Digital Commons Network^™

Sources Of Information About Covid-19 Among Older Adults In Ghana, 2019-2021, Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Emmanuel Akwasi Asante

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a worldwide search for information. Information about COVID-19 is crucial and it could be the first step toward designing practical disease-control strategies. Misinformation amid the widespread information about COVID-19 has undoubtedly caused psychological distress, especially among older adults. We present an empirical and descriptive study of the sources of information among older adults and how they perceived the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 58 participants were recruited and interviewed using an in-depth semi-structured interview and structured questionnaire for our study. The study participants were recruited using purposive and convenience sampling in their respective homes from Mallam, …

Planting A Seed: United States And Florida Response To Coronavirus-19 Pandemic-Related Hunger, Melinda L. Lewis Phd, Paula T. Rappe Lcsw, Bsw Program Chair, Janet D. Albury Msw, Miu Ha Kwong Phd

Journal of Family Strengths

Food insecurity and poor nutritional intake as a possible mental health risk factor for children, adolescents and adults are addressed from an ecological perspective in the midst of a global pandemic. During the recent global Coronovirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, approximately 10% of U.S. households reported greater difficulty finding adequate food sources than were experienced prior to the pandemic. In response to food shortages, the U.S. Federal government passed legislation approving state waivers which suspended income verification and eligibility deadlines to expedite food assistance approval process for families during the pandemic. This enabled state flexibility in allocating Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) …

Rehabilitation Care At The Time Of Coronavirus Disease-19 (Covid-19) Pandemic: A Scoping Review Of Health System Recommendations, Ahmed M Negm, Adrian Salopek, Mashal Zaide, Victoria J Meng, Carlos Prada, Yaping Chang, Preeti Zanwar, Flavia H Santos, Elena Philippou, Emily R Rosario, Julie Faieta, Jason R Falvey, Amit Kumar, Timothy A Reistetter, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas, Jonathan F Bean, Mohit Bhandari, Patricia C Heyn

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Purpose: The coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 has imposed a significant burden on health care systems, economies, and social systems in many countries around the world. The provision of rehabilitation services for persons with active COVID-19 infection poses challenges to maintaining a safe environment for patients and treating providers. Materials and Methods: Established frameworks were used to guide the scoping review methodology. Medline, Embase, Pubmed, CINAHL databases from inception to August 1, 2020, and prominent rehabilitation organizations' websites were searched. Study Selection: We included articles and …

Examining Factors Associated With The Use Of Face Coverings During Covid-19: A Survey Of Shoppers In Greater Grand Forks, Minnesota And North Dakota, Isaac Karikari, Tanis J. Walch, Ashley Evenson, Carenlee Bardull, Bret Weber, Stephanie Scallon, Delton Gabe, Mikale Kuntz, Gabriel Wavra, Emily Possis, Courtney Leben, Hailer Boushee, Madeline Comeau

Social Work Faculty Publications

Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic’s persistence and recent spikes in cases have heightened the need for the promotion of protective behaviors notably, the continued use of face coverings (or ‘masks’ in the common parlance for COVID-related face coverings). Effective messaging on mask use is essential to more fully resonate with individuals and their shared communities. Studies covering rural or mostly-urban regions in the U.S. are sparse. Accordingly, an interdisciplinary team of social work and public health researchers explored mask wearing behaviors in a small, urban metro community consisting of two cities spanning North Dakota and Minnesota that …

Development Of Balanced Budget Bites And Feasibility Evaluation, Holly Hansen, Kendra Kattelmann, Kathryn Morrison, Becky Jensen, Hailey Millner, Addison Reimer, Jen Sip, Brittany Canfield, Cydney Chamberlain

Health and Nutritional Sciences Graduate Students Plan B Capstone Projects

Objective: Balanced Budget Bites was created to educate individuals of Feeding Brookings about different cooking techniques, food safety, meal planning, budgeting, and financial resources in the Brookings, SD area while highlighting lower-cost food items. Participants and Recruitment: The target audience of Balanced Budget Bites were individuals that participated in Feeding Brookings that were recruited for four weeks via a flyer and a posting of the flyer on Feeding Brookings’ Facebook page. Method and Implementation: Participants of Feeding Brookings completed a pre-survey before taking Balanced Budget Bites to assess their skills, confidence, and knowledge related to nutrition and finance. The online …

