Public Health Commons^™

Child Obesity And The Interaction Of Family And Neighborhood Socioeconomic Context, Ashley W. Kranjac, Justin T. Denney, Rachel T. Kimbro, Brady S. Moffett, Keila N. Lopez

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The literature on neighborhoods and child obesity links contextual conditions to risk, assuming that if place matters, it matters in a similar way for everyone in those places. We explore the extent to which distinctive neighborhood types give rise to social patterning that produces variation in the odds of child obesity. We leverage geocoded electronic medical records for a diverse sample of over 135,000 children aged 2 to 12 and latent profile modeling to characterize places into distinctive neighborhood contexts. Multilevel models with cross-level interactions between neighborhood type and family socioeconomic standing (SES) reveal that children with different SES, but …

Clinician Identified Barriers To Treatment For Individuals In Appalachia With Opioid Use Disorder Following Release From Prison: A Social Ecological Approach, Amanda M. Bunting, Carrie B. Oser, Michele Staton, Katherine S. Eddens, Hannah K. Knudsen

Sociology Faculty Publications

Background: The non-medical use of opioids has reached epidemic levels nationwide, and rural areas have been particularly affected by increasing rates of overdose mortality as well as increases in the prison population. Individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) are at increased risk for relapse and overdose upon reentry to the community due to decreased tolerance during incarceration. It is crucial to identify barriers to substance use disorder treatment post-release from prison because treatment can be particularly difficult to access in resource-limited rural Appalachia.

Methods: A social ecological framework was utilized to examine barriers to community-based substance use treatment among individuals …

Maternal Immune Activation (Mia) In Mice: A Study To Phenotype Asd-Related Communication Behaviors And Analyze Maternal Health Outcomes In The Us, Komalpreet Gulati

Honors Scholar Theses

Core symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) include deficits in social/communicative behaviors, and repetitive/stereotyped behaviors. Mouse models are a highly established paradigm used to study the phenotypic deficits that result from various inducible genotypic or environmental risk factors for ASD. Previous studies have demonstrated a link between maternal immune activation (MIA) and ASD-like behaviors in mouse models. In this model, the maternal immune system is activated during pregnancy by injecting the viral mimic poly(I:C). The resulting offspring are phenotyped and analyzed with regards to their communicative behaviors.

Previous studies have demonstrated that male pups born to dams with immune activation …

School‐Level Body Mass Index Shapes Children's Weight Trajectories, Ashley W. Kranjac

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

BACKGROUND

Embedded within children's weight trajectories are complex environmental contexts that influence obesity risk. As such, the normative environment of body mass index (BMI) within schools may influence children's weight trajectories as they age from kindergarten to fifth grade.

METHODS

I use 5 waves of the ECLS‐K—Kindergarten Class 1998‐1999 data and a series of multilevel growth models to examine whether attending schools with higher overall BMI influences children's weight status over time.

RESULTS

Results show that, net of child, family, and school sociodemographic characteristics, children who attend schools with higher rates of obesity have increased weight compared to children who …

Racial Disparities In Breast Cancer Survival: The Mediating Effects Of Macro-Social Context And Social Network Factors, Ganga Vijayasiri, Yamile Molina, Ifeanyi B. Chukwudozie, Silvia Tejeda, Heather Pauls, Garth Rauscher, Richard T. Campbell, Richard B. Warnecke

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

ABSTRACT

This study attempts to clarify the associations between macro-social and social network factors and continuing racial disparities in breast cancer survival. The study improves on prior methodologies by using a neighborhood disadvantage measure that assesses both economic and social disadvantage and an ego-network measurement tool that assesses key social network characteristics. Our population-based sample included 786 breast cancer patients (nHWhite=388; nHBlack=398) diagnosed during 2005-2008 in Chicago, IL. The data included census-derived macro-social context, self-reported social network, self-reported demographic and medically abstracted health measures. Mortality data from the National Death Index (NDI) were used to determine 5-year survival.

