Digital Commons Network^™

Rethinking The New Public Health, Lindsay Wiley

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

This Article contributes to an emerging theoretical debate over the legitimate scope of public health law by linking it to a particular doctrinal debate in public nuisance law. State and local governments have been largely stymied in their efforts to use public nuisance litigation against harmful industries to vindicate collectively-held, common law rights to non-interference with public health and safety. The ways in which this litigation has failed are instructive for a broader movement in public health that is only just beginning to take shape. In response to evolving scientific understanding about the determinants of health, public health advocates are …

Arctic Justice: Addressing Persistent Organic Pollutants, Elizabeth Burleson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article recommends enhanced governance of persistent organic pollutants through incentives to develop environmentally sound, climate friendly technologies as well as caution in developing the Arctic. It highlights the toxicity challenges presented by POPs to Arctic people and ecosystems.

Evidence-Based Hazmat Medical Surveillance, Michael D. Jacobson

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Hazardous materials (HAZMAT) teams are tasked with neutralizing substances that pose a dire threat to human health. As a result, communities invest substantially in medical surveillance to protect first responders. Yet, little is known as to the actual exposures, consequent injuries, and cost-effectiveness of medical surveillance.

Objective: The purposes of this study were: 1) Determine actual HAZMAT threats. 2) In light of these threats, evaluate current regulatory requirements, recommendations and practices for their basis in evidence.

Methods: National HAZMAT data was analyzed for trends and compared with local response records from 2008 through 2011. Regulations applicable to medical surveillance …

The Efficacy Of Abstinence Only Education, Jennie Watt Mcadams

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Chlamydia, Gonorrhea and unplanned teen pregnancies cost the United States billions of dollars every year in various forms of government aid. Why are the numbers of teenage incidences of these health indicators higher than almost every other industrialized nation? Why are the youth in the United States so far behind their peers in sexual health? This paper proposes that one cause is that government funding goes to abstinence only education curriculum which is taught in many schools across the nation. These curricula many times do not teach youth about sexual protection or health and other times contain false information. If …

Chronic Disease Prevalence Of A Refugee Population In Dayton, Oh, Sandeep Palakodeti

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Introduction: This study aimed to understand the chronic disease burden of anemia, cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, overweight/obesity, stroke, and tobacco use in the domestic as well as a refugee population. It also aimed to examine the current literature on appropriate screening for those conditions.

Methods: 348 refugee screening intake exams from Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery County were analyzed for presence of the conditions stated. Screening intake recommendations from the CDC, the Minnesota Public Health Department, the Canadian Collaboration for Immigrant and Refugee Health, and the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services were examined and compared in order …

Infectious Disease Risks In Developing Countries: A Non-Market Valuation Exercise, Shreejata Samajpati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the non-market valuation of health-risks of malaria, an infectious disease that imposes a substantive public health burden across the globe, hitting particularly hard the tropical developing nations of Africa and Asia. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals include malaria control as a priority and large investments are underway to promote effective prevention and treatment. Despite such concerted supply-side efforts, malaria-related mortality and morbidity still abound due to a complex interface of factors like climate-change, poverty, inadequate control behavior, infection and prevention externalities, parasite resistance etc. This research project digs into the demand-side of the health problem, …

A Survey Assessing The Contributing Factors To Substance Abuse Treatment In U.S. Corrections Settings, Michael Soule

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

In light of the dramatic rise in incarceration due to the "War on Drugs," we explored the contributing factors to substance abuse treatment (SAT) programming - in particular, evidence-based treatments like medication assisted therapy (MAT) - implementation in United States correctional settings (including jails, prisons, and community corrections facilities). We hypothesized that current funding availability would be the primary factor preventing and contributing to program implementation, but further hypothesized that an array of secondary factors such as overcrowding, geographic location, facility type, and attitudes and knowledge about MAT would also play a role. We mailed a survey to an enriched …

Rethinking The New Public Health, Lindsay F. Wiley

Washington and Lee Law Review

This Article contributes to an emerging theoretical debate over the legitimate scope of public health law by linking it to a particular doctrinal debate in public nuisance law. State and local governments have been largely stymied in their efforts to use public nuisance litigation against harmful industries to vindicate collectively-held, common law rights to non-interference with public health and safety. The ways in which this litigation has failed are instructive for a broader movement in public health that is only just beginning to take shape. In response to evolving scientific understanding about the determinants of health, public health advocates are …

Yellow, In Peril: How Public Health Discourse On Tuberculosis (Tb) Reveals, Refines, And Reinforces The Racial Stigmatization Of Asian Americans, Laura Dellplain

