Public Health Commons^™

Pubh 7090-B Spatial Analysis And Health, Jeffery A. Jones

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course will introduce students to geographic information systems (GIS) to map and spatially analyze public health and demographic data. Students will learn the fundamentals of the ArcMap software system and ways to integrate cartography into biomedical informatics practice. Beyond use of GIS for cartography, this course will also examine ethical issues and methods of analyzing demographic and spatial health patterns using GIS and demography analysis methods. The versatility of GIS in a public health setting will be examined and will include exercises involving GIS applications in health marketing, demography, epidemiology, and health care systems. For example, we will look …

Pubh 7890 -- Directed Individual Study, Logan Cowan

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

Provides the student with an opportunity to investigate an area of interest under the direction of a faculty mentor.

Pubh 7090– One Health, Jessica Smith Schwind

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

Our world is becoming increasingly connected due to globalization. As a result, challenges arise that directly affect human, animal, and environmental health. One Health is an integrated approach that focuses on improving communication and collaboration across human, animal, and environmental health sectors. Because emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and food safety represent a significant threat to health across all populations, the One Health approach is increasingly important to our comprehensive understanding of and response to global health challenges. This course will provide students an introduction to One Health and the skills needed to address issues at the human-animal-environmental …

Pubh 7132 – Scientific Basis Of Public Health, Haresh Rochani

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course explores the scientific basis of 21st century disease processes including a survey of the origins, natural history, factors influencing individual and community risk. Clinical symptoms of diseases impacting humans, both acute and chronic, as well as epidemiologic trends will be also be discussed. Students will obtain an understanding of scientific mechanisms associated with the disease processes with particular focus on using this information in health-related professions and public health decision-making. As such, emphasis will be placed on the understanding and application of proposing community-based solutions designed to break the cycle of disease.

Pubh 7890 – Directed Independent Study, Jian Zhang

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

Provides the student with an opportunity to investigate an area of interest under the direction of a faculty mentor

Pubh 5520-01f/5520g-01f– Introduction To Public Health Online (2 Credits), Katie M. Mercer

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is designed to give students a foundation in the core functions of the population-based public health (assessment, policy development and assurance). In addition, this course will examine the 10 essential services of public health within these core functions. Defining effective public health practice and providing knowledge about the technical, social, and political parameters related to public health research and practice are goals for this class. Students will gain an understanding of public health as a broad area of work that applies the benefits of current biomedical, environmental, social, and behavioral knowledge in ways that maximize the health status …

Pubh 6541 – Biostatistics, Haresh Rochani

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course examines statistics in public health and related sciences, including sampling, probability, basic discrete and continuous distributions, descriptive statistics, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals, categorical data analysis, regression, and correlation. Emphasis will be on the development of critical thinking skills and health data analysis applications with computer software.

Pubh 5520/5520g – Introduction To Public Health (2 Credits), Katie M. Mercer

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is designed to give students a foundation in the core functions of the population-based public health (assessment, policy development and assurance). In addition, this course will examine the 10 essential services of public health within these core functions. Defining effective public health practice and providing knowledge about the technical, social, and political parameters related to public health research and practice are goals for this class. Students will gain an understanding of public health as a broad area of work that applies the benefits of current biomedical, environmental, social, and behavioral knowledge in ways that maximize the health status …

Pubh 6533 – Epidemiology, Logan Cowan

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course provides an introduction to many important topics in epidemiology for public health practice, including but not limited to the evolution of the discipline, causal concepts in the natural history of disease, critical features of infectious and chronic diseases, elements of public health screening, basic measures used in epidemiology, design of epidemiologic investigations, consideration of random error and systematic bias, calculation and interpretation of confidence intervals and p values, discussion of confounding and interaction, criteria for evaluation of cause and effect relationships and the implications for ethical public health practice. Students are expected to gain a foundation in epidemiologic …

Attitudes Toward Evidence-Based Practice, Occupational Stress And Work-Related Social Support Among Health Care Providers In China: A Sem Analysis, Shan Qiao Ph.D., Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Yuejiao Zhou, Zhiyong Shen, Bonita Stanton

