Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

After-Action Report: Tabletop Exercise On Opioid Crisis Response And Resilience, Alexander Siedschlag, Tiangeng Lu

Publications

AGENCY BRIEFINGS The opioid overdose epidemic has been characterized as the worst public health crisis in Pennsylvania, and the nation. Not only practitioners but also institutions of higher education with high research capacity, such as Penn State, are applying existing and developing new instruments to address opioid the crisis. Identifying best practices of preventing, protecting from, mitigating against, responding to, and recovering from opioid overdose outbreak is necessary for public health and safety and important for the overall homeland security enterprise, in consistency with the objectives of the Quadrennial Homeland Security Reviews (QHSR), the National Preparedness Goal (NPG), and the …

‘A Healthy Cit’: An Investigation Into Student Health Metrics, Lifestyle Behaviours And The Predictors Of Positive Mental Health In An Irish Higher Education Setting, Andrea Bickerdike, Joan Dineen, Cian O'Neill

Publications

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are potent health promotion settings, uniquely positioned to aid societal efforts to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs). International evidence suggests that health metrics and lifestyle behaviours of higher education students are sub-optimal, yet a dearth of contemporary Irish data exists. This study aimed to examine sex differences in student lifestyle behaviours and identify significant predictors of positive mental health in an Irish HEI setting. An online questionnaire instrument distributed to all registered students (n = 11,261) gathered data regarding a multitude of health and lifestyle domains. Many items were adapted from previous Irish research. Further validated scales …

Using Community-Engaged Research To Explore Social Determinants Of Health In A Low-Resource Community In The Dominican Republic: A Community Health Assessment, Arelis Moore De Peralta, Lauren Davis, Katherine Brown, Michelle Fuentes, Suzanne Falconer, Jenneil Charles, Michelle Eichinger

Publications

Introduction:

Previously published community health assessments (CHA) have explored social determinants of health in low-resource, Haitian-majority Dominican communities. The present CHA was conducted in Las Malvinas II, a Dominican-majority low-resource community, and represented a first step for developing a building a healthier community process.

Method:

A binational community–academic partnership adapted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s CHANGE (Community Health Assessment and Group Evaluation) guide to conduct a CHA through community-engaged, mixed-methods research. Data were collected on five community selected public health priorities (i.e., education, sanitation, unwanted pregnancies, chronic disease management, and vaccine-preventable diseases) and community assets through focus groups, …

Territorial And Trans-Territorial Community-Institutional Partnerships To Build Healthier Communities In Developing Countries: Lessons Learned From A Dominican Republic Low-Resource Community, Arelis Moore De Peralta, Emily Schultz, Katherine Brown, N. Suzanne Falconer

Publications

This descriptive case study examines the value of multi-level partnerships to foster a Building a Healthier Community (BHC) process in a low-resource community in the Dominican Republic. Partnerships developed for this BHC project were categorized under the Global Health Education Framework. Partners included a U.S-based university (trans-territorial partnership), a Dominican university, and various governmental, non-governmental, and community organizations in the Dominican Republic (territorial partnerships). Las Malvinas BHC project is an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to community health and well-being improvement that supports community members’ efforts and at the same time promotes participating students’ global health competence. Strategies, methods, the value …

It’S All About Trust And Respect: Cultural Competence And Cultural Humility In Mobile Health Clinic Services For Underserved Minority Populations, Arelis Moore De Peralta, Melinda Gillispie, Catherine Mobley, Lynette M. Gibson

Publications

To explore participants' perceptions of cultural competence and cultural humility in mobile health clinic (MHC) service delivery, using the Cultural Competence Model (CCM) as an organizing framework. Methods. We conducted five focus groups with an ethnically diverse group of English-and Spanish-speaking men and women, ages 20–67, residing in five underserved neighborhoods in a Southeastern U.S. city. Data analysis followed a thematic approach and iterative qualitative content analysis. Results. Participants expressed a desire for well-trained and caring staff who practice cultural humility. Conclusions. By applying the CCM's five-pronged constellation of cultural abilities, health care personnel could ultimately be more responsive to …