Honors Papers

In this paper, I argue that while public health discourse on tuberculosis may reveal existent epidemiological trends in and among particular social groups, the discursive framing of this data unnecessarily racializes the disease. More specifically, public health discourse uses frameworks of "othering" and an imagined transnationalism to reflect but also refine and reinforce historicized stigmas of Asian Americans as non-normative, perpetual outsiders, and disease carriers. I assert that this discursive raciliazation of TB superficially constructs a causal link between Asian Americans and the incidence of TB in America and consequently results in significant social and political costs for many Asian …

Shifting Public Health Priorities And The Global Effort To Prevent A Bird Flu Pandemic, Robert Gatter

All Faculty Scholarship

Global strategy to control highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has changed dramatically since 2003 when it was first reported that a confirmed bird flu jumped the species barrier to infect a human in Hong Kong. Evidence of this shift in priorities in the global fight against HPAI can be found most clearly in program funding trends. In late 2008 and into 2009, financial commitments from international donors for all HPAI programs dropped significantly. Meanwhile, within HPAI programs, funding shifted substantially away from animal biosecurity projects and into human response and preparedness work. This Article examines three reasons for this shift …

With Child, Without Rights?: Restoring A Pregnant Woman's Right To Refuse Medical Treatment Through The Hiv Lens, Michael Ulrich

Faculty Scholarship

In Doe v. Division of Youth & Family Services , a hospital employee sought state intervention when an HIV-positive woman refused to comply with treatment recommendations during her pregnancy to drastically reduce the chances of mother-to-child-transmission (MTCT), eventually triggering a lawsuit against the hospital. With an increase in the number of HIV-positive women becoming pregnant and the court avoiding constitutional analysis of the woman’s right to refuse medical treatment, there is a clear void where legal analysis is surely needed. This Article fills this void for the inevitable case where an HIV-positive pregnant woman’s right to refuse medical treatment is …

Obesity: The Anthropometric And Demographic Characteristics Of Insured And Uninsured Individuals, Terra Fox Williams

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Objectives. This study evaluates the association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and health insurance status in attendees at a local health fair. BMI was also compared among ages, gender, and races.

Methods. Descriptive analysis conducted using data collected at the “Celebrating Life and Health” health fairs between the years 2008 and 2011. Data for this study were collected at the BMI booth staffed by Wright State Boonshoft School of Medicine students.

Results. The results of this particular study do not demonstrate a statistical difference between obesity and health insurance status. Consistent with other research articles this study does show that …

Evaluation Of The Pilot Program, Pediatric Early Warning Sentinel Surveillance Program (Pewss), And Its Efficacy In Monitoring Pediatric Illness In Clark County, Nevada, Michelle Lee Lutman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The influenza outbreak that occurred during 2009 stimulated the formation of several surveillance programs throughout the country. The majority monitor only influenza; however, there are several other circulating respiratory pathogens, especially within the pediatric community. These other respiratory pathogens cause a variety of illnesses, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, croup, etc. Prior research has provided the medical community with valuable information about respiratory illnesses, especially those which afflict pediatric patients. Areas of knowledge including seasonality, demographics, signs and symptoms, prevention measures, and pathogenicity, have been greatly expanded over the years. This information has been of tremendous help to the medical community …

Early Detection And Control Of Potential Pandemics., Shengpeng Jin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early information is crucial for policy makers and public health officials responsible for protecting the public from the virulent spread of contagious diseases. Current indicators of the spread of contagious outbreaks lag behind the actual spread of the epidemic, leaving no time for a planned response. The studies of Christakis et al. in 2010 have shown that social networks can provide more timely information for prediction. Our focus, however, is on the effective control of the spread of contagious outbreaks in their early stages. We do this by defining a more effective way to chart the spread of contagious outbreaks, …

Sex, Privacy And Public Health In A Casual Encounters Culture, Mary D. Fan

Articles

The regulation of sex and disease is a cultural and political flashpoint and recurring challenge that law's antiquated arsenal has been hard- pressed to effectively address. Compelling data demonstrate the need for attention—for example, one in four women aged fourteen to nineteen is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease ("STD"); managing STDs costs an estimated $15.9 billion annually; and syphilis, once near eradication, is on the rise again, as are the rates of HIV diagnosis among people aged fifteen to twenty-four. Public health officials on the front lines have called for paradigm changes to tackle the enormous challenge. …

The Role Of Supermarkets In Community Nutrition, Staci Gruber

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Chronic diseases related to nutrition are a serious threat to public health. Supermarkets offer an important and promising venue to improve diet quality and overall health. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the supermarkets’ community nutrition focus and interest in public health.

