Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 16 of 16
Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Efficiency And Cost Of A Hospital-Based Medical Home: Children With Special Healthcare Needs, Rebecca Olsen
Efficiency And Cost Of A Hospital-Based Medical Home: Children With Special Healthcare Needs, Rebecca Olsen
Florida Public Health Review
The current study examined two years of pre-post hospital utilization data (the number of emergency room visits, number of unanticipated hospitalizations, and length of stay (LOS)) among forty-nine medically complex children to determine the efficiency and cost effectiveness of a comprehensive Hospital-Based Medical Home Model. Friedman nonparametric analysis was used to examine the pre-post differences for the non-normal distribution. Each of the cost-effectiveness measures (number of emergency room visits, number of unanticipated hospitalizations, and LOS) were found to be significantly lower post enrollment in the Hospital-Based Medical Home Model.
Suicide Attempts Among Latinas Who Experienced Early Sex Were Largely Mediated By Substance Abuse, Patria Rojas, Sunny Kim, Mario De La Rosa, Wayway M. Hlaing, Theophille Niyonsenga
Suicide Attempts Among Latinas Who Experienced Early Sex Were Largely Mediated By Substance Abuse, Patria Rojas, Sunny Kim, Mario De La Rosa, Wayway M. Hlaing, Theophille Niyonsenga
Florida Public Health Review
The purpose of this study was to describe the role of substance abuse as a mediating factor between early sexual experiences and suicide attempts among adult Latinas. In our study participants (n=158), nearly 15% had attempted suicide and 39% experienced their first sexual encounter at an age of 15 or younger (referred to hereafter as “early sex”). Latinas who experienced early sex were more likely to attempt suicide [OR=2.4, p<0.05], and this relationship was largely mediated by substance abuse. An early sexual debut may indicate an environmental adversity on the child that calls for long term intervention for prevention of substance abuse as well as promotion of psychological well-being later in life.
Exploring The Effect Of Sexual Education On Sexual Health Risk Behaviors: Analysis Of The 2003 And 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys In Florida And Alabama, Shenena Armstrong, Alicestine Ashford, Ivette A. López, C. Perry Brown
Exploring The Effect Of Sexual Education On Sexual Health Risk Behaviors: Analysis Of The 2003 And 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Surveys In Florida And Alabama, Shenena Armstrong, Alicestine Ashford, Ivette A. López, C. Perry Brown
Florida Public Health Review
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between sexual health education content and sexual health risk behaviors, and the mediating effect of demographic variables. A cross-sectional research design employing secondary data analysis explored these associations in a sample of African American and non-Hispanic White male and female adolescents that took part in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) for the years 2003 and 2007 in the aforementioned southern states. Significant associations were observed between race and reported condom use and alcohol and/or drug use during last intercourse. For both Alabama and Florida, sexual health education was associated …
A Study Of Bus Stop Accessibility: Public Health Students Working In Partnership With The Center For Independent Living, Ellen D.S. López, Susan F. Fesperman, Staci H. Graff, Stephanie Schropp, Sarah T. Catalanotto, Allysha C. Robinson, Zaynab I. Major
A Study Of Bus Stop Accessibility: Public Health Students Working In Partnership With The Center For Independent Living, Ellen D.S. López, Susan F. Fesperman, Staci H. Graff, Stephanie Schropp, Sarah T. Catalanotto, Allysha C. Robinson, Zaynab I. Major
Florida Public Health Review
Over 54 million U.S. citizens report living with at least one disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act stipulates legislation that prohibits the discrimination of persons on the basis of disability. Rather than riding the bus in areas that offer a fixed-route bus system, individuals with disabilities often rely on expensive and limited paratransit services, or on family and friends. It has been proposed that with improvements in bus accessibility, riders with disabilities could use the fixed-route system more often and increase their options for independence and community participation. During their 2008 spring semester, participants in the University of Florida College …
Cancer Health Education Preferences Among Miami-Dade County Construction Workers, Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, David J. Lee, Lora E. Fleming, Lourdes Loubriel, Syed M. Ahmed, Aracely Alicea-Clark, John Davis Clark Iii, Evelyn P. Davila
Cancer Health Education Preferences Among Miami-Dade County Construction Workers, Alberto J. Caban-Martinez, David J. Lee, Lora E. Fleming, Lourdes Loubriel, Syed M. Ahmed, Aracely Alicea-Clark, John Davis Clark Iii, Evelyn P. Davila
Florida Public Health Review
