Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Lyme Disease In The Northeast: The Unintended Consequence Of Suburban Development, Hayden Neubert

Student Theses 2015-Present

This paper addresses the role of suburban development in the suburbs of the Northeastern United States in increasing human Lyme disease infection. Over the past 50 years, Lyme disease has become the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. In 2021, the two states with the most Lyme disease cases were New York and New Jersey, with a collective 6,524 cases, with Connecticut still representing 541 total cases. It is not a coincidence that case numbers are concentrated in suburban areas with high forest fragmentation. Chapter 1 of this essay analyzes how human land development disrupts bioregulatory ecosystem actors …

Examining Young Adult E-Cigarette Users By Device Type: A Latent Class Analysis, Mufazzela Tabassum

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Examining Young Adult E-Cigarette Users by Device Type: A Latent Class Analysis

Purpose. This study examined which factors influence the type(s) of e-cigarette devices someone uses and if there are heterogeneous groups of young adult e-cigarette users.

Methods. This study first quantitatively explored if there are heterogeneous groups of e-cigarette users by utilizing data from an online cross-sectional survey. E-cigarette users (n = 595) were able to participate in the survey if they were 18-29 years of age, used an e-cigarette for 1-5 days in the past 30 days, own their own e-cigarette, and live in the United States. Participants …

A Historical Analysis Of Health Institutions, Professionals, And Advocates In The Civil Rights Movement In Columbia, South Carolina, Anusha Ghosh

Senior Theses

From 1900 to 1970, widespread racism severely restricted healthcare access for Black citizens in the South, leading them to establish and staff alternative healthcare institutions to support their community.

Such institutions faced debilitating issues such as chronic financial shortages and patient overflow. Despite these problems, oral histories, media, and primary written sources show that Black healthcare workers in alternative healthcare institutions demonstrated a greater ability to meet the health needs of Black patients due to cultural understanding and external community involvement.

Dr. Matilda Evans was an African-American woman physician who became a leader in medicine, public health, and education in …

Gut Feelings: A Literature Review On The Gut-Brain Axis And Its Potential Influence On Mood, Grace Johnson

University Honors Theses

In recent decades, research on the gut-brain axis has evolved due to an increasing interest in the connection between gut health and mental health. The gut-brain axis presents a new frontier of health for both medical professionals and psychologists as there is expanding evidence illustrating the comorbidity of gut disorders and mood disorders. Due to the complex nature of studying the gut-brain axis and the myriad of influences on mood disorders such as depression, research has yet to find significant results definitively tying the two together. Nonetheless, the current body of literature on the topic provides a promising outlook on …

A Case Study In Program Evaluation, Kayla Shepherd

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

A program evaluation of a case study presented by the College of Public Health. This case study included a fictitious MRSA outbreak at a Kentucky high school football camp and the response of the Fayette County Public School System (FCPS) and the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department (LFCHD). Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Framework for Program Evaluation, I evaluated the Educational Infectious Disease Program designed by the FCPS and LFCHD. I provided recommendations to help improve the success of the program.

Team Up Against Overdose Deaths, Mary Elizabeth Pendergrass

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

This grant proposal describes a community collaboration strategy for reducing overdose deaths. Utilizing a Community Advisory Board, the goal of the project is to increase awareness, knowledge, and usage of the Good Samaritan Law to obtain emergency medical care.

A Case Study In Program Evaluation, Lydia Williams

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

The three core functions of public health are assessment, policy development, and assurance, and program evaluation falls under the latter category. A program is incomplete without an in-depth understanding of how well it works and what steps can be taken to make sure there is continuous progress and improvement.

In this case study, I developed an evaluation plan for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department’s (LFCHD) infectious disease outbreak education program. The need for such a program was realized after a MRSA outbreak among a Kentucky high school football team. This case study employed the Center for Disease Control and Prevention …

The Context And The Commissioner: The Effect Of Milwaukee’S Health Commissioners’ Social, Cultural, And Historical Understanding Of Milwaukee’S People During The Last Five Pandemics, Madeline O'Dea Fruehe

Theses and Dissertations

Resistance to pandemic response policies was observed globally throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This resistance has been linked by researchers to the prolonged duration and higher mortality rate of COVID-19 compared to previous pandemics, despite advancements in modern medicine, extensive surveillance networks and record vaccine production. However, the strategies implemented by public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic closely mirrored those successful in mitigating past pandemics. To elucidate this disparity, a historical analysis encompassing the 1918, 1957, 1968, 2009, and Covid-19 pandemics was conducted within the city of Milwaukee. By examining archival documents and over 800 newspaper articles, this research found …

