Public Health Commons^™

Can You Float? Part 2 - Perceptions And Practice Of Lifejacket Use Among Young Adults, Kevin Moran Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Personal flotation devices (PFDs), commonly referred to as lifejackets, have been identified as an extremely effective form of drowning prevention and was identified as a critical distinct water competency by Stallman and colleagues (2017). In this second phase of the Can You Float? study, perceptions and practice of a range of lifejacket tasks among students (N = 40) with known water proficiency were examined. Participants estimated exertion levels before and after practical testing of six simulated survival tasks when wearing lifejackets. All participants completed a 25m sprint swim, 5-minute endurance swim, 5-minute float, and 25m partner assist but many …

Project Palmms (Physical Activity Levels And Family Medical Histories): An Undergraduate Sample, Pierre Alexander Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Physical inactivity has garnered significant attention as it is considered an emerging worldwide young adult problem. There is empirical evidence on predictors of low levels of physical activity (PA), such as an individual’s sex and/or socio-economic status. There are also other possible reasons for the decline in PA, such as an individual’s motivations and/or barriers for participation in physical activity and an individual’s understanding of their predisposition to chronic illnesses. This study seeks to identify perceptions of benefits/barriers to PA and motivating factors needed to increase physical activity in college populations. Methods: A survey gathering information on demographics, PA, …

A Qualitative Metasynthesis Of Published Research Exploring The Pregnancy And Resettlement Experience Among Refugee Women, Diana M. Kingsbury, Sheryl L. Chatfield

The Qualitative Report

The number of refugees and asylum seekers throughout the world continues to increase, leading to increasing challenges in meeting healthcare needs of these individuals. Women’s antenatal health is of particular concern due to their vulnerability to sexual violence and the substantial proportion of refugees consisting of women and girls of or nearing reproductive age. The purpose of this qualitative metasynthesis was to integrate and interpret findings from previously published research reports in which authors explored aspects of pregnancy among resettled refugee women. Following a systematic search process, we used Dedoose qualitative data analysis software to manage the process of extracting …

Triennial Scientific Review: Assisting Drowning Victims: Effective Water Rescue Equipment For Lay-Responders, Angela K. Beale-Tawfeeq

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The original question addressed in the scientific review was What is the most effective piece of rescue equipment for a lay responder to throw to a person in trouble in water? and the modified question was rephrased as What are the most effective types of aquatic rescue equipment for a layperson/bystander to use to rescue a drowning person? To thoroughly analyze the main question, the following sub-questions were examined: What are the most accurate and buoyant types of devices? What specific equipment is best for quick rescues? What specific equipment can be grasped most easily by drowning victims? This …

Economic Evaluation Of Concussion Programs In The State Of Idaho: The Collective Potential Of Prevention And Clinical Care, Susie Bergeron, Hilary Flint, Zeynep Hansen

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Concussion, or mild traumatic brain injury especially among young children, teenagers, and young adults, is a significant problem in Ada County, Idaho, and the United States. Although much has been learned about concussion, considerable controversy and gaps in knowledge still exist in many areas of research, leading to variation in concussion assessment, treatment and management protocols. Health systems can positively impact concussion outcomes through community education and outreach, and provision of timely, coordinated, evidence-based clinical care. Collectively, these measures serve to reduce concussion incidence (primary prevention), enable more timely recognition of concussion by parents, coaches, and teachers of youth athletes …

Intimate Partner Violence Among Expectant Adolescent Couples: Psychological And Relational Predictors And Sexual Risk, Jessica Lewis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent and tends to be bilateral in adolescent relationships. Expectant adolescent couples are at even higher risk. Using the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM), this study sought to: (1) describe the patterns of physical/sexual and psychological IPV victimization of women and men in expectant adolescent couples from pregnancy through twelve months postpartum; (2) examine the associations between psychosocial and relational factors during pregnancy and postpartum IPV; and (3) investigate the relationship between IPV victimization and later sexual risk across the perinatal period.

METHODS: Data were collected from pregnant adolescents and their male partners (N=296) recruited …

Betrayed Partners And Men With Poisoned Souls: Interview With A Former Sex Buyer In Germany, Ingeborg Kraus

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

"Disgusted With Myself": Examining The Risk Factors And Vulnerabilities Of Hostesses At Karaoke Tv Venues In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Glenn M. Miles, Daphne Alsiyao

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This exploratory study is one of a series of research projects interviewing survivors of sexual exploitation in southeast Asia. It assesses the risk factors and vulnerabilities of young women in Karaoke TV (KTV) venues in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This research study assesses the risk factors and vulnerabilities of young women in these venues. A questionnaire-based survey was administered to 50 participants to gain a holistic view of the lives of young women working in Karaoke TV (KTV) venues. The survey consisted of a series of questions pertaining to demographics, family background, prejudice and discrimination, sexual risk factors, substance abuse, sexual …