Based on …

The Challenges Of India’S Rising Breast Cancer Epidemic, Brigette Stickney

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

India is currently undergoing rapid urbanization, which is greatly impacting Indian citizens’ health. One of the rising concerns due to the drastic lifestyle and environmental changes that are results of urbanization is the issue of breast cancer. Breast cancer diagnosis rates are rising exponentially, and breast cancer has moved its way up to be the most common cancer in India. Breast cancer mortality rates in India are also some of the worst in the world. This paper analyses the social, mental, economic, geographic, and physical challenges that are present for women diagnosed with cancer in India. It assesses how they …

Trust, Access, And Adaptation To Needs: The Role Of Community-Based Promoters In Health Insurance Delivery In Gujarat, India, Lauryn Stafford

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The research question this study addresses is: How do community-based promoters contribute to the delivery and utilization of health insurance among marginalized populations in India? To address this question, the successes and difficulties experienced by VimoSEWA community-based insurance promoters, called aagewans, were investigated through field visits and personal interviews in Ahmedabad and nearby rural districts in Gujarat. VimoSEWA’s insurance delivery model is an appropriate topic of investigation for this study because its beneficiaries are self-employed women with limited prior access to financial protection. Both aagewans and insurance members were interviewed during this study to develop a comprehensive understanding of the …

Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome In India: A Socio-Cultural Perspective, Hannah Wickham

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study examines the ways in which cultural determinants affect the health-seeking, diagnosis and treatment process of women with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) as well as the underlying socio-cultural causes of the illness. Often coined as a “lifestyle disease”, PCOS is becoming a growing concern of physicians and women alike as its prevalence is on the rise with no signs of slowing down. Lifestyle, stigmas/taboos, PCOS’s effect on identity, and quality of life are all areas that are examined throughout this paper. A mixture of patients’ and doctors’ perspectives on PCOS were gathered throughout a three-week time period in …

The Social Provision Of Healthcare To Migrants In The Us And In China, Van C. Tran, Katharine M. Donato

Publications and Research

This article develops a comparative analysis of healthcare provision to migrants in the US and in China. It proceeds in three parts. First, we begin by describing the growth of the unauthorized population and trace the evolution of social provision of healthcare to immigrants, highlighting the restrictive nature of federal social provisions and greater autonomy of state and local governments in redefining eligibility criteria in the US. Second, we examine the impact of legal status on healthcare access and utilization among Mexicans, using original data from the 2007 Hispanic Healthcare Survey and the Mexican Migration Project. We find that unauthorized …

Measuring Women's Empowerment In Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploratory And Confirmatory Factor Analyses Of The Demographic And Health Surveys, Ibitola O. Asaolu, Halimatou Alaofè, Jayleen K. L. Gunn, Akosua K. Adu, Amanda J. Monroy, John E. Ehiri, Mary H. Hayden, Kacey C. Ernst

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background: Women's status and empowerment influence health, nutrition, and socioeconomic status of women and their children. Despite its benefits, however, research on women's empowerment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is limited in scope and geography. Empowerment is variably defined and data for comparison across regions is often limited. The objective of the current study was to identify domains of empowerment from a widely available data source, Demographic and Health Surveys, across multiple regions in SSA.

Methods: Demographic and Health Surveys from nineteen countries representing four African regions were used for the analysis. A total of 26 indicators across different dimensions (economic, …

Policy Of Current Hospital Translation Services And Recommendations For Future Adjustments For Spanish-Speaking Patients, Isidora Rose Beach

Baker Scholar Projects

It is a seldom-discussed fact that English-speakers in America enjoy a quality of health care that is not necessarily afforded to non-native speakers receiving care at the same facilities. Policy regarding what is required of health institutions in terms of translation services is exceedingly vague, and implementation of this policy is inconsistent. This lack of guidance makes it possible for many patients needing interpreters to fall through the cracks. This project will examine current policy guiding interpretive services in the U.S., and will recommend more specific guidelines that would improve quality of care for limited English proficiency individuals. This project …

Pornography As A Public Health Issue: Promoting Violence And Exploitation Of Children, Youth, And Adults, Elisabeth Taylor

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The pornography industry is expanding exponentially as a result of ongoing technological advances. The ability to stream videos over the internet and the ubiquity of the smart phone have meant that pornography producers are able to use algorithms to target potential consumers, to cultivate new sexual tastes and to deliver content to a more diverse audience over mobile devices. The advent of virtual reality pornography with interactive sex toys and sex robots imbued with artificial intelligence promises to unleash a further step-change in the extent to which pornography influences ‘real-world’ sexual culture. The critical analysis of pornography undertaken over decades …