The Efficacy And Acceptability Of A Virtual Versus Hybrid Wellness Program On Health Outcomes Among Faculty And Staff At A Northeastern University During Covid-19, Elizabeth Tenison

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

According to American Psychological Association Work and Well-being Survey of 1,501 U.S. adult workers, 79% of employees reported negative impacts of work-related stress, including lack of interest (26%) and effort (19%) at work. Workplace wellness programs offer a means to alleviate stress among employees. The research explored the perceived acceptability and efficacy of a virtual versus hybrid wellness program and some specific health outcomes, total cholesterol, BP, and BMI, perceived well-being and stress among faculty and staff at a northeastern university. Participants (n=61) included women (77%), 30-50 years of age (67.7%), and staff (30%) vs. faculty (70%) enrolled in the …

Covid-19 And Consumer Eating Patterns: Analysis Of The Impact On The Meal Kit Industry In The United States, Dorian Bizeau

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze consumer eating patterns through the emergence of COVID-19, and explain the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Meal Kit industry. Through the utilization of qualitative and quantitative analysis, the paper will apply source material to the research question. The research question for this study is: “How did COVID-19's emergence impact the Meal Kit industry?” An overarching theme is social behaviors adaptation. Adaptations occurred as a result of COVID-19's emergence. The qualitative data suggests the behaviors correlated with the strengths and weaknesses of the Meal Kit industry. A key finding revealed in …

Investigating The Relationship Between Mental Health And Co- Morbidity Management During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review, Alejandra Soto

Theses and Graduate Projects

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic caused many disruptions to millions of lives, especially with the enforcement of government shutdowns, isolations, and social distancing. These measures lead to increased anxiety and depression in the general population. With many high- risk patient populations having chronic comorbidities, accessing routine medical care and supplies became difficult during the pandemic.

Purpose: How has mental health affected the management of pre-existing comorbidities during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Methods: A comprehensive literature review was conducted using the research engine PubMed using the search terms: “pandemic”, “COVID-19”, “comorbidities”, “mental health”, “morbidity”, and “mortality”. Inclusion criteria were studies …

Parents’ Perceptions: Strategies To Motivate Lower-Elementary Children’S Virtual Emergency Learning During Covid-19, Brittany Harden

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

During the 2020–2021 school year, many students were forcibly shifted from traditional in-person learning to virtual emergency response learning (ERL) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this shift, many lower-elementary school students suffered socially, emotionally, and academically due to lack of infrastructure, social isolation, and the loss of direct instruction from educators. Because of this loss, many parents had different responsibilities to their children’s social, emotional, and academic well-being. Research has not provided practical, motivational strategies used by parents to motivate their lower-elementary school children during virtual ERL during COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to examine parents’ …

Nutrition And Physical Exercise Prevention Strategies To Reduce Obesity During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carmesha Vajill Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity has reached an epidemic level of 75 million obese adults and 15 million obese children in the United States. The research problem addressed in this study is the lack of information on how obese people manage their weight-loss strategies to prevent or reduce obesity during shut-in place restrictions for the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study included the Prochaska and DiClemente Trans-Theoretical Model of Behavioral Change and the Stage of Change Theory. The phenomenon approach using phenomenology described participants' lived experiences of being obese. The researcher completed data collection and evaluation among sixteen participants using email questionnaires to analyze participant's responses …

Effects Of Natural Products On Inflammation, Riley Ann Nadler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Chronic inflammation is characterized by infiltration of inflammatory cells such as macrophages and lymphocytes into the tissue where they produce inflammatory cytokines that contribute to tissue damage. Worldwide, 3 out of 5 people die due to chronic inflammatory diseases like cardiovascular diseases, obesity, diabetes, and cancer. Since it is well-documented that diet and metabolism are key mediators of inflammation, I investigated the effects of dietary lectins on inflammatory cytokine production and the ability of sodium pyruvate, a metabolite, to decrease inflammation. In chapter 1, I examined the effect that lectins from either Triticum vulgaris (common wheat) or Phaseolus vulgaris (common …

Uncertainty, Scarcity And Transparency: Public Health Ethics And Risk Communication In A Pandemic, Abigail Lowe, Teck Chuan Voo, Lisa M. Lee, Kelly K. Dineen Gillespie, Christy Feig, Alva O. Ferdinand, Seema Mohapatra, David Brett-Major, Matthew K. Wynia