Food Insecurity And Residential Segregation Among Adults In The United States: The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 2017- March 2020 Pre-Pandemic Data., Chandre' L. Chaney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity is when a household has insufficient food supply due to limited economic resources. It is a public health issue that continues to persist. The health, social, and economic impact affects millions of people nationwide. Residential segregation is a primary cause of inequities and health disparities. It shapes the differences in socio-economic conditions between Blacks and Whites living in the U.S. This country is segregated across racial lines in many of our most populated metropolitan cities. Americans worship in different churches, learn in disparate schools, and live in separate neighborhoods. Residential segregation has consequences that impact the economy, professional …

Let Kids Sleep: The Role Of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Outreach In Stimulating Brains And Developing Research-Informed Approaches To Community Concerns, Marc Chenard

University Honors Theses

Northwest Noggin (NW Noggin), an all-volunteer neuroscience education outreach non-profit, serves its community by bringing students, artists, scientists and other participants together for artistic collaboration and learning. The outreach takes place in K-12 schools and other institutions (such as museums, coffee shops and correctional facilities) all over the Pacific Northwest. Neuroscience education outreach generates discourse surrounding community concerns through illuminating the brain-centric qualities of issues and by drawing on neuroscience research to create solutions. The neuroscience research-informed perspectives on these concerns stimulate awareness, create momentum towards evidence-based reform, and can result in policy interventions. This thesis details how NW Noggin …

The Threat Of Hospital Wastewater: An Evidence-Based Call To Action, Ann P. Nguyen

DNP Qualifying Manuscripts

Introduction: Hospital wastewater carries a unique composition of pollutants, a burden that includes high chemical and biological residuals. These pollutants are discharged into sewage treatment plants and natural environments where they contaminate human water sources and larger ecosystems. Water treatment plants are not designed to treat the high loads of biomedical waste and persistent organic compounds found in hospital wastewater and therefore pollutants survive in conventionally treated water. Evidence of contaminated soil, municipal wastewater, surface water, ground water, and even drinking water have been demonstrated in studies conducted around the world highlighting the ubiquity of the problem. Hospital effluent as …

The Negative Influence Of External Stressors On Patient Outcomes: Why Physicians Should Consider More Than Outwardly Presenting Symptom(S), Gianna Meckler

Honor Scholar Theses

In this thesis, the influence of external stressors on patient health outcomes in the medical setting will be examined. There is an overwhelming amount of reputable research that suggests that the American healthcare system, at least as it operates now, does not effectively improve patient health outcomes. Simply focusing on outwardly apparent illness or disease does not address the full scope of patient need. Ample evidence will be provided in the form of a comprehensive literature review accompanied by supporting anecdotes from real physicians in hopes of encouraging healthcare professionals to increase the breadth of their considerations when it comes …

Disaster Relief And Humanitarian Logistics: Three Essays, Peter H. Imbriale

2023

The increased frequency and impact of natural disasters and other humanitarian crises—including events such as the COVID-19 pandemic—makes studying disaster relief and recovery particularly important. One relevant area of research in this space is humanitarian logistics. This dissertation provides insights into disaster relief logistics by exploring the government’s role in humanitarian logistics, examining the government’s efforts to address COVID-19 medical supply chain challenges, and determining how to lessen the impact of supply chain bottlenecks from unwanted post-disaster donations. Chapter one (sole-authored) is a literature review of the role of governments in humanitarian logistics. Although governments are vital stakeholders in nearly …

Psychosocial Outcomes Post-Concussion Of Female Collegiate Athletes, Victoria Farley

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Concussions are traumatic brain injuries impacting upwards of 3 million athletes per year. Female collegiate athletes are an essential group of athletes to investigate as they account for 47% of all collegiate athletes and often suffer more severe concussions with worse concussion symptoms than their male counterparts. Many symptoms are associated with concussion such as dizziness nausea, headaches, and instability, however, some injury symptoms extend beyond physical symptoms. The symptoms that extend beyond physical often mimic different psychosocial factors like depression and anxiety. This study investigated the associations of injury, the duration of symptoms, and the psychosocial impacts of injury …

Adaptive Evaluation For Systems In Rapid Change Or Sustained Transition: Innovations And Applications Generated From A Community-Based Diabetes Prevention Program During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amy Kuhn

