Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

A Collaborative Intervention To Combat The Misuse Of Prescription Drugs In Adolescents In Appalachia, Tammy Minor, Sandra Prunty

Nursing Faculty Research

The study purpose was to determine if a collaborative educational program would increase the knowledge of prescription drug abuse/misuse in adolescents. This quasi-experimental study consisted of a drug prevention program with a pre and post-test survey for knowledge. The convenience sample included 1,067 middle school/high schools in an Appalachian state. Utilizing a paired t-test, it was determined that the difference between pre and post-test answers was significant with a p-value of 0.006 (95% CI: 7.8%-37.1%) for increase in knowledge. When schools were analyzed separately, all schools experienced a significant increase in knowledge as indicated by the corresponding p-values p<0.05. A collaborative educational program can be an effective way to increase knowledge about prescription drug abuse/misuse in adolescents in Appalachia.

Seeking Care At Free Episodic Health Care Clinics In Appalachia, Malerie Lazar, Sandra Thomas, Lisa Davenport

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: People who live in rural Appalachia experience a wide variety of problems when seeking access to health care. Health care disparities continue to be one of the most complex and prevalent problems, and many barriers exist for impoverished men and women such as a lack of education, complications with health insurance, and personal distrust of healthcare providers.

Purpose: A critical gap in the literature is the unheard voice of persons in rural underserved areas. The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of persons in rural Appalachia who seek healthcare services at free episodic health care clinics, …