Public Health Commons^™

Assessment Of Migrant Health And Health Disparities Between Immigrants And Swiss Nationals Living In Switzerland, Gabriela Mujica-Martorell

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Switzerland is one of the most diverse nations within the OECD and boasts one of the highest net migration rates; it also has one of the highest rated health care systems in the world. Nevertheless, it has been shown that health disparities exist between the Swiss migrant and Swiss national populations: migrants are especially more prone to overweight/obesity, dental health problems, various forms of physical pain, and psychological distress. The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate to what extent certain health conditions are a problem to the immigrant and Swiss national populations. The study also will explore some of …

Using Photovoice In Pete Programs To Initiate Positive Change, Gavin T. Colquitt, Jody Langdon, Tony A. Pritchard, Starla Mccollum

Community Health: Faculty Presentations (1993-2018)

The purpose of this presentation will be to provide teacher educators with an overview of the Photovoice methodology and its potential utility in curricular change. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education’s ([NASPE], 2008) PETE standards state educators should allow diversity to drive instructional related decision-making. Photovoice, a participatory action research methodology, is a tool teacher educators can use to be responsive to the continuously changing contexts of public schools.

Design Of A Prostate Cancer Patient Navigation Intervention For A Veterans Affairs Hospital, Narissa J. Nonzee, June M. Mckoy, Alfred W. Rademaker, Peter Byer, Thanh H. Luu, Dachao Liu, Elizabeth A. Richey

Dartmouth Scholarship

Patient navigation programs have been launched nationwide in an attempt to reduce racial/ethnic and socio-demographic disparities in cancer care, but few have evaluated outcomes in the prostate cancer setting. The National Cancer Institute-funded Chicago Patient Navigation Research Program (C-PNRP) aims to implement and evaluate the efficacy of a patient navigation intervention for predominantly low-income minority patients with an abnormal prostate cancer screening test at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Chicago.

Community Health Workers: A Front Line For Primary Care?, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

Among the potential changes invoked in discussions on health system transformation, a need to revitalize primary care remains paramount. One way of doing this, most agree, is to move more in the direction of team-based care. Professionals such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners may be able to ease some of the physician’s clinical care load, but some populations also need help accessing services and basic health education in a familiar setting. Enter the community health worker (CHW), known by many titles and playing a variety of roles, who comes from the community he or she is serving and therefore …

Who Tended To Continue Smoking After Cancer Diagnosis: The National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2008, Tung-Sung Tseng, Hui-Yi Lin, Sarah Moody-Thomas, Michelle Martin, Ted Chen

School of Public Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: It has been estimated that there are approximately 12 million cancer survivors in the United States. Continued smoking after a cancer diagnosis is linked to adverse effects among cancer survivors on overall survival, treatment effectiveness, and quality of life. Little is known about who is more likely to quit smoking after his/her cancer diagnosis. The objective of this study is to evaluate factors associated with smoking cessation in cancer survivors, which to date has not been well studied. METHOD: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2008 surveys were used in this study. A total of 2,374 cancer …

Are Dutch Patients Willing To Be Seen By A Physician Assistant Instead Of A Medical Doctor?, Luppo Kuilman, Roos M.B. Nieweg, Cees P. Van Der Schans, Jaap H. Strijbos, Roderick S. Hooker

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background

The employment of physician assistants (PAs) is a strategy to improve access to care. Since the new millennium, a handful of countries have turned to PAs as a means to bridge the growing gap between the supply and demand of medical services. However, little is known about this new workforce entity from the patient’s perspective. The objective of this study was to assess the willingness of Dutch patients to be treated by a PA or a medical doctor (MD) under various time constraints and semi-urgent medical scenarios.

