Medical Humanities Commons^™

Barriers To Healthcare Access Between English And Spanish Speakers In An Underserved Population, Adeena Javed, Dale Johnson, Gerardo J. Rivera-Colón, Nathaniel J. Byrnes, Kristin Bertsch, Anne C. Jones

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

• According to the NJ State Department of Health, Atlantic County has higher rates of smoking, respiratory disease, hypercholesterolemia, as well as death rates due to coronary heart disease, HIV, and all cancers compared to the NJ state average1,2.

• With over 20% of Atlantic County's population identifying as Hispanic, Spanish speakers encounter greater obstacles compared to their English-speaking counterparts in accessing healthcare services and improving health outcomes1,2 .

• Existing research indicates that various factors, including health insurance coverage, proximity to healthcare facilities, transportation options, health literacy levels, and trust in the medical profession, significantly influence access to healthcare …

Exploring Hypertension Prevalence Among Ill-Housed Individuals In Urban Environments, Lia Goldberg, Sameer Shah, Nikhila Archakam, Murod Khikmatov, Kesha Choksi, Anddee White

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

This study explores the interrelations of hypertension, homelessness, and access to healthcare in urban ill-housed populations. It was found that conditions such as heart disease and diabetes significantly exacerbate hypertension, which remains highly prevalent due to the population's limited access to consistent medical care. Homelessness further complicates the management of hypertension due to unstable living conditions, making adherence to treatment and follow-up with healthcare providers challenging. Additionally, factors like higher rates of substance abuse and malnutrition among homeless populations contribute to worsening hypertension, which, if untreated, can lead to severe health crises including heart attacks and strokes.

The research underscores …

Social Media Addiction Affecting Mental Health Of College Women, Praneetha Rajkumar, Don D. Shamilov, David F. Lo

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In our digital society, many teenagers and young adults use the many forms of social media, which are applications that enable users to create, share, and view content. Addiction to sites such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat is a rising concern due to the impact it has on the mental health of young women, particularly those aged 18-25. Addiction can result in spending an unreasonable amount of time on social media, being overly preoccupied with social media content, or having day-to-day activities that revolve around social media usage. Different sources of data were reviewed to understand why mental health concerns …

Relationship Between Caregiver Burden And Socioeconomic Status, Nikitha Pappachen, Maithri Goud

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In this study, caregiver burden measures the psychosocial strain a caregiver experiences as a result of caring for a person with autism. In addition, this study focuses on the effect of socioeconomic status on caregiver burden. A previous study found an association between lower primary caregiver education level and more sleep problems for children with autism³. Thus, the finding focuses on the child with autism as opposed to the caregiver burden. Other studies focus on elements that affect caregiver burden such as sleep quality, mental health, and cultural aspects. If it is known that socioeconomic status significantly affects …

The Effect Of Guided Meditation On Student Doctor-Patient Interactions, Aneela Rampersad, Samantha Plasner

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Healthcare students are under stress and can use different methods to cope with it. Mindfulness techniques such as guided meditation has been used as a way of helping these students reduce their stress levels. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether guided meditation has an effect on student doctors that translates into more positive interactions with patients. This study found that the student doctors who completed guided meditation felt less frustrated and less impatient while interacting with patients than student doctors who did not perform the guided meditation. Future studies on this topic should recruit more participants so …

Language Barrier Contributions To Food Insecurity In Spanish-Speaking Populations, Amin Khan, Leeza Kumar, Edanur Kilic, Stephen Acheampong

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Food insecurity refers to a household or individual’s inability to access adequate food to obtain a healthy lifestyle. This contributes to health concerns such as birth defects, low nutritional intake, anemia, cognitive problems, mental health disorders, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Low-income rural community members lack access to full grocery stores and often turn to convenience stores with unhealthy, expensive, and fewer food options. The aim of this study was to determine how language barriers affect Spanish-speaking populations with limited English proficiency. The research for this project was obtained from Google, Google Scholar, and PubMed. Keywords included “health disparities,” “Spanish-speaking,” …

The Correlation Between Traumatic Brain Injury And Incarceration Among Adult Males In The United States, Shadi Shams

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The United States has one of the largest growing prison populations in the world. A large amount of social and economic resources go towards the cost and maintenance of correctional facilities each year. Additionally, the current correctional programs are insufficient in assisting inmates with getting back to society; especially those with traumatic brain injury (TBI) who often remain undiagnosed and are usually treated unfairly in the prison system instead of receiving the appropriate help. Prior scholarly work has shown that patients in the post-TBI stage are more likely to enter the judicial system. In the recent population-based cohort study, the …

