ethnicity, age, disability, immigration status and other aspects of identity. Topics include: 1) federal withdrawal of antidiscrimination protections; 2) …

Assessing Food Insecurity In The United States During Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin M. Fitzpatrick, Casey Harris, Grant Drawve

COVID-19

Means and number/percentage of respondents for each state are presented in Table 1. These responses are based on a representative, post-strata weighted national sample (n=10,368) of US adults collected in the last week of March 2020. Even though the responses are weighted, in those states where fewer than 50 respondents are surveyed, those states are treated as missing cases and food insecurity percentages are not provided.

What Do We Know About The Nexus Between Culture, Age, Gender And Health Literacy? Implications For Improving The Health And Well-Being Of Young Indigenous Males, Anthony Merlino, James A. Smith, Mick Adams, Jason Bonson, Richard Osborne, Barry Judd, Murray Drummond, David Aanundsen, Jesse Fleay, Benjamin Christie

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Health literacy, although diversely defined, refers to the abilities, relationships and external environments required for people to successfully promote health. Existing research suggests that health literacy is related to health inequities, including individual and community capacity to navigate health. A diverse range of factors shape health literacy abilities and environments, especially culture, gender and age. However, the nexus between these variables and their cumulative impact on health literacy development remains largely unexplored. Commentary that explores these dynamics among young Indigenous males is particularly scant. In turn, strategies to bridge health equity gaps have been obscured. This article brings together disparate …

Comparison Of Nutrition Education Approaches On Fruit And Vegetable Intake In Older Adults, Noelle R. Blasch

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Most Americans do not consume recommended intakes of fruits and vegetables (F/Vs). Hands-on nutrition education applies social cognitive theory as participants practice preparing F/Vs. This study compared a four-week hands-on nutrition education program (L+HO) with lecture only (L) in older adults with assessments at baseline and weeks four and eight. Twenty-three women over the age of 50 participated in either four, 90-minute weekly L+HO classes (n = 14) or four, 40-minute weekly L nutrition education classes (n = 9). Vegetable intake significantly increased at four weeks compared to baseline for both intervention groups. Vegetable intake increased at eight weeks compared …

Physical Activity In Two Low-Income Detroit Neighborhoods: Disentangling Human Agency From Social Structure, Daniel J. Rose

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This article explores strategies developed by African American residents in response to barriers to physical activity in two low-income Detroit neighborhoods. Using 47 in-depth, qualitative interviews, a grounded theory approach allowed the analysis to be reframed around the ways in which structural factors conditioned, but did not determine the human agency of residents seeking physical activity. Interviews revealed numerous responses to structural barriers such as devising home routines, cognitive mapping to avoid perceived threats, and leaving the neighborhood to access resources. Differences in neighborhood contexts, along with unique individual concerns, showed that agency was neither a constant nor independent force, …