Public Health Commons^™

Association Of The Use Of Combination Therapy Self-Management Of Prediabetes And Type-2 Diabetes Mellitus In Adults, Celestina Reed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diabetes is a long-lasting chronic health condition that encompasses three types: Type 1, Type 2, and gestational diabetes. The disease affects how the body breaks down food into energy. It is an insulin-deficient disease and causes heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease. Investigators of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Diabetes Association evaluated patient treatment preferences to determine the upsurge in patient health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and optimum health. The literature revealed that patients' preferences consisted of therapies and achievable goal setting using the health belief model (HBM) framework. This quantitative research aimed to …

Health Educator Experience: Recommendations For Physical Activity For Mental Health In Women, Patricia Schneider

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mental health issues, specifically anxiety and depression, continue to be a public health crisis in the United States. Despite the established therapies of pharmacology and cognitive behavioral therapy, not all patients seek or find relief using these methods. Therefore, other treatment strategies need to be studied. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to understand the experiences of health educators who use physical activity as a strategy for anxiety and depression management among middle-aged women as well as their own attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral controls. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) was leveraged as the theoretical foundation for …

Services For Homeless Veterans: A Study Of Access To Benefits, Sheryl Maddox Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractHomelessness among veterans in the United States is a multifaceted social and health concern that has continued to increase despite immense efforts to minimize and eliminate this issue. Numerous organizations have dedicated resources; however, many veterans do not use benefits and resources that are available to them, and homelessness remains a health and social concern. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how individual and interpersonal barriers, community factors, organizational structure, and existing policies for assistance are perceived by support staff that work with veterans with mental disorders who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. …

Gestational Weight Gain, Level Of Education, And Infant Mortality Among African American Women, George Lee Amanambu

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Abstract

African American (AA) women in Mississippi have a higher burden of infant mortality, especially those with low income and educational levels, as compared to other regions of the country. However, it is unknown if abnormal gestation weight gain (GWG) is contributing to this increased burden. This quantitative cross-sectional study examined the association between GWG (25-35lbs), level of education, income, and infant mortality among AA women with normal prepregnancy body weight who were between 30 to 47 years old in the state of Mississippi from 2016 to 2018. Biopsychosocial and ecosocial models were used as the theoretical foundation to design …

Factors That Determine Utilization Of The Canadian School-Based Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine Programs, Diane Gloria Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the world and is the known causative agent of many HPV-associated cancers in both males and females. HPV vaccination rates in Canada are significantly lower than other developed countries and this finding is poorly understood as Canadian adolescents have access to free-of-charge HPV vaccines through school-based vaccination programs. This quantitative descriptive study used an online survey to collect data from 992 eligible respondents. This study identified predisposing, enabling, and need factors characterized by the Andersen behavioral model of health services use which facilitate or impede the use of …

Secondary Data Analysis Of The Association Of Screen Time With Selected Health Behaviors, Kellany Cadogan Noland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The noticeable disparity in youth access of preventive healthcare and youth’s tendency towards excessive screen time have been linked to poor health outcomes. This issue prompted the current study, which had three core purposes: to identify associations between screen time and selected health behaviors, to identify target sociocultural and personal determinants of youth health, and to provide evidence to prompt innovation in promoting youth health via screen-based strategies. The social cognitive theory provided a context for triadic reciprocity between youth personal factors, environmental factors, and behaviors. A quantitative secondary analysis was completed using SPSS-27 to identify whether there was an …

Nurses' Experiences Caring For Patients With Opioid Use Disorder, Pamella Maureen Campbell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Over the past 2 decades, opioid use in the United States has taken thousands of lives, reached the level of epidemic in 2017, and has been an area of study among scholars. The problem is health care professionals, including nurses, lack training on how to care for people with opioid use disorder (OUD). Nurses are at the frontline of patient care and understanding the nurses’ experiences in the care of patients with OUD may help to improve the patients’ quality of care. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to develop an understanding of the experiences of nurses with …

Fortitude, Spiritual Fortitude, And The Cancer Care Continuum In African American Breast Cancer Survivors, Karen Y. Boone