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Communicating public health guidance is key to mitigating risk during disasters and outbreaks, and ethical guidance on communication emphasizes being fully transparent. Yet, communication during the pandemic has sometimes been fraught, due in part to practical and conceptual challenges around being transparent. A particular challenge has arisen when there was both evolving scientific knowledge on COVID-19 and reticence to acknowledge that resource scarcity concerns were influencing public health recommendations. This essay uses the example of communicating public health guidance on masking in the United States to illustrate ethical challenges of developing and conveying public health guidance under twin conditions of …

A Qualitative Report Of The Perceptions Of The Covid-19 Pandemic From Collegiate Student-Athletes, Dylan C. Rowe, Zachary K. Winkelmann, Shawn M. Arent, Michelle A. Arent, Alexa J. Chandler, Nancy A. Uriegas, Toni M. Torres-Mcgehee

Faculty Publications

CONTEXT: The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt disruption in access to services and personnel for collegiate student-athletes in the spring and summer of 2020. We sought to identify the effects of this unprecedented change by examining the psychological well-being, changes to normal routines, and return-to-play considerations of current student-athletes in order to guide support for both current and future student-athletes who may face similar situations. METHODS: We utilized a phenomenological approach to interview a purposeful sample of eighteen collegiate student-athletes (7 males, 11 females; mean age = 20 years) from across the United States. The participants were interviewed using …

Beyond Compulsory Licensing: Pfizer Shares Its Covid-19 Medicines With The Patent Pool, Chenglin Liu

Faculty Articles

On March 15, 2022, the United States, European Union, India, and South Africa reached an agreement on the waiver of intellectual property rights (IP rights) for COVID-19 vaccines. The waiver agreement has rekindled the debate on the balance between IP rights protection and equitable access to medicines during a public health crisis. India, South Africa, and other developing countries maintain that a waiver was the only way to make vaccines affordable and accessible. Leading pharmaceutical companies argue that the waiver will stifle innovation and make lifesaving medicines less accessible. Both sides have seemingly overlooked Pfizer's voluntary agreement with the Medicines …

Fostering Production Of Pharmaceutical Products In Developing Countries, William Fisher, Ruth L. Okediji, Padmashree Gehl Sampath

Michigan Journal of International Law

The ways in which pharmaceutical products are currently developed, manufactured, and distributed fail to meet the needs of developing countries. The recent emergence of new infectious diseases, the associated surge of healthcare nationalism, and the prevalence of substandard and falsified drugs have strengthened substantially the net benefits of augmenting the capacity of developing countries to produce such products locally. Most previous efforts to do so have foundered. The chance of success in the future would be maximized by the adoption of five strategies : (a) clarifying the zones of discretion created by the relevant treaties to ensure that local firms …

Finding The Best Predictors For Foot Traffic In Us Seafood Restaurants, Isabel Paige Beaulieu

Honors Theses and Capstones

COVID-19 caused state and nation-wide lockdowns, which altered human foot traffic, especially in restaurants. The seafood sector in particular suffered greatly as there was an increase in illegal fishing, it is made up of perishable goods, it is seasonal in some places, and imports and exports were slowed. Foot traffic data is useful for business owners to have to know how much to order, how many employees to schedule, etc. One issue is that the data is very expensive, hard to get, and not available until months after it is recorded. Our goal is to not only find covariates that …

Exploring How Public Health Partnerships With Community-Based Organizations (Cbos) Can Be Leveraged For Health Promotion And Community Health., Senila Yasmin, Rayna Haque, Kaneza Kadambaya, Marzia Maliha, Maha Sheikh

Student Papers, Posters & Projects

The Academic Public Health Corps (APHC) works to support local public health in Massachusetts through varying models of collaboration. In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, one initiative of the APHC has been to partner with community-based organizations (CBOs) to address vaccine hesitancy and improve overall community health. The purpose of this article is to share how the APHC partnered with CBOs in Massachusetts to address COVID-19 concerns within their respective communities, and present strategies to empower communities, share resources, and increase health promotion. The APHC partnered with 2 CBOs who received the Massachusetts COVID-19 Community Grants distributed by Health …

