Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Tailoring A Physical Activity Promotion Program For A Rural Area, Gavin T. Colquitt, Moya L. Alfonso, Ashley Walker, Vanessa Dunmore

Community Health Faculty Presentations

Background/Purpose: VERBTM Summer Scorecard (VSS) has used social marketing to successfully promote physical activity for urban and suburban youth. The purpose of this study was to adapt the program to meet the needs of a minority, rural population.

Method: Qualitative marketing research methods including focus groups were used to gather data from parents (N = 12) and their children (N =12) in April 2012. A structured, open-ended focus group guide was developed specific to parents and youth and based on the social marketing framework. Marketing topics covered included Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Attention was given to testing two previously …

Using Photovoice In Pete Programs To Initiate Positive Change, Gavin T. Colquitt, Jody Langdon, Tony A. Pritchard, Starla Mccollum

Community Health Faculty Presentations

The purpose of this presentation will be to provide teacher educators with an overview of the Photovoice methodology and its potential utility in curricular change. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education’s ([NASPE], 2008) PETE standards state educators should allow diversity to drive instructional related decision-making. Photovoice, a participatory action research methodology, is a tool teacher educators can use to be responsive to the continuously changing contexts of public schools.

Formative Research On Hpv Vaccine Acceptability With Latina Farmworkers, John S. Luque, Heide Castañeda, Dinorah Martinez Tyson, Natalia Vargas, Meade

Community Health Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers and benefits to human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination in a low-income, Latina farmworker population in central Florida. This study reports on formative qualitative research conducted on perceptions of benefits, barriers, costs, place, and promotion related to the HPV vaccine from surveys and interviews with a sample of 46 low-income, Latina farm workers and 19 health care workers serving this population. It was found that Latina farmworkers hold many misperceptions about the HPV vaccine and the potential links between HPV infection and cervical cancer. In addition, it was observed that HPV vaccination …

Formative Research On Perceptions Of Biobanking: What Community Members Think, John S. Luque, Gwendolyn P. Quinn, Francisco A. Montel-Ishino, Mariana Arevalo, Shalanda A. Bynum, Shalewa Noel-Thomas, Kristen J. Wells, Clement K. Gwede, Cathy D. Meade, Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network Partners

Community Health Faculty Publications

Preparing healthy community members with timely communications prior to engaging them in a request to donate biospecimens promises to improve the experience of biobanking participation. To this end, a qualitative study was conducted to assess community member knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and informational needs about cancer-related biospecimen collection in a large metropolitan area in southwest Florida. The study utilized purposive sampling techniques to recruit a total of 95 participants to participate in 12 focus groups, segmented by race/ethnicity and language preference (mixed race, African American only, and Spanish speaking) and age (18–29, 30–54, and 55 and older). Focus group interviews were …

Creating A Patient Navigation Model To Address Cervical Cancer Disparities In A Rural Hispanic Farmworker Community, Kristen Wells, Maria Rivera, Sara Proctor, Gloria Arroyo, Shalanda A. Bynum, Gwendolyn Quinn, John S. Luque, Marlene Rivera, Dinorah Martinez-Tyson, Cathy Meade

Community Health Faculty Publications

This report describes the implementation of a pilot patient navigation (PN) program created to address cervical cancer disparities in a predominantly Hispanic agricultural community. Since November 2009, a patient navigator has provided services to patients of Catholic Mobile Medical Services (CMMS). The PN program has resulted in the need for additional clinic sessions to accommodate the demand for preventive care at CMMS.

Ethics Of Clear Health Communication: Applying The Clean Look Approach To Communicate Biobanking Information For Cancer Research, Alexis Koskan, Mariana Arevalo, Gwen Quinn, Shalwea Noel-Thomas, John S. Luque, Kristen Wells, Cathy Meade, Clement K. Gwede

Community Health Faculty Publications

Cancer innovations, such as biobanking technologies, are continuously evolving to improve our understanding and knowledge about cancer prevention and treatment modalities. However, the public receives little communication about biobanking and is often unaware about this innovation until asked to donate biospecimens. It is the researchers’ ethical duty to provide clear communications about biobanking and biospecimen research. Such information allows the public to understand biobanking processes and facilitates informed decision making about biospecimen donation. The aims of this paper are 1) to examine the importance of clear communication as an ethical imperative when conveying information about cancer innovations and 2) to …

