Public Health Commons^™

The Passive Approach: How Academically Motivated Students Approach Their Mental Health., Megan E. Mccoy

Anthós

The research utilizes qualitative interviews and focus groups to understand how academically motivated students approach their mental health. Mental health is defined as “emotional, psychological, and social well-being,” by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and is becoming a more significant concern in collegiate student populations. At Portland State University, the effects of mental health concerns on students are nearly double that of students around the U.S (Community Commons, n.d.). Academically motivated students are a group who seemingly strive for success and likely experience high levels of stress daily. The study found that students often take a passive approach …

Reflecting On Resilience: Insight Into Resiliency Development And Utilization In Oregon's Older Adults From 2020 To 2022, Riley A. Wilton

University Honors Theses

The events of the last 2 years have complicated the lives of older adults throughout the world. For many, their survival can be traced back to one key trait: resilience. In the state of Oregon, the years 2020-2022 came with a host of issues that expanded past the COVID-19 pandemic. These events provide context for the world our storytellers discuss.

Using a snowball recruitment strategy through the efforts of community organizations and senior centers, 4 storytellers sat down to describe their resilience in different ways. They were asked to reflect on their own life experiences, how it influenced their resilience, …

The Effects Of Running On Arithmetic Problem Solving, Kayia C. Snyder, Nicholas Smith

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

In this work, we propose to examine the effects of physical activity on academic performance as physical activity is shown to improve mood, energy levels, confidence, and memory retention. We propose to recruit a sample of 200 psychology students from Portland State University. Each student will be asked to take an arithmetic problem-solving test then asked to study the material for three weeks. Of the 200 students, 100 will be randomly assigned to a physical activity condition, in which they will be asked to run 30 minutes prior to studying, then all students will be asked to take a timed …

Antipsychotic Medication Administration In Oregon Assisted Living/Residential Care Settings: Analyzing An Action Situation, Sarah Dys

Dissertations and Theses

Antipsychotic medication use (APU) in assisted living and residential care (AL/RC) settings is an under-studied and controversial health policy issue. APU in older adults with dementia is associated with an increased risk of falls, hospitalizations, and early mortality. I operationalize the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework using a situational analysis approach, an extension of grounded theory methods, to explore the APU in Oregon AL/RC settings. Regulatory deficiency citations, Oregon AL/RC population data, and semi-structured interviews suggest that staff role clarity, organizational characteristics, and perceived agency influence decision-making around APU. AL/RC providers and caregivers are forced to simultaneously balance and prioritize …

Quarantine Ethics: From Past To Covid-19, Chrystal Barnes

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Quarantines have been a preventative measure for reducing communicable disease spread for centuries. The method of implementation can vary widely and to some extent requires some level of judgement from enforcing powers, often state police power. As such, historically, some quarantines have been unfairly enforced based on discriminatory practices. COVID-19 has brought about the most widespread and extended quarantine in U.S. history, which makes evaluating the ethics all the more critical. In addition, it is well established that COVID-19 impacts have disproportionately caused harm to populations, such as those who are of a low socioeconomic status and people of color. …

Exploring The Extent Of The Hikikomori Phenomenon On Twitter: Mixed Methods Study Of Western Language Tweets, Pereira-Sanchez, Miguel Angel Alvarez-Mon, Angel Asunsolo Del Barco, Melchor Alvarez-Mon, Alan R. Teo

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Hikikomori is a severe form of social withdrawal, originally described in Japan but recently reported in other countries. Debate exists as to what extent hikikomori is viewed as a problem outside of the Japanese context. Objective: We aimed to explore perceptions about hikikomori outside Japan by analyzing Western language content from the popular social media platform, Twitter. Methods: We conducted a mixed methods analysis of all publicly available tweets using the hashtag #hikikomori between February 1 and August 16, 2018, in 5 Western languages (Catalan, English, French, Italian, and Spanish). Tweets were first classified as to whether they described …

Food Insecurity, Social Networks And Symptoms Of Depression Among Men And Women In Rural Uganda: A Cross-Sectional, Population-Based Study, Jessica M. Perkins, Viola N. Nyakato, Bernard Kakuhikire, Alexander C. Tsai, Sv Subramanian, David Bangsberg, Nicholas A. Christakis

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: To assess the association between food insecurity and depression symptom severity stratified by sex, and test for evidence of effect modification by social network characteristics.

