Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Diary Of An Afghan Woman Collection - September 2021

TSOS Interview Gallery

Four women share with us their daily lives in Afghanistan. Join them as they express their love for the country, the people, and each other; and as they share with you their deepest fears and most intimate moments.

They refuse to be silenced as they journey through this new, uncharted chapter in Afghanistan's history.

We at TSOS are honored to provide a platform for their voices to be heard. We will post entries as we receive them. For safety purposes, names have been changed and only avatars (designed with input from each woman) will be used.

ZOYA

Zoya is a …

The Canine-Campus Connection, Mary Renck Jalongo

New Directions in the Human-Animal Bond

A primary mission of universities is promoting student success and well-being. Many college and university personnel have implemented initiatives that offer students the documented benefits of positive human-animal interaction (HAI). Accumulating evidence suggests that assistance dogs, therapy dogs, and shelter dogs can support student wellness and learning. The best programs balance the welfare of humans and canines while assessing students’ needs and complying with all laws and regulations. Contributors to this edited volume have drawn upon research across many disciplines as well as their extensive practical experiences to produce a timely and valuable resource—for administrators and students. Whether readers are …

Shurooq, Shurooq, Brandi Kilmer, Sherianne Schow, Nicole Taylor, Sasha Sloan

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shurooq fled Iraq and came to the United States when she was 12. Iraq was a beautiful place full of family and celebration. Her brother passed away from leukemia 1 1/2 years prior to coming to the States. Prior to his death, their father took him to Syria to for treatment. He passed in Syria. Although the family had applied for a medical visa to the United States, upon Shurooq’s brother’s passing, they received threats and knew they could not stay. The call came for the visa and all but her mother were able to come. Thankfully her mother arrived …

Ziba, Ziba, Sherianne Schow, Brandi Kilmer, Heather Oman

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ziba, a promising medical student, fled Afghanistan in 2018 due to instability and for her safety. Life was difficult upon arrival in the United States. In Afghanistan Ziba was involved in national and international poetry, math and science competitions. Ziba went from having everything to starting completely over in a new country. Her anxiety and depression became extremely difficult to deal with She reminded herself who she was, what her passions were and in January 2019 started medical school while working part time as a cashier. Her hope for future arriving refugees is to have a mental health network established …

Improving The Therapeutic Environment In The Crisis Stabilization Unit At Glens Falls Hospital, Emma Hall

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU) at Glens Falls Hospital provides a separate, safe space within the Emergency Department for adults and children struggling with mental health crises to stabilize before discharge or admission to an inpatient psychiatric unit. An increase in mental health crises over the past 10+ years plus a shortage of nearby inpatient beds, especially for adolescents and children, has led to longer stays in the CSU. Longer stays in a place not built for therapeutic intervention but rather for crisis stabilization may lead to increased agitation, prolonged stays or prolonged time to stabilize a patient, and potentially …

Opportunities For Patient Self-Reflection During Acute Phase Of Depression Treatment, Millen Abselab

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This project for UVMMC Family Medicine at Hinesburg investigates the acute phase of depression treatment for adult patients and introduces opportunities for patient empowerment during this 4-to-6-week window through de-identified automated text surveys for self-reflection about treatment and pattern tracking contributory to mood. Sample text survey built on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and deployment of text surveys is based on Mosio. Future interventions can utilize mobile phone apps based on patient response to surveys.

Community Resources Addressing Peripartum Depression, Tiffany L. Lao

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Peripartum mood disorders affect a large proportion of new mothers as well as their families, partners, and support systems. This project aims to provide patients with information about peripartum mood disorders as part of their initial prenatal packet. Also included are a list of local community resources specifically addressing peripartum mood disorders for patients seeking additional support outside of their primary care office.

Assessing Barriers To Mental Health Resources, Young Bo Sim

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

This project was done to assess patients' barriers to mental health services in Newtown Primary Care. The project focused on identifying and developing questionnaires to assess if there were any perceived barriers and what those barriers were.

Mental Health Technology During The Era Of Covid-19, Michael Tabet

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Mental health symptoms - especially those of depression and anxiety - have become more prevalent during the COVID pandemic. As seen in previous years, direct and indirect costs of depression can be staggering. Apps exist on smart devices that are based in evidence-based practices that can be therapeutic for mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. A simple handout with some suggested popular mental health apps and accompanying descriptions was created to be used in the CVPH Family Medicine clinic to increase awareness of these apps among patients suffering from depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Increasing Patient Access To Lgbtq+ Healthcare Through Expanding The Vermont Diversity Health Project, Rachel Harrison

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Numerous studies have documented various disparities in health outcomes and barriers to healthcare access for LGBTQ+ individuals. One major way to combat this is to increase access to healthcare for LGBTQ+ patients and increase provider knowledge of how to best care for them. Through expanding the Vermont Diversity Health Project database of providers and having providers participate in LGBTQ+ Best Practices trainings (both hosted by Pride Center of Vermont), we may reduce LGBTQ+ health disparities in our local community.

Improving Access To Meditation And Mindfulness For The Management Of Anxiety, Stress, And Other Chronic Diseases Of Chronic, Jesse Naumann, Alex Cohen

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Chronic diseases can have an enormous burden on not only an individual’s quality of life, but their economic output as well. The challenge is that many patients with a chronic disease are not fully treated despite many different medications and doctor’s appointments. Mindfulness is an extremely beneficial tool that can be used as an adjunctive treatment for different chronic health diseases including anxiety, depression, insomnia, chronic pain, and many others. An enormous barrier is that many patients are unsure about what mindfulness truly is, and where one can go about accessing mindfulness resources. Our goal was to create a quick …

Assessment And Awareness Of Mental Health Conditions Among Refugees In Vermont, Sandi Caus

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Refugees experience profound hardship in their home-country, displaced country and throughout the period of re-settlement. Experiences like direct or indirect exposure to traumatic events, torture, sexual abuse and stigmatized refugee identity post-resttlement are major risk factors for the development of mental health coniditions inlcuding PTSD, depression and psychosis. Despite major risk factors for the development of mental health conditions, culturally-specific mental health stigma persists as a major barrier to addressing mental health among refugees. This project emphasizes techniques and self-education that can be utilized to improve mentah health screening and identification among refugee patients in Vermont.

Setting Expectations For Mental Healthcare Referral, Emily Bennett

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Patients are referred to mental health care by their primary care providers, but there is often a misunderstanding of what that process looks like. This project aimed to understand the referral process and create improvements that will help patients stay engaged to improve their mental wellbeing.