Policy Of Current Hospital Translation Services And Recommendations For Future Adjustments For Spanish-Speaking Patients, Isidora Rose Beach

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Where Trying To Conceive Becomes A Community Effort: A Digital Ethnography Of Online Infertility Forums, Megan Burns

Sociology Honors Papers

Online forums for women using in vitro fertilization (IVF), or similar assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), provide a useful setting to further evaluate and understand women’s expectations of motherhood, the relationship infertile women have with physicians and biomedicine, and their interactions on the forums. Some critics of ARTs consider them a tool of oppression in a pronatalist state. The pressure and desire to become a biological mother leads the women with access to these technologies to use them regardless. Through digital ethnographic research on four online ART forums, this research examines the intersection of altruism and self-interest in the ways forum-users …

The Predictors Of Juvenile Recidivism: Testimonies Of Adult Students 18 Years And Older Exiting From Alternative Education, La Toshia Palmer

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive, qualitative study was to identify and describe the importance of the predictors of juvenile recidivism and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent/avoid juvenile recidivism as perceived by previously detained, arrested, convicted, and/or incarcerated adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education in Northern California. A second purpose was to explore the types of support provided by alternative schools and the perceived importance of the support to avoid recidivism according to adult students 18 years of age and older exiting from alternative education.

Methodology: This qualitative, descriptive research design identified …

Healthcare Coverage In The United States And New York Metropolitan Area, 2009 - 2015, Andrew S. Alger

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines trends regarding health insurance coverage in the United States along lines of sex, race/ethnicity, place of birth, and poverty status between 2009 and 2015.

Methods: This study uses the American Community Survey PUMS (Public User Microdata Series) for the years 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2015. These datasets were downloaded from the IPUMS USA website hosted by the University of Minnesota. The variables used in the study describe these populations in terms of sex, the four major race/ethnic groups (non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, Latino, and Asian), being born either within the United States or abroad, and being …

Evaluation Of Disparities In Healthcare Experiences Between Racial Identities And Age Cohorts, Christopher Ruckman, Dnp, Mba, Msn, Rn, Cen

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Background: Healthcare consumers have their own perspectives and expectations of what should occur during an encounter of care; these unmet expectations create healthcare disparities. However, there is limited data regarding healthcare experiences among racial and aging groups.

Objectives: To compare the physical and emotional responses of healthcare experiences among racial/ethnic and aged cohorts in the United States.

Methods: Applying a descriptive-correlational design, secondary data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System related to healthcare experiences among racial groups (White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian) and aged cohorts (18-39, 40-54, and 55- 69 years) were assessed.

Results: In the sample, there …

“Arica Tiene Vih, ¿Y Tú?” El Rol Del Test Rápido De Vih En El Diagnóstico Oportuno Para Jóvenes De La Comuna De Arica, Chile / "Arica Has Hiv, And You?" The Role Of The Rapid Hiv Test In The Timely Diagnosis For Young People In The District Of Arica, Chile, Julia Zigman

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Research question: How is the rapid HIV test useful in assuring access to timely diagnosis of HIV for young adults in the city of Arica, Chile?

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the rapid HIV test as a means of increasing access to timely diagnosis of HIV among those aged 18 – 29 in the community of Arica, which participated in a pilot of the rapid test in early 2018. The study sets out to evaluate the installation of this pilot to situate the role of the rapid test in Chile’s HIV landscape. Further objectives …

Surveying Access To Healthcare In Kisumu And Siaya Counties, Kenya, Quinn Alsheimer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study aims to understand the barriers that many Kenyans face towards accessing healthcare. This study was conducted in Kisumu and Siaya Counties, Kenya. Kisumu is an urban environment, whereas Siaya is a rural environment. Throughout both counties, areas with presumably low access to healthcare were surveyed. In Kisumu County, surveys were conducted in three informal settlements: Nyalenda, Obunga, and Manyatta. In Siaya County, surveys were conducted in Simenya Village.