Faculty Publications

Individuals’ attitudes toward evidence-based practices (EBP) are critical in adopting, implementing and maintaining the EBP in clinical settings. Multiple empirical studies have examined how work context may shape perceptions and attitudes towards EBP. The current study aims to further explore how both work and family contexts, as assessed by three psychosocial indicators (i.e., occupational stress, work-related social support from coworkers, and work-related social support from family), may affect attitudes toward EBP among health care providers in HIV clinics in China. We analyzed cross-sectional survey data from 357 health care providers recruited from 40 HIV clinics across 16 cities/counties in Guangxi …

The Conceptual Relevance Of Assessment Measures In Patients With Mild/Mild-Moderate Alzheimer's Disease, Ann Hartry, Natalie V.J. Aldhouse, Tamara Al-Zubeidi, Myrlene Sanon, Richard G. Stefanacci, Sarah L. Knight

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the conceptual relevance of four measures of disease activity in patients with mild/mild-moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD): (1) the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale–Cognitive Subscale; (2) the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study–Activities of Daily Living Inventory; (3) the Neuropsychiatry Inventory; and (4) the Dependence Scale. Methods: A conceptual model depicting patient experience of mild AD was developed via literature review; concepts were compared with the items of the four measures. Relevance of the concepts included in the four measures was evaluated by patients with mild AD in a survey and follow-up interviews. Results: The four measures assessed …

Pubh 6532-F – Environmental Health Fall, Asli Aslan

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is designed for graduate students and provides students with an introduction and overview of the key areas of environmental health. Students will gain an understanding of the interaction of individuals and communities with the environment. Impact of environmental agents on human and ecosystem health will be analyzed. This course will also introduce current topics in environmental health and challenges faced under the changing climate and socio-economic needs and examine recent case studies and their outcomes related to environmental policy and management.

Educational Prevention Program Of Surgical Site Infections (Ssi) At A Metropolitan Pediatric, Daniel Chavez

Master's Theses

Surgical Site Infections are a common hospital acquired disease. The prevention of Surgical Site Infection at a metropolitan pediatric hospital was lacking thorough education on how to prevent Surgical Site Infections. Literature was used to support this educational program with evidence based practices. To further reduce Surgical Site Infections education played a key role. Most importantly the distribution of education is what this educational program aimed toward supporting. In order to optimize patient outcomes through the use of our educational program literacy requirements must be me. Using this information our team constructed educational pamphlets that would help empower patients so …

Lived Experiences And Insights Into The Advantages Important To Rural Recruitment And Retention Of General Practitioners, Daniel R. Terry, Hoang B. Nguyen, David Schmitz, Ed Baker

Public and Population Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: Despite existing studies in this field, community factors behind recruiting and retaining rural general practitioners (GPs) are not fully understood. To address this issue, the Community Apgar Questionnaire (CAQ) was developed to extend the understanding of communities’ assets and capabilities that impact GP recruitment and retention. However, more in-depth insights are vital to develop a comprehensive approach.

Methods: This mixed methods study was administered using face-to-face structured interviews with a total of 40 health service representatives. All interviews lasted 35–40 minutes and were audio-taped. Qualitative data were generated from the extended responses to the structured questions of the CAQ …

Pubh 6532-A – Environmental Health, Asli Aslan

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course is designed for graduate students and provides students with an introduction and overview of the key areas of environmental health. Students will gain an understanding of the interaction of individuals and communities with the environment. Impact of environmental agents on human and ecosystem health will be analyzed. This course will also introduce current topics in global environmental health and challenges faced under the changing climate and socio-economic needs and examine recent case studies and their outcomes related to environmental policy and management.

Pubh 4798: Internship In Health Education And Promotion, Jamie S. Cromley

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course provides the senior level Public Health majors with a practical experience in an appropriate practice setting. Students must complete all course work in the Public Health major prior to enrolling in this course.

Dietary Inflammatory Index And Biomarkers Of Lipoprotein Metabolism, Inflammation And Glucose Homeostasis In Adults, Catherine Phillips, Nitin Shivappa, James R. Hébert, Ivan Perry

Faculty Publications

Accumulating evidence identifies diet and inflammation as potential mechanisms contributing to cardiometabolic risk. However, inconsistent reports regarding dietary inflammatory potential, biomarkers of cardiometabolic health and metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk exist. Our objective was to examine the relationships between a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)-derived dietary inflammatory index (DII®), biomarkers of lipoprotein metabolism, inflammation and glucose homeostasis and MetS risk in a cross-sectional sample of 1992 adults. Energy-adjusted DII (E-DII) scores derived from an FFQ were calculated. Lipoprotein particle size and subclass concentrations were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Serum acute-phase reactants, adipocytokines, pro-inflammatory cytokines and white blood cell (WBC) …

