Community Health Commons^™

Association Between Stroke Health Literacy And Insurance With Stroke Severity And Post-Stroke Depression, Callista Clairmont, Amelia Adcock, Lea Colantonio

Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review

Health literacy and insurance are important aspects of healthcare, yet few studies assess the roles that each play in relation to strokes. The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationship that stroke health literacy and insurance coverage have on the development of post-stroke outcomes such as post-stroke depression and stroke severity. In this study, 47 patients receiving inpatient care for acute ischemic stroke were given a modified version of the Stroke Knowledge Test in order to assess their understanding of strokes. Stroke severity and depression levels were also measured using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale …

An Occupation-Based Program To Promote Mental Health Of At-Risk Youth In An After-Care Setting, Alexa Smith

Student Capstone Papers

The disproportionate tendency for young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to shift from schools to the juvenile justice system is referred to as the “school to prison pipeline”. Treating and preventing mental health difficulties is within the scope of occupational therapy, and while the school system assists in mental health treatment, there is a lack of mental health supporting services in after-care settings. The purpose of the program development project is to increase the supportive mental health services provided to at-risk youth in the after-care setting. The project ran mental health group sessions using Cole’s Seven Step Model with participant groups …

The Use Of Mobile Apps To Increase Physical Activity Level: A Systematic Review, Dziyana Nazaruk, Kelli Rouser

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background: About 82% of the U.S. adult population owns a smartphone. More than half of that population downloaded a fitness or health app to increase the physical activity level. The current review included studies that have utilized mobile apps in conjunction with other intervention strategies to increase physical activity levels. Methods: The search was conducted in five electronic databases. Studies were included if they were randomized controlled trials, utilized mobile apps, physical activity was the primary outcome, written in English, and conducted between the years of 2007 and 2019. Results: Thirteen studies were included in the final review. Results indicated …

Teachable Moments, John E. Franklin

Journal of Transformative Touch

A Veterinarian's Induction into the Feldenkrais Method and the Dynamic Systems Approach to the Development of Cognition and Action.

Investigating The Effects Of Zero Balancing On The Physical, Mental, Emotional, And Spiritual Dimensions Of Wellness: A Phenomenological Mixed Methods Pilot Study, Misty L. Rhoads, Mary Murphy, Michele Doucette, Tom Gentile, Dylan Rhoads, Jacob Watson

Journal of Transformative Touch

Background: Today, the necessity for relieving undue stress on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual levels is evident at this time of concomitant global crises from the pandemic, societal inequity, and climatic challenges. Methods to restore and enhance human well-being are critically needed.The study of overall wellness has not yet included the role that skilled, conscious touch may play in supporting the dimensions of wellness, an awareness of which this study seeks to elevate by exploring the effects of receiving positive touch on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual dimensions of wellness.

Methods: The researchers chose to utilize a concurrent …

Mental Health And The Impact Of Friendship, Ian Adkins

WRIT: Journal of First-Year Writing

Mental health issues are a very large problem in the United States today. For a long time, mental health issues were ignored and not even seen as something worth looking into or studying, let alone being a real medical condition. When they finally started to come to light, they were only associated with adults. In the United States, children’s mental health issues were largely ignored. It has only been recently that mental health in adolescents is being addressed, and phycologist and scientists are finding important information about how friendships can impact the way these at-risk adolescents deal with mental health …

Weight Reduction Motivation In Osteoarthritis Patients Through Nurse Practitioner Driven Education And Follow-Up: A Pilot Project, Caoilfhionn Mulvey, Martha Fuller Phd

Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts

Purpose of Project: The ultimate goal of this short-term pilot project is for

overweight or obese osteoarthritis patients to increase their knowledge on the benefits of

weight loss and physical activity. Research shows that for every kilogram of weight lost,

2.2–4.0 kilograms of weight is taken off of the joint and could reduce joint pain up to

thirty to fifty percent and improve quality of life. Following education from the provider,

patients will understand the correlation of osteoarthritis symptom management with

weight loss.

