Public Health Commons^™

Maximizing The Delivery Performance Of Point-Of-Care Cd4+ T-Cell Counting Tests In Resource-Limited Settings - A Policy Brief, Nan Kong, J. Paul Robinson, Fenggang Yang

Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) Policy Briefs

Managing HIV/AIDS presents challenges to public health policymakers, frontline workers, and researchers worldwide. A key strategy in the disease management is early diagnosis and rapid treatment initiation. While the technological field of point‐of‐care HIV/AIDS diagnostics has advanced significantly in the past two decades, several critical issues remain that hinder the deployment of point‐of‐care testing devices in resource‐deprived settings. In this policy brief, we discuss these issues, including technological specifics of point‐of‐care CD4⁺ T‐cell counting approaches and requirements of deploying them. We also discuss cultural and religious concerns on the deployment. At the end of the brief, we propose a …

Analyzing Return On Investment In Public Health: Implications And Future Directions, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Return on investment (ROI) analyses of public health programs, policies, and services are being undertaken with increasing frequency to provide assessments of the value of these activities. This presentation reviews current initiatives and future directions for improving the quality of ROI studies and their application to real-world public health policy and administrative decisions.

The Public Health Pbrn Program: Building The Science Of Public Health Delivery, Glen P. Mays, Anna Goodman Hoover

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This session describes public health practice-based research networks (PBRNs) and emerging opportunities for collaboration with injury control research centers to advance the science of injury prevention practice.

Public Health Delivery Systems And Population Health, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Despite high overall health expenditures, the U.S. continues to fall behind other high-income countries on many measures of population health. While health care delivery systems are now studied intensively for solutions to U.S. cost and quality problems, the nation's delivery systems for public health programs and policies are only now becoming the subject of rigorous empirical study. This presentation examines recent studies of public health delivery systems and important directions for future inquiry.

The Case For Conscientiousness: Evidence And Implications For A Personality Trait Marker Of Health And Longevity, Tim Bogg, Brent W. Roberts

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Purpose Recent initiatives by major funding agencies have emphasized translational and personalized approaches (e.g., genetic testing) to health research and health management. While such directives are appropriate, and will likely produce tangible health benefits, we seek to highlight a confluence of several lines of research showing relations between the personality dimension of conscientiousness and a variety of health-related outcomes.

Methods Using a modified health process model, we review the compelling evidence linking conscientiousness to health and disease processes, including longevity, diseases, morbidity-related risk factors, health-related psycho-physiological mechanisms, health-related behaviors, and social environmental factors related to health.

Conclusion We argue the …

Estimating Return On Investment: Approaches And Methods, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Continuing fiscal constraints in the public sector and large-scale policy changes associated with health reform implementation in the U.S. are giving heightened attention to questions about the health and economic value of public health programs, services, and policies -- strategies designed to protect health and prevent disease and injury on a population-wide basis. This session provides an overview of approaches for conducting return-on-investment (ROI) analyses and related economic evaluation studies in public health settings in order to inform policy and administrative decision-making. New opportunities and resources created through CDC's National Public Health Improvement Initiative (NPHII) and RWJF's Public Health Practice-based …

When Pictures Waste A Thousand Words: Analysis Of The 2009 H1n1 Pandemic On Television News, Westerly Luth, Cindy Jardine, Tania M. Bubela

Office of the Provost

Objectives: Effective communication by public health agencies during a pandemic promotes the adoption of recommended health behaviours. However, more information is not always the solution. Rather, attention must be paid to how information is communicated. Our study examines the television news, which combines video and audio content. We analyse (1) the content of television news about the H1N1 pandemic and vaccination campaign in Alberta, Canada; (2) the extent to which television news content conveyed key public health agency messages; (3) the extent of discrepancies in audio versus visual content.
Methods: We searched for "swine flu" and "H1N1" in local English …

An In-Depth Look At Recent Influenza Seasons And Vaccine Effectiveness, Ariana Ricci

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

This paper aims to present an in-depth exploration of immunology, the influenza virus, vaccination, and vaccination’s effectiveness with respect to influenza. It also delves into the possible causes behind the large increase in early childhood deaths during the 2003-2004 influenza season, which was a turning point in terms of influenza incident reporting. Finally, data analysis on the relationship between childhood flu vaccine coverage and childhood outpatient ILI (influenza-like illness) visits by region is presented as a measurement of vaccine effectiveness and identifier of trends. Although this relationship was not statistically significant (alpha=0.05) regionally, this simply points to alternate factors that …

There Is No “I” In Team: Players, Leaders, And Team Performance In Public Health Emergency Response, William Riley, Paige Anderson Bowen, Micky Scullard, Cheryl Petersen-Kroeber, Gulzar H. Shah

Health Policy & Management: Faculty Presentations (2008-2022)

Research Objective: Research objectives are to: 1) assess effect of controller-led in situ simulation on emergency response capacity of state health department; 2) study effects of training on team function, dynamics, and communications among staff responsible for emergency operations at state health department; and 3) train public health teams for high reliability.