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African American breast cancer survivors (AABCS) struggle with physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and financial challenges. Navigating these challenges can require the use of inner resources such as fortitude and spiritual fortitude. Using Folkman and Lazarus’ transactional model of stress and coping as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study was to examine fortitude and spiritual fortitude as coping responses by African American women living with breast cancer and whether fortitude and spiritual fortitude were associated with phases of the cancer care continuum. A quantitative nonexperimental cross-sectional design was used for primary data collection that involved using Pretorius’ Fortitude Questionnaire …

The Impact Of Electronic Health Records Meaningful Use On Patient Safety And Satisfaction, Paulette Brown

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractThe widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) is encouraged because of their potential to improve the quality of care provided. It was unknown to what extent the meaningful use of EHRs would impact patient safety and satisfaction in general and specialty hospitals. The researcher’s purpose for this quantitative correlational research was to examine the impact of meaningful EHR use of EHRs on patient safety and satisfaction outcomes in general and specialty hospitals in Philadelphia (PA). The constructs of the institutional theory guided the study. The hypotheses that guided the study included (a) Meaningful EHR use positively influences patient satisfaction …

Working Mothers’ Lived Experiences Of Maintaining An Exercise Practice During A Pandemic, Sabrina Marie Cali

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Working mothers have been associated with low levels of exercise during the COVID-19 pandemic. This population faces many challenges and obstacles to exercise as they manage a household and work; this lack of exercise could leave their health at risk. Researchers have not yet considered working mothers’ lived experiences with exercise during a pandemic. Existing research on working mothers indicates there are barriers to exercise for this population, but more information on what allows these mothers to sustain exercise is needed. This qualitative narrative study was conducted to explore the lived experiences of working mothers who maintained an exercise practice …

Obesity's Impact Among Asian Americans In Southern California, Alyssa Mae Sunga Carlos

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity continues to be an important public health issue in the United States, especially among minority populations. However, one minority group experiences the lowest obesity rate: Asian Americans. As a result, there is not much research available involving the impact of obesity and weight gain among this population. The purpose of this basic qualitative exploratory study was to improve the understanding of obesity’s impact on the Asian American population, specifically in Southern California, whose goals were to lose weight and become more informed about obesity’s impact on health. The study consisted of three main research questions. Twenty-five participants were interviewed …

Nutrition And Physical Exercise Prevention Strategies To Reduce Obesity During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Carmesha Vajill Carter

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity has reached an epidemic level of 75 million obese adults and 15 million obese children in the United States. The research problem addressed in this study is the lack of information on how obese people manage their weight-loss strategies to prevent or reduce obesity during shut-in place restrictions for the COVID-19 Pandemic. This study included the Prochaska and DiClemente Trans-Theoretical Model of Behavioral Change and the Stage of Change Theory. The phenomenon approach using phenomenology described participants' lived experiences of being obese. The researcher completed data collection and evaluation among sixteen participants using email questionnaires to analyze participant's responses …

Pharmacists’ Responses To Medication Management Following Disasters, Rellamichelle W. Tyree

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Disasters, both natural and human made, can cause emerging health threats in the United States and the Caribbean. The disasters that pharmacists experienced and reported for this study included hurricanes, snowstorms, ice storms, flooding, and a pandemic. The purpose of this research was to investigate the challenges and outcomes associated with pharmacists’ medication management practices during and following disasters. This generic qualitative study focused on pharmacists’ experiences and their responses to disaster planning and medication management activities. The ecological model of disaster management was the conceptual framework used to investigate the pharmacists and their responses and actions used to address …

Parents' And Caregivers' Attitudes About Child Passenger Safety, Latoya Wider

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of childhood injury and death in the United States. Many car seats are installed incorrectly, and many children under the age of 6 are seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age of child, age of parent/caregiver, attitudes, and behaviors of child passenger safety among parents and caregivers in South Carolina. The influence of age and attitude on consistent car seat use was also examined. The study was based on the theory of planned behavior. A survey design featuring questions …

Early-Life Farm Exposures And Eczema Among Adults In The Agricultural Lung Health Study, Annah B. Wyss, Thanh T. Hoang, Hilde K. Vindenes, Julie D. White, Sinjini Sikdar, Marie Richards, Laura E. Beane-Freeman, Christine G. Parks, Mikyeong Lee, David M. Umbach, Stephanie J. London

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Publications

Background

Several studies conducted in Europe have suggested a protective association between early-life farming exposure and childhood eczema or atopic dermatitis; however, few studies have examined associations in adults.