EBP Model/Frameworks: This project utilizes the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based

Practice to Promote Quality Care. This addresses …

Making Room: Addressing The Counter-Therapeutic Nature Of Psychiatric Hospitalization Through Containment- Based Group Expressive Therapy, Max Sandor Copans

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The process of hospitalization and the environment of a typical psychiatric hospital is often counter-therapeutic. To challenge this problem, clinicians may introduce the concept of psychological containment. To elaborate, being hospitalized anywhere can be disorienting, frightening and even traumatic. This problem is only further exacerbated in psychiatric hospitals where patients may be disorganized, manic, or struggling with psychosis. Furthermore, psychological containment is essentially the ability for psychiatric patients to prevent their intense emotions from effecting others negatively, and to act with resiliency when other patients are unable to contain their own disruptive behaviors. This paper utilizes both an initial literature …

Benefits Of Creative Therapies With Adoption And Complex Trauma: A Literature Review, Rosellen Boucher

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

This literature review explores the history of modern adoption and the effects on the adopted from a developmental, emotional, and behavioral standpoint. The review aims at addressing these specific needs through the use of art therapy. To become better acquainted with the concept, the history of modern adoption, as it pertains to the United States, is summarized with three subcategories as a focus points: domestic, international, and the foster care system. Building off of the history is a reflection on the past research surrounding adoption by considering adverse childhood experiences, complex trauma, attachment, and identity formation as it relates. Legislation …

Disparities In Hiv Clinical Stages Progression Of Patients At Outpatient Clinics In Democratic Republic Of Congo, Raimi Ewetola, Gulzar H. Shah, Lievain Maluantesa, Gina D. Etheredge, Kristie C. Waterfield, Astrid Mulenga, Apolinaire Kilundu

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Context: In this era of patient-centered care, it is increasingly important for HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs to customize their services according to patients’ clinical stage progression and other risk assessments. To enable such customization of HIV care and treatment delivery, the research evidence explaining factors associated with patients’ clinical stages is needed. Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to produce such scientific evidence by analyzing the most recent data for patients at outpatient clinics in the provinces of Kinshasa and Haut-Katanga and to examine the patient characteristics associated with WHO stages of disease progression. Methods: Using a …

The Impact Of Human Trafficking Training On Healthcare Professionals' Knowledge And Attitudes, Hayoung Lee, Julia Geynisman-Tan, Sarah Hofer, Emily Anderson, Sahar Caravan, Kanani Titchen

School of Medicine Faculty Publications

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate a CME-accredited human trafficking didactic and discussion-based training for healthcare professionals by comparing participant knowledge and attitudes on human trafficking before and after attending the training. Methods: A novel 18-item survey was developed to test the knowledge of and attitudes towards human trafficking. Participants of 17 standardized trainings delivered by 4 physician-trainers over a two-year period were invited to take a pre-test and 2 post-tests at 1-week and 6-months post training. Surveys were anonymously collected and linked to each participant with a de-identified number. Data were analyzed using SPSS software with …

Exploring Accessible & Responsive Trauma-Informed Schools: A Regenerative Approach To Student & Educator Support, Kennidy Stood

Capstone Collection

Young people are particularly vulnerable to the negative impacts of stress and trauma. This research explores educator perspectives of school-based trauma-informed care programs in order to understand how programs can become more accessible and culturally responsive. While there are several widely used guidelines for school-based trauma-informed care programs that seek to mitigate trauma and its effects in the classroom, there is not a universally accepted standard. As such, programs vary across settings. This study employed a mixed-methods strategy to survey and interview educators and care providers regarding factors that may limit or enhance the availability of, access to, and appropriateness …

Letting It Go: A Transformative Session Of Massage Therapy, Amanda Brauman King

Journal of Transformative Touch

This personal essay the role of skilled touch, in this case massage therapy, in healing from loss.

Risk Factors For Tb/Hiv Coinfection And Consequences For Patient Outcomes: Evidence From 241 Clinics In The Democratic Republic Of Cong, Gulzar H. Shah, Raimi Ewetola, Gina D. Etheredge, Lievain Maluantesa, Kristie C. Waterfield, Elodie Engetele, Apolinaire Kilundu

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

(1) Background: In resource-limited countries, patients with tuberculosis (TB)/HIV coinfection commonly face economic, sociocultural, and behavioral barriers to effective treatment. These barriers manifest from low treatment literacy, poverty, gender inequality, malnutrition, societal stigmas regarding HIV, and an absence of available care. It is critical for intervention programs to understand and assist in overcoming these barriers and any additional risks encountered by patients with TB/HIV coinfection. This study analyzes variation in TB/HIV coinfection and risks of negative outcomes among patients with TB/HIV coinfection compared to those without coinfection. (2) Methods: This quantitative study used data from 49,460 patients receiving ART from …

Neuroliberalism And Beyond, Neve Durrwachter

Anthropology Honors Papers

This paper evaluates the healthy lifestyle promotion corporation known as Blue Zones by focusing on their approach to behavioral modification. The analysis relies on popular theories of governmentality such as neoliberalism, libertarian paternalism, and neuroliberalism that seek to explain how personal forms of knowledge intersect with mechanisms of social control to influence the creation of policy. Through a content-analysis of the organization’s foundational text, I argue that Blue Zones is best understood as a form of neuroliberalism because it grants individuals the autonomy to be their own choice architects.

