Public Health Commons^™

Disparities In Quality Of Life By Appalachian-Designation Among Women With Breast Cancer, Robin C. Vanderpool, Ann L. Coker, Heather M. Bush, Sarah E. Cprek

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Few studies have examined the association of geography and quality of life (QOL) among breast cancer patients, particularly differences between Appalachian and non-Appalachian Kentucky women, which is important given the cancer and socioeconomic disparities present in Appalachia.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether women with breast cancer residing in Appalachian Kentucky experience poorer health outcomes in regards to depression, stress, QOL, and spiritual wellbeing, relative to those living in non-Appalachian Kentucky after adjusting for demographic, socioeconomic, and health-related factors.

Methods: Women, aged 18–79, recruited from the Kentucky Cancer Registry between 2009 and 2013 with an …

West Virginia’S Sugary Drink Tax: Examining Print Media Frames In Local News Sources, Lauri Andress, Ogaga Urhie, Christine Compton

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Framing is an important aspect of the policy process that helps the public and decision makers sort through and resolve highly charged claims about an issue. Through slight changes in the presentation of issues, a framing effect may alter public support. The way a proposed sugary drink tax is discussed in public discourse and by the media significantly influences policy acceptance. Given the public health significance of obesity and diabetes in West Virginia (WV) the study of media frames employed to represent a sugary drink tax policy is useful.

Methods: Using quantitative content analysis, this study assessed news articles—published …

Investigating The Impact Of The Diseases Of Despair In Appalachia, Michael Meit, Megan Heffernan, Erin Tanenbaum

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Appalachia is one of the regions most significantly impacted by the opioid crisis. This study investigated mortality due to diseases of despair within the Appalachian Region, with an additional focus on deaths attributable to opioid overdose.

Methods: Diseases of despair include: alcohol, prescription drug and illegal drug overdose, suicide, and alcoholic liver disease/cirrhosis of the liver. Mortality data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) Multiple Cause of Death database were analyzed for this study, focusing on individuals aged 15–64.

Results: Over the past two decades, the mortality rate due to diseases of …

Root Causes Of Appalachia’S Deaths Of Despair, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md

Journal of Appalachian Health

The U.S. is experiencing a decline in life expectancy, particularly among rural white males in their most productive years. Appalachia is disproportionally represented in mortality rates, accounting for 30% of the U.S. population, but 50% of the excess mortality attributed to the “deaths of despair”: drug overdose, suicide, and alcoholic cirrhosis. A substantial proportion of that excess mortality is related to the current opioid crisis we are experiencing. We have data on evidence-based solutions to the treatment of addiction, but little information on prevention of addiction as well as the other deaths of despair, likely with the same etiologic agent. …

Educational Reinforcements Of And Challenges To Gender Norms In Urban Sri Lanka, Ruvani Fonseka

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background:
In 2013, over half of surveyed Sri Lankan men and women expressed gender-inequitable attitudes equating masculinity with violence, and femininity with obedience to men. Gender-inequitable attitudes have been shown to be linked to gender-based violence (GBV) in multiple contexts.
The goal of this research was to identify points of intervention at which programmes and policies could cultivate gender-equitable attitudes among youth in Sri Lanka, with a goal of reducing GBV in adulthood.
Methods:
Over 9 months, the lead author interviewed 18 young adults (ages 18-30) in urban Sri Lanka to understand how their experiences influenced their gender identity, as …

Commencement Program 2019, Loma Linda University

Commencement Programs

CONTENTS

1 | Message from the President

3 | 2019 Events of Commencement

5 | The Academic Procession

7 | Significance of Academic Regalia

9 | The Good Samaritan

10 | University History Highlights

12 | Loma Linda University Song - "Healing Love"

13 | Criteria for Institutional Awards—Loma Linda University and Loma Linda University Health

15 | Loma Linda University Health and Loma Linda University Honorees

34 | The Programs, The School Honorees, and The Speakers

• School of Medicine, 35
• School of Pharmacy, 66
• School of Dentistry, 79
• School of Allied Health Professions - Allied Health Studies, Cardiopulmonary Sciences, …

The Real Period Stain: Menstrual Stigma And Its Pressures In South Asia, Ila Mostafa

Celebration of Learning

This research project looks to answer the question: How does menstrual stigma in rural and urban Bangladesh affect women’s access to menstrual health care?