The Influence Of Federally Qualified Health Centers On Selected Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions In Georgia, Mary W. King Mathis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's Abstract: Ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) resulting in hospitalizations make up a substantial proportion of health care costs, but should not because these conditions are manageable in quality primary care settings that promote prevention in an effort to avoid exacerbations that can lead to hospitalization. The use of emergency departments (EDs) as a safety net for ACSCs has increased the burden on hospitals because patients who do not regularly utilize primary care often resort to the use of EDs for treatment of ACSCs. Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are designed to provide consistent, high-quality primary care to all people, …

Refinement Of An Educational Toolkit To Promote Cervical Cancer Screening Among Hispanic Farmworker Women In Southeast Georgia, Lisa C. Watson-Johnson, Jigar Bhagatwala, Claudia Reyes-Garcia, Andrea Hinojosa, Mondi Mason, Cathy Meade, John S. Luque

Community Health Faculty Publications

Cervical cancer incidence and mortality continue to affect Hispanic women in the U.S. disproportionately. Our project sought to refine a cervical cancer intervention designed for use by community health workers, or promotoras, in rural southern Georgia. We collaborated with Hispanicpromotoras to refine a Spanish language educational flipchart featuring cervical cancer topic areas for use in screening promotion.

Clinically Optimal Dosing In The Treatment Of Duodenal Ulcers: A Case Study Of A Phase Iii Snda Clinical Program, Karl E. Peace

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Georgia Southern University faculty member Karl E. Peace authored "Case Study in Optimal Dosing in Duodenal Eulcer" in Peptic Ulcer Disease.

A Bayesian Model For Gene Family Evolution, Liang Liu, Lili Yu, Venugopal Kalavacharla, Zhanji Liu

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background

A birth and death process is frequently used for modeling the size of a gene family that may vary along the branches of a phylogenetic tree. Under the birth and death model, maximum likelihood methods have been developed to estimate the birth and death rate and the sizes of ancient gene families (numbers of gene copies at the internodes of the phylogenetic tree). This paper aims to provide a Bayesian approach for estimating parameters in the birth and death model.

Results

We develop a Bayesian approach for estimating the birth and death rate and other parameters in the birth …

The Believe In All Your Possibilities Campaign: Updating A Social Marketing Campaign On A Shoe String Budget, Moya L. Alfonso, H. Woodcum, Sherri Reynolds, John S. Luque

Community Health Faculty Presentations

The purpose of this presentation is to provide participants with an understanding of how to revamp or refresh a brand on a limited budget using a case study approach. The ‘Believe in All Your Possibilities’ community-based prevention marketing campaign, which was targeted at reducing alcohol and tobacco use among middle school youth, was the result of a long term school-community-university partnership in Southeast Florida. This alcohol campaign has been continuously implemented for eight years. Encouraging evaluation results combined with recently acquired alcohol prevention funding served as the impetus for conducting research to determine if ‘Believe’: a) was still relevant to …

Creating Community-Academic Partnerships For Cancer Disparities Research And Health Promotion, John S. Luque, Cathy D. Meade, Janelle M. Menard, Dinorah Martinez Tyson, Clement K. Gwede

John S. Luque

To effectively attenuate cancer disparities in multiethnic, medically underserved populations, interventions must be developed collaboratively through solid community-academic partnerships and driven by community-based participatory research (CBPR). The Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network (TBCCN) has been created to identify and implement interventions to address local cancer disparities in partnership with community-based nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups, community health centers, local media, and adult literacy and education organizations. TBCCN activities and research efforts are geared toward addressing critical information and access issues related to cancer control and prevention in diverse communities in the Tampa Bay area. Such efforts include cross-cultural health promotion, screening, …

Salud Es Vida: Development Of A Cervical Cancer Education Curriculum For Promotora Outreach With Latina Farmworkers In Rural Southern Georgia, Kristen J. Wells, John S. Luque, Branko Miladinovic, Natalia Vargas, Yasmin Asvat, Richard G. Roetzheim, Ambuj Kumar

Community Health Faculty Publications

Methods: A systematic review was conducted to synthesize evidence from all prospective controlled studies on effectiveness of CHW programs in improving screening mammography rates. Studies reported in English and conducted in the United States were included if they: (i) evaluated a CHW intervention designed to increase screening mammography rates in women 40 years of age or older without a history of breast cancer; (ii) were a randomized controlled trial (RCT), case-controlled study, or quasi-experimental study; and (iii) evaluated a CHW intervention outside of a hospital setting.