This study has shown that financial accessibility is a large barrier to healthcare throughout the study population, as the majority of study participants felt that healthcare in Kenya is not …

“Religion Is Religion; My Life Is My Life”: Religious Influences On Family Planning Decisions In Kapchorwa District, Uganda, Sarah Mathys

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This report seeks to understand the influence that religion has on family planning decisions in Kapchorwa District, in eastern Uganda. Increased uptake of family planning has significant impliations for sustainability and development in Uganda as a whole. As a district with a high unmet need for faily planning, Kapchorwa serves as an important case study. Because over 99% of Uganda’s population reports a religious affiliation, and because literature on family planning claims conservative spirituality as a major cause of low uptake, religion is a natural lens through which to study family planning perceptions and utilization.

Through focus groups and key …

Family Impact Seminar 2018: The Kids Are Not All Right: Policy Options To Address Youth Trauma In Massachusetts, Denise Hines, Laurie Ross Ph.D, Marianne Sarkis Ph.D

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Family Impact Seminars are a series of annual seminars, briefing reports, and discussion sessions that provide up-to-date, solution-oriented research on current issues for state legislators and their aides. The seminars provide objective, nonpartisan research on current issues and do not lobby for particular policies. Seminar participants discuss policy options and identify common ground where it exists.

The Kids are NOT All Right: Policy Options to Address Youth Trauma in Massachusetts is the ninth Massachusetts Family Impact Seminar. Today’s seminar is designed to emphasize a family perspective in policymaking on issues related to early intervention in childhood trauma, sex trafficking and …

Contributions Of Mean And Shape Of Blood Pressure Distribution To Worldwide Trends And Variations In Raised Blood Pressure: A Pooled Analysis Of 1018 Population-Based Measurement Studies With 88.6 Million Participants, Majid Ezzati, Bin Zhou, James Bentham, Mariachiara Di Cesare, Honor Bixby, Goodarz Danaei, Kaveh Hajifathalian, Cristina Taddei, Rodrigo M. Carrillo-Larco, Shirin Djalalinia, Shahab Khatibzadeh, Charles Lugero, Niloofar Peykari, Wan Zhu Zhang, James Bennett, Ver Bilano, Gretchen A. Stevens, Melanie J. Cowan, Leanne M. Riley, Zhengming Chen, Ian R. Hambleton, Rod T. Jackson, Andre Pascal Kengne, Young Ho Khang, Avula Laxmaiah, Jing Liu, Reza Malekzadeh, Hannelore K. Neuhauser, Maroje Sorić, Gregor Starc, Johan Sundström, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Con Burns, Mark Woodward

Publications

Background: Change in the prevalence of raised blood pressure could be due to both shifts in the entire distribution of blood pressure (representing the combined effects of public health interventions and secular trends) and changes in its high-blood-pressure tail (representing successful clinical interventions to control blood pressure in the hypertensive population). Our aim was to quantify the contributions of these two phenomena to the worldwide trends in the prevalence of raised blood pressure. Methods: We pooled 1018 population-based studies with blood pressure measurements on 88.6 million participants from 1985 to 2016. We first calculated mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean …

Improving Canadian Indigenous Health: Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease, Sukhmeet S. Sachal

Western Research Forum

Background:

This abstract explores improving health outcomes for Canada’s Indigenous peoples. The increased prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes in this population makes this a public health problem because diabetes has long-term complications that affect the cardiovascular system and can result in disability and premature death.

Methods:

A literature review using specific search terms was performed to find 36 relevant articles. Search databases for the primary and secondary information were CINAHL and PubMED, respectively.

Results:

The results were classified into five groups: (1) Previous Genetic Protection; (2) Current Day Risk; (3) Diet; (4) Barriers in Developing and Maintaining …

Supporting Medicaid In Virginia, Scott Burns

Exigence

This report analyzes Medicaid in Virginia, the needs-based social health insurance program providing health coverage to children, pregnant women, working parents, the disabled, and elderly who cannot afford health costs on their own. It supports the value of the Medicaid program to these beneficiaries’ long term health, the healthcare sector, cost control and Virginia’s economy. Additionally, it analyzes healthcare policy looking at what effects the Affordable Care Act has had in improving healthcare access and what effects healthcare reform under president-elect Donald Trump’s administration and the Republican controlled 115^th United States Congress might have targeting healthcare cost. Ultimately this …