Construction work is a high-risk, transient occupation. Worksite outreach programs for cancer risk assessment are highly warranted because workers are exposed to both occupational and environmental carcinogens. We examined the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a paired cancer risk assessment and cancer prevention intervention using “lunch trucks” among construction worksites as the delivery mechanism. Among the 57 completed questionnaires from construction workers on a Miami-Dade County construction high-rise apartment building site, there were 50 (88%) males and 29 (51%) white Hispanics. Over 54% of the construction workers were current smokers of cigarettes, 3.5% chewed tobacco, and 19.3% smoked cigars. Of …
Health Literacy And Treatment Adherence In Hispanic Hiv-Infected Patients, Maria L. Alcaide, José G. Castro
Health Literacy And Treatment Adherence In Hispanic Hiv-Infected Patients, Maria L. Alcaide, José G. Castro
Florida Public Health Review
This study examined health literacy in Hispanic HIV infected patients attending two large public clinics in Miami, Florida and assessed its association with adherence to antiretroviral medications. We performed a cross-sectional study. Eligible participants were enrolled from the Jackson Memorial Hospital HIV outpatient clinic and the University of Miami AIDS clinical research facility. Data were derived from socio-demographic information, the adult AIDS clinical trial group (AACTG) adherence questionnaire, the short test of functional literacy in adults (STOHFLA), and information about HIV clinical stages. Questionnaires were completed by study participants or by the study coordinator in their preferred language and the …
Applying Leadership Paradigms To Public Health Challenges
Applying Leadership Paradigms To Public Health Challenges
Florida Public Health Review
In the 2008 volume of the Florida Public Health Review we published some student essays in which specific leadership paradigms were applied in theory to tackle some of public health’s most challenging problems. We continue that in effort in 2009 and invite other public health students, faculty, and practitioners from around the state to contribute ideas that foster leadership skills and the development of dynamic leaders.
Whom Can You Trust? Exploring Leadership Addressing Hiv Risk Prevention In African American Women
Whom Can You Trust? Exploring Leadership Addressing Hiv Risk Prevention In African American Women
Florida Public Health Review
Within the last decade African American women have experienced serious increases in HIV diagnoses. Almost 40% of all newly diagnosed HIV-positive women in the United States are black women. Furthermore, black women are 23 times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS than white women. This paper explores some of the underlying socioeconomic factors for high incidence rates of HIV among African American women—including poverty, racism, and stigma—that contribute to this health disparity and discusses current leadership approaches to addressing this problem. One common leadership approach focuses on adapting CDC intervention programs at a local level, a process that presents …
Leadership Approaches To Providing Quality Hiv Prevention Care For Older Adults
Leadership Approaches To Providing Quality Hiv Prevention Care For Older Adults
Florida Public Health Review
Americans continue to face risks associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). One population that receives little attention concerning HIV is that of older adults. Approximately 20% of all HIV cases are among adults aged 50 and older. Older adults and younger populations are at risk for HIV; however, few programs are in place to reduce the incidence of HIV among this priority population. Many cases of HIV among older adults go unnoticed because health care professionals perceive older adults as asexual. Many physicians and other health professionals, including health educators, are uncomfortable in discussing sexual histories with older adults, so …
Using Leadership To Improve Community-Based Obesity Interventions
Using Leadership To Improve Community-Based Obesity Interventions
Florida Public Health Review
Obesity is an enormous health problem facing America in the 21st century. Despite great efforts, health educators have made little progress in meeting the goals laid out in Healthy People 2010. A more contextual, community- based approach is necessary to change the physical and social environment in which people live, work and play. Studies show that residents of neighborhoods that lack pedestrian-friendly features and have high crime rates are less likely to be physically active, an important point for health educators to take into account when designing interventions. Whereas professional health educators have done little in this area, exemplary grassroots …
Hiv Testing Policies In Florida, Jennifer Syvertsen, Hilda Leon, Jeffrey Beal, Marlene Lalota, Sherry Riley, Michael D. Knox
Hiv Testing Policies In Florida, Jennifer Syvertsen, Hilda Leon, Jeffrey Beal, Marlene Lalota, Sherry Riley, Michael D. Knox
Florida Public Health Review
To combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, strong policies that promote HIV testing are a primary mechanism for helping public health officials to understand the populations at risk, informing prevention initiatives, and linking infected individuals to the timely care they need. This paper describes HIV testing policies with the goal of improving early diagnosis and treatment of Floridians.