The research question was borne from personal experiences with menstrual stigma and seeing it firsthand in many areas of Bangladesh. These firsthand experiences come from women whom I interviewed in urban and village locations in Bangladesh in 2017. The research question looks to explore how women feel about seeking help for or talking about their menstrual issues. In asking this question, I want to explore what is at stake for women due to the powerful presence …

The Lived Experience Of Discharged And Readmitted African Americans With Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease To A Safety-Net Hospital, Kiiyonna Jones

Dissertations

Background:Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a debilitating respiratory disease that negatively affects the quality of life of those affected and has been a major contributor to the continuous rise in healthcare cost in the Unites States (Guarascio, Ray, Finch, & Self, 2013; National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, 2009; Shavelle, Paculdo, Kush, Mannino, & Straus, 2009; Scott, Smith, Sullivan, & Mahajan, 2001). In 2014, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) identified COPD as an applicable condition to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, which penalizes healthcare organizations having readmissions higher than the national average. COPD is the second …

Promoting Resilience In Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents Through School-Based Expressive Arts Groups, Bailey Knox

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Since 2013, the majority of students served by the public school system in the United States have been considered “low-income” by the federal government. The stressors associated with low socioeconomic status significantly increase risk for social, emotional and behavioral challenges at all age levels, but can be particularly damaging to adolescents coping with heightened stress levels related to the intense multi-dimensional changes that define this developmental period. As the correlation between economic disadvantage and negative socio-emotional and academic outcomes is increasingly evidenced, schools have begun to recognize their responsibility for providing preventative mental health care to high-risk students. Over the …

Health Care In The Caribbean: A Comparative Analysis Between Cuba And Puerto Rico, Matheus Moreira Sanches Peraci

Honors Projects

The paper at hand focuses on comparing the differences of the Cuban and Puerto Rican health care (HC) system and conditions. As this is a comparative research analysis, this was done by reviewing many different reliable sources and compiling the relevant information from Cuba and Puerto Rico. The factors that were taken into account are: (a) Political and Health Care Systems, (b) Natural and Artificial Disaster and (c) Country’s Demographics and Health Statistics.

Precision Medicine And It's Ethical And Social Implications: Public Health And Gobal Persepctives, Evangel Sarwar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Ever since President Obama's launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) in 2015, precision medicine (PM) has been anticipated as the new paradigm for healthcare with the capacity to “empower patients, researchers, and providers to work together toward the development of individualized care,” through research, technologies, and policies (President Obama, 2015). Precision Medicine (PM), in the form of genomics, offers unprecedented promise of providing new tools for improving health and reducing the burden of diseases, not just for the U.S. - but also globally. According to World Health Organization, genomics research and precision medicine will play a major part in …

Vile Blood: Hereditary Degeneracy In Victorian England, Dalton Lee Brock

Theses and Dissertations from 2019

During the late 1800s, the people of England grew anxious about hereditary degeneracy. That anxiety was rooted in the medical literature of the Victorian period. Nature predetermined individuals to be either healthy or unhealthy. Unhealthy individuals were marked by degenerative mental or physical characteristics such as epilepsy. Medical professionals, including Henry Maudsley, emphasized reversion and its hereditary nature as a threat to individuals and society. All based their works and arguments on Charles Darwin’s idea of inheritance. Darwin, in turn, had adopted and modified Lamarckian inheritance to make up for the absence of an inheritance principle in his theory of …

An Examination Of Factors Associated With Body Appreciation, Sociocultural Attitudes Of Appearance, And Ratings Of Diverse Performing Artists, Stephanie Rathjen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Introduction: Multiple studies have found that performing artists have low body image which may be associated with the media’s portrayal of performers. Low body image can cause negative health effects including depression and eating disorders. This study explores body attitudes among performing and non-performing arts students and the possible media influences on those attitudes.

Methods: Undergraduate students (n=522) were asked to participate in an anonymous online survey regarding their perceptions of their individual body perception. During the survey, they were randomized to watch a video depicting either slim mostly Caucasian performers (video A) or performers of different ethnicities …

“Flowing Along The Wall”: Anarcha-Feminist Bioethics And Resistance In Octavia E. Butler’S Dawn 2019., Theresa Mendez

Master's Theses

Science fiction (sf) texts conversant with the temporal play between past, present, and future push readers to imagine the extremes of human and environmental existence, interaction, and potential. Simultaneously, despite the sf genre’s tendency to traffic in extremes, these texts provoke readers to consider the ways in which these imagined worlds are grounded in history as well as in the contemporary social moment. As Donna Haraway has argued, “the boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion” (306). This illusory boundary must continue to be traversed in order to consider how sf literatures, particularly those which imagine …

Selling Childhood: How The Middle Class Used Children In The Anti-Tuberculosis Movement (1930s-1940s), Hannah Fisher

Senior Theses

During the anti-tuberculosis movement of the 1930s and 1940s, children were chosen as focal points, with their roles shaped by society’s changing view of childhood, the emergence of the middle class, and the socioeconomic and political climate. Children were used by middle-class reformers as conduits through which to disseminate information and enact controls on the working class. Health education in schools had two main goals: (1) for educated children to become educated adults, and (2) for educated children to transform the behaviors of adults around them. Although researchers have studied middle-class interventions into children’s health, few have analyzed the role …

The Influence Of Interpersonal Dyadic Differences On Condom Use Among Men Who Have Sex With Men, Andrew M. O'Neil

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and other STIs. Condom use is one of the most effective methods of prevention, but rates of condom use have been steadily declining among MSM. Therefore, determining what factors influence condom use decision-making among MSM is important. Interpersonal factors such as physical attractiveness, race, and age have been explored in relation to condom use. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the influence of discrepancies between casual partners in these social categories and its influence on condom use directly.

