Environmental Public Health Commons^™

Mining’S Impact On Environmental And Human Health: A Case Study Of Ramba County’S Gold Mine, Vivika Fernes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research project aims to gain a greater understanding of the health implications that Ramba County’s goldmine has on miners, their families, and the environment. While this study observes the community-at-large, inclusive of visiting miners and extended family members of workers, it will focus on women who engage in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM). Millions of people in the developing word depend on ASGM for their livelihood, evident in this case study in Ramba County. However, while gold is associated with wealth, there is great irony in the fact that those working within the mining industry are being exploited …

Something’S In The Water: A Look At How Creativity And Innovation Can Prevent Future Water Crises, Tristan Holiday-Nowden

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

The purpose of this project is to raise awareness and create a level of consciousness about water, unlike anything we have seen in the past. This project presents a synthesis of current writings and ideologies from the fields of Environmental Science and Water Research. As well as think pieces and informative news articles from various publications.

To illustrate the damaging effects of water contamination, water pollution, and water scarcity; Flint, Michigan will serve as a case study. After diagnosing and defining the problem using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework. This project will explore the challenge and look at the …

Ecological Determinants Of Respiratory Health: Examining Associations Between Asthma Emergency Department Visits, Diesel Particulate Matter, And Public Parks And Open Space In Los Angeles, California, Jason A. Douglas, Reginald S. Archer, Serena E. Alexander

Health Sciences and Kinesiology Faculty Articles

Los Angeles County (LAC) low-income communities of color experience uneven asthma rates, evidenced by asthma emergency department visits (AEDV). This has partly been attributed to inequitable exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM). Promisingly, public parks and open space (PPOS) contribute to DPM mitigation. However, low-income communities of color with limited access to PPOS may be deprived of associated public health benefits. Therefore, this novel study investigates the AEDV, DPM, PPOS nexus to address this public health dilemma and inform public policy in at-risk communities. Optimized Hotspot Analysis was used to examine geographic clustering of AEDVs, DPM, and PPOS at the …

Feeling Green: The Benefits Of Green Space On Urbanites' Mental Health, Kathryn A. Hoagland

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

This investigation intends to determine the best methods for incorporating public green space into dense urban areas, for the betterment of residents' mental health. Data from studies showing differences in the prevalence of anxiety and depression in urban and rural areas are discussed alongside data from studies looking at the effect that certain types of green space might have on mental health. While there is no exact consensus on the extent to which nature has positive effects on mental health there is enough of a correlation to argue for the implementation of public green spaces in urban design, in order …

Climate, Population, And Vulnerability In Pakistan: Exploring Evidence Of Linkages For Adaptation, G.M. Arif, Muhammad Riaz, Nadeem Faisal, Mohammad Jamal Khan Khattak, Zeba Sathar, Muhammad Khalil, Maqsood Sadiq, Sabahat Hussain, Kiren Khan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The global discussion of climate change and its impacts and causes has changed completely in the past quarter century. Scientific opinion now accepts that rapid warming is occurring and that greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted as a result of human activities are largely to blame. The consequences of taking no action will be catastrophic. Unfortunately, the burden of impact will fall disproportionately on the poor and most vulnerable people who rely heavily on agriculture in countries where average temperatures are already high. Climate change is particularly harmful because it increasingly threatens food security in these countries. Pakistan is one of the …

Healthy Food Options At Dollar Discount Stores Are Equivalent In Quality And Lower In Price Compared To Grocery Stores: An Examination In Las Vegas, Nv, Courtney Coughenour, Timothy J. Bungum, M. Nikki Regalado

School of Public Health Faculty Research

Food deserts indicate limited access to and affordability of healthy foods. One potential mediator is the availability of healthy food in non-traditional outlets such as dollar-discount stores, stores selling produce at the fixed $1 price. The purpose of this study was to compare availability, quality, price differences in ‘healthier’ versus ‘regular’ food choices, price per each food item, and summary score in dollar-discount stores to grocery stores in Las Vegas using the NEMS-S; a protocol consisting of three subscores—availability, quality, price of healthier versus regular food, and a summary score. [...] see article for full abstract

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

Honors Scholar Theses

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

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

Justice Served Fresh: Associations Between Food Insecurity, Community Gardening, And Property Value, Micajah Daniels, Courtney Coughenour Ph.D

McNair Poster Presentations

Numerous stakeholders in Nevada have used a variety of efforts to combat the growth of food insecurity facing Nevadans. The purpose of this research project is to understand the association between food insecurity, community gardens, and property value. Following the wealth of scholarship on these topics and data collected from community garden agencies in Southern Nevada, the research questions for this project include: (1) Where are community gardens located in SNV? (2) What efforts community gardens agencies are doing to address food insecurity (most interested in their efforts using community gardens)? (3) What are the perceptions of supports and barriers …

Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Positively Associated With Waist To Height Ratio And School Socio Economic Status In Irish Primary School Aged Children, M. O'Leary, E. Rush, Seán Lacey, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger

Publications

Background; The purpose of this paper is to examine any association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and markers of health among 6 and 10 year old Irish children. Methods; A total of 917 children (6 year olds, N=459; 10 year olds, N=458) from 11 primary schools in Cork (Ireland) participated. Body composition, blood pressure (BP), CRF (550-metre distance run) and school socio-economic status (SES) were assessed. Children were classified as low or high fitness based on run-time standard deviation scores (SDS). Physical activity (PA) determined over 1 week by accelerometry was collected from a sub sample of 700 children (76.3%). Results; …

Toxic Effects Of Lead Disposal In Water: An Analysis Of Tri Facility Releases, Patrick Koval

Economics Department Working Papers

Using county-level TRI data from 2003 to 2016, I find evidence that lead emissions in water adversely affect birth weights within the emitting county, especially with respect to the percentage of births considered low birth weight within that county (less than 2,500 grams). I find that a one percent increase in lead emissions per square mile increases the proportion of low birth weights by 0.27 percentage points. For a county with an average number of births in a particular year, this one percent increase in lead per square mile translates to an additional $475,000 in hospitalization costs from complications with …

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

Publications

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

Climate Change, Resilience, And Population Dynamics In Pakistan: A Case Study Of The 2010 Floods In Mianwali District, Zeba Sathar, Muhammad Khalil, Sabahat Hussain, Maqsood Sadiq, Kiren Khan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In 2010, Pakistan experienced massive flooding that went on uninterrupted for more than eight weeks, and seriously affected more than 20 million people. This study explores the effects of the floods on one of the most adversely affected districts, Mianwali, in Punjab province. The study focuses on four areas pertaining to resilience: movements and migration processes; shifts in poverty levels and living conditions; changes in livelihood activities; and health-seeking behavior, particularly fertility-related processes. This study highlights the need to include demographic and health information in the analysis of natural disasters. The report marks the beginning of a research agenda that …

Community-Level Assessment Of Droughts In Odisha: Effects, Resilience, And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

India has been severely affected by drought—one-third of the country is either drought-prone or classified as desert. Odisha’s geographic location makes it vulnerable to various natural disasters and climatic risks so the Population Council conducted a study there to explore the impact of drought on people and their resilience, as well as examine the perceptions of state-level infrastructure and institutional initiatives to strengthen responses to droughts. The study found that farmers, laborers, and the poor are severely affected physically, financially, and psychologically as a result of consecutive droughts that have affected agriculture and livelihoods. The report notes a number of …

Community-Level Assessment Of Floods And Cyclones In Coastal Odisha, India: Impact, Resilience, And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

India is among the countries that have been severely affected by both floods and cyclones. In 2012, the Government of India estimated that nearly 12 percent of India’s land is prone to floods and river erosion. The Population Council conducted formative research in the state of Odisha to explore the people’s perceptions on impact and resilience to cyclones and floods, and to examine the state-level infrastructure and institutional initiatives to strengthen responses to these events. Findings reported in this brief indicate that flooding and cyclones have had a disproportionate affect on vulnerable groups, including women, children, the elderly, and disabled …

Building Resilience In Communities Most Vulnerable To Environmental Stressors, Jessie Pinchoff

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Evidence suggests that the frequency and intensity of environmental hazards such as floods, cyclones, and droughts may be increasing, leading to high volatility in many parts of the world. The impact of these events falls unequally on the most vulnerable individuals, households, and communities. To fully understand and address the needs of vulnerable communities, the Population Council is building on its existing research, deep global research expertise, and proven approaches in reaching and working with vulnerable populations to examine how humans interact with their environments and explore how to test and develop successful strategies for building resilience. This report presents …

Community-Level Assessment Of Heatwaves In Odisha State, India: Effects, Resilience And Implications, Sangram Kishor Patel

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Heatwaves constitute a potential threat to many of India’s states, including Odisha, and their impact could become acute without adaptive capacity. This research brief explores the perceived causes and experiences of climate change and heatwave by stakeholders in the district. It summarizes reported effects on livelihoods, food security, and livestock; water and sanitation; and health, and reviews coping strategies offered by respondents. The report includes a number of recommendations to meet the needs of the population as indicated by the findings.