Awareness & Prevention Of Health Hazards For Americans Embarking In Space Tourism, Krzysztof Zembrzuski

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Since the beginning of spaceflight, keeping humans healthy has been a serious concern. Prior to 2021, astronauts had to undergo an elite selection process to embark in space travel. Now that commercial spaceflight is a reality, the criteria to experience space has been significantly loosened, raising health concerns to a larger and unhealthier pool of travelers. Most commercial spaceflight clients are anticipated to be middle-aged adults, which implies many will suffer from high blood pressure and heart disease, both of which are frequent ailments in this age group. Because of the massive compression the body undergoes during takeoff and return, …

Understanding The State Of Lgbtqia+ Healthcare And Support In Camden County, Sayan Basu, Sana Farhat, Cindy Capps, Ali Harb

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

4.5% of American adults identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual and about 1.4 million adults identify as transgender.

This demographic is impacted by many social determinants of health and health disparities, particularly for transgender patients.

33% of LGBTQIA+ patients ranging from a pool of 28,000 surveyed patients have had a negative experience with their health providers, and 8% of them had to educate their physicians about their needs due to physicians’ lack of knowledge about this demographic.

Research suggests that there is a reluctance to access mental health services in the LGBTQIA+ community due to homophobia,, difficulties disclosing sexual and …

Understanding Changes In Mortality With Implementation Of Safe Injection Sites, Shubh Bhambri

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The purpose of this study is to analyze mortality due to overdose in areas that have implemented supervised injection sites and understand what factors these facilities affect that can lead to a change in outcomes.

A Systematic Review Of The Barriers Of Opioid Addiction Treatment For Young Adult Males (Ages 18-26) Living In Low Income Areas In The United States Of America, Atish Gandhi, Asim Shafique, Jillian Baker

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

NOTE: This is a broad literature review, not a systematic review.

This systematic review aims to analyze the reasons behind reduced access to opioid addiction treatment for individuals of low socioeconomic standing. Understanding these barriers may allow communities to build a more comprehensive plan to lower addiction rates. In addition, this review will be examining further developments of theopioid crisis due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. The literature search used publications from the following databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, and NCBI. The keywords searched were “opioid addiction”, “substance abuse”, “low-income area”, “barriers to treatment”, “young male addiction”, “opioid treatment”, “Narcan”. There …

Investigation Of Emergency Department Visits And Hospitalization Rates Of Child Physical Abuse At Cooper University Hospital Prior To And During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Afeerah Ahmad, Rachel Silliman Cohen, Laura Brennan

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The COVID-19 pandemic has been detrimental for children. Many families have experienced stressors, including unemployment, financial hardship, and familial illness. These factors all pose increased risk for child physical abuse. Limitations in child welfare services affected investigations and provision of services to high-risk families. The extent to which the rates of physical abuse in NJ have been affected is unknown. We sought to answer the question of whether the COVID-19 pandemic affected the severity of physical abuse and the incidence of physical abuse presenting to Cooper University Hospital.

We hypothesized that there would be a higher proportion of severe child …

Development And Presentation Of A Lesson On Mental Health For High School Students During The 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic, Daniel Yang, Sana Farhat, Jhocelin Morquecho, Rutva Patel, Rui Shi, Md Fateha, Mary Duggan

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

With the support of the HRSA, the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) was established to increase the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue careers in healthcare. HCOP combines the efforts of high school, undergraduate, and medical students in creating an original project to serve a need within the community. In this HCOP project, we aim to address the issue of mental health with high school students at two New Jersey high schools: Pennsauken and Williamtown.

Assessment Of The Perceived Access To Health Care By Migrant And Seasonal Farm Workers In Southern New Jersey, Karen Custodio, Xitlalichomiha O'Dell Do, Lori Talbot Md

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Migrant and seasonal farm workers (MSFW) are one of the most economically disadvantaged populations in the United States. MSFW confront numerous health challenges as a result of occupational hazards, poor living conditions, and inadequate nutrition, in addition to common health concerns like diabetes and hypertension. The objective of this study was to identify major barriers to health care for individuals working in the agriculture industry in southern New Jersey. Though there are numerous factors which impact health for migrant farmers, we hypothesized that language, financial burden, and fear from immigration status will be the most significant. Research was conducted using …