Can You Float? Part I - Perceptions And Practice Of Unsupported Flotation Competency Among Young Adults, Kevin Moran Ph.D.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The capacity to maintain the airway through buoyancy control when immersed in water is critical in preventing drowning (Stallman, Moran, Quan & Langendorfer, 2017). In this first phase of the Can you Float? study, perceived and real unsupported flotation competency of a group of students (n=37) with known water proficiency was examined. Using a modified version of Borgs Rating of Perceived exertion (RPE), participants were asked to estimate exertion levels before and after a practical test of five stationary floating tasks of increasing difficulty ranging from treading water to motionless floating. Most participants (82%) were able to tread water for …

Development Of The Resident Wellness Scale For Measuring Resident Wellness, R. Brent Stansfield, Dan Giang, Tsveti Markova

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Graduate medical education programs have a responsibility to monitor resident wellness. Residents are at risk of burnout, depression, and suicide. Burnout and depression are associated with poor patient care. Many existing tools measure burnout, depression, and general human well-being, but resident wellness is a distinct construct. We aimed to develop an instrument to measure resident wellness directly.

Methods: An expert panel from two purposefully different graduate medical education institutions generated a behavior- and experience-based model of resident wellness. The panel and resident leaders from both institutions generated 92 items, which were tested alongside anchor scales measuring burnout, depression, personality, …

Cancer Blog Narratives: The Experience Of Under-Fifty Women With Breast Cancer During Different Times After Diagnosis, Maria Luisa Martino, Anna Gargiulo, Daniela Lemmo, Giorgia Margherita

The Qualitative Report

The recent literature shows an increase of breast cancer in women under 50, however still few are the studies which analyse the impact of the disease in this specific target age. This study aims at exploring the most prevalent topics in Italian cancer blogs of women who have received a breast cancer diagnosis before the age of 50, in order to understand their experience of illness and the characteristics of women’s narrations at different times after diagnosis (1 year, 2 years, 3 years). We collected the textual corpus of 4 Italian breast cancer blogs and performed a thematic analysis. Five …

Essays In Applied Microeconomics, Lijuan Feng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1 studies the effect of body weight on labor market outcomes. Using longitudinal data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) from 1989 to 2011, and both instrumental variable and fixed effects estimation to control for the endogeneity of body weight, I examine the wage effect of BMI by gender, type of residence area, and occupation. Results from linear OLS regression show a positive relationship between body weight and income for males in both rural and urban areas and females in rural areas, while a negative one for females in urban areas. After controlling for the unobserved individual …

Strategies Employed By Community-Based Service Providers To Address Hiv-Associated Neurocognitive Challenges: A Qualitative Study, Renato M. Liboro, Sean B. Rourke, Francisco Ibanez-Carrasco, Andrew Easton, Daniel Pugh, Claudia Medina, Allan Rae, Paul A. Shuper, Lori E. Ross

Psychology Faculty Research

Background: HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders and other causes of neurocognitive challenges experienced by people living with HIV (PLWH) persist as public health concerns in developed countries. Consequently, PLWH who experience neurocognitive challenges increasingly require social support and mental health services from community-based providers in the HIV sector. Methods: Thirty-three providers from 22 AIDS service organizations across Ontario, Canada, were interviewed to determine the strategies they used to support PLWH experiencing neurocognitive difficulties. Thematic analysis was conducted to determine key themes from the interview data. Results: Three types of strategies were identified: (a) intrapersonal, (b) interpersonal, and (c) organizational. Intrapersonal strategies involved …

Friendly Schools Universal Bullying Prevention Intervention: Effectiveness With Secondary School Students, Donna Cross, Kevin C. Runions, Therese Shaw, Janice W. Y. Wong, Marilyn Campbell, Natasha Pearce, Sharyn Burns, Leanne Lester, Amy Barnes, Ken Resnicow

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Peer bullying in schools is a significant public health problem that contributes to poor health and wellbeing outcomes for those who bully or are bullied. Meta-analyses of the efficacy of secondary school bullying prevention interventions have typically found no effects or an increase in student bullying. Consequently, few secondary school studies have examined the “real-world” effectiveness of these interventions. This age-cohort study design evaluated the effectiveness of the Friendly Schools (FS) secondary school intervention, previously found to be efficacious. FS was implemented in schools under real-world conditions by an education publisher. Student survey data were collected in 12 schools. The …

Maintaining Stability In A Changing Climate: A Comparative Analysis Of Public Health Systems And Migration Policies In The U.S. And Canada, Laura Cutlip