Methods

A total of 450 Dutch adults were recruited to act as …

Stubborn, Persistent, Dangerous C.Difficile Infections. Is Improvement Possible?, Sara Townsend

Master of Science in Healthcare Quality and Safety Capstone Presentations

C.difficile also known as C.diff or CDI has developed into a dangerous infection for the United States’ health care system. While much work has been done to improve C.diff rates, health care teams have not been successful in reducing C.difficile infections. Many studies have focused on the mode of transmission of C.difficle, yet there still is not consensus on understanding how this infection is spread. Bryn Mawr Hospital, a community hospital in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pa, has struggled to improve their C.diff rates like their peers throughout the country. While their infection rates for C.diff are …

Effect Of Food Security And Federal Food Assistance Participation On Household Availability And Recorded Preschool Child Consumption Of Sugar Sweetened Beverages And 100% Fruit Juice, Katherine A. Yarbrough

Master's Theses

Sugar sweetened beverage consumption is on the rise in the United States, particularly among children. However, the impact of household food security and federal food assistance participation on beverage habits has not been extensively analyzed. This paper sought to fill the current gap in literature on household beverage availability and recorded preschool child consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and 100% fruit juice based on food security levels and status of federal food assistance participation. For this thesis, SSB are beverages that have added sugar and include fruit drinks, sodas, sports drinks, syrups, flavored milks, and teas. Baseline data from …

Are Maternal Child Health Outcomes Affected By Adequacy Of Prenatal Care In Montgomery County, Oh?, Amy Rouse

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Prenatal Care has been recommended by the World Health Organization for all pregnant women in order to improve health outcomes of the mother and the child. However, recommendations for the number of visits required to provide adequate health care and improve outcomes continue to be debated. Understanding if adequate prenatal care is improving maternal child outcomes is essential before making these recommendations. This research aims to determine if in Montgomery County, OH the adequacy of prenatal care influenced gestational age at birth, birth weight, breastfeeding rate, rate of cesarean sections, and smoking cessation rates.

Methods: De-indentified birth data was …

College Drinking: A Call To Physicians, Shawn Sorrel, Hatim A. Omar

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

The aim of this paper was to review literature related to prevalence of drinking on college campuses and current prevention practices targeting this population. This paper focuses on current data surrounding alcohol use and misuse. It further discusses strategies which have been successful to prevent alcohol abuse. Finally, it discusses the need for further research to determine the role of the physician in alcohol prevention at university student health services.

Missed Opportunities For Diagnosis And Treatment Of Diabetes, Hypertension, And Hypercholesterolemia In A Mexican American Population, Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, 2003-2008, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Kristina Vatcheva, Susan T. Laing, Monir Hossain, M Hossein Rahbar, Craig Hanis, H Shelton Brown, Anne R. Rentfro, Belinda M. Reininger, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical & Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications

Introduction

Diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia are common chronic diseases among Hispanics, a group projected to comprise 30% of the US population by 2050. Mexican Americans are the largest ethnically distinct subgroup among Hispanics. We assessed the prevalence of and risk factors for undiagnosed and untreated diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia among Mexican Americans in Cameron County, Texas.

Methods

We analyzed cross-sectional baseline data collected from 2003 to 2008 in the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, a randomly selected, community-recruited cohort of 2,000 Mexican American adults aged 18 or older, to assess prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia; to assess the extent to …

Carrs Surveillance Study: Design And Methods To Assess Burdens From Multiple Perspectives, Manisha Nair, Mohammed K. Ali, Vamadevan S. Ajay, Roopa Shivashankar, Viswanathan Mohan, Rajendra Pradeepa, Mohan Deepa, Hassan Mehmood Khan, Muhammad Masood Kadir, Zafar Fatmi, Srinath Srinath Reddy, Nikhil Tandon, Km Venkat Narayan, Dorairaj Prabhakaran

Community Health Sciences

Background: Cardio-metabolic diseases (CMDs) are a growing public health problem, but data on incidence, trends, and costs in developing countries is scarce. Comprehensive and standardised surveillance for non-communicable diseases was recommended at the United Nations High-level meeting in 2011.
Aims: To develop a model surveillance system for CMDs and risk factors that could be adopted for continued assessment of burdens from multiple perspectives in South-Asian countries.
Design: Hybrid model with two cross-sectional serial surveys three years apart to monitor trend, with a three-year prospective follow-up of the first cohort.Sites: Three urban settings (Chennai and New Delhi in India; Karachi in …