Data Sets and Sources: Thirty trials (one-hour functional exercises) conducted in the state department operations center over a 16-month period (May 2010 to September 2011). Data gathered using in situ simulation methodology (recording, live viewing, playback analysis). Behavioral markers data collected using event set observational tool …

Mobilizing Undergraduates To Address The Social Determinants Of Health In The Community: Year 1 Of Health Leads At Umass Boston, Luciano Ramos, Sherrod Williams, Adrienne Wald, Mark Marino

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Health Leads, a national non-profit organization, currently operates in six cities. Following successful partnerships with Harvard University and Boston University, Health Leads Boston initiated a partnership with UMass Boston in the Fall of 2012 to mobilize undergraduate students in addressing the social determinants of health for patients at Codman Square Health Center (CSHC). 16 undergraduates at UMass Boston were selected into the Health Leads program at CSHC, joining 17 students from Harvard and 4 students from BU. In 6 months, Health Leads at CSHC served 337 families, with students reporting positive experiences. Further expansion of Health Leads at UMB is …

Environmental And Occupational Interventions For Primary Prevention Of Cancer: A Cross-Sectorial Policy Framework, Carolina Espina, Miquel Porta, Joachim Schüz, Ildefonso Hernández Aguado, Robert V. Percival, Carlos Dora, Terry Slevin, Julietta Rodriguez Guzman, Tim Meredith, Philip J. Landrigan, Maria Neira

Faculty Scholarship

Nearly 13 million new cancer cases and 7.6 million cancer deaths occur worldwide each year; 63% of cancer deaths occur in low and middle-income countries. A substantial portion of all cancers are attributable to carcinogenic exposures in the environment and the workplace.

The objective of this study was to develop an evidence-based global vision and strategy for the primary prevention of environmental and occupational cancer.

The study concluded that opportunities exist to revitalize comprehensive global cancer control policies by incorporating primary interventions against environmental and occupational carcinogens.

Intellectual Property And Public Health – A White Paper, Ryan G. Vacca, James Ming Chen, Jay Dratler Jr., Thomas Folsom, Timothy S. Hall, Yaniv Heled, Frank A. Pasquale, Elizabeth A. Reilly, Jeffery Samuels, Katherine J. Strandburg, Kara W. Swanson, Andrew W. Torrance, Katharine A. Van Tassel

Faculty Scholarship

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad …

Central Columbia School District Health Impact Assessment Report, Carl Milofsky, Hayden Yancey, Wenhui Xiu, Zach Moon, Matt Mcanear, Kety Silva, Brandn Green

Technical Reports

Central Columbia School District (CCSD) Superintendent Harry Mathias contracted us to undertake a community impact assessment of the Central Columbia District Community Wellness and Athletic Center. We developed a multiple methods research approach that used analysis of the Action Health community health assessment and ethnographic evaluation methods through interviews, mapping of social infrastructure and assets, and an inventory of community health programming. We created a research team consisting of five undergraduate students and they gathered all of the data used in this report. They were advised by Brandn Green and Carl Milofsky of Bucknell University. -- introduction

Linkage Politics And The Persistence Of National Policy Autonomy In Emerging Powers: Patents, Profits, And Patients In The Context Of Trips Compliance, Aseema Sinha, Tricia Olsen

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

The Trade Related Intellectual Property Agreement (TRIPS) has had a profound effect on industrialization and innovation, as well as access to medicines in cases of public health crisis such as HIV/AIDS. However, compliance with TRIPS has varied in developing countries, despite heightened international pressure. For instance, Brazil has pursued a coherent approach to its HIV/AIDS health crisis, while India has failed to take care of its HIV patients despite late compliance with the TRIPS agreement and the presence of business firms that produce the generic medicines for HIV/AIDS. This article suggests that divergence in TRIPS compliance is the result of …

A Comparison Of Food Inspection Practices Of The U.S. Air Force And Ohio Local Public Health, Danny R. Pizzino, Karen A.N. Rupp

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Objective: As Americans consume more meals outside the home, food safety of restaurants is more critical. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of food service establishment (FSE) inspection frequency on FSE performance. In this study, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) public health system is compared to Ohio local public health departments (Ohio LPHDs). The USAF inspects FSEs more frequently than Ohio LPHDs do. The goal is to determine if this increased frequency leads to higher food safety in the FSEs.