Climate and Society

This paper examines the relation between climate change, migration, and public health to better understand how the United States health system is positioned to deal with likely challenges to human health posed by environmental changes. The author reviews probable impacts of climate change on population displacement and disease before considering how the current structure of the health system of the United States will render it unable to adapt to these changes and challenges. The Canadian health care system and refugee policies are then reviewed to provide a counterpoint to this analysis. These findings are then considered in tandem as the …

Exploring The Cultural Perceptions Of Physical Activity Among Transnational Nigerian Immigrants, Kelechi D. Ibe-Lamberts, Daudet Ilunga Tshiswaka, Abi Fapohunda

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: Transnational Nigerian Immigrants, as other Transnational African Immigrants, are a subset of African immigrants with the unique ability to sustain multi-national ties. These ties could potentially affect health behavior choices and participation in physical activity. Physical Activity has the potential to improve health and prevent chronic diseases; however, there is a lack of literature regarding physical activity and its determinants within the Transnational African Immigrant population in general. This study investigated the cultural factors that shape Transnational Nigerian Immigrants’ perceptions and attitudes towards physical activity.

Methods: Semi-structured, individual interviews supported by photo-elicitation were conducted on 24 Transnational …

Prehypertensive Risk Among African-American Undergraduates: Do The Extra Pounds Really Matter?, Cecile N. Yancu, Amber Debono, Anna K. Lee, Correll Mcrae, Daphne Witherspoon

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The objective of this study is to examine prehypertension among young African American adults and evaluate the predictive value of easily obtained standard measures of adiposity. Data for this study of 155 primarily African-American undergraduates was collected between April 2010-11. Participants provided family health history and anthropometric measures, including body weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist to hip (WHR) ratio. Percentages were calculated for demographics. The average systolic blood pressure measured over two time periods within a single semester generated prehypertension rates. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression examined the impact of BMI, WHR, weight, and family medical history on …

Optimising Decentralisation For The Health Sector By Exploring The Synergy Of Decision Space, Capacity And Accountability: Insights From The Philippines, Harvy Joy Liwanag, Kaspar Wyss

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Publications

Background

Several studies on decentralisation have used the ‘decision space’ approach to assess the breadth of space made available to decision-makers at lower levels of the health system. However, in order to better understand how decentralisation becomes effective for the health sector, analysis should go beyond assessing decision space and include the dimensions of capacity and accountability. Building on Bossert’s earlier work on the synergy of these dimensions, we analysed decision-making in the Philippines where governmental health services have been devolved to local governments since 1992.

Methods

Using a qualitative research design, we interviewed 27 key decision-makers at different levels …

Financial Barriers And Utilization Of Medical Services In Prison: An Examination Of Co-Payments, Personal Assets, And Individual Characteristics, Brian R. Wyant Phd, Holly M. Harner

Journal for Evidence-based Practice in Correctional Health

Although research has found that requiring incarcerated individuals to pay fees for medical service decreases use, there are still important unanswered questions about this association: 1) Is the copayment fee a barrier to those seeking medical attention? 2) If so, what individual factors are associated with viewing the copayments as the reason to avoid seeing a medical professional? Using 2012 survey data collected from 45 incarcerated persons housed in a maximum security prison on the East Coast, it was discovered that over 70% of the men surveyed reported avoiding medical services at least once in the past three months due …

‘If He Hits Me, Is That Love? I Don’T Think So’: An Ethnographic Investigation Of The Multi-Level Influences Shaping Indigenous Women’S Decision-Making Around Intimate Partner Violence In The Rural Peruvian Andes, Isabella Li Chan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how the intersections of gender, ethnicity, place, and class shape indigenous women’s risks for and experiences of intimate partner violence and related decision-making in Carhuaz province, an underserved, resource-poor setting in the Peruvian Andes. This dissertation applied a mixed-methods, community-based approach to 11 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Peru, which included 82 face-to-face surveys using the World Health Organization’s Multi-Country Study Instrument, 38 semi-structured interviews with survivors, community members, and IPV-related service providers, and 6 participatory action research workshops (n=64).

Through this dissertation, the voices of indigenous women struggling with intimate partner violence illuminate the lived realities …

Maternal Work Hours And Childhood Obesity: Evidence Using Instrumental Variables Related To Sibling School Eligibility, Charles J. Courtemanche, Rusty Tchernis, Xilin Zhou

Economics Faculty Publications

This study exploits plausibly exogenous variation derived from the youngest sibling’s school eligibility to estimate the effects of maternal work on the weight outcomes of older children. We first show that mothers’ work hours increase gradually along both the extensive and intensive margins as the age of the youngest child rises, whereas mothers’ spouses’ work hours do not appear to be responsive. We develop an instrumental-variables model that shows that mothers’ work hours lead to larger increases in children’s body mass index z-scores and probabilities of being overweight/obese than those identified in previous studies. Subsample analyses find that the …

The Role Of Risk Tolerance In Publics’ Health Risk Perception And Responses, Hyoyeun Jun, Yen-I Lee

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

To better understand how uncertainty influences publics’ risk perception and responses, this study introduced risk tolerance as a new concept to public relations literature and then investigated how publics react to health risks with different temporal distances: climate change and foodborne illness. Through an online survey, this study found out that uncertainty, induced by risk temporal distance, leads to varied risk tolerance, which subsequently influences where and how people seek and share risk information.