Zero Balancing And Occupational Therapy: Removing Restrictions To Life Flow, Deanna Waggy Otr, Loren Waggy Otr

Journal of Transformative Touch

Zero Balancing is an effective complementary and integrative health treatment tool for Occupational Therapy practitioners. It helps remove restrictions and restore balance to a patient’s life flow, improving overall occupational performance.

Physician Advocacy: Defining And Implementing Into Practice, Laura Kantor

Research Days

Background: Physicians are perceived by society to have a duty to both improve the health of their individual patients and the wellbeing of society as a whole. The perceived social and professional obligation of physicians to engage in advocacy work is often implied yet illdefined with little formal training or official supports. Many physicians feel their training and practice environment do not support increased engagement in advocacy. In order to promote the idea that advocacy is an integral aspect of modern practice, it is necessary to further characterize its definition and scope.

Objectives/Goal: We aim to gain insight into the …

Seeking Sustainable Solutions To Period Poverty Amongst Homeless Women In Camden County, Nj, Bilal Khan, Alana Smith, Melisa Ibarra-Zavala

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) – National Ambassadors is an effort for underserved high school, undergraduate, and medical students to collaborate on a research-based community service project to equip future health professionals with tools to heal their communities.

The average woman spends up to 3500 days of their life menstruating. Menstrual health is therefore not just a fundamental human right, but a robust indicator of community well-being. Despite the biological inevitably of menstruation, barriers to practicing adequate menstrual hygiene, or “Period Poverty,” are far common and often ignored in public forums. Period products face a luxury goods sales tax in …

Mental Health Outcomes At A Student-Run Free Clinic, Jessica-Sophie Horoschak, Riya Tandra, Sahil Parikh, Shayna Peterzell, Roma Padalkar, Tara Pellegrino

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

In this project we aim to:

1. Assess the outcomes of screening, management, and diagnosis for patients at the Rowan Community Health Center (RCHC).

2. Compare the outcomes of screening, management, and diagnosis between different groups (gender, race, income, insurance status) using validated surveys.

3. There is a need for accessible and affordable primary care in the South Jersey area, which the RCHC is hoping to meet.

Hypothesis:

The quality of mental health care available to patients at the RCHC is comparable to that at other insured practices.

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.

Barriers To Alternative Narcotic Education And Treatment In Young Adults In New Jersey, Shubh Bhambri

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The purpose of this study is to determine alternative methods and programs that result in better outcomes for young adults dealing with opioid addiction in New Jersey while identifying potential barriers that prevent the implementation of these programs.

Establishing A Resident-Lead High School Outreach Program To Improve Physician Community Engagement, Dylan Mcdivitt

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

New Jersey’s Cumberland County is home to a vastly diverse population of people, comprised of numerous racial, ethnic, economic, health, and educational backgrounds among its nearly 150,000 residents. Per U.S. Census data, about 15% of the population is below the poverty line, including about 20% of those below the age of 18. With economic hardship often come health problems and disparities, and Cumberland County’s rates of obesity, tobacco use, lung cancer, and drug-induced deaths are all above the national averages.

Notable student survey findings:

• 67 students reported a friend had shared thoughts of depression with them in the last …

Opioid Lifeline Community Service Project, Ekrem Cetinkaya, Cam'ron Klotz, Harvy Patel

Rowan-Virtua Research Day

The opioid epidemic has claimed the lives of thousands of people over the last decade due to overprescribing, synthetic opioids, and lack of treatment options. Project Opioid Lifeline was created as a mission to combat this issue by equipping the Camden County, NJ population with the necessary information to advocate for themselves and others. This project aims to find and centralize available resources for residents of Camden County by including addiction treatment centers, Narcan training and distribution, and unused medication drop off locations. Over the last nine months, partnerships were formed with community leaders and organizations, such as the Neuromusculoskeletal …

Rationale For Participation In Jmu Worksite Wellness Programs, Rebecca Mathien

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Effective employee wellness programs require an adequate understanding of the needs of employees. An employee wellness needs assessment was created to target the understanding of specific topics of interest, incentives and barriers to participation, and general health status of university employees. The majority (74.1%) of the 639 survey respondents (15.3% response rate) were female (age 45.7 ± 11.7 years), full-time employees. Employees were most interested in participating in programs involving physical activity, nutrition, and lifestyle wellness. Stages of change related to these topics include physical activity (pre-action: 42.3% and action: 44.7%), nutrition (pre-action: 37.4% and action: 42.2%), and work/life balance …