Utilization Of A Metabolic Syndrome Index In Evaluating The Life In Balance Lifestyle Intervention For Prevention Of Type 2 Diabetes Among Urban American Indians And Alaska Natives, Hongbin Jin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: A myriad of diabetes prevention programs modeled on the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) are carried out worldwide to fight against the current diabetes pandemic. The percentage of weight reduction is a widely used indicator to evaluate diabetes prevention programs. However, weight change alone may not fully reflect the efficacy of lifestyle intervention. A metabolic syndrome index is a promising novel scale for evaluation of diabetes prevention programs because it is a systematic, comprehensive, and stable indicator that reflects the metabolic risk reduction for diabetes and its complications at multiple levels and dimensions.

Methods: A total of 22 overweight and …

Identifying And Correcting Health Hazards In The Home: A Pilot Test Among Homes In Clark County, Nevada, Sabrina La Monica

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Nevada Healthy Homes Partnership (NVHHP) is collaboration between University of Nevada - Las Vegas (UNLV), the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD), and other public and private housing authorities and health agencies throughout Clark County, Nevada. The primary mission of the NVHHP is to improve the health of Nevada residents, particularly those in disadvantaged communities, by identifying and addressing conditions in the home environment. For this study, a program created by the NVHHP, entitled "Nevada Healthy Homes" (hereafter, Healthy Homes) was piloted. Home health and risk assessments were conducted in 52 homes, with one or more interventions being provided to …

A Comparison Of Individual Versus Community Influences On Youth Smoking Behaviours: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study, Anna M. Adachi-Mejia, Heather A. Carlos, Ethan M. Berke, Susanne E. Tanski, James Sargent

Dartmouth Scholarship

Objectives: To compare individual with community risk factors for adolescent smoking. Design: A cross-sectional observational study with multivariate analysis.Setting: National telephone survey.Participants: 3646 US adolescents aged 13–18 years in 2007 recruited through a random digit-dial survey.

How The Supreme Court's Medicaid Decision May Affect Health Centers: An Early Estimate, Katherine J. Hayes, Peter Shin, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

The nation's federally funded health centers are the principal source of primary health care for medically underserved populations. In CY 2011, more than 1,200 health centers, operating in more than 8,500 urban and rural locations, served 20.2 million patients, 36 percent of whom were uninsured and 93 percent of whom had family incomes below twice the federal poverty level. Federal grants provide core support to health centers, but Medicaid represents the largest single health center financing mechanism, accounting for 39 percent of revenues. Medicaid revenue growth allows health centers to preserve their core grant funding to reach uninsured patients while …

Influence Of Obesity, Race And Gender On Cardiac Catheterization After Stress Testing, Robert Finkelhor

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Female gender and black race have been associated with lower use of cardiac resources however; these patients also have a higher prevalence of obesity. Therefore we determined their relation to cardiac catheterization after stress testing. Clinical characteristics were determined for all patients stress tested over one year at a safety-net, urban, teaching hospital. Subsequent cardiac catheterizations were identified. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the factors associated with catheterization. 3644 patients underwent stress testing and 484 (13%) underwent cardiac catheterization. The population was 58% female, 33% black, 53% were obese and 32% lacked insurance. Obese patients were mostly …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Food Safety Knowledge, Beliefs And Practices In Hispanic Families With Young Children In Nebraska, Kristen M. Stenger

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This mixed methods study addresses food safety for Hispanic families with young children in Nebraska. A convergent mixed methods design was used, where qualitative and quantitative data were collected in parallel, analyzed separately and then merged in analysis and interpretation. A quantitative food safety knowledge survey (n=90, 52 from focus groups, 38 from piloting the survey), was used to assess the FightBac!™ concepts: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill, and two additional concepts: foods that increase risk, and groups at increased risk. Qualitative focus groups explored food safety handling beliefs and practices through the lens of the Health Belief Model. Focus groups …

Food Deserts And Their Association With Obesity And Diabetes In Ohio, Alexis Holmes, Detra Thompson

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Objective- The purpose of this study was to explore the association of food access, and availability, on prevalence of diabetes and obesity in Ohio census tracts designated as food deserts.