Disparities In Uptake Of The Primary Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Series In A Southern Indiana Vaccine Clinic, Cassidy Padgett

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Objective: COVID-19 is a potentially severe respiratory disease caused by infection from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. COVID-19 was first discovered in 2019 and vaccines against the virus began development in early 2020. COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Clark Memorial Health is a 236-bed community health system located in southern Indiana. As one of the first four hospitals in the state of Indiana to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in December of 2020, this health system led the area in vaccine administration. Prior to the emergency use authorization (EUA) of the COVID-19 vaccines, …

The Online Ordering Behaviors Among Participants In The Oklahoma Women, Infants, And Children Program: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Qi Zhang, Kayoung Park, Junzhou Zhang, Chuanyi Tang

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a nutrition assistance program in the United States (U.S.). Participants in the program redeem their prescribed food benefits in WIC-authorized grocery stores. Online ordering is an innovative method being pilot-tested in some stores to facilitate WIC participants' food benefit redemption, which has become especially important in the COVID-19 pandemic. The present research aimed to examine the online ordering (OO) behaviors among 726 WIC households who adopted WIC OO in a grocery chain, XYZ (anonymous) store, in Oklahoma (OK). These households represented approximately 5% of WIC households who redeemed …

Nutritional Status In Critical Care Of Covid-19 Patients, Dolph Lewis Davis Iii

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Critical care nutrition is a poorly researched, and such a sudden pandemic event requiring manipulation of nutritional status via propofol-induced sedation for mechanical ventilation is potentially impactful on patient outcomes. This paper seeks to provide context to the impact of critical care protocols on the nutritional status of obese patients suffering from COVID-19.

A North Carolina Zip Code Specific Analysis Of Community And Environmental Social Determinants Of Health Variables And Health Outcomes: Mortality And Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, Alicia Mcdaniel

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic elevated public awareness of the impact of health inequities and the role that social determinants of health (SDOH) play in population health outcomes. Despite the utility, healthcare providers remain ill-informed on the community level SDOH data needed to improve health outcomes due to this information not being integrated into the Electronic Health Record (EHR) (Cantor and Thorpe, 2018; Park, 2018). Therefore, the association between community and environmental SDOH variables at the zip code level, using North Carolina hospital admissions data for infant mortality, adult mortality, and ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) were evaluated through logistic regression to …

Implementation Of Federal Waivers For Feeding Children In Early Care And Education During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dipti Dev, Carly Hillburn, Jordan Luxa, Laura Lessard, Katherine W. Bauer, Caree Cotwright, Alison Tovar

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

Objective: To capture Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) state directors’ experiences implementing federal waivers for feeding children in early care and education (ECE) settings during coronavirus disease 2019.

Design: Qualitative semistructured interviews.

Setting: Virtual interviews with state CACFP directors.

Participants: Child and Adult Care Food Program directors from 21 states from December 2020 to May 2021.

Phenomenon of Interest: Implementation of state-level waivers.

Analysis: Qualitative thematic analysis.

Results: State directors reported that the coronavirus disease 2019 waivers allowed ECE programs to continue feeding children despite being closed or having limited enrollment. The meal pattern, noncongregate feeding, parent/guardian meal …

The Experiences Of Older Youth In And Aged Out Of Foster Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Material And Financial Well-Being By Foster Care Status, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation, Ethnicity, And Race, Johanna K. P. Greeson, John Gyourko, Sara Jaffee, Sarah Wasch

Department of Social Work - Faculty Scholarship

As a marginalized, under-resourced population, older youth with foster care experience are acutely vulnerable to the economic and social harms wrought by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study summarizes findings from an online survey deployed in April 2020 to learn about the experiences of current and former foster youth (ages 18 to 23) during one month of the COVID-19 crisis. Using purposive sampling and a cross-sectional design, the survey yielded a final analysis sample of 281 respondents from 32 states and 192 cities or districts. Findings underscore the pervasive negative impacts of COVID-19 on respondents’ housing/living situations, food security, employment, …

Covid-19 And Advanced Course Enrollment: Kentucky High Schools, Jessica Thomas

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

In Kentucky governments, districts, and schools made decisions about school closures and mode of learning that would impact community health as well as student achievement. Within those schools, students themselves were also making decisions that could impact their futures academically. In spring 2020, students were choosing their courses for the following year. Vast uncertainty about what the 2020/2021 school year would look like had the potential to impact those decisions. Disruptions to spring 2020 classes could also impact whether a student felt they had learned the prerequisite skills needed to pursue advanced coursework. This study found that advanced course enrollment …