Methods: We reviewed 1482 reports from three USAF bases and 1909 reports from six Ohio LPHDs …

Experiences Of Kenyan Healthcare Workers Providing Services To Men Who Have Sex With Men: Qualitative Findings From A Sensitivity Training Programme, Elise M. Van Der Elst, Evans Gichuru, Anisa Omar, Jennifer Kanungi, Zoe Duby, Miriam Midoun, Sylvia Shangani, Susan M. Graham, Adrian D. Smith, Eduard J. Sanders, Don Operario

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Introduction

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya are at high risk for HIV and may experience prejudiced treatment in health settings due to stigma. An on-line computer-facilitated MSM sensitivity programme was conducted to educate healthcare workers (HCWs) about the health issues and needs of MSM patients.

Methods

Seventy-four HCWs from 49 ART-providing health facilities in the Kenyan Coast were recruited through purposive sampling to undergo a two-day MSM sensitivity training. We conducted eight focus group discussions (FGDs) with programme participants prior to and three months after completing the training programme. Discussions aimed to characterize HCWs’ challenges in …

The Role Of Adaptation To Disability And Disease In Public Health, Meghan Mary Connors

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Some patients with chronic disabilities and diseases are able to adapt to their health states and, as a result, rate their quality of life higher than hypothetical patients imagining themselves to be in such states. Due to this phenomenon of adaptation, there is much controversy surrounding the effect of adaptation on patient preferences and the role that these adapted preferences ought to play in health care resource allocation decisions. The process of adaptation affects public health debates about whether we ought to give priority to the worst off in allocation decisions because within traditional public health frameworks, it is unclear …

Screening For Elder Mistreatment Among Older Adults Seeking Legal Assistance Services, Sheryl M. Strasser, Megan Smith, Scott Weaver, Shimin Zheng, Yan Cao

ETSU Faculty Works

Introduction: The aging population is a rapidly growing demographic in the United States. Isolation, limited autonomy, and declining physical and mental health render many older adults vulnerable to elder mistreatment (EM). The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of EM among a sample of older adults using legal assistance services in Atlanta, Georgia.

Methods: Researchers administered surveys to consenting older adults (aged 60þ) in 5 metro Atlanta community centers that hosted legal assistance information sessions as part of the Elderly Legal Assistance Program. The surveys screened for risk factors and prevalence of EM risk using …

Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated the impact of social influence on weight loss, more specifically, the internal and external elements that effect response and success of those who are trying to lose weight. The research focused on three questions: (1) How great of an influence does self-efficacy have in weight loss success? (2) How great of an influence does social comparison have in weight loss success? (3) Which factor has the largest impact on weight loss: self-efficacy, peer efficacy, or positive social support, or negative social support? Data was collected by the researcher conducting semi-structured interviews. These interview were conducted with …

Association Between Breastfeeding And Infant Growth: A Probable Reverse Causality, Shraddha Vyas

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Much conflicting results exist in the association between breastfeeding and infant growth. One of these confusions is related to the temporal sequence between breastfeeding practice and infant growth.

Objective: This study aimed at examining the association and investigating a possible reverse causality between breastfeeding and infant growth.

Method: Infant Feeding Practices Survey II, a national longitudinal database with repeated measurements, following women prenatally and until one year postpartum (N=2914) was used. Mixed linear model assessed the impact of breastfeeding from the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 9th months on infant growth at the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 12th months, respectively. …

A Qualitative Study Of An Urban Community Garden: Creating Healthier Neighborhood Environments, Lauren Workman

Theses and Dissertations

Neighborhoods influence population level health; the places where people live, work, and grow are an essential setting for health promotion interventions. In efforts to create healthier neighborhood environments, there is a movement to better understand neighborhood social characteristics. The neighborhood social environment potentially includes social relationships (including trust and cohesion), networks, norms, and the resources that may be generated from relationships. In addition, more work is needed to learn about how people may become engaged in neighborhood initiatives. Community gardens are a 1) potential strategy to promote health at community and individual levels 2) mechanism to involve community members in …

Race, Ethnicity, And Differential Perceptions Of Sexual Victimization (Assault), Kaleea Regina Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this pilot study is to ascertain how a sample of female college students perceives a hypothetical victim of a fabricated sexual assault. Participant perceptions of the sexual assault were explored through three distinct parameters: (1) victim responsibility attributes, (2) levels of trauma suffered due to the experience, and (3) levels of social support. This study addressed the two following research questions: (1) how does the hypothetical sexual assault victim's race and ethnicity affect how the study parameters are assessed and (2) how do participants perceive a hypothetical sexual assault victim, when presented in different races and ethnicities, …

Survivorship, Infertility And Parenthood: Experiencing Life After Cancer In Puerto Rico, Karen Elizabeth Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While incidence rates are increasing for many cancers in Puerto Rico, mortality rates are declining (Torres-Cintron, et al. 2010), resulting in growing numbers of survivors and creating a situation in which long-term survivorship concerns are beginning to emerge as priorities. The importance of quality-of-life among survivors of cancer is increasingly being recognized among healthcare providers, although there remains a gap in knowledge of how young adult survivors cope with long-term treatment-related physical effects, such as infertility, and of the impact of cancer on survivors' social relationships and future goals.