Methods: This study emphasis’s a triangulated qualitative study design. It employs various methods and taps various sources for data. Twenty face-to-face, semi-structured key informant interviews were conducted with five full service supermarket chains in Montgomery County, Ohio; Wal-Mart, Kroger, Meijer, Cub Foods, and Dorothy Lane Market. Qualitative sources of information collected include store observation and …

Are Student Nurses Ready For Disasters? An Analysis Of Emergency Preparedness Content In Nursing School Textbooks Used In The Miami Valley, Kimberly Caudill

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Results of an analysis of nursing textbooks used in the Miami Valley, indicate that there is minimal emergency preparedness content included. The research was based on the textbooks used in the Introduction to Nursing, Psychiatric Nursing, and Community Health Nursing classes at four local nursing schools: Sinclair Community College, Kettering College of Medical Arts, Cedarville University, and Wright State University. The Community Health Nursing classes have the most prepared content, and include extra content in the form of tables and pictures .The analysis indicates that Wright State University does the best job at preparing student nurses to be ready to …

Guiding Health Care Policy Through Applied Public Health Modeling And Simulation, Jonathan P. Leidig, Chris L. Barrett, Madhav Marathe

Transactions of the International Conference on Health Information Technology Advancement

The risk of a widespread epidemic is a primary public health concern with implications for healthcare providers and organizations. Modeling and simulation techniques have been successfully applied at the national level to set governmental polices and mitigation strategies through simulation-based predictions. Existing research in this field has been non-uniform in its coverage of local systems and region-specific findings. New collaborations between on the ground providers and modeling groups are required for successful simulation-based experimentation of region-specific health systems. These proposed collaborations are expected to contribute high-quality sub-population datasets to be used in experiments at the national level and allow for …

Assessment Of Refugees’ Health In Montgomery County: A Case Study Of Refugees From Rwanda And Burundi, Jean De Dieu Mukunzi

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

The purpose of this research study was to identify health needs and health problems experienced by a refugee/asylee population in Montgomery County. Montgomery County hosts a large number of refugees, asylees and asylum seekers from countries such as Iraq, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Soudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Congo.

A public health challenge is limited demographic data about this population. The scarce data on their health needs slows down not only their successful resettlement but also limits community organizations, health and human services agencies to improve the delivery of health care services and health promotion programs to refugees and immigrants in Montgomery County. …

A Global Panopticon - The Changing Role Of International Organizations In The Information Age, Jennifer Shkabatur

Michigan Journal of International Law

The outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and Swine Flu (H1N1) in 2009 captured a great deal of global attention. The swift spread of these diseases wreaked havoc, generated public hysteria, disrupted global trade and travel, and inflicted severe economic losses to countries, corporations, and individuals. Although affected states were required to report to the World Health Organization (WHO) events that may have constituted a public health emergency, many failed to do so. The WHO and the rest of the international community were therefore desperate for accurate, up-to-date information as to the nature of the pandemics, their …

The Fecal Viral Flora Of Wild Rodents, Tung G. Phan, Beatrix Kapusinszky, Chunlin Wang, Robert K. Rose, Howard L. Lipton, Eric L. Delwart

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The frequent interactions of rodents with humans make them a common source of zoonotic infections. To obtain an initial unbiased measure of the viral diversity in the enteric tract of wild rodents we sequenced partially purified, randomly amplified viral RNA and DNA in the feces of 105 wild rodents (mouse, vole, and rat) collected in California and Virginia. We identified in decreasing frequency sequences related to the mammalian viruses families Circoviridae, Picobirnaviridae, Picornaviridae, Astroviridae, Parvoviridae, Papillomaviridae, Adenoviridae, and Coronaviridae. Seventeen small circular DNA genomes containing one or two replicase genes distantly related to the Circoviridae representing several potentially …

Human Pathogen Shown To Cause Disease In The Threatened Elkhorn Coral Acropora Palmata, Kathryn Patterson Sutherland, Sameera Shaban, Jessica L. Joyner, James W. Porter, Erin K. Lipp

Faculty Publications

Coral reefs are in severe decline. Infections by the human pathogen Serratia marcescens have contributed to precipitous losses in the common Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, culminating in its listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. During a 2003 outbreak of this coral disease, called acroporid serratiosis (APS), a unique strain of the pathogen, Serratia marcescens strain PDR60, was identified from diseased A. palmata, human wastewater, the non-host coral Siderastrea siderea and the corallivorous snail Coralliophila abbreviata. In order to examine humans as a source and other marine invertebrates as vectors and/or reservoirs of the APS pathogen, challenge experiments …

The Non-Infectious Disease Implications Of Bed Bug Infestations, Christopher T. Balster