Effect Of Trust And The Covid-19 Pandemic On Nonprofit Collaboration With Food Insecurity Services In Kentucky, Aaron Brewer

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Food insecurity in Kentucky is at a crisis point. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent natural disasters, it has only gotten worse. Nonprofit organizations that focus on food insecurity are fighting to fill the gap between federal and state programs but still struggle to find enough resources as demand grows. In order to help achieve their strategic missions, organizations often engage in collaboration with one another. The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally changed the landscape of many services and businesses across the world and certainly in Kentucky. Food insecurity organizations were faced with new challenges because of the health …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Special Education: A Case Study, Megan Cercone

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project is to explore the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on special education by evaluating the experiences of one child with disabilities who attends public schools. METHODS: A semi-structured interview was conducted with the two parents of the child, who has physical disabilities and an IEP through his school, meaning he receives special education services through intervention teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. The interview was recorded and transcribed, and then interview transcripts were evaluated to identify themes in the subjects’ responses regarding their child’s experience with public education during the pandemic. …

The Effect Of Virtual Learning As A Result Of Covid-19, Ann Redle Ms., Joel Mcmullen

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In the early spring of 2020, the United States began to experience the effects of the question-inspiring, novel COVID-19 viral illness, with the onset of massive business, school, and entertainment closures, initiating a shift towards virtual learning, communication, and professional interactions. This paper is intended to identify the common experiences of two nursing students throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a personal narrative, or autoethnographic approach, coupled with reviews of previously published literature relating to shared themes of the authors, including the rapid changes to an online environment from traditional classroom settings, the stressors that were experienced as a result …

Bsl2-Compliant Lethal Mouse Model Of Sars-Cov-2 And Variants Of Concern To Evaluate Therapeutics Targeting The Spike Protein, Mohanraj Manangeeswaran, Derek D C Ireland, Seth G Thacker, Ha-Na Lee, Logan Kelley-Baker, Aaron P Lewkowicz, Paul W Rothlauf, Marjorie Cornejo Pontelli, Louis-Marie Bloyet, Michael A Eckhaus, Mirian I Mendoza, Sean Whelan, Daniela Verthelyi

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Since first reported in 2019, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is rapidly acquiring mutations, particularly in the spike protein, that can modulate pathogenicity, transmission and antibody evasion leading to successive waves of COVID19 infections despite an unprecedented mass vaccination necessitating continuous adaptation of therapeutics. Small animal models can facilitate understanding host-pathogen interactions, target selection for therapeutic drugs, and vaccine development, but availability and cost of studies in BSL3 facilities hinder progress. To generate a BSL2-compatible

Digitalization In Food Supply Chains: A Bibliometric Review And Key-Route Main Path Analysis, Abderahman Rejeb, Karim Rejeb, Alireza Abdollahi, Suhaiza Zailani, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Morteza Ghobakhloo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Technological advances such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, big data, social media, and geographic information systems represent a building block of the digital transformation that supports the resilience of the food supply chain (FSC) and increases its efficiency. This paper reviews the literature surrounding digitalization in FSCs. A bibliometric and key-route main path analysis was carried out to objectively and analytically uncover the knowledge development in digitalization within the context of sustainable FSCs. The research began with the selection of 2140 articles published over nearly five decades. Then, the articles were examined according to several bibliometric metrics such as year of …

Exploring Food Supply Chain Trends In The Covid-19 Era: A Bibliometric Review, Abderahman Rejeb, Karim Rejeb, Andrea Appolloni, Mohammad Iranmanesh, Horst Treiblmaier, Sandeep Jagtap

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Recently, the food supply chain (FSC) has been severely disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, putting the vital flow of food products from farmers and producers to the ultimate consumers at risk. Furthermore, due to the pandemic, several food organizations have been prompted to rethink their strategies for the future. Although the literature on FSC research in the COVID-19 era is increasing, no attempt has been made to summarize this stream of research using bibliometric techniques. This paper fills this knowledge gap and looks at the current scholarly discourse around the FSC and COVID-19. Applying bibliometric techniques, 287 journal articles …