Loss Of Obstetric Services In Rural Appalachia: A Qualitative Study Of Community Perceptions, Caroline R. Efird, David Dry, Rachel F. Seidman

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: As rural hospitals across the United States increasingly downsize or close, the availability of inpatient obstetric services continues to decline in rural areas. In rural Appalachia, the termination of obstetric services threatens to exacerbate the existing risk of adverse birth outcomes for women and infants, yet less is known about how the cessation of these services affects the broader community.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how the loss of local obstetric services affects perceptions of healthcare among multi-generational residents of a remote, rural Appalachian community in western North Carolina.

Methods: An interdisciplinary team of researchers …

An Analysis Of Reflections On Researcher Positionality, Oluwatoyin Olukotun, Elizabeth Mkandawire, Jeri Antilla, Faten Alfaifa, Jennifer Weitzel, Victoria Scheer, Mary Olukotun, Dr. Lucy Mkandawire-Valhmu

The Qualitative Report

Reflexivity is a central tenet of qualitative research. Engaging in self-reflexive praxis allows researchers to identify areas of tension in the research process that need to be further deconstructed. In this paper, we draw on our collective self-reflective experiences as qualitative health researchers whose scholarship is informed by critical and postcolonial feminist epistemologies to offer some guidance on how to approach the concept of insider versus outsider in the research process. Specifically, we analyze recurring methodological tensions related to positionality and outline how they were addressed. The lessons learned from our studies can be instructive to other qualitative researchers.

Examination Of Orthodontic Expenditures And Trends In The United States From 1996 To 2016: Disparities Across Demographics And Insurance Payers, Man Hung, Sharon Su, Eric S. Hon, Edgar Tilly, Alex Macdonald, Evelyn Lauren, Glen Roberson, Martin S. Lipsky

Institute on Aging Publications

Background: Orthodontics prevent and treat facial, dental, and occlusal anomalies. Untreated orthodontic problems can lead to significant dental public health issues, making it important to understand expenditures for orthodontic treatment. This study examined orthodontic expenditures and trends in the United States over 2 decades. Methods: This study used data collected by the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to examine orthodontic expenditures in the United States from 1996 to 2016. Descriptive statistics for orthodontic expenditures were computed and graphed across various groups. Trends in orthodontic expenditures were adjusted to the 2016 United States dollar to account for inflation and deflation over time. …

A Deeper Look: The Impacts Of Covid-19 Among Latinos In Omaha, Diana Molina

Capstone Experience: Master of Public Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has manifested worldwide distress, affecting the lives of all population groups. Racial disparities are evident as minority populations are being disproportionately affected by the impacts of COVID-19. Data indicate that the Latino population may experience more severe cases of COVID-19 and have a higher mortality rate. However, little is known about the effects that the pandemic is having on day-to-day life. Thus, the purpose of this study is to investigate COVID-19's impact on life aspects including employment situation, finances, mental health, and experiences of discrimination among the Omaha Latino community. A survey collected data from 311 participants …

Social Justice Attitudes And Health: A Cross Sectional Study, Edward Donovan

Senior Honors Projects

Background: Increasingly, social justice is being considered as a key factor associated with health outcome. In addition, there is growing interest in exploring perception of discrimination in healthcare settings. This study explored perceptions of social justice, health care discrimination, health care status and utilization of healthcare resources. The investigators predict a significant association between the level of social justice awareness and healthcare utilization based on the hypothesis that those who are cognizant of social inequities are more likely to be informed self-advocates in healthcare settings.

Methods: First, a survey was created based on a review of existing literature. The …

Facilitators And Barriers To Healthy Eating Among American Indian And Alaska Native Adults With Type 2 Diabetes: Stakeholder Perspectives, Sarah Stotz, Nertila Bregaj, Kelly Gonzales, Luciana E. Hebert, Kelly R. Moore

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and related complications than non-AI/AN adults. As healthy eating is a cornerstone of diabetes self-management, nutrition education plays an important role in diabetes self-management education.

Objective: To understand stakeholder perspectives on facilitators and barriers to healthy eating for AI/AN adults with T2D in order to inform the cultural adaptation of an existing diabetes nutrition education curriculum.

Methods: Individual interviews were conducted with 9 national content experts in diabetes nutrition education (e.g. registered dietitians, diabetes educators, experts on AI/AN food insecurity) and 10 community-based …