Disparities In Pulmonary Fibrosis Care In The United States: An Analysis From The Nationwide Inpatient Sample, Adam W. Gaffney, Steffie Woolhander, David Himmelstein, Danny Mccormick

Publications and Research

Background: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is a disease with high morbidity and mortality. Care for these patients, including lung transplantation, may provide significant benefits, but is resource-intensive and expensive. Disadvantaged patients with IPF may hence be at risk for receiving inferior care.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database consisting of all hospitalizations from a 20% sample of US hospitals. We identified adults hospitalized with IPF between 1998 and 2011 using ICD-9 codes. We assessed the effect of insurance coverage and socioeconomic status (SES) on lung transplantation, a treatment that may improve survival. We also examined the …

Prompts To Increase Physical Activity At Points-Of-Choice Between Stairs And Escalators: What About Escalator Climbers?, John Belletierre, Ben Nguyen, Sandy Liles, Vincent Berardi, Marc A. Adams, Paddy Dempsey, Yael Benporat, Jacqueline Kerr, Andrea Z. Lacroix, Melbourne Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Since 1980, many studies have evaluated whether stair-use prompts increased physical activity by quantifying changes in stair use. To more completely evaluate changes in physical activity, this study addressed the often-overlooked assessment of climbing up escalators by evaluating the degree to which stair-use sign prompts increased active ascent—defined as stair use or escalator climbing. Over 5 months, at an airport stairs/escalator point of choice, we video-recorded passersby (N = 13,544) who ascended either stairs or escalators, on 10 days with signs and 10 days without signs. Ascenders using the stairs, standing on the escalator, and climbing the escalator were …

Quantifying Spatial Potential Access Equity In An Agent Based Simulation Model Of Buprenorphine Treatment Policy In The United States, Alexandra Elizabeth Nielsen

Dissertations and Theses

Opioid dependence and opioid related deaths are a public health problem which the United States Centers of Disease Control have declared an epidemic. While opioid agonist therapy for opioid addiction has been accepted as the most effective treatment for opioid dependence among academics, and office based buprenorphine treatment has been available in the Unites States for over 10 years, OB buprenorphine faces many barriers to widespread adoption. Empirical data on the geographic distribution of physicians able to prescribe buprenorphine and the prescribing patterns of those physicians show considerable unevenness in access and utilization of treatment services.

Federal-level policies have recently …

Pubh 4330- Promotional Strategies For Health Programs, James Thomas

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course explores the application of social marketing and communication theory to the development of strategies to enhance health education and promotion programs.

Determinants Of Successful Weight Loss In Low-Income African American Women: A Positive Deviance Analysis., Elaine Seaton Banerjee, Sharon J. Herring, Katelyn Hurley, Katherine Puskarz, Kyle Yebernetsky, Marianna Lanoue

College of Population Health Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: We set out to investigate the behaviors of low-income African American women who successfully lost weight.

METHODS: From an urban, academic, family medicine practice, we used a mixed methods positive deviance approach to evaluate 35 low-income African American women who were obese and lost at least 10% of their maximum weight, and maintained this loss for 6 months, comparing them with 36 demographically similar control participants who had not lost weight. Survey outcomes included demographics and behaviors that were hypothesized to be related to successful weight loss. Interviews focused on motivations, barriers, and what made weight loss successful. Survey …

Medication Exposure Patterns In Primary Care Patients Prescribed Pharmacogenetically Actionable Opioids, Mitchell R. Knisely, Janet S. Carpenter, Marion E. Broome, Ann M. Holmes, Diane Von Ah, Todd Skaar, Claire Burke Draucker

The Qualitative Report

Current approaches to assessing medication exposure fail to capture the complexity of the phenomenon and the context in which it occurs. This study’s purpose was to develop a typology of subgroups of patients who share common patterns of medication exposure. To create the typology, we used an exemplar sample of 30 patients in a large public healthcare system who had been prescribed the pharmacogenetically actionable opioids codeine or tramadol. Data related to medication exposure were drawn from large data repositories. Using a person-oriented qualitative approach, eight subgroups of patients who shared common patterns of medication exposure were identified. The subgroups …

Pubh 4330- Promotional Strategies For Health Programs, Tilicia Mayo-Gamble

College of Public Health: Faculty Syllabi (2014-2021)

This course explores the application of social marketing and communication theory to the development of strategies to enhance health education and promotion programs.