Objectives

We investigated associations between early-life exposures and eczema among 3217 adult farmers and farm spouses (mean age, 62.8 years) in a case–control study nested within an US agricultural cohort.

Methods

We used sampling-weighted logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for associations between early-life exposures and self-reported doctor-diagnosed eczema (273 cases) and polytomous logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for a 4-level outcome combining …

Assessing Patient Safety Culture In United States' Hospitals, Abdulmajeed Azyabi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Patient safety is founded on continuous learning because there is an urgent need to report and learn from errors, accidents, near misses, and adverse events. The traditional approach to patient safety, based on forming mortality committees and investigating accidents, will no longer be effective. Frameworks, surveys, and assessment tools have been developed over the last decade to assist organizations in measuring and understanding their culture. This a retrospective cross-sectional study included 67,010 respondents from Agency for Health care Research and Quality (AHRQ) 2018 comparative database was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This research explored whether the …

Cesarean Skin-To-Skin Contact: Who Gets The Experience In The Operating Room?, Jessica S. Junk-Wilson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

For the past decade, skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth has been the general recommendation for all births, as there is evidence that it provides many benefits for mothers and infants. Yet, research has shown that immediate skin-to-skin contact is not the standard practice after most Cesarean births. This study assessed access, incidence, and circumstances surrounding Cesarean skin-to-skin contact (CSSC) in the operating room and examined influencing maternal characteristics of age, education, race, and number of births via a survey of 2327 people. Women who experienced a Cesarean section birth in the past 10 years were recruited through Facebook groups for …

Physical Activity As A Predictor Of Obesity In Autistic Children, Cody A. Mullins

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Research has found autistic children to be 40% more likely to be obese compared to their non-autistic peers. Reduced physical activity (PA) is thought to be a contributing factor to the increased prevalence of obesity in autistic children. This was one of the first studies to investigate the PA behaviors of autistic children during an adapted physical education (APE) class using accelerometry. The purpose of this study was to examine the PA of autistic children and determine the relationship between PA and obesity. Participants were recruited from a school for students with disabilities who participate in a once-weekly APE class …

The Role Of Actin Associated Sptbn1 Host Factor In Hiv-1 Infection In Microglial Cells, Hannah Matheney

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a chronic illness affecting more than 32.7 million individuals worldwide. The virus infects immune cells, weakening the immune system overtime eventually leading to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) if left untreated. Infection starts with a fusion step, followed by uncoating of the HIV capsid once in the cytoplasm of the cell. HIV uses host cell proteins to complete the infection process, like the actin associated factor, SPTBN1. The Hulme lab has previously shown that SPTBN1 knockdown by siRNA in microglial cells decreased HIV infection and delayed uncoating of HIV. Because fusion is prior to uncoating, it …

Birthing While Black: Anti-Oppressive Social Work Practices For Improved Maternal Health Outcomes, Sara Hall

DSW Capstone Projects

Black women die at a disproportionate rate than white women in the United States due to maternal mortality. Black women are three times more likely to die because of a maternal complication than any other demographic. Although the United States has a highly developed healthcare system, it also has the worst maternal mortality rate out of developed nations. The focus of this research is social work practices that can be implemented to improve Black maternal health outcomes.

The systematic literature review focuses on gaps in social work literature related to maternal mortality and health equity, solutions for social workers to …

Academic Pathology's "Spiderless Network": The Power Of A Professional Society, Its Listserv, And Its Journal During A Public Health Emergency, Mark L Tykocinski

COVID-19 Papers, Posters, and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Introductions Of Sars-Cov-2 To The U.S. Virgin Islands Using Pathogen Genomic Surveillance, Kendall Billig

Public Health Theses

Pathogen genomic surveillance systems have proven invaluable throughout the course of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, genomic surveillance programs are under-resourced or nonexistent in regions with reduced access to advanced public health tools, like the Caribbean. In this study, we documented and evaluated the establishment of a genomic surveillance system in the U.S. Virgin Islands during 2021, and used data from the program to place the story of COVID-19 in the U.S. Virgin Islands in a global context. We constructed a phylogenetic tree and conducted phylogeographic analyses to estimate the timing and geographic origin of the most recent common …

Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Asian American And Pacific Islander Breast Cancer Survivors In The United States By Socioeconomic Status And Rurality, 2000-2018, Katherine Luis Ho

