Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Engagement Journalism In Action: Supporting New Yorkers With Long Covid, Sarah Luft

Capstones

What do asthma and long COVID have in common? 1 in 13 U.S. adults are living with them. This report is a recap of my efforts to address the information needs of New Yorkers with long COVID as a student in CUNY's Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism engagement program. For my final project, I partnered with THE CITY, a nonprofit news outlet serving New Yorkers, to expand the MISSING THEM project. The report details the what, why, and how of my engagement reporting process, including a community engagement framework, a service journalism series, and lessons to carry forward. You …

An Updated Look At Mental Health Services In American Public And Private Prisons, Lieren E. Tyira

Student Theses

People residing in American prisons have the legal right to mental health care while incarcerated (Justia, 2021). This is important, as the prevalence of mental disorders is high in this population (Prins, 2014), and incarceration is a psychologically damaging experience, which hinders a person’s success at rehabilitation. Numerous of issues related to the mental health services (MHSs) in both public and private prison facilities have been reported in recent years, which warrants systematic exploration. The little existing research comparing the presence of MHSs in these facilities has produced mixed results, it uses out-of-date datasets, and none has explored MHSs in …

Understanding The Interconnection Between Public Health And Political Behaviors In A Politically Polarized Context: The Impact Of Race, Political Attitudes, And Policy Factors On The Us Covid-19 Pandemic Response., Florent Nkouaga

Political Science ETDs

This dissertation evaluates the interconnection between health and political behaviors in a polarized context such as the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the current political polarization and the structural health disparities among racial communities. Using the system theory delineated by David Easton, this dissertation demonstrates that health attitudes and behaviors in the electorate can influence voting behaviors, as was the case with the 2020 US presidential election. An evaluation of the 2021 African American COVID-19 Vaccine Polls (AACVP), and the 2020 Collaborative Multiracial Postelection Survey (CMPS) demonstrates that factors such as public health compliance, trust in federal health institutions, …

"Are We Done?": The Minimization Of Covid-19 And The Individualization Of Health In The United States, Cassidy R. Boe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the death toll from Covid-19 in the United States exceeds 1 million in just over two years, more variants continue to emerge, threatening more waves of Covid-19 and ultimately, more deaths. Despite this, mask use continues to decline, and one third of Americans say that the pandemic is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been central in publicly disseminating biomedical knowledge using Twitter. The CDC’s Twitter account (@CDCgov) shares information related to the spread of Covid-19, including mitigation measures such as mask recommendations and vaccine information. I have conducted a narrative analysis of the replies …

Ageism, Eldercare, And Healthcare: An Examination Of Growing Old In Costa Rica, Akshaya Vijayasankar

Honors Theses

The world’s aging population and the Covid-19 pandemic have revealed the high level of ageism against older adults around the globe, which has resulted in an overall decreased quality of life for elders. Societies are now faced with the challenge of creating a suitable and equitable model of care to support their aging population. Despite the recent publication of the World Health Organization's Global Report on Ageism, there is still a large gap in the literature regarding ageism. This paper addresses the issues of institutional ageism in the eldercare and healthcare sector. I argue that Costa Rica serves as a …

Infrastructure And Policies Supporting Physical Activity Habits: A Comparison Between The United States And Europe, Anisha Laddha

Honors College Theses

Most adults in the United States are not getting enough physical activity, and this is causing high rates of adverse health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the population. The rising costs of cardiovascular disease are a national problem that must be tackled from multiple perspectives. This literature review explores policies and infrastructure implemented in European countries with better health outcomes and higher physical activity levels in the population compared to the United States. The infrastructure in places such as Germany and Denmark is constructed to encourage physical activity in the form of active transportation such as walking …

Is Health Literacy A Defined Risk Factor? A Literature Review Of Health Literacy As It Relates To Immigrant Populations In The U.S., Kelly Zdanuczyk

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

Throughout its lifespan the definition of health literacy in the United States has been ambiguous and disagreeable. This discrepancy has created disparity among health outcomes for vulnerable populations who are classified with lower degrees of health literacy and thus have a harder time interacting with the healthcare system. This paper will review published peer-reviewed literature on the topic of health literacy as it relates to immigrant populations in the United States and explore the ways in which low health literacy results in negative health outcomes. The literature review finds the discrepancies among health literacy, as it pertains to immigrant communities …

Housing To Health: A Literature Review Analyzing Housing Pathways And Policy Initiatives, Evan P. Lesser

Capstone Experience

Housing is a vital aspect of an individual’s ability to enjoy a healthy lifestyle. It is so integral that the United Nations has stated that housing is a human right and extends beyond just basic shelter where housing should provide a certain level of structural integrity of the infrastructure, security, affordability, and access to surrounding resources. Existing research studying the relationship between housing and health outcomes suggest those with poor housing exhibit higher levels of chronic conditions such as asthma, heart disease, and diabetes, and higher chances of accidents within the home. The goal of this literature review, which has …

Pandemic And Substance Use: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Vanessa E. Ermilio

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Background: The COVID-19 Pandemic called individuals to stay at home which may have impacted individuals to become not only physically, but socially isolated as well. With social isolation, comes an increase in mental health complications which may lead to an increase in substance use. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential association between COVID-19 social isolation and substance use among college students.