Purpose: The purpose of this …

Something’S In The Water: A Look At How Creativity And Innovation Can Prevent Future Water Crises, Tristan Holiday-Nowden

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness and create a level of consciousness about water, unlike anything we have seen in the past. This project presents a synthesis of current writings and ideologies from the fields of Environmental Science and Water Research. As well as think pieces and informative news articles from various publications.

To illustrate the damaging effects of water contamination, water pollution, and water scarcity; Flint, Michigan will serve as a case study. After diagnosing and defining the problem using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework. This project will explore the challenge and look at the …

Shifting Abortion Attitudes Using An Empathy-Based Media Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Study, Mary Ellen Hunt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

U.S. abortion restrictions diminish access and perpetuate a culture of hostility toward abortion seekers. Support for restrictions is high—potentially, because restriction knowledge is low and attitudes are complex. The current study focused on knowledge and support of restrictions and empathy for abortions seekers among Arkansans. The purpose was to evaluate the effectiveness of a video intervention intended to increase awareness of Arkansas abortion restrictions and induce empathy for abortion seekers.

Using a randomized controlled trial with pre-, post-, and follow-up design, a sample of Arkansans (N = 369) were randomly assigned to one of five video conditions--either a control or …

First Responders, Melissa Browning

A Midwestern Review: A Magazine of the Arts and Issues at DePauw University

No abstract provided.

Dusty Shoes: Appalachia Wisdom Fertilizing The Future Of Religious Leadership, Jill Crainshaw

Journal of Appalachian Health

Dust from their journeys through the hills and hollows of Appalachia clings to their shoes and has forever shaped their vocational journeys. This is a refrain I have distilled from the reflections of students who have participated in Wake Forest University School of Divinity’s multicultural contexts course that includes a 10-day sojourn in the mountains of North Carolina.

Identifying Priority And “Bright-Spot” Counties For Diabetes Preventive Care In Appalachia: An Exploratory Analysis, Peter J. Mallow, Michael Topmiller, Jennifer Rankin, Jene Grandmont, David Grolling, Jessica L. Mccann, Mark Carrozza

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) prevalence and mortality in Appalachian counties is substantially higher when compared to non-Appalachian counties, although there is significant variation within Appalachia.

Purpose: The objectives of this research were to identify low-performing (priority) and high-performing (bright spot) counties with respect to improving T2DM preventive care.

Methods: Using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, and the Appalachia Regional Commission, conditional maps were created using county-level estimates for T2DM prevalence, mortality, and annual hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) testing rates. Priority counties were identified using the following criteria: top 33rd …

Serum Cotinine Versus Parent Reported Measures Of Secondhand Smoke Exposure In Rural Appalachian Children, Samrat Yeramaneni, Kimberly Yolton, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Kim N. Dietrich, Erin N. Haynes

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure in Appalachian children and associated adverse effects is understudied and not well documented. This study assessed the prevalence of SHS exposure in Appalachian children by parental self-report and internal biological measure.

Methods: SHS exposure was determined in children residing in rural Appalachian communities during their participation in the Communities Actively Researching Exposure Study between 2009 and 2013. Parents reported the number of smokers in the household and number of cigarettes smoked/day. Children ages 7-9 provided a serum sample for cotinine analysis. Parent reported measures and child serum cotinine measures of SHS exposure were compared with …

The Social Determinants Of Health And The Decline In U.S. Life Expectancy: Implications For Appalachia, Steven H. Woolf, Heidi Schoomaker, Latoya Hill, Christine M. Orndahl

Journal of Appalachian Health

For the past century, life expectancy in industrialized countries has increased, and the U.S. has shared in that progress. However, beginning in the 1980s, advances in U.S. life expectancy began to lose pace with peer countries. By 1998, U.S. life expectancy had fallen below the average for Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations. U.S. life expectancy peaked in 2014 and has been decreasing for three consecutive years, a trend not been seen since the influenza pandemic a century ago. Put simply, U.S. health is in decline.

Delivering Health Knowledge And Wisdom From The Hills And Hollows Of Appalachia, F. Douglas Scutchfield Md, Erin N. Haynes, Robert M. Shapiro Ii, Charlotte S. Seidman

Journal of Appalachian Health

There is knowledge in the pages of Appalachia’s hills. This journal is positioned to find and publish those translations. It grows from a need to provide an outlet for scholarship about Appalachia’s health so that knowledge, and occasionally wisdom, is shared with those who care about and are committed to improving the region’s health.