Public Health Theses

Background: Known racial/ethnic disparities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality among breast cancer survivors exist and it is well-documented that non-Hispanic Black (NHB) breast cancer survivors experience higher incidence of CVD mortality compared to NHW women. However, few studies have examined CVD mortality among Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) survivors, especially with respect to socioeconomic factors and rurality at the county-level. The aim of this study was to describe how county-level factors influence disparities in CVD mortality among AANHPI breast cancer survivors. Methods: Using Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 registries, we analyzed a retrospective cohort of …

The Role Of Emergency Departments For Antimicrobial Stewardship In Covid-19 Pandemic; The Time Is Now, Madiha Ismail, Nazeer Najeeb Kapadia, Sara Usman

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

The Socioeconomic Gradient Of Alcohol Use, Charles Dh Parry, Gianna Gayle H. Amul

Ateneo School of Government Publications

No abstract provided.

Uncertainty, Scarcity And Transparency: Public Health Ethics And Risk Communication In A Pandemic, Abigail Lowe, Teck Chuan Voo, Lisa M. Lee, Kelly K. Dineen Gillespie, Christy Feig, Alva O. Ferdinand, Seema Mohapatra, David Brett-Major, Matthew K. Wynia

Journal Articles: Epidemiology

Communicating public health guidance is key to mitigating risk during disasters and outbreaks, and ethical guidance on communication emphasizes being fully transparent. Yet, communication during the pandemic has sometimes been fraught, due in part to practical and conceptual challenges around being transparent. A particular challenge has arisen when there was both evolving scientific knowledge on COVID-19 and reticence to acknowledge that resource scarcity concerns were influencing public health recommendations. This essay uses the example of communicating public health guidance on masking in the United States to illustrate ethical challenges of developing and conveying public health guidance under twin conditions of …

Advocate Against Adversity, Melany Kelly, Hermela Shimels, Zariah Bailey, Kennedy Carter

DC Health and Academic Prep Program (DC HAPP)

Our project is focused on the social determinants of maternal healthcare throughout urban areas in the United States and, more specifically, the different wards in DC. This project aims to shed light on how racial and ethnic disparities, in addition to other social determining factors, are contributing to high infant mortality rates in the DC area. It also proposes potential public health initiatives that seeks to address and combat these differences.

Calling Attention To Campus Trends: Let’S Talk About Wellness, Mandy Magalhaes, Rachel Cullity

The Graduate Review

Abstract

This article explores the emerging focus on self-care and wellness amongst college students. In this article, the authors highlight the cultural shift from the “grind culture,” the complete and exhaustive dedication towards one’s work, to a focus on individual and community well being and how educational institutions are responding to students’ needs (Absher, 2020). Bridgewater State University's current response to student wellness is discussed, with a focus on the School of Social Work’s research efforts, programs and services being implemented, from the voices of graduate students. Self-care and wellness is an emerging conversation occurring in many professions and educational …

A Systematic Approach To Multiple Case Study Design In Professional Counseling And Counselor Education, Charmayne R. Adams, Casey A. Barrio Minton, Jennifer Hightower, Ashley J. Blount

Office of Health Promotion Scholarship

Case study research is a qualitative methodology that allows researchers to explore complex phenomena in a structured way, that is rigorous and provides an enormous amount of depth. Three scholars are credited with major contributions to the case study literature: Merriam (1998), Stake (1995/2006), and Yin (1994). The purpose of this paper is to explore case study design for use in the counseling profession. The authors provide instruction on the case study scholars, data collection, analysis, and reporting for both single and multiple case study research designs. Finally, implications for student counselors, counselor educators, and counseling professionals are provided.

Regenerating Agroecosystems By Overcoming Human Exceptionalism In Designing For Increased Equity Of Benefits From Ecoservices, Ali Loker, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Our commentary explores three critical issues related to ecosystem services. First is how ecoservices are currently designed and implemented primarily for human benefit without concern for how these impact other species. We conclude that awareness of this imbalance is the first step toward meaningful change. Second we observe that human exceptionalism guides most decisions, and ask whether we can overcome this mind-set to embrace ecoregeneration and design of resilient and mutually beneficial agroecosystems. Our attitude toward the challenge and moving toward greater humility about human roles that guide management decisions in the ecosystem is a requisite for change. Third we …