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Program evaluation is a key part of the life cycle of public health and prevention science projects. But in complex environments or evolving situations, existing evaluation theory faces challenges in successful practical application. Process evaluation can track changes as a program runs, but when a program operates outside of its original design, questions can arise related to fidelity of implementation and interpretation of results. Outcome evaluation often requires a closed system without changes to determine actual effects of a program, but in times of complicated change that isolation can be difficult to achieve or to work around. In practice, systems …

How To Analyze Parental Conversation Online: A Computational Stack For Studying Vaccine Hesitancy., Carter Willets Ward

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Despite national and international organizations such as the CDC and WHO recognizing the value of vaccines and their importance in addressing public health concerns, there has been a decline in coverage for even the most established vaccines over the past three years. The global COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to this decline via decreases in medical resource accessibility and an increase in vaccine hesitancy. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO had recognized vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to public health. In the present work, we introduce a background account of (1) vaccine hesitancy and (2) anti-vax activism, …

Saint Louis, Missouri Maternal Mortality Prevention Program: Rose Program, Abbi Peck

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

In the United States, maternal mortality has become a growing public health concern after recent studies revealed significant disparities in maternal health outcomes when compared to other high-income countries (The Commonwealth Fund, 2020). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines maternal mortality as the death of a pregnant woman or the death of a woman within 42 days of delivery, miscarriage, termination, or ectopic pregnancy (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022a). From 2017-2019, the maternal mortality in Saint Louis, Missouri, the state’s largest and most populated metropolitan area, was determined to be 36.4 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. This …

Covid-19 And The College Student Experience, Benjamin Cochran

Senior Theses

In March of 2020, COVID-19 consumed the globe, affecting individuals’ physical and mental health. Physical health disparities among states of different political affiliations became clearer as the pandemic continued unrelentingly, but mental health disparities were not. This thesis attempted to note any mental health disparities among college students in states of both political affiliations across the country through an online survey. The 23-question survey was completed by 97 undergraduates at six universities - three in liberal states and three in conservative states. Respondents at universities in the liberal states rated their university and the state in which it is located …

Overview Of Transition Care Clinics And Patient No-Shows, Manul Awasthi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction

Transition care clinics (TCCs) have proven to be effective in meeting the time-sensitive needs of patients in the post-discharge period and ensuring smooth transitions of patients from hospital to home. These clinics have led to lower readmissions, lower emergency department visits, cost savings, and lower rates of other adverse events following discharge. However, TCCs, including the East Tennessee State University Family Medicine (ETSU-FM) TCC have been facing high rates of patient no-shows.

Aim

The aim of this dissertation is to identify the different components and outcomes of TCC based on the literature. We further aim to analyze the TCC …

Six Feet Apart: Relational Turbulence Theory And Coping With Covid-19 Within Long-Distance Relationships, Mia Waymack

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Among research that currently exists, no studies thus far combine elements of COVID-19, long-distance relationships, and Relational Turbulence Theory to explain how each of these elements impacts the others, if at all. Previous research does exist on each of these elements individually, although research regarding the long-term effects of COVID-19 on relationships is minimal considering the pandemic is ongoing. Long-distance relationships have been studied using Relational Turbulence Theory in previous studies within military relationships but have not been studied in connection with either COVID-19 or among college students. This study was conducted by way of qualitative, one-on-one interviews to determine …

Taking A User-Centered Design Approach To Develop A Data Dashboard For New York State Department Of Health And Implications For Improving The Usability Of Public Data Dashboards / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Bahareh Ansari

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In recent years, the increased availability of public data dashboards provided opportunities to democratize data access by summarizing large amounts of data into accessible snapshots to facilitate educational efforts and encourage evidence-based decision-making. However, many current practices have not reached their full potential because the dashboard design has not accounted for users’ needs and preferences. This dissertation employed the user-centered design framework with three studies. Study 1 investigated the usability problems of existing public health data dashboards through an expert review of existing dashboards on government websites. Study 2 established the requirements of a usable design for public health data …

The Communicative Capacities Of The Medical Discourse In Authoritarian Societies : The Case Of Aids In Iran, Elham Pourtaher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the role of medical discourse in the Iranian formal public sphere. It examines how an epidemiological wave of HIV/AIDS—known as "the third wave"—highlighted nontraditional sexual behaviors in public and enabled a shift in policy and discourse by the Islamic Republic State. Through analyzing published content on HIV/AIDS from five major Iranian newspapers between 2009 and 2013, this study identified four competing narratives of the third wave which coexist and have a dynamic relationship with one another. First, the medical narrative warns of an unfolding public health crisis and provides a technical perspective to make sense of the …