Design: A population-based cross-sectional study. The nine-item Household Food Insecurity Access Scale captured food insecurity. Five name generator questions elicited network ties. A sixteen-item version of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist for Depression captured depression symptom severity. Linear regression was used to estimate the association between food insecurity and depression symptom severity while adjusting for potential confounders and to test for potential network moderators.

Setting: In-home survey interviews in south-western Uganda. Subjects: All adult residents …

Social Network Correlates Of Ipv Acceptance In Rural Honduras And Rural Uganda, Holly B. Shakya, Jessica M. Perkins, Margaret Traeger, Alexander C. Tsai, David Bangsberg, Bernard Kakuhikire, Nicholas A. Christakis

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

We investigated the household-level social network correlates of acceptance of intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural, agrarian settings of Honduras and Uganda, two low-income countries with unequal access to resources based upon gender. We collected complete social network data in each location (Honduras in 2014 and Uganda in 2012), across a diverse range of relationships, and then created a measure of household cohesion by calculating the degree to which members of a household nominated each other as important social connections. Our measure of IPV acceptance was based on 4 questions from the Demographic Health Survey to assess the conditions under …

Household Water Insecurity, Missed Schooling, And The Mediating Role Of Caregiver Depression In Rural Uganda, Christine E. Cooper-Vince, Bernard Kakuhikire, Dagmar Vořechovská, Amy Q. Mcdonough, Jessica M. Perkins, Atheendar S. Venkataramani, Rumbidzai Mushavi, Charles Baguma, Scholastic Ashaba, David Bangsberg, Alexander C. Tsai

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: School attendance rates in sub-Saharan Africa are among the lowest worldwide, placing children at heightened risk for poor educational and economic outcomes. One understudied risk factor for missed schooling is household water insecurity, which is linked to depression among women and may increase children’s water-fetching burden at the expense of educational activities, particularly among children of depressed caregivers. In this study conducted in rural Uganda, we assessed the association between household water insecurity and child school participation and the mediating pathways behind these associations.

Method: We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study of female household heads (N = 257) and …

Does Mode Of Contact With Different Types Of Social Relationships Predict Depression In Older Adults? Evidence From A Nationally Representative Survey, Alan R. Teo, Hwajung Choi, Sarah B. Andrea, Marica Valenstein, Jason T. Newsom, Steven K. Dobscha, Kara Zivin

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

OBJECTIVES: To determine associations between use of three different modes of social contact (in person, telephone, written or e-mail), contact with different types of people, and risk of depressive symptoms in a nationally representative, longitudinal sample of older adults.

DESIGN: Population-based observational cohort.

SETTING: Urban and suburban communities throughout the contiguous United States.

PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 50 and older who participated in the Health and Retirement Survey between 2004 and 2010 (N = 11,065).

MEASUREMENTS: Frequency of participant use of the three modes of social contact with children, other family members, and friends at baseline were used to predict depressive …

The Associations Between Environmental Quality And Preterm Birth In The United States, 2000–2005: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Kristen M. Rappazzo, Lynne C. Messer, Jyotsna S. Jagai, Christine L. Gray, Shannon C. Grabich, Danelle T. Lobdell

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Many environmental factors have been independently associated with preterm birth (PTB). However, exposure is not isolated to a single environmental factor, but rather to many positive and negative factors that co-occur. The environmental quality index (EQI), a measure of cumulative environmental exposure across all US counties from 2000—2005, was used to investigate associations between ambient environment and PTB.

Methods: With 2000–2005 birth data from the National Center for Health Statistics for the United States (n = 24,483,348), we estimated the association between increasing quintiles of the EQI and county-level and individual-level PTB; we also considered environmental domain-specific (air, …

Us Medical Specialty Global Health Training And The Global Burden Of Disease, Vanessa B. Kerry, Rochelle P. Walensky, Alexander C. Tsai, Regan W. Bergmark, Brian A. Bergmark, Chaturia Rouse, David R. Bangsberg

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Rapid growth in global health activity among US medical specialty education programs has lead to heterogeneity in types of activities and global health training models. The breadth and scope of this activity is not well chronicled.