Changes In Household Well Being And Resilience: The Role Of Population, Family Planning And Reproductive Health In The Tuungane Project, Kristen P. Patterson

Reproductive Health

Both the family planning sector and the environmental sector will be interested in this synopsis of findings from a study of the first four years of the Tuungane integrated population, health, and environment (PHE) project in Tanzania. The objectives of the Tuungane Project are to achieve healthier families, healthier forests, and healthier fisheries, using an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. Analyses of the 2011 baseline and 2016 midline quantitative data, and additional qualitative data from 2016, measured the project’s progress and shed light on the contribution of the project interventions to building resilience, and on the links between family planning and other …

Socio-Cultural Determinants Of Physical Activity Across The Life Course: A 'Determinants Of Diet And Physical Activity' (Dedipac) Umbrella Systematic Literature Review, Lina Jaeschke, Astrid Steinbrecher, Agnes Luzak, Anna Puggina, Katina Aleksovska, Christoph Buck, Con Burns, Greet Cardon, Angela Carlin, Simon Chantal, Donatella Ciarapica, Giancarlo Condello, Tara Coppinger, Cristina Cortis, Marieke De Craemer, Sara D'Haese, Andrea Di Blasio, Sylvia Hansen, Licia Iacoviello, Johann Issartel, Pascal Izzicupo, Martina Kanning, Aileen Kennedy, Fiona Chun Man Ling, Giorgio Napolitano, Julie Anne Nazare, Camille Perchoux, Angela Polito, Walter Ricciardi, Alessandra Sannella, Wolfgang Schlicht, Rhoda Sohun

Publications

Objective: Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of disease and premature death. Knowing factors associated with PA might help reducing the disease and economic burden caused by low activity. Studies suggest that socio-cultural factors may affect PA, but systematic overviews of findings across the life course are scarce. This umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) summarizes and evaluates available evidence on socio-cultural determinants of PA in children, adolescents, and adults. Methods: This manuscript was drafted following the recommendations of the 'Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses' (PRISMA) checklist. The MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases were …

Moving Mountains : A Study Examining Long-Term Impacts Of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining On Mortality In The Appalachian Region Using Geographic Information Sciences Techniques., James Howard Kent Pugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last hundred years, the Appalachian region has been dominated by the coal industry. It has also been and currently is one of the unhealthiest regions in the United States. Recent scholarship has examined the relationship between coal mining and health and mortality rates in the Appalachian region. The first study incorporates air quality and pollution data to examine if coal mining counties have higher levels of pollution and if this pollution contributes to mortality disadvantage. In the second study, I construct a population-based coal-exposure measure to better evaluate the relationship between coal mining and health I find that …

How Useful Is Gsv As An Environmental Observation Tool? An Analysis Of The Evidence So Far., Katherine Nesse, Leah Airt

SPU Works

Researchers in many disciplines have turned to Google Street View to replace pedestrian- or carbased in-person observation of streetscapes. It is most prevalent within the research literature on the relationship between neighborhood environments and public health but has been used as diverse as disaster recovery, ecology and wildlife habitat, and urban design. Evaluations of the tool have found that the results of GSV-based observation are similar to the results from in-person observation although the similarity depends on the type of characteristic being observed. Larger, permanent and discrete features showed more consistency between the two methods and smaller, transient and judgmental …

Sedentary Behavior Research Network (Sbrn) - Terminology Consensus Project Process And Outcome, Mark S. Tremblay, Salomé Aubert, Joel D. Barnes, Travis J. Saunders, Valerie Carson, Amy E. Latimer-Cheung, Sebastien F.M. Chastin, Teatske M. Altenburg, Mai J.M. Chinapaw, Saeideh Aminian, Lauren Arundell, Trina Hinkley, Jill Hnatiuk, Andrew J. Atkin, Kevin Belanger, Jean Philippe Chaput, Katie Gunnell, Richard Larouche, Taru Manyanga, Bethany Barone Gibbs, Rebecca Bassett-Gunter, Stuart Biddle, Aviroop Biswas, Josephine Chau, Rachel Colley, Tara Coppinger, Catharine Craven, Carlos Cristi-Montero, Douglas De Assis Teles Santos, Borja Del Pozo Cruz, Jesus Del Pozo-Cruz, Paddy Dempsey

Publications

Background: The prominence of sedentary behavior research in health science has grown rapidly. With this growth there is increasing urgency for clear, common and accepted terminology and definitions. Such standardization is difficult to achieve, especially across multi-disciplinary researchers, practitioners, and industries. The Sedentary Behavior Research Network (SBRN) undertook a Terminology Consensus Project to address this need. Method: First, a literature review was completed to identify key terms in sedentary behavior research. These key terms were then reviewed and modified by a Steering Committee formed by SBRN. Next, SBRN members were invited to contribute to this project and interested participants reviewed …

Behavioral Determinants Of Physical Activity Across The Life Course: A "Determinants Of Diet And Physical Activity" (Dedipac) Umbrella Systematic Literature Review, Giancarlo Condello, Anna Puggina, Katina Aleksovska, Christoph Buck, Con Burns, Greet Cardon, Angela Carlin, Chantal Simon, Donatella Ciarapica, Tara Coppinger, Cristina Cortis, Sara D'Haese, Marieke De Craemer, Andrea Di Blasio, Sylvia Hansen, Licia Iacoviello, Johann Issartel, Pascal Izzicupo, Lina Jaeschke, Martina Kanning, Aileen Kennedy, Fiona Chun Man Ling, Agnes Luzak, Giorgio Napolitano, Julie Anne Nazare, Camille Perchoux, Caterina Pesce, Tobias Pischon, Angela Polito, Alessandra Sannella, Holger Schulz, Rhoda Sohun