Methods- County and census tract-level data were combined from the USDA Food Environment Atlas and USDA Food Desert Locator respectively. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Non-normally distributed variables were assessed using the Mann-Whitney nonparametric U-test and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Significance was considered at the p

Results- The mean rate of obesity and diabetes in Ohio in food deserts are 29.5% and 10.7%, when …

The Convergence Of Science And Culture: Developing A Framework For Diabetes Education In Tribal Communities, Michelle Chino Dr, Carolee Dodge Francis, Lemyra Debruyn, Lynn Short, Dawn Satterfield

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

In an unprecedented effort to address the epidemic of diabetes in tribal communities, the Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools project brought together a group of individuals from eight tribal colleges and three federal agencies to develop a diabetes prevention curriculum for American Indian and Alaska Native school children. The curriculum incorporates Western and Native science with culturally responsive teaching techniques. Both the project and its evaluation process have reached beyond conventional bounds to acknowledge fundamental issues of tribal culture, history and health and the integration of science, culture, and community. This article will discuss the challenges and rewards of the …

Racial Inequality In The Valuation Of Health Outcomes Expressed By The 1992 Acs Guidelines For Prostate Cancer Screening, C. A. Beam

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

In 1992, the American Cancer Society (ACS) recommended annual screening for prostate cancer for men 50 and older using PSA. In this article, I introduce a method to use race and age-specific PSA accuracy data to evaluate differences in the valuation of outcomes by race and age that were expressed by the ACS guidelines. Using this new method, it can be concluded that the guidelines implied a 4-fold greater valuation was assigned to screening young white males with prostate cancer than the value that was assigned to young black males with cancer. Future implementation of guidelines for screening and testing …

Assessing Behavioral Health Risks, Health Conditions, And Preventive Health Practices Among American Indians/Alaska Natives In Nevada, Gwen Hosey, Shirley A. Llorens-Chen, Fares Qeadan, Daryl Crawford, Charlton Wilson, Wei Yang

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey was administered to American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) adults in Nevada to determine whether health disparities exist between AI/ANs and the state’s general population. Results showed AI/ANs were 1.5 times more likely to smoke cigarettes, 3.5 times more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke, 3.2 times more likely to lack leisure-time physical activity, 9.7 times more likely to report fair/poor health status, and 7.7 times more likely to have a disability. In addition, AI/ANs were more likely to have current asthma (OR=5.0) and diabetes (OR=1.8). AI/AN women were 4.8 times as …

Developing A Preference Assessment Tool For Use Among Minority And Low Literacy Primary Care Patients, Sarah T. Hawley, Maria Jibaja-Weiss, Partha Krishnamurthy, Sally W. Vernon, Natoshia Hebert, Robert Volk

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Incorporating patients’ preferences into healthcare decisions has been identified as one mechanism for reducing health disparities. Some research suggests that providers need to tailor medical recommendations to the preferences of their patients. Yet there are few tools to facilitate clarification of preferences for health services. This paper reports the process of testing an innovative preference elicitation technique—conjoint analysis—among minorities and low literacy patients using the example of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. CRC screening exemplifies preference-sensitive healthcare as there exist several screening options. However, screening rates among minorities are low. Better methods for preference assessment could improve patient-provider communication and increase …

Concepts Of Health In Older Urban African American Women With Chronic Health Conditions: A Focus Group Study, Priscilla T. Ryder, Linda Ellis, Doshia Harris, Anita Ohmit, Kathleen M. Russell, Amber Scott