The Nutritional Value Of Children's Menus In Chain Restaurants In The United Kingdom And Ireland, Michelle Young, Tara Coppinger, Sue Reeves

Publications

Objective: Obesity in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland is rising, as is the frequency of eating out in restaurants. The aim of this study was to investigate the nutritional quality of children's menus in restaurants. Design: Cross-sectional review of menus aimed at children from 20 popular chain restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Main Outcome Measures: Total energy, fat, saturated fat, and salt were collected from every food item on the menu in each restaurant. All potential meal combinations were created. A total of 39,266 meals were analysed. Analysis: Meals were compared with UK nutritional guidelines. …

Mapping Pps: A Case Study Of Story Map Journals For Interactive Health Reporting, Susan Rauch

Publications

A case study on the visual-material components of story map journals as visual, new media interactive health reporting used in population health surveillance. The story map journal is demonstrated an effective tool that visually reports, maps and tracks global support networks and health resources for post- polio (PPS) survivors.

Rising Rural Body-Mass Index Is The Main Driver Of The Global Obesity Epidemic In Adults, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Et Al

Publications

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3,4,5,6. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to …

Electronic Cigarettes In The Indoor Environment, Cheryl Marcham

Publications

This presentation covers the development of electronic cigarettes and presents statistics related to their manufacture and use. Also included are facts about how addictive the products are, especially to young people, who are particularly vulnerable to addiction. The FDA has begun work to end sales of e-cigarette products to minors. Included in the presentation are formulae for the various vaping products, which are not healthy for users or people in their vicinity. Telephone calls to poison call centers increased drastically from 2010 to 2014.

Value Of Certification: The Occupational Safety And Health Professional, Cheryl Marcham

Publications

This presentation provides information about the importance and value of attaining certification to determine health and safety issues in the environment. It also explains the advantages of attaining certification from different organizations, salary-wise. Attaining a certificate gives individuals the standardized knowledge needed to determine if situations/substances are harmful to human well being or the environment.

Realmente Tenemos La Capacidad: Engaging Youth To Explore Health In The Dominican Republic Through Photovoice, Catalina Tang Yan, Arelis Moore De Peralta, Edmond P. Bowers, Linda Sprague Martinez

Publications

Youth are often at risk for physical and psychosocial illnesses, and yet their input is rarely included in health assessments and interventions. Two U.S.-based universities partnered with community stakeholders and youth in Las Malvinas II, Dominican Republic to explore factors that promote and/or hinder the health of youth in Las Malvinas II. Youth (n=8) conducted a photovoice, and identified six key health priorities: (1) good nutrition, (2) depression and poverty, (3) violence, (4) sports and neighborhood association, (5) education, and (6) sanitation and community infrastructure. Findings revealed youth’s exploration of complex multi-level determinants of health. This study suggests youth have …

Diagnosed Diabetes Prevalence And Risk Factor Rankings, By State, 2014-2016: A Ring Map Visualization, Ana Lopez-De Fede, John E. Stewart

Publications

Background In the United States, diabetes is a leading cause of adult-onset blindness, kidney failure, and death (1). Efforts to prevent and control diabetes must consider geographic variation in disease prevalence and risk factors such as obesity, sedentary lifestyle, and low educational attainment (2). Maps are essential to our understanding of geographic differences in population health and disease vulnerability. Comparing geographic patterns of disease and population risk across multiple maps, however, can be cumbersome. Ring mapping is an innovative geovisualization method that permits the display of multiple spatially referenced variables on a single map (3). We used a ring map …

Medication Safety In Emergency Medical Services: Approaching An Evidence-Based Method Of Verification To Reduce Errors, Paul Misasi, Joseph R. Keebler

Publications

Lack of verification is often cited as a root cause of medication errors; however, medication errors occur in spite of conventional verification practices and it appears that human factors engineering (HFE) can inform the design of a more effective method. To this end, an HFE-driven process was designed and implemented in an urban, Midwestern emergency medical service agency. Medication error data were collected over a 54-month period, 27 months before and after implementation. A decrease in the average monthly error rate was realized for all medications administered (49.0%) during the post-intervention time period. The average monthly error rate for fentanyl, …