Method: The present study’s data was collected from a public, four-year university located in Southern California. The survey was disseminated through instructors at the university and students were incentivized with extra course credit to participate. …

Assessing Nutritional Health Knowledge In Sharing Clinic Patients With Diabetes, Minden Huntrods

Capstone Experience

Effective diabetes prevention and management relies on nutritional behaviors, thus a basic level of health knowledge is important for patients with diabetes and their caregivers in their quest to acquire acute glycemic control and minimize negative health outcomes (Ley et al., 2014). The purpose of this study was to assess the nutrition-related health knowledge of patients living with diabetes who are seen at the UNMC Sharing Clinic by use of a verbal questionnaire. This nutritional health knowledge assessment was a quantitative, prospective, survey-based study utilizing descriptive statistics. Approximately 86% of patients were proficient in food group and nutritious foods knowledge …

The Perception Of Technology On Continuous Health And Environmental Monitoring For Professional Drivers, Troy Suwondo

Capstone Experience

Due to the sedentary nature of professional truck driving (among other high-risk behaviors and hazardous exposures) many suffer from acute and chronic health conditions. There are many potential hazards in the professional driving profession. Many of these hazards come from those that transport hazardous materials. Figuring out what health and environmental indicators are important to measure can be a way to minimize hazards. Continuous health monitoring technology may be an option to detect disease and alert professional drivers when vital signs indicate impending health crises. Before this can be implemented, it will be important to evaluate the perception of wearable …

Exploring Climate Policy And Health Perspectives In Samoa: A Mixed Methods Study, Erika-Ann Fumiko Kim

Public Health Theses

Background: Greenhouse gas emissions have driven human-induced climate change, bringing several impacts to small island nations in the Pacific. Samoa, a small island developing state located in the south Pacific Ocean, is at disproportionate risk from impacts of climate change such as rising surface temperatures, rising sea levels, increases in frequency and degree of heavy precipitation events, and increases in the frequency of droughts. Simultaneously, Samoan populations possess a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. For multiple decades, the Government of Samoa has framed climate change as a key issue that threatens the lives, …

Health Belief Effects On Preventive Health Among Hispanic Migrant And Seasonal Farmworkers, Angela M. Trawick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers (MSFWs) are the unhealthiest workers in the United States and experience barriers to preventive healthcare. While faced with numerous health risks, many Hispanic MSFWs may not seek preventive health services or have access to them when they need them. The purpose of this study, guided by the rural nursing theory, was to understand the beliefs/health seeking behaviors of MSFWs and how they described usage of preventive health services. Fourteen Hispanic farmworkers volunteered to do telephone or in person interviews. The codes and categories were reviewed to identify patterns and make connections between the data using Saldana’s …

Overeating As A Coping Response To Workplace Gender Discrimination: The Role Of Resilience And Social Support, Rosemarie Charmain Mitchell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Gender discrimination in the workplace continues to be a persistent source of stress for women even after 5 decades of antidiscrimination legislation in the United States. Women are more likely than men to cope with stress by overeating, which is a risk factor for chronic illnesses and obesity. Much less is known about the protective factors that could weaken the association between perceived stress and overeating. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address this gap in the literature by examining whether resilience and social support are moderators of the overeating response for women who have experienced gender discrimination …

Microaggression Experiences Among African American Women And Their Effects On Health In Academia, Anta'sha Moni Jones

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Racial microaggressions are brief daily negative verbal behaviors and environmental slights directed as intentional or unintentional towards minorities. These negative interactions lead minorities to feel powerless and oppressed in their environments. These adverse experiences result from stressors in their environment that negatively affect the human body by causing acute and chronic stress. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the relationship between personal, racial microaggression experiences, and their impact on health through a phenomenological approach. The critical race theory provided a framework to explore and understand how systematic discrimination experiences impacted the 17 African American faculty member participants’ health. A phenomenological …

Normative Values Of College-Aged Men And Women For The 1.5-Mile Run Test On A Treadmill For Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Eli Baginski

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Physical activity has been shown to positively affect both mental and physical health. A means of determining an individual’s physical fitness is a necessary tool in developing and maintaining a healthy exercise routine. The 1.5-mile run test provides an accurate and reliable estimate of VO₂ max and can be used to routinely assess cardiorespiratory fitness. The aim of this study is to develop normative data for the 1.5 mile run test for both college-aged women and men. We examine how the calculated normative data presented produced by the Cooper Institute compares to our measured values, as well as compare …