G.I. Jane Fem Etran Goes Corporate: An Exploration Of Post-9/11 Female Combat Veterans Transitioning To A Civilian Career, Tumona Austin

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this multiple-case study was to explore the experiences of post- 9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from military service to civilian careers, using the Schlossberg transition model factors of situation, self, social support, and strategies.

Methodology: This multiple-case study identified and interviewed post-9/11 female combat veterans transitioning from active-duty to civilian career. Respondents were purposively chosen based on specific criteria and expert panel recommendations.

Findings: Examination of case-study interview data and artifacts from the 3 post-9/11 female combat veterans indicated nine major findings:

1. The factor of situation clearly outweighed the other Schlossberg factors in impact.

2. …

La Adherencia A Las Recomendaciones De Sueño Seguro Por Parte De Las Enfermeras En Unidades De Cuidado Intensiva Neonatal (Ucin) De Hospitales Públicos Y Privados En El Gran Buenos Aires / The Adherence To Safe Sleep Recommendations By Nurses In Neonatal Intensive Care Units (Nicus) Of Public And Private Hospitals In Grand Buenos Aires, Joelle M. Schauer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El Síndrome de Muerte Súbita de Lactante (SMSL) es “la muerte de un niño menor de 1 año que ocurre, aparentemente, durante el sueño y no puede ser explicada luego de una investigación exhaustiva, que incluye una autopsia completa, la investigación de las circunstancias de la muerte y la revisión de la historia clínica" (Jenik et al., 2015, p. 2). La Academia Americana de Pediatría (AAP) tiene recomendaciones sobre las prácticas del sueño seguro que pueden disminuir el riesgo de SMSL y otras Muertes Súbitas Inesperadas Infantiles (MSII).

El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar la adherencia a estas recomendaciones …

El Rol De Los Agentes Sanitarios Para Mejorar El Acceso A La Salud Sexual Y Reproductiva Para Mujeres En San Carlos, Mendoza. / The Role Of Agentes Sanitarios In Improving Access To Sexual And Reproductive Health For Women In San Carlos, Mendoza., Laura Hult

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Introducción: Es evidente que Argentina tiene un enfoque que atiende a la salud sexual y reproductiva, dado que tiene cobertura universal y la ley de Programa Nacional de Salud Sexual y Procreación Responsable que establece un estándar de cuidado para toda la población. Sin embargo, cobertura universal no implica acceso universal, el cual que está determinado por el transporte, el idioma y la cantidad de recursos de la región. En lugares como San Carlos, Mendoza, donde no hay transporte regular y hay pocos recursos, existe inequidad en la salud, lo que puede aumentar las tasas de embarazos no intencionales y …

Internamente Solo: Escuchando Y Resistiendo La Soledad De Adultos Mayores En La Araucanía, Chile / Internally Alone: Hearing And Resisting The Loneliness Of Seniors In La Araucanía, Chile, Grace Ellrodt

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research Question: Which current patterns drive or diminish loneliness among seniors of the Region of the Araucanía in the city of Temuco and surrounding rural communes?

Objectives: Understand and interpret the roots and the antidotes of the loneliness phenomenon experienced by seniors in Temuco and surrounding communes in the present moment.

Identify and analyze the drivers of pathological elder loneliness in structural, intermediary, and proximal factors.

Highlight the perspectives and narratives of seniors, community leaders, and health resources with respect to strategies to reduce the crisis.

Background: Currently, the population of seniors has risen and will continue to rise in …

Where Do We Go From Here?: Two Key Informants' Perspectives On How To Address Conscientious Objection In Top Provision In South Africa, Talia Parker

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This perspectives research endeavor examines the barriers to TOP access that arise from conscientious objection through the conflicting network of rights and legislation in South Africa. While previous research has evidenced the demonstrable barriers to accessing TOP care in South Africa, this project aims to push the existing literature and the field as a whole one step further to interrogate how to move forward within the realities of conscientious objection.

To do so, I conducted interviews with key informants in the field of reproductive healthcare provision, research, and activism in Cape Town on their perspectives about the practice of conscientious …

Z4, A Slow Puncture: An Autoethnographic Exploration Of Language, Embodiment, And Meaning-Making, Charlotte Rose Samuels

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In my ISP, I explored language as it relates to the ways in which people living in Cato Manor make sense of HIV/AIDS in their community. With 7.1-7.2 million people living with HIV (PLWHIV) in South Africa, individuals across the country are either infected or affected by illness. KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), the province with the highest rate of HIV, is also the province that was surveyed with the disproportionately highest internal stigma rates for PLWHIV. High prevalence of HIV, particularly in KZN, calls for a constant contextualization of life in the presence of illness.

Throughout the world, metaphor and symbolism is …