Understanding Flu Vaccination Acceptance Among U.S. Adults: The Health Belief Model And Media Sources, Tong Xie, Connor Grady, Michael Cacciatore, Glen Nowak

International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference

Based on previous studies about the Health Belief Model (HBM) and the reinforcing relationship between media selectivity or preference and individual’s behavior, this study used a national representative adult sample to assess flu vaccination as the result of an appraisal of relevant health beliefs, trust towards the authoritative entities (e.g. CDC & FDA) and vaccine-related media information, in addition to one’s existing behavior pattern. Results showed that not-vaccinated individuals differ significantly in their vaccine-related health believes and the trust towards the authoritative information sources. This group acquired less recommendation from health care providers and more negative sentiments about flu vaccine …

The Perception Of School Food-Service Professionals On The Implementation Of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act Of 2010: A Mixed-Methods Study, Zainab Rida, Elisha Hall, Saima Hasnin, Jessie Coffey, Dipti Dev

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To: (i) understand the nutrition attitudes, self-efficacy, knowledge and practices of school food-service personnel (SFP) in Nebraska and (ii) identify potential barriers that schools face in offering healthy school meals that meet the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) nutrition standards.

Design: Convergent parallel mixed-methods study.

Setting: Kindergarten–12th grade schools in Nebraska, USA.

Participants: SFP (260 survey participants; fifteen focus group participants) working at schools that participate in the USDA National School Lunch Program.

Results: Mixed-methods themes identified include: (i) ‘Mixed attitudes towards healthy meals’, which captured a variety of conflicting positive and negative attitudes depending on the situation; (ii) …

Reaching Key Populations With Community-Based Hiv Test And Start Services In Lagos And Benue States In Nigeria: Baseline Findings, Project Soar

HIV and AIDS

Key populations (KPs), such as men who have sex with men (MSM), female sex workers (FSWs), and people who inject drugs, remain disproportionately affected by HIV compared to the general population. In Nigeria, HIV prevalence declined among the general population from 2007–18. Among key populations from 2007–14, HIV also decreased among FSWs, but increased among MSM. Evidence-based strategies to sustain the decline among the general population and FSWs, and mitigate the increase among MSM, are needed. Nigeria has adopted the World Health Organization’s “test and start” (TnS) strategy, which recommends initiating antiretroviral therapy (ART) by persons living with HIV as …

Meeting The Needs Of Orphans And Other Vulnerable Children: Learnings From Project Soar, Project Soar

HIV and AIDS

Orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC), including those living with HIV, often have a range of unmet needs, such as education, food security, psychosocial support, and access to health care. Project SOAR is documenting the unique vulnerabilities of OVC and their caregivers, and examining strategies to mitigate the impacts of HIV on them. This brief presents a summary of the SOAR portfolio, including a prospective cohort study of young people living with HIV in Zambia, an evaluation of an HIV risk screening tool among OVC in Tanzania, and a systematic review of promising interventions to support engagement and treatment adherence …

Ua66/14/4 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Nursing Allied Organizations, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Allied organizations associated with the Nursing Department including the Kentucky Partnership for Farm Family Health & Safety.

Women And Hiv: Understanding And Addressing Stigma—Evidence From The Population Council, Population Council

HIV and AIDS

Over the last 20 years, the Population Council has carried out extensive work examining the intersection of stigma and gender and its impact on HIV-related outcomes. This brief summarizes key Population Council findings from a range of studies which elucidate the experiences of stigma among women and highlights avenues for addressing stigma to mitigate women’s risk and burden of HIV.

Visual Inspection Better For Identifying Hazards Than Checklists, Derrick Curren, Victor Hrymak

Reports

Railway maintenance presents many workplace hazards that need to be identified and controlled. Safety tours consisting of checklists are first choice methods for identifying workplace hazards in railway maintenance depots. But despite their ubiquity, the empirical ability of checklists to adequately observe hazards in workplaces has been questioned(1). Furthermore, recent research from DIT has demonstrated that the fundamental human sensory-perceptual and cognitive processes involved in visual search can profoundly affect the number of hazards observed by environmental health and safety (EHS) professionals(2). Simply put, some workplace inspection methods are better than others for observing hazards.

Ua82 Response To Wku Covid-19 Testing Plan, Wku American Association Of University Professors

University Organizations

Statement issued by WKU American Association of University Professors regarding COVID-19 testing plan implemented by WKU.