Publications

Background: Low levels of physical activity (PA) are a global concern and increasing PA engagement is becoming a priority in current public health policies. Despite the large number of studies and reviews available, the evidence regarding the behavioral determinants of PA is still inconclusive. Thus, the aim of this umbrella systematic literature review (SLR) was to summarize the evidence on the behavioral determinants of PA across the life course. Methods: A systematic online search was conducted on MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus databases. The search was limited to studies published in English from January, 2004 to April, …

Water, Sanitation And Hygiene In Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement, Katelyn Bergl

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

No abstract provided.

Grandparenting In Selected West African Countries: Implications For Health And Hygiene Behaviours In The Household, Joshua Oyeniyi Aransiola Dr, Akanni Ibukun Akinyemi Dr, Ambrose Akinlo Dr, Funmi Togonu-Bickesteeth Prof.

GrandFamilies: The Contemporary Journal of Research, Practice and Policy

This is a descriptive study of the health and hygiene behaviors of grandparents who are the primary caregivers of their grandchildren in four West African countries, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The article utilizes data from each country’s most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). The study identified 20,841 households where grandparents were primary caregivers. As expected, most of these households are in Nigeria given their population exceeds the collective population of the other three West African countries. However, the number of grandfamilies in Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia is still worrisome for their population size. In each country, …

The Scoping Review Method: Mapping The Literature In “Structural Change” Public Health Interventions, Rosie Hanneke, Yuka Asada, Lisa D. Lieberman, Leah Christina Neubauer, Michael C. Fagan

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

This case discusses how we used scoping review methodology to map the literature in an emergent area of research, “structural change” public health interventions. Scoping reviews are similar to systematic reviews in both scale and rigor; both of these literature review methodologies are comprehensive approaches to reviewing the literature on a topic. However, while a systematic review attempts to answer a specific, targeted research question, a scoping review is designed to map and categorize all of the literature on a broad topic. For this reason, it is an excellent method to employ in emergent research areas, in which researchers have …

Neighborhood Environment And Falls Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults, Emily Nicklett, Matthew Lohman, Matthew Smith

Dartmouth Scholarship

Falls present a major challenge to active aging, but the relationship between neighborhood factors and falls is poorly understood. This study examined the relationship between fall events and neighborhood factors, including neighborhood social cohesion (sense of belonging, trust, friendliness, and helpfulness) and physical environment (vandalism/graffiti, rubbish, vacant/deserted houses, and perceived safety walking home at night).

Lead Poisoning In Scott County: Seeking Advice From Their “Sister City", Caitlin Slone, Palisha Ranjit, Elizabeth Farwell, Rachel Haecherl, Christine Golaszewski

2016-2017: Scott County, Iowa and the Scott County Health Department

No abstract provided.

Reassessing Visual Assessment Techniques In Lead Project For Scott County, Hannah Lindaman

2016-2017: Scott County, Iowa and the Scott County Health Department

The Upper Mississippi Center has been working closely with Scott County Health Department on a two-year project addressing the stunningly high rates of lead poisoning in parts of Scott County, Iowa. This formal report correlates visual characteristics with the risk-category of lead poisoning in specific parcels in Scott County. Data was collected from the pilot survey in the winter of 2016 and used to run tests using SPSS to find relationships between the visual characteristics that were assessed and the risk-category of the parcel. This report aims to address the fact that the standard for residential visual assessment has a …

The Lead Poisoning Problem In Polk County And Des Moines, Ia, Ami Leichsenring, Naomi Castro, Vanessa Dominguez, Samantha G. De Forest-Davis, Keila Saucedo

2016-2017: Scott County, Iowa and the Scott County Health Department

No abstract provided.

How Do Communities Proactively Address Lead Remediation? : Community Case Studies From Iowa, Dr. Angie L. Carter, Emma Nordmeyer

2016-2017: Scott County, Iowa and the Scott County Health Department

In 2016, Scott County Health Department officials reached out to the Sustainable Working Landscapes Initiative (SWLI) program at Augustana College to begin a partnership addressing lead poisoning in our community. Teams of students in the Fall 2016 Contemporary Social Issues class conducted sociological case studies of communities in Iowa that are proactively addressing lead remediation through combinations of United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and private funding. Groups of students conducted case studies in Dubuque, Linn, Polk, Marshall, and Black Hawk counties in Iowa. Students researched the demographics of these areas as well as successes, lessons learned, …