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of bed bug infestations throughout Ohio, whether the non-infectious disease implications of infestations are public health concerns, and also determine the perceived ability of public health departments to respond to outbreaks within their jurisdiction. A descriptive study was performed using survey data obtained from 79 local public health departments throughout Ohio. Overall, 79.05% of individuals surveyed agreed that bed bug outbreaks are a public health concern. The mode of responses regarding whether or not the non-infectious disease concerns of infestations are a public health concern was 4 on a scale …

The Role Of Planning Tools As Strategies For Combating Childhood Obesity, Jacquelyn Coats

All Theses

The failure of traditional health models to successfully combat childhood obesity is apparent when considering its sustained prevalence in the United States. Childhood obesity rates have tripled over the past three decades and health officials recognize the need for integrative strategies in order to reverse the trend (CDC, 2010). The historical roots of planning and public health offer a potential venue for collaborative strategies to address the macro level factors that affect community health. This thesis examines how planning tools have been adapted to incorporate health strategies, whether or not such methods are sustainable, and what relationships are essential for …

Nation's Future: Preparedness For Burn Victims, Jacqueline Tippett

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Natural and manmade disasters have occurred throughout the decades, within the United States and around the globe. Increased incidence and awareness of terrorist attacks have caused the US to re-evaluate its safety and preparedness efforts to prevent such events from happening and to develop an adequate response plan if such unfortunate events do occur. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to (1) review and discuss the American Burn Association’s (ABA) paradigm for emergency planning in burn disasters, (2) give recommendation about the National Response Framework (NRF) guidelines on “all hazards” response as they pertains to burns, and (3) give …

Acl Injuries In Montgomery County, Oh: Moving Toward The Development Of A Prediction Model, Kelly Estes

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears are one of the most frequent soft tissue injuries of the knee. A torn ACL leaves the knee joint unstable and at risk for further damage to other soft tissues manifested as pain, dislocation, and osteoarthritis. A better understanding of the dimensional details of knee joints suffering ACL tears and a prediction model for individuals susceptible to tears is needed. Using a cross-sectional study design, magnetic resonance images (MRIs) of 72 patients with knee injuries were evaluated from an orthopedic surgery group practice. The status of the ACL was the main variable of interest, creating …

State Preparedness: A Study Of State Plans, Zachary Fehrman

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have been used since the early years of public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a standard definition for NPI and what NPI strategies are contained within the definition. This paper seeks to discover if state pandemic influenza plans use the term NPI and its strategies, and if states’ use of NPI strategies in their state pandemic plans is consistent with the CDC definition. To determine how states were defining and using the term NPI and NPI strategies a survey of forty-eight (48) state plans was conducted using each respective states’ pandemic plan. …

Prevalence, Knowledge, And Concern About Bed Bugs, Mary Beth Kaylor

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Recent research suggests that the United States and the world are on the verge of a bed bug pandemic. Assumptions have been made that socioeconomic status is not an indicator and that bed bugs are not competent disease vectors. However, little information is available at the local level about the prevalence of bed bugs in private homes. This study aimed to identify prevalence, knowledge, and concern about bed bugs in one village in Ohio. Responses from 96 individuals who completed the Prevalence, Knowledge, and Concern about Bed Bugs (PK CABB) survey were utilized for data analysis. The majority of the …

Women, Vulnerability, And Humanitarian Emergencies, Fionnuala Ni Aolain

Michigan Journal of Gender & Law

The catastrophic dimensions of humanitarian emergencies are increasingly understood and more visible to states and international institutions. There is greater appreciation for the social, economic and political effects that follow in the short to long term from the devastating consequences of humanitarian emergencies. There is also recognition of the gendered dimensions of humanitarian emergencies in policy and institutional contexts. It is generally acknowledged that women are overrepresented in the refugee and internally displaced communities that typically result from many humanitarian crises. Women bear acute care responsibilities in most societies and also disproportionately bear familial and communal care responsibilities in communities …

Situation Analysis Of Disability Resources And Needs Of Shantytowns Near Lima, Peru, Jessica Hunt

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Individuals in shantytowns of Lima, Peru experience unique challenges due to socioeconomic status and perceived inabilities. A situation analysis using qualitative ethnographic interviews of key participants (n=15) and one focus group (n=7) was conducted to explore life with disability in a shantytown of Lima, Peru. Findings showed that individuals with disability face physical and attitudinal barriers that limit social inclusion through the avenues of rehabilitation, education, and employment. The familial complex is expected to provide care for the individual with disability. The adult family member often chooses between providing income for the household and providing care and safety for their …