Methods: Using a standardized search protocol, we examined the characteristics of US medical residency global health programs by number of programs, clinical specialty, nature of activity (elective, research, extended curriculum based field training), and geographic location across seven different clinical medical residency education specialties. We tabulated programmatic activity by clinical discipline, region and country. We calculated the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient to estimate …

Patients’ Perception Of Patient–Provider Communication In Fertility Preservation Decision Making Among Young Women With Cancer, Aakrati Mathur, E. Roberto Orellana, Amy Frohnmayer, Pauline Jivanjee, Lillian Nail, Brandon Hayes-Lattin, Rebecca G. Block

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fertility preservation (FP) for patients with cancer is an emerging field. With the advancement of technology, patients may face a complex decision-making process about whether to preserve fertility. The purpose of this article is to explore how young women with cancer perceive patient–provider communication in FP decision making. In this study, 25 women between the ages of 18 and 39 were interviewed retrospectively. They were interviewed one time to learn about their decision-making process related to FP. Results of this analysis indicate that patients seek support and involvement from providers throughout the process of decision making. They prefer providers to …

The Historical, Political, Social, And Individual Factors That Have Influenced The Development Of Aging And Disability Resource Centers And Options Counseling, Sheryl Dejoy Elliott

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis reports on the perspectives and experiences of policymakers, advocates, agency supervisors, and experts in the field of gerontology, about the development of Aging and Disability Resource Centers (ADRC) programs and Options Counseling (OC). By examining the foundations upon which ADRCs and OC are built, this study sought to inform future research about the effectiveness of existing practice, increase understanding of best practices, and clarify whether these emerging services are accomplishing original goals.

ADRCs and OC intend to address long-term care issues and healthcare needs by providing a single entry point to the social service system. ADRCs offer information, …

A Community-Based Wellness Program To Reduce Depression In African Americans: Results From A Pilot Intervention, Christina Nicolaidis, Corliss Mckeever, Sandra Meucci

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

African-Americans are less likely than non-Hispanic Whites to find antidepressants acceptable or seek care for depression.

Objective

To develop and pilot-test a culturally-tailored, community-based, psycho-educational wellness and exercise promotion program to reduce depressive symptoms in African-Americans.

Methods

Participants were African-Americans with moderate depressive symptoms, who were interested in exercise, but were not exercising regularly. They attended a 6-week psycho-educational group program during which they set personal activity goals and learned depression self-management skills. We conducted pre- and post-intervention surveys and post-intervention feedback sessions.

Results

21 African-Americans participated in the intervention. The program had excellent attendance and satisfaction. We found …

The Hispanic Paradox And Older Adults’ Disabilities: Is There A Healthy Migrant Effect?, Esme Fuller Thomson, Amini Nuru-Jeter, Dawn M. Richardson, Ferrah Raza, Meredeth Minkler

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

The “Hispanic Paradox” suggests that despite rates of poverty similar to African Americans, Hispanics have far better health and mortality outcomes, more comparable to non-Hispanic White Americans. Three prominent possible explanations for the Hispanic Paradox have emerged. The “Healthy Migrant Effect” suggests a health selection effect due to the demands of migration. The Hispanic lifestyle hypothesis focuses on Hispanics’ strong social ties and better health behaviors. The reverse migration argument suggests that the morbidity profile in the USA is affected when many Hispanic immigrants return to their native countries after developing a serious illness. We analyzed data from respondents aged …

Motivating Men Who Have Sex With Men To Get Tested For Hiv, Magaly M. Blas, Luis A. Menacho, Isaac E. Alva, E. Roberto Orellana

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although men who have sex with men (MSM) have the highest HIV prevalence in Peru, they are underserved by traditional preventive programs. Interestingly, in Peru the Internet and cell-phones have emerged as a convenient tool to reach this population.

Risk Factors For Homelessness Among Community Mental Health Patients With Severe Mental Illness, Rupert Talmage Van Wormer

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors associated with homelessness, assess the relationship between housing status and consumption of costly publicly funded resources, to identify characteristics associated with service retention, and to evaluate whether length of treatment is associated with better outcomes. The target population was homeless and formerly homeless adults with SMI enrolled in community mental health services at the Downtown Emergency Service Center SAGE mental health program located in Seattle. The sample consisted of 380 SAGE patients who had continuous enrollment in 2005. These patients formed the cohort for the study. Agency records for these …

Increased Hiv Risk Associated With Criminal Justice Involvement Among Men On Methadone, Matthew Epperson, Nabila El-Bassel, Louisa Gilbert, E. Roberto Orellana, Mingway Chang

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper examines the relationship between HIV risk and criminal justice involvement among a random sample of 356 men enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment programs in New York City. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the associations between measures of criminal justice involvement and participant HIV risk, controlling for socio-demographic variables. A lifetime history of incarceration was significantly associated with being HIV positive (Adjusted OR = 5.08). Recent arrest was associated with unprotected vaginal sex and having multiple female sexual partners. Sex trading was associated with both arrest and incarceration, and the strongest association was found between …