Results: Participation in a CHW intervention was associated with a statistically significant …

Barbershop Communications On Prostate Cancer Screening Using Barber Health Advisers, John S. Luque, Brian M. Rivers, Clement K. Gwede, Maisha Kambon, B. Lee Green, Cathy D. Meade

Community Health Faculty Publications

Objective: The authors report the outcomes of a community-based, barber health adviser pilot intervention that aims to develop customized educational materials to promote knowledge and awareness of prostate cancer (CaP) and informed decision making about prostate cancer screening (PCS) among a predominantly African American clientele.

Method: First, the authors implemented a series of learner verification processes with barbershop clients (n=15) to adapt existing CaP health promotion materials. Following intervention implementation in the barbershop, they conducted structured surveys with barbershop clients (n=40) to evaluate the intervention. Results: Findings from the posttest showed both a significant increase in barbershop clients' …

Increasing Cervical Cancer Screening In A Hispanic Migrant Farmworker Community Through Faith-Based Clinical Outreach, John S. Luque, Dinorah Martinez-Tyson, Talar Markossian, Ji-Hyun Lee, Rachel Turner, Sara Proctor, Janelle Menard, Cathy D. Meade

Community Health Faculty Publications

Objective: Partnerships between academic medical centers and faith-based community organizations have been associated with increased screening rates in low-income minority women. We describe clinical outcomes of an outreach partnership between a cancer center and a faith-based outreach clinic offering gynecologic screening services in central Florida to increase cervical cancer screening adherence in a priority population of primarily Hispanic farmworker women.

Methods: Data sources included a retrospective chart review. This descriptive study examined patterns of cervical cancer screening behavior among the patient population of the faith-based outreach clinic.

Results: Findings suggest that among this group of patients, the demographic factors that …

A Maximum Pseudo-Likelihood Approach For Estimating Species Trees Under The Coalescent Model, Liang Liu, Lili Yu, Scott V. Edwards

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Background

Several phylogenetic approaches have been developed to estimate species trees from collections of gene trees. However, maximum likelihood approaches for estimating species trees under the coalescent model are limited. Although the likelihood of a species tree under the multispecies coalescent model has already been derived by Rannala and Yang, it can be shown that the maximum likelihood estimate (MLE) of the species tree (topology, branch lengths, and population sizes) from gene trees under this formula does not exist. In this paper, we develop a pseudo-likelihood function of the species tree to obtain maximum pseudo-likelihood estimates (MPE) of species trees, …

On The Eigenstructures Of Functional K-Potent Matrices And Their Integral Forms, Yan Wu, Daniel F. Linder

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

In this paper, a functional k-potent matrix satisfies the equation, where k and r are positive integers, and are real numbers. This class of matrices includes idempotent, Nilpotent, and involutary matrices, and more. It turns out that the matrices in this group are best distinguished by their associated eigen-structures. The spectral properties of the matrices are exploited to construct integral k-potent matrices, which have special roles in digital image encryption.

A Qualitative Study Of Stressors, Stress Symptoms, And Coping Mechanisms Among College Students Using Nominal Group Process, Helen W. Bland, Bridget F. Melton, Stephen Patrick Gonzalez

Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Stress is part of the college experience; however, how students deal with stress can greatly impact their behaviors and health status. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to qualitatively assess sources of stress, types of stressors, and coping mechanisms employed among undergraduate students.

Methods: Nominal group process was utilized to obtain information related to study variables and help prioritize the accounts provided by study participants (n = 173).

Results: Participants gave insight into the unique stress faced by this generation (grades, GPA, multitasking, parental expectations), stress symptoms (more psychological in nature), and coping strategies (prayer, talking to mom, …

Athlete And Coach Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceptions Of Sickle Cell Trait And National Collegiate Athletic Association Mandated Testing: Recommendations For Intervention, Raymona Holloway Lawrence

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with Sickle Cell Trait have died suddenly after extreme exertion during military training, athletic practice or games (Kerle & Nishimura, 1996; Harrelson, Fincher & Robinson, 1995; Howe & Bowden, 2007). One of those deaths, Dale Lloyd, a football player at Rice University, prompted a change in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Sports Medicine Handbook Guideline 3c: The Student Athlete with Sickle Cell Trait. Effective August 2010, the NCAA Division I Proposal No. 2009-75-B mandated sickle cell trait testing in all Division I athletes unless documented results of a prior test are provided to the institution or the student-athlete …