Exploring Higher Weight Women's Experiences Of Provider Weight Stigma, Meredith W. Moore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the phenomena of weight stigma as experienced by higher weight women in mental health treatment who also engage in restrictive eating behaviors. Women in larger bodies who are emotionally or behaviorally restrictive in their eating behaviors face a unique set of challenges and barriers. These include challenges due the disordered eating behaviors themselves, along with barriers related to weight stigma perpetuated by the mental health providers treating them (Harrop, 2019). Distinct hurdles to proper treatment including delay of diagnosis, longer duration of symptoms, and increased distress related to eating and body …

Tennessee’S Covid-19 Response: The Relationship Between Case Numbers And Public Opinion, Chandni Naidoo

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Healthcare Safety-Net In The United States: Patient Satisfaction Across Rural And Urban Hospitals, Vivian Ho

Senior Theses

Objective. To examine rurality and other hospital characteristics associated with patient satisfaction across hospitals in the United States.

Data. Nationwide hospital data from the 2019 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey and the 2020 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Provider of Services (POS) file.

Study Design. Hospital ZIP-codes were categorized into urban, rural micropolitan, or small/isolated rural based on Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) codes. Patient satisfaction measures from the HCAHPS survey were linked to the CMS POS data for hospital characteristics, yielding 2,357 urban, 749 rural micropolitan, and 1,343 small/isolated rural hospitals. ANOVA and …

“Pandemias Políticas: The Effects Of Political And Social Instability On Infectious Disease Epidemiology In Latin America"”, Sarah H. Noonan

Senior Theses

This paper seeks to analyze the relationship between political and social unrest and conflict and infectious disease epidemiology in Latin America. An analysis of published literature regarding epidemiological, biomedical, political, and historical content was conducted to highlight potential connections between infectious disease epidemics and sociopolitical conflict in the region. Specific analyses of Smallpox, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, Chagas disease, Cholera, Dengue, and COVID-19 were conducted, in an effort to uncover potential causations and context of epidemics of these conditions. Results of this analysis depict a necessity for further research into public health and disease control mechanisms during times of conflict and …

Examining The Impacts Of Flooding On Public Health, Lauren Gibson

Honors Theses

Over the past 10 years, South Carolina has experienced over five major weather events that have led to extreme flooding along the coast. These types of repeated major events have the potential to significantly impact people’s lives and livelihoods. When looking at the issue from a public health perspective, it is known that natural disasters such as flooding can negatively affect community health. However, little research has been done to analyze the impacts on individual health from flooding. This issue inspired a more in-depth research analysis to examine those health impacts from local Horry County residents. This research aims to …

The Impact Of Food Justice Advocates In Creating And Influencing Public Policy, Michael Joseph Chadukiewicz

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored the impact that food justice advocates had on creating and implementing public policy to provide access to adequate, healthy, and culturally appropriate food for the residents of New Haven, Connecticut. The problem the case study explored is in 2020 food insecurity affected 22% of the residents of New Haven, more than twice the national average. This qualitative case study used grounded theory to analyze the experiences of 31 food justice advocates that were members of a coalition of researchers, food service providers, non-profit agencies, grassroot organizations, and residents tasked with improving the city’s emergency food system. …

Papanicolaou (Pap) Test And Human Papillomavirus (Hpv) Test Adherence: Sexual Violence Victims And Fear Of Retraumatization, Murielle Sighe Ngoumkam

CGU Theses & Dissertations

To include all vulnerable women population who faced barriers to participating in preventive cervical cancer screening, the public health community must better understand the factors that affect their decision for getting Pap and HPV tests. Public health must understand the sexual violence victims, a subgroup of women who faced the onset of trauma and explore their adherence to routine screening. This study investigated whether sexual women with a history of sexual violence (SV), likelihood to get screened for cervical cancer would be impacted given the fear of suffering from secondary trauma during conventional screening procedures. Methods: Knowledge of cervical screening …

The New Mainers: An Exploratory Analysis Of Healthcare Experiences In The Somali Bantu Community, Jordan R. Mcclintock

Honors Theses

Healthcare inequities within the United States’ Western model of medicine have existed for hundreds of years. The purpose of this year-long project was to analyze the existing qualitative and quantitative studies of healthcare barriers for the Southern Maine Somali Bantu population, as well as compiling narrative pieces from Maine non-governmental organizations that provide community resources. In doing so, the idea of healthcare access and literacy was analyzed through means of understanding systemic barriers. Overall, the findings of this exploratory project point to a lack of cultural humility within medicine, the importance of recognizing intersectional identities in quality of healthcare, and …