Hepatitis B Vaccination Coverage Among Health-Care Workers In Africa: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Asa Auta, Emmanuel O. Adewuyi, Gbednet T. Kureh, Nguavese Onoviran, Davies Adeloye

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective To estimate full hepatitis B vaccination coverage (uptake of ≥ 3 doses of vaccine) among health-care workers (HCWs) in Africa. Methods We systematically searched the PubMed®, Embase®, CINAHL and Psych-Info databases for studies published from January 2010 to October 2017 that reported full hepatitis B vaccination coverage among HCWs in Africa. A random effects meta-analysis was conducted to determine pooled estimates of full vaccination coverage. Results Of the 331 articles identified, 35 studies from 15 African countries met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review. The estimated full hepatitis B vaccination coverage was 24.7% (95% CI: 17.3–32.0). …

Measuring Inequity: A Systematic Review Of Methods Used To Quantify Structural Racism, Maya Groos, Maeve Wallace, Rachel Hardeman, Katherine P. Theall

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Abstract

Objective: To summarize the ways in which researchers have quantified measures of structural racism for the purposes of empirical, quantitative investigation of its associations with physical and mental health outcomes.

Methods: Systematic review of literature published January 1, 2007-June 30, 2017. We searched PubMed and EMBASE databases for studies including at least one of the following search terms in the title or abstract: “structural racism”, “systemic racism”, “institutional racism”, “institutionalized racism”. Excluded studies were not original research, not US based, did not quantify an explicitly named indicator of structural racism, or were qualitative designs. Data from full …

Impact Of Race And Insurance On Door-To-Appendectomy Time Among Pediatric Patients, Carla M. Lopez, Emily R. Christison-Lagay, Daniel Solomon

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Racial and ethnic disparities in the rate of appendiceal rupture have been widely reported among the pediatric population. The main reasons for this remain largely unknown given that previous explanations pointing to signs of poor health care access have recently been shown to account for only a small percentage of the difference in perforation rates between white and minority children. Because the risk of perforation increases with time, racial disparities in time delay from emergency department presentation to OR appendectomy may help account for the higher appendiceal perforation rates observed among minority children. This is the first study dedicated to …

Effectiveness Of Community Health Workers In Healthcare Delivery: Evidence From The Field, Mohammad Shahbazi Professor, Mukesh Kumar, Anthony Mawson, Donna Antoine Lavigine, Cassandra Dove

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Evidence suggests that health care in the United States could benefit from including the services of Community Health Workers (CHW), provided through Community Health Houses, in the delivery of care. This research project evaluated the impact of three newly-established Health Houses and the services provided to patients by Community Health Workers at three locations in the Mississippi Delta. The patients were current enrollees in the Medicare administered by United Healthcare. The program began in February 2014 and continued through September 2015. After analyzing data for payments made for each enrollee, emergency room visits and hospital admissions for the years of …

Exploring H.Pylori Seropositivity As A Risk Factor For Type 2 Diabetes, Virginia Chaidez, Yumou Qiu

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: In the US, the percentage of adults with diagnosed diabetes are higher in members of racial and ethnic minority groups compared to non-Latino Whites. Understanding why such disparities exist has been less forthcoming.

Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2000 cross-sectional data.

Results: H.pylori seropositivity was highest in Mexican Americans (43.7%), lowest in non-Hispanic Whites (18.1%). Diabetes was highest in non-Hispanic Blacks (5.9%); lowest in non-Hispanic whites (4.3%). H.pylori seropositivity was associated with greater likelihood of having type 2 diabetes (1.927, 95% CI 1.142, 3.257) compared to H.pylori negative in …

Alternative Financial Services And Health Status In U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Courtney Hundley, Richard W. Wilson 8520196, John Chenault

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Abstract

Alternative financial services (AFS) such as, payday lenders, pawn brokers, tax refund loans, and check cashers are more prevalent in minority and lower income neighborhoods. These are neighborhoods also found to have disparities in health, compared to more affluent neighborhoods and communities. The focus of this paper is to determine if any relationship exists between use of AFS and health disparities.

Using data from a survey performed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), we compared four banking variables to several measures of health for 85 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) across the nation. The four banking variables all related …