Scholarship and Professional Work – COPHS

The purpose of this report is to relate the findings of the study ‘Concepts of Health in Older Urban African American Women with Chronic Health Conditions.’ This investigation, undertaken at the request of the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, Inc. (IMHC) is collaboration between IMHC, Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, and the community partner, the Black Nurses Association of Indianapolis, Inc. (BNA). The purpose of the study is to gain an understanding of the ways older African American women from medically underserved areas of Indianapolis characterize the various parts of the concept of health; how they understand and …

Perceptions Of The Food Shopping Environment Are Associated With Greater Consumption Of Fruits And Vegetables, Jonathan L. Blitstein, Jeremy Snider, W. Douglas Evans

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Objective

The present study examined whether characteristics such as quality, selection and convenience are associated with dietary intake of fruits and vegetables independent of perceived costs in an inner-city, low-income population.

Design

Secondary analysis of baseline data from a social marketing intervention designed to change household dietary practices among parents of 3- to 7-year-old children.

Setting

A community sample drawn from six low-income, primarily minority neighbourhoods in Chicago, IL, USA.

Subjects From the parent study, 526 respondents completed the baseline survey and were eligible for inclusion. Of this number, 495 provided complete data on sociodemographic characteristics, fruit and vegetable consumption, …

The Association Of Diet With Affect, Patricia Ann Ford

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids have been associated with mental health yet few studies have examined whether foods protective or deleterious for cardiovascular disease affect mood. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between consumption of foods typical of Mediterranean and Western diets and fatty acids with positive and negative affect.

Adventist church attendees residing in North America completed a validated food frequency questionnaire in 2002-6 as part of the Adventist Health Study-2. A subset of these participants ^=9,121) completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) in the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study conducted in 2006-7. …

The Effect Of Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis On Subjects With Metabolic Syndrome, Samer Hammoudeh

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Several criteria establish the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, including high waist circumference, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides and glucose and above normal blood pressure. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is on the rise following the rise in obesity across the globe. Qatar, a country in the Arabian Peninsula shares the burden of obesity with recent studies showing prevalences of'---61% among women and —39% among men. These studies found that metabolic syndrome is more common among women. Physical activity helps reduce visceral …

Effects Of Photovoice On Youth Perceptions Of Healthy Food Access In The Built Environment, Sharlene A. Gozalians

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Minority communities are at a higher risk for chronic diseases related to obesity because they lack access to stores that have affordable, fresh, nutritious foods that are necessary for a healthy diet. Photovoice can serve as a tool to engage youth in positive health behaviors and behavior change. Healthy food access has been analyzed based on nutrition, yet there is a lack of literature as to what factors enable and prevent access to healthy foods.

Methodology. The purpose of this study was to determine if a photovoice intervention would create a difference in perception of food access, empowerment …

Surveillance Of Infectious Diseases Among American Indians And Alaska Natives, Jeanne Bertolli, Amy Roussel, Jennie Harris, Dan Lentine, Julia Gable, Ron Fichtner, Joann Kauffman, Michael Landen, Ralph T. Bryan

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

We assessed participation in public health surveillance networks among Indian Health Service, tribal, and urban (I/T/U) Indian health facilities for a group of infectious diseases, and barriers to participation. We conducted surveys of I/T/U facilities and key informant interviews with representatives of tribal, urban, and national American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) agencies. For the surveys, frequencies and percentages of responses in each response category were calculated. Qualitative methods were used to analyze interview content. The proportion of facilities participating in case reporting is suboptimal across facility types and diseases. Even when reporting is occurring, there is little feedback to tribal agencies. …

Family Breast Cancer Education: A Model For African American Women, Frankie D. Powell, Edwin D. Bell, Jamilla Shepperson, Thomas Coaxum

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The purpose of this study, funded by the American Cancer Society, was to increase knowledge and understanding, i.e., the willingness and ability to discuss, of breast cancer in southern minority women and their families. A family model of health education guided the research questions. (a) To what extent will an action research intervention increase knowledge about the causes and treatment of breast cancer in minority women? (b) To what extent will an action research intervention increase willingness to talk with family members? The t-test analysis of a 67-item, self- administered survey indicated significant increases in knowledge of cancer and in …