Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Risk Factors Associated With Passenger Vehicle Fatal Rollover Crashes In West Virginia, 2001-2018, Yuni Tang, Toni Marie Rudisill, Ruchi Bhandari

Journal of Appalachian Health

Background: Rollover crashes cause more injuries and fatalities than other types of motor vehicle crashes. West Virginia (WV) has high rates of drug overdose deaths and motor vehicle crash fatality. However, no studies have investigated risk factors associated with fatal rollover crashes in WV.

Purpose: The objective of this study is to evaluate whether drug use and other risk factors are associated with fatal rollover crash fatalities in WV.

Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized the Fatality Analysis Reporting System dataset from passenger vehicle crashes involving WV drivers ≥ 16 years of age with known drug test results who died within …

Geographic Variation In The Structure Of Kentucky’S Population Health Systems: An Urban, Rural, And Appalachian Comparison, Rachel Hogg-Graham, Angela Carman, Glen P. Mays, Pierre Martin Dominique Zephyr

Journal of Appalachian Health

Introduction: Research examining geographic variation in the structure of population health systems is continuing to emerge, and most of the evidence that currently exists divides systems by urban and rural designation. Very little is understood about how being rural and Appalachian impacts population health system structure and strength.

Purpose: This study examines geographic differences in key characteristics of population health systems in urban, rural non-Appalachian, and rural Appalachian regions of Kentucky.

Methods: Data from a 2018 statewide survey of community networks was used to examine population health system characteristics. Descriptive statistics were generated to examine variation across geographic regions in …

Fiscal Challenges And Anticipated Changes To Kentucky's Population Health System, Jeffrey Howard

Journal of Appalachian Health

The hallmark of public health is population-level intervention. However, current public health funding in Kentucky is largely programmatic or disease-based. As a result, public health leaders are not able to appropriately utilize present resources to pursue population health endeavors. However, a recent transformation of the public health system has emphasized multisector partnerships and efficient funding mechanisms that may increase resources to pursue population-level health interventions based on community health assessments.

Roanoke's Collective Public Health Activities, Michael Lytton

Journal of Appalachian Health

Roanoke is addressing problems that confront many small and medium sized cities in the U.S., especially disparities in health and life expectancy between neighborhoods. These disparities are often legacies of decades of racial and economic segregation, resulting in low-income or disinvested communities. Typically, such neighborhoods have fewer parks, higher vacancy rates and less stable affordable housing stock, inadequate public transit systems, too few clinics, too many fast food restaurants and insufficient access to high quality schools. In Roanoke these are the northwest and southeast quadrants, both federally designated Medically Underserved Areas, and characterized by a large proportion of the city’s …

Answering The Call To Integrate: Simple Strategies From Public Health And Healthcare Executives In One Urban County, Erik L. Carlton, Paul C. Erwin

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Background: As the Affordable Care Act transforms the practice of both public health and health care, it also provides opportunity for both to become more closely linked through improved integration and collaboration. Yet, while public health agencies are increasingly called to work with healthcare partners to address population health needs, both public health leaders and their healthcare counterparts may not be well equipped to answer that call. Although recent studies have begun exploring the collaborative strategies and capacity of public health system partners, there is still much to learn. The purpose of this study was to identify, through the perspective …

Exploring The Process, Models, And Outcomes Of Hospital-Public Health Partnerships, Danielle M. Varda, Jessica H. Retrum, Carrie Chapman

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Health care reform has resulted in changes throughout the health system, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement that hospitals conduct community health needs assessments, taking into greater consideration the public health of their respective communities. This has led to growing strategies to develop partnerships between hospitals and public health (PH) as a way to meet these needs¹. Meantime, there is a need for data on Hospital-PH partnerships, due to the growing emphasis that these types of partnerships get implemented in practice. In this paper we analyze a secondary data set to explore how hospitals and public health …

Playing To Our Strengths: An Academic/Health Department Collaboration To Facilitate Public Protections Against Tuberculosis, Thaddeus L. Miller, Erin K. Carlson, Nuha A. Lackan

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Background:

Economic modeling and analysis can facilitate evidence-based policy and practice. Such analyses may exceed the technical capacity and mission of public health agencies, yet may be critical to sustain health protections such as tuberculosis (TB) control. The net effect of TB prevention is incompletely understood, hampering objective value judgments of national TB elimination policies. This may promote inefficiencies and threaten individual and public health protections.

We describe how a HRSA-funded Texas Public Health Training Center (TPHTC) coordinated specialized analytical skills with the needs of a state public health department to create a user-friendly tool to inform planning and resource …

Patterns Of Interaction Among Local Public Health Officials And The Adoption Of Recommended Practices, Jacqueline A. Merrill, Kathleen M. Carley, Mark G. Orr, Christie Y. Jeon, Jonathon Storrick

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The network that local health officials use to communicate about professional issues contains two groups of LHDs that are influential for either their ability to spread information or to innovate. Both groups are more likely to conduct community health assessments and develop health improvement plans. Since these activities are fundamental aspects of accreditation and health reform, the findings may present an early indication that these initiatives are having an effect on the public health system.

Public Health Governance And Population Health Outcomes, Scott P. Hays, Janine Toth, Matthew J. Poes, Peter F. Mulhall, David M. Remmert, Thomas W. O'Rourke

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Research reviews have identified a gap in understanding the diversity of health department governance structures and in understanding how the variations in governing relates to health outcomes. This report details the categorization of local public health governance and reveals that certain governance types may be better suited to achieve better population health outcomes. State systems achieve the poorest health outcomes, but the best health outcomes are achieved when the political branches have a key role in local public health governance. Public health systems should consider greater local control and involvement in governance; but local governance should include the political branches …