Barbers Against Prostate Cancer: A Feasibility Study For Prostate Cancer Education In An Urban African American Community, John S. Luque, Brian M. Rivers, Maisha Kambon, Ronald Brookins, B. Lee Green, Cathy D. Meade

Community Health Faculty Publications

The goal of this pilot study was to assess the feasibility of training barbers to deliver a brief culturally and literacy appropriate prostate cancer educational intervention to urban African American men. Eight barbers received training to deliver a 2-month educational intervention in the barbershop and completed pre- and posttest training assessments. The training workshops led to a significant increase in mean prostate cancer knowledge scores among the barbers (60% before vs. 79% after; P < 0.05). The barbers also reported positively on the intervention in terms of satisfaction and relative ease of engaging clients. Training barbers to deliver a prostate cancer educational intervention is a feasible strategy for raising prostate cancer awareness of the disease among a priority population.

Appropriate Practices In College/University Physical Activity Instructional Programs, Bridget F. Melton, Michele M. Sweeney, Jared A. Russel, Carrie L. Moore

Community Health Faculty Presentations

This session will introduce the audience to a new NASPE document that supports basic instructional programming at the college and university level. Based on NASPE’s former K-12 Appropriate Practice documents, this document will serve as an advocacy document for the importance of quality programming at the college/university level. Come and preview this new document!

A Community-School District-University Partnership For Assessing Physical Activity Of “Tweens”, Robert J. Mcdermott, Jen Nickelson, Julie A. Baldwin, Carol A. Bryant, Moya L. Alfonso, Leah M. Phillips, Rita D. Debate

Moya L. Alfonso

Introduction: Obesity among youth is related to a decline in physical activity, and data on physical activity levels among children in elementary and middle schools are limited.
Methods: We leveraged a community–school district–university partnership in Sarasota County, Florida, in May of 2005 to assess physical activity levels among tweens (youth aged 9-13 years) and to measure the relationship between tweens’ awareness of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s VERB program and participation in physical activity, using a minimally obtrusive survey. After surveying participating schools (4 elementary schools and 3 middle schools), we obtained 1,407 responses from children in grades …

Complete Identification Of Permissible Sampling Rates For First-Order Sampling Of Multi-Band Bandpass Signals, Yan Wu, Daniel F. Linder

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

The first-order sampling of multi-band bandpass signals with arbitrary band positions is considered in this paper. Gaps between the spectral sub-bands are utilized to achieve lower sampling rates than the Nyquist. The lowest possible sampling rate along with other permissible sampling rates is identified via a unique partition of the frequency axis. With the complete identification of all the permissible sampling rates, a necessary and sufficient sampling theorem for multi-band bandpass signals is presented in terms of a series of csinc-interpolators.

On Matched Pairs Sign Test Using Bivariate Ranked Set Sampling: An Application To Environmental Issues, Hani M. Samawi, Mohammad F. Al-Saleh, Obaid Al-Saidy

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

The matched pairs sign test using bivariate ranked set sampling (BVRSS) is introduced and investigated. We show that this test is asymptotically more efficient than its counterpart sign test based on a bivariate simple random sample (BVSRS). The asymptotic null distribution and the efficiency of the test are derived. The Pitman asymptotic relative efficiency is used to compare the asymptotic performance of the matched pairs sign test using BVRSS versus using BVSRS. For small sample sizes, the bootstrap method is used to estimate P-values. Numerical comparisons are used to gain insight about the efficiency of the BVRSS sign test compared …

Inference On Overlapping Coefficients In Two Exponential Populations, Mohammad F. Al-Saleh, Hani M. Samawi

Biostatistics Faculty Publications

Three measures of overlap, namely Matusita’s measureρ , Morisita’s measure λ and Weitzman’s measure Δ are investigated in this article for two exponential populations with different means. It is well that the estimators of those measures of overlap are biased. The bias is of these estimators depends on the unknown overlap parameters. There are no closed-form, exact formulas, for those estimators variances or their exact sampling distributions. Monte Carlo evaluations are used to study the bias and precision of the proposed overlap measures. Bootstrap method and Taylor series approximation are used to construct confidence intervals for the overlap measures.