Because understandings of "cancer survivorship," as well as of reproduction, vary …

The Role Of Agency In Community Health Outcomes: Local Health Departments And Childhood Immunization Coverage Rates, James Anthony Ransom

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Organizational culture is defined as a system of shared meaning held by members of an organization that distinguishes it from other organizations. How organizational culture is experienced in the public sector, particularly local health departments (LHDs), is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to determine whether LHD organizational culture impacts childhood immunization coverage rates. I used a modified organizational culture survey tool, the Organizational Management Survey, to quantify organizational culture and determine whether an LHD's organizational culture helps explain variations in childhood immunization coverage rates. In addition, qualitative data from an earlier study of LHD immunization staff …

Tackling Overweight And Obesity: Does The Public Health Message Match The Science?, Katherine Hafekost, David Lawrence, Francis Mitrou, Therese O'Sullivan, Stephen Zubrick

Research outputs 2013

Background: Despite the increasing understanding of the mechanisms relating to weight loss and maintenance, there are currently no validated public health interventions that are able to achieve sustained long-term weight loss or to stem the increasing prevalence of obesity in the population. We aimed to examine the models of energy balance underpinning current research about weight-loss intervention from the field of public health, and to determine whether they are consistent with the model provided by basic science. EMBASE was searched for papers published in 2011 on weight-loss interventions. We extracted details of the population, nature of the intervention, and key …

The Dental Safety Net In Montgomery County: A Status Report, Sequoia Y. Butcher

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Adult oral health has been identified as a major public health problem by the United States Surgeon General. A substantial number of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have untreated tooth decay. There are limited treatment options for adults without dental insurance. Low-income adults must turn to free/low cost clinics, or private dentists that accept Medicaid to receive dental care. However, these resources are often limited. When the resources are not available these adults are left to deal with untreated tooth decay which can lead to worsening conditions and other health issues.

Methods: Eleven key-informant interviews were …

The Real Toy Story: The San Francisco Board Of Supervisors Healthy Food Incentives Ordinance, Cortney Price

Journal of Food Law & Policy

Obesity among children in the United States has tripled over the last thirty years. Incidentally, the world's largest fast food restaurant, McDonald's, first introduced its children's Happy Meal thirty-two years ago. Shortly thereafter, the first Disney inspired toy found its way into Happy Meals and the hearts of the "billions and billions served." Although the iconic Happy Meal and accompanying toy have become "a staple of Americana akin to baseball and apple pie," the continued existence of the practice is being threatened in light of the powerful influence toys have on children's food choices, thus contributing to the current obesity …

The Effectiveness Of Health Education Materials In Influencing Hiv Testing Behavior: The Unlv-Siphi Study, Rebecca Tsegay

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The UNLV-SIPHI (Sexual Health Internet-Based Public Health Intervention) Study focused on HIV prevention by improving HIV testing behavior through the development and dissemination of health education materials. The goal of the UNLV-SIPHI Study was to develop effective, custom-made HIV health education materials that promote the knowledge, intention and practice of HIV testing among UNLV students. The UNLV-SIPHI Study was conducted during Spring 2012 semester in selected UNLV undergraduate classes. An online quasi-randomized-control trial (RCT) was used to measure the difference in HIV testing behavior contributing factors among students exposed to the health education materials. Several nonparametric tests were used to …

'Everything I Love Is Illegal, Immoral Or Against The Advice Of The Surgeon General', Roberto Hugh Potter

UCF Forum

The recent situation of TV anchor Jennifer Livingston in La Crosse, Wisc., offers a glimpse into how external indicators of health are becoming stigmatized in the public-health efforts to battle the “epidemic of obesity.”

The Long-Term Coercive Effect Of State Community Benefit Laws On Hospital Community Health Orientation, Charles B. Moseley, Jay J. Shen, Gregory O. Ginn

Nevada Journal of Public Health

This study is an examination of the long-term coercive effect of state community benefit laws (CB Laws) on the provision of community health activities in U.S. acute care hospitals. The sample included all the not-for-profit and investor owned acute care hospitals for which 1994 and 2006 AHA Annual Survey data were available. A panel design was used to longitudinally examine the effect that state CB Laws had on hospital community health orientation activities and the provision of health promotion services, after controlling for the influence of other organizational and environmental variables that might affect these activities and services. The authors …