Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Food Security And Assistance Programs In Vermont Before And During Covid-19, Madeleine Burke, Ashley C. Mccarthy, Emily H. Belarmino, Farryl Bertmann, Meredith T. Niles

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Here we surveyed a cohort of Vermonters at three time points over the first year of the pandemic. The surveys were conducted in March/ April 2020, June 2020, and March/April 2021. The demographics of the 441 Vermonters who responded to all three surveys are comparable to average Vermont demographics on income, but the respondents were more likely to have a college degree and to identify as female. This brief explores how the use of food assistance programs varied within this population and changed over the course of the pandemic. Key findings include: 1. The number of Vermonters using food assistance …

More Than A Meal : A Resource For Communities Striving For Food Sovereignty Through The Charitable Food System, Kaitlin J. Robertson

Food Systems Master's Project Reports

The 2020 pandemic and economic crisis showcased the fragility of the American food system. In the months of quarantine and lockdowns, a growing number of Americans searched for ways to feed themselves and their families. Community-based and volunteer-supported feeding programs worked to bridge the divide between the hungry and their next meal. In many cases, these programs rely on an unpaid workforce and donations – of time, food, and facilities. With limited resources, volunteer-led programs often lack centralized training options; this guidebook seeks to fill that void. This project is a streamlined, introductory-level guide for volunteers and community members working …

Together We Learn: Collaborating With Medical Students To Build An Online Anti-Racism Guide, Gary S. Atwood, Kate E. Bright

University Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications

In the summer of 2020, students from the medical school’s Social Justice Coalition asked if the library could support their project to build a digital collection of anti-racism resources. Specifically, they asked if the library could host the collection and purchase relevant materials when possible. The project presented interesting policy and technical issues related to LibGuides, the platform we eventually selected. It also provided educational opportunities for the medical students, staff, and the library. After six months of hard work, we launched the collection, titled “Together We Learn: Resources for Our Journeys in Justice & Inclusion” in December 2020.

While, …

Emulating Agricultural Disease Management: Comparing Risk Preferences Between Industry Professionals And Online Participants Using Experimental Gaming Simulations And Paired Lottery Choice Surveys, Eric M. Clark, Scott C. Merrill, Luke Trinity, Gabriela Bucini, Nicholas Cheney, Ollin Langle-Chimal, Trisha Shrum, Christopher Koliba, Asim Zia, Julia M. Smith

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Mitigating the spread of disease is crucial for the well-being of agricultural production systems. Implementing biosecurity disease prevention measures can be expensive, so producers must balance the costs of biosecurity investments with the expected benefits of reducing the risk of infections. To investigate the risk associated with this decision making process, we developed an online experimental game that simulates biosecurity investment allocation of a pork production facility during an outbreak. Participants are presented with several scenarios that vary the visibility of the disease status and biosecurity protection implemented at neighboring facilities. Certain rounds allowed participants to spend resources to reduce …

Food Insecurity In Vermont Households: An Analysis Of The Association With Tobacco Use, Alcohol Consumption And Physical Inactivity, Hannah R. Kaufman, Kyleigh Savoie, Emily Belanger, Kijonna Bowman, Darren Childs, Hendrika Maltby

Master of Public Health Culminating Projects

Objectives: To assess the relationship between chronic disease risk behaviors: tobacco usage, alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle, and food insecurity (FI) among Vermonters. Methods: This cross-sectional study uses a sample (n= 1,378) from Vermont’s 2018 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). The examined outcome is FI. The predictor measures were defined as at-risk tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and sedentary lifestyles.The following were established as covariates on the association between the dependent and independent variables: income, sex, age, race/ethnicity, and activity limitations. Results: In the unadjusted binomial logistic regression (Table 2), tobacco users were 3.32 times more likely to be food …

Preliminary Analysis Of Vermont's Ems Naloxone Leave-Behind Program, Samantha J. Bissonette

Larner College of Medicine Fourth Year Advanced Integration Teaching/Scholarly Projects

Background: Naloxone is well known to effectively reverse the effects of unintentional opiate overdose and reduce mortality from opiate overdose (12, 18). Despite activation of emergency medical services (EMS) after an overdose, many patients choose against transport to a hospital for further treatment and initiation of support services. These patients were previously left on scene without any additional support or services, despite encountering emergency medical personnel. To supplement the state's naloxone distribution efforts, Vermont initiated an EMS protocol allowing all levels of providers to provide naloxone leave-behind kits to patients and/or their family or friends when a patient is identified …

Screening For Food Insecurity In New Milford, Ct, Liana K. Mathias

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. Litchfield county, home to New Milford, CT, suffered severe economic changes over the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of food insecure households, represented by those requesting food from local food pantries, skyrocketed. This study demonstrates the importance of screening for food insecurity in primary care. A 3-part screen is implemented in a primary care setting to better assess those at risk and connect them to resources and local food services.