Addressing Barriers To Quality Of Underutilized Commodities And Services For Prevention And Management Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia In Kenya, Charity Ndwiga, Pooja Sripad, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

The Ending Eclampsia Project seeks to increase access to quality, underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention, detection, and management of pre-eclampsia and eclampsia (PE/E), including promoting correct use of antihypertensive drugs and magnesium sulphate (MgSO4). This final report details the findings of a qualitative study that explored health system bottlenecks that prevent access to quality maternal and newborn health care in two Kenyan counties, Kakamega and Kitui, with a specific focus on PE/E. The study explored policy implementation gaps in Kenya’s newly devolved county government structure, to:1) assess the policy and health system environment for PE/E diagnosis, referral, and …

Water Scarcity: Sudan, Catherine Priebe

Global Issues in Public Health

Water scarcity is an environmental global problem that will only become more pressing as time goes on. It is a public health issue that affects every continent, although certain areas of the world are facing more serious water scarcity than others such as Sudan. Populations that are more vulnerable to the effects of water scarcity are the poor, women, children, and those living in areas of political unrest. For example, South Sudan’s urban water systems have been damaged during recent warfare. Water scarcity is also an issue that disproportionately affects women who are forced from a young age to travel …

Retrospective Cohort Study: Clinical Presentation And Outcomes Of Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia At Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya, Charity Ndwiga, Alfred Osoti, Pooja Sripad, George Odwe, Omondi Ogutu, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

Pre-eclampsia has two distinct subtypes: early onset pre-eclampsia, which occurs before 34 weeks of gestation, and late onset pre-eclampsia, which occurs after 34 weeks. Few studies examine and compare early and late onset pre-eclampsia in a low- and middle-income country setting. This study’s goal was to establish a profile of patients with hypertensive disorders in pregnancy, especially pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, over a two-year period. At Kenya’s national referral hospital, clinical presentation at admission was examined, as was management of complications, along with maternal and newborn health outcomes in the hospital’s maternity unit, to ascertain any differences in health outcomes for …

Exploring Barriers And Opportunities For Pre-Eclampsia And Eclampsia Prevention And Management In Ethiopia, Pooja Sripad, Hussein Ismail, Amy Dempsey, Karen Kirk, Charlotte E. Warren

Reproductive Health

The Ending Eclampsia Project is a five-year cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Population Council, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Health Ethiopia, which seeks to expand access to quality underutilized interventions and commodities for the prevention and treatment of pre-eclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E). This report presents qualitative findings from formative research conducted to: 1) assess the policy and health systems environment related to PE/E prevention and management, 2) identify potential bottlenecks in the supply chain, 3) investigate PE/E knowledge, attitudes, and practices at policy, health system, and community levels, 4) describe the barriers …

Project Spraoi: The Effectiveness Of A Nutrition And Physical Activity Intervention On The Dietry Intake, Dietary Patterns, Nutritional Knowledge And Markers Of Health Of Irish Primary School Children, Alison Merrotsy

PhDs

Aim: To implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition and physical activity (PA) intervention (Project Spraoi) on dietary intake (DI), dietary patterns (DP), nutritional knowledge (NK), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), blood pressure (BP) and markers of health of Irish children in one primary school in Cork. The relationship between DP and NK, CRF, BP and anthropometric data will also be examined.

Design: Cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Food diary, NK questionnaire and 550m walk/run test were used to assess DI, DP, NK and CRF, respectively. BP, body mass index (BMI) and waist to height ratio (WHtR) were also calculated.

Setting: Two …

1.5/2nd Generation Vietnamese-Americans And Their Health Beliefs And Attitudes, Theresa Dang

Pitzer Senior Theses

Vietnamese immigration is distinct from other Asian/Pacific Islander groups in its context – the bulk of Vietnamese immigration was not of educational, economic, or career opportunity, but a diaspora. After the Fall of Saigon during the Vietnam War, Vietnamese immigrants faced extreme adversities and trauma as they fled to neighboring countries. Understanding the context and history of Vietnamese immigration plays a huge role in the acculturation process, management of health, and ability to navigate institutions among these families. As these immigrant families learn to survive in a new country, they also must face and heal from the emotional, psychological, and …