What Floats Your Boaters? – A Commentary, Mary Martinasek
What Floats Your Boaters? – A Commentary, Mary Martinasek
Florida Public Health Review
Florida has over one million registered boaters not including the plethora of canoes and other paddle craft for which registration is not required. Whereas wearing a seatbelt in a car is regulated by law and has become a routine practice for the majority of Floridians, wearing a personal floatation device (PFD) while boating is neither mandatory nor routine. Florida has ranked first annually among states in boating fatalities since 2003, and accounted for 10.9% of the total number of U.S. boating deaths in 2006. This commentary argues for making PFD use mandatory in an environment where the social norm is …
Applying Leadership To Facilitate Physician-Patient Communication And Promote Health In The Lesbian Community
Florida Public Health Review
Lesbian women experience health inequalities primarily related to their experiences of discrimination, homophobia, and the assumption of heterosexism. This milieu of experiences can lead to an avoidance of routine health care, screening, and non-disclosure of sexual orientation to physicians. Lesbians may participate in some health risk behaviors more than heterosexual women leading to an increase in risks for certain cancers, cardiovascular disease and HIV. Lesbians who discuss their sexual orientation and behavior with their physician report feeling more comfortable, experience better communication, and are more likely to seek routine medical care. Although the medical community has been making a shift …
Creating Pathways To Participatory Research
Creating Pathways To Participatory Research
Florida Public Health Review
Many disciplines, including Public Health, have recognized the importance of participatory research methods in creating change in communities. The ability of participatory research to create change- particularly in behaviors- is what makes it such a promising area of research in health promotion. Whereas the value of participatory research is recognized, a “disconnect” exists in that the support mechanisms for this research are not in place. In fact, many researchers are encouraged to forgo the use of participatory research methods via the policies or biases of tenure and promotion committees, funding agencies and institutional review boards. These entities may claim to …
Primary Care Use Among Hiv Positive Inpatients At An Inner City Public Hospital: The Impact Of Crack Cocaine Use, Toye H. Brewer, Lisa R. Metsch, Marsha Mullings, Gabriel Cardenas, Margaret Pereyra
Primary Care Use Among Hiv Positive Inpatients At An Inner City Public Hospital: The Impact Of Crack Cocaine Use, Toye H. Brewer, Lisa R. Metsch, Marsha Mullings, Gabriel Cardenas, Margaret Pereyra
Florida Public Health Review
We studied factors associated with HIV care utilization in symptomatic HIV-positive crack-using and non-using patients at a public hospital in Miami, Florida. A bedside survey conducted with 89 HIV-positive crack-users and 93 HIV-positive non-users examined health care knowledge, perceived health status, drug use, and HIV care patterns. A multi-nominal model was utilized to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of three levels of care: currently receiving care (having seen an HIV provider in the past 4 months), having dropped out of care (having seen an HIV provider at least once but not in the past 4 months), and never having …
Improving Folic Acid Consumption In Women At Risk For Neural Tube Defects In Florida, Jessica C. Bishop-Royse, Elizabeth Jensen, Melanie Simmons
Improving Folic Acid Consumption In Women At Risk For Neural Tube Defects In Florida, Jessica C. Bishop-Royse, Elizabeth Jensen, Melanie Simmons
Florida Public Health Review
Two providers who participated in the Florida VitaGrant program, a site providing early childhood services to primarily Mexican Hispanic families (Site A) and a site providing home visiting services to pregnant women and families with infants (Site B), are presented as alternative models for improving folic acid levels in reproductive aged women in Florida. Site A distributed multivitamins and education in the context of health education provided to women in a group setting, once a month. Site B provided the services primarily through home visits of varying frequency. Folic acid knowledge and consumption were measured at program initiation and at …