Climate Impacts Associated With Reduced Diet Diversity In Children Across Nineteen Countries, Meredith T. Niles, Benjamin F. Emery, Serge Wiltshire, Molly E. Brown, Brendan Fisher, Taylor H. Ricketts

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

It is widely anticipated that climate change will negatively affect both food security and diet diversity. Diet diversity is especially critical for children as it correlates with macro and micronutrient intake important for child development. Despite these anticipated links, little empirical evidence has demonstrated a relationship between diet diversity and climate change, especially across large datasets spanning multiple global regions and with more recent climate data. Here we use survey data from 19 countries and more than 107 000 children, coupled with 30 years of precipitation and temperature data, to explore the relationship of climate to child diet diversity while …

Quantifying Language Changes Surrounding Mental Health On Twitter, Anne Marie Stupinski

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mental health challenges are thought to afflict around 10% of the global population each year, with many going untreated due to stigma and limited access to services. Here, we explore trends in words and phrases related to mental health through a collection of 1- , 2-, and 3-grams parsed from a data stream of roughly 10% of all English tweets since 2012. We examine temporal dynamics of mental health language, finding that the popularity of the phrase ‘mental health’ increased by nearly two orders of magnitude between 2012 and 2018. We observe that mentions of ‘mental health’ spike annually and …

Vermont Special Educators’ Perceptions On The Inclusion Of Students With Disabilities In Universal Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports (Pbis), Cassandra L. Townshend

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

AbstractOver the last 25 years, there has been an increased body of research on best practices to address the social, emotional, and behavioral well-being of all students in schools. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) has consistently demonstrated effectiveness in attending to all students’ social, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing – including students with disabilities (Simonsen et al., Feb., 2020). Despite PBIS being implemented in over 27,000 schools in the United States (Horner & Sugai, 2015) and in over 50% of schools Vermont, minimal research has been conducted on the experiences of special educators and their perceptions of PBIS practices on …

How And Why Do People Value Nature? An Examination Of Nonmaterial Aspects Of Human-Nature Interactions., Tatiana Marquina

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Nonmaterial benefits from nature, often labeled as cultural ecosystem services, represent a core dimension of human well-being. Yet despite their importance, these benefits and associated values remain overlooked in environmental assessments and decisions.

This dissertation applies insights from multiple disciplines to document nonmaterial dimensions of human-nature interactions across geographic contexts and user groups. As nonmaterial benefits can be hard to elicit and measure, this work uses multiple existing data collection methods and tests a novel data collection tool. First, I use a qualitative study design to explore values and stewardship practices associated with urban foraging in New York City, NY. …

Learning Empowerment & Advocacy Together: A School-Based Youth Empowerment Program, Sheridan Finnie

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

LEAT is a virtual skills building leadership group for female identifying high school age students grades 9-12. Program objectives are to empower youth to develop their sense of self esteem, identity and to develop leadership skills to be active leaders in their community. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on youth, opportunities to build community and engage in skill building activities are lacking and this group aims to fill that gap.

Exploring Weight Control Expectancies As A Mediator Of The Relationship Between Fear Of Fat And Nicotine Dependence In Smokers And Vapers, Emily Pomichter

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Specific drug-use expectancies are shaped by reports from others about the effects of the drug, by an individual’s own experience with the drug, or by both. The present study hypothesized that, among smokers and e-cigarette users (vapers), an individual’s fear of weight gain would be associated with higher endorsement of appetite and weight control expectancies from nicotine use, which in turn would be associated with self-reported levels of nicotine dependence. The participants were smokers (n = 514) and vapers (n = 412) who responded to a Qualtrics survey advertised via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. As predicted, nicotine’s appetite and weight …

The Use Of Technology For Mental Wellbeing In The Era Of Covid-19, Adam Fakhri

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Prevalence of mental health issues has increased during the time of COVID-19. There are many contributing factors to consider, the main one reported has been social isolation due to quarantine precautions. Members of the community have spent extended periods of time at home and away from their loved ones during this pandemic. Many patients have reported many life events occurring including deaths in the family without the ability to even mourn with their family members. This has taken a toll on the community, especially in Vergennes where this small tight knit community that has relied on its tight social bonds …

Tailored Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity (Sogi) Education: Assessing Network Needs Through A Survey Of Knowledge And Attitudes, Luke M. Higgins

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Perceived Addictiveness Of Marijuana, Tobacco And Alcohol Use In Vermont Youth And Young Adults: Associations Between Addiction Perceptions, Sociodemographics, And Substance Use, Julia C. West

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Dual and poly-tobacco and substance use are increasingly prevalent in youth and young adults. Current substance use prevention media efforts target addiction perceptions in young people; however, little is known about the perceived addictiveness of multiple substances among young people. The goal of the current study is to examine youth and young adults perceive addictiveness across several substances and the associations between addiction perceptions and substance use. Data were collected in Spring and Summer 2019 (Waves 1 and 2) as part of PACE Vermont, an online cohort study of Vermonters aged 12–25. Latent class analyses grouped participants by responses to …