Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Building The Science Of Public Health Delivery: Advances In Public Health Services And Systems Research, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Efforts to improve the health and economic performance of the U.S. health system require evidence about how best to deliver public health strategies that protect health and prevent disease and injury on a population-wide basis. The field of public health services and systems research is building a "science of delivery" in public health that complements the evidence-based practice movement in medical care.

From The Frontier: Translating Research To Practice...A Story Of Economic Survival, Paul C. Erwin

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This article is number two in the series From the Frontier: Translating Research to Practice. The narrative describes the interactions between a local health department director and two academicians in addressing the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. In a first set of activities, practice-academic partners used Financial and Operational Ratio and Trend Analysis to identify periods of a negative total margin and the impact of that on the agency’s declining fund balance. The use of private sector processes of retrenchment, repositioning, and reorganization led to a financial turnaround for the agency. In a second set of activities, practice-academic …

The Impact Of Education On Unemployment In Kentucky, Christopher R. Bollinger

Issue Brief on Topics Affecting Kentucky’s Economy

No abstract provided.

Evidence-Based Decision Making To Improve Public Health Practice, Ross C. Brownson, Jonathan E. Fielding, Christopher M. Maylahn

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Despite the many accomplishments of public health, greater attention on evidence-based approaches is warranted. This article reviews the concepts of evidence-based public health (EBPH), on which formal discourse originated about 15 years ago. Key components of EBPH include: making decisions based on the best available scientific evidence, using data and information systems systematically, applying program planning frameworks, engaging the community in decision making, conducting sound evaluation, and disseminating what is learned. Core competencies for EBPH are emerging, including not only technical skills but also attention to administrative practices in public health agencies. To better bridge evidence and practice, the concepts …

Public Health Delivery Systems And Population Health: What We Know And Need To Learn, 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.

Estimating The Health And Economic Effects Of Public Health Spending, Glen P. Mays

Health Management and Policy Presentations

Preventable health conditions account for more than 75% of the $2.7 trillion spent annually on health care in the U.S., yet less than 5% of these expenditures are devoted to public health programs and services that are designed to prevent and control disease and injury rather than to treat the downstream consequences of these conditions. Such limited expenditures in public health may contribute to the higher rates of preventable morbidity, mortality and excess medical costs experienced in the U.S. compared to other high-income countries. In this presentation, I update previous estimates of the health effects and medical cost offsets associated …

Into The Breach With Aall’S Diversity Committee: Law Libraries’ Struggle To Achieve Diversity Goals, Beau Steenken, Michele A. Lucero

Law Faculty Popular Media

In this article, the authors discuss the need, purpose, and agenda of the AALL Diversity Committee.

Heuristics For Broader Assessment Of Effectiveness And Usability In Technology-Mediated Technical Communication, Roger Grice, Audrey G. Bennett, Janice W. Fernheimer, Cheryl Geisler, Robert Krull, Raymond A. Lutzky, Matthew G. J. Rolph, Patricia Search, James P. Zappen

Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies Faculty Publications

Purpose: To offer additional tools for the assessment of effectiveness and usability in technology-mediated communication based in established heuristics.

Method: An interdisciplinary group of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute selected five disparate examples of technology-mediated communication, formally evaluated each using contemporary heuristics, and then engaged in an iterative design process to arrive at an expanded toolkit for in depth analyses.

Results: A set of heuristics and operationalized metrics for the deeper analysis of a broader scope of contemporary technology-mediated communication.

Conclusions: The continual evolution of communication, including the emergence of new, interactive media, provides a challenging opportunity to identify effective …

Running To Stand Still: The Challenge Of Keeping Up With Library Trends, Jennifer A. Bartlett

Library Faculty and Staff Publications

New and Noteworthy review column focusing on keeping up with library and information science news and trends.

Models In Dissemination And Implementation Research: Useful Tools In Public Health Services And Systems Research, Rachel G. Tabak, Elaine C. Khoong, David Chambers, Ross C. Brownson

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Dissemination and implementation (D&I) science seeks to understand how to systematically facilitate utilization of evidence. Theories and frameworks (hereafter called models) augment D&I research by enhancing efforts to spread evidence-based interventions (EBIs). D&I models are relevant for public health services and systems research, which also explores the uses of evidence. This report: 1) develops an inventory of models; 2) synthesizes this information; and 3) provides guidance on how to select a model. The research team used snowball sampling to collect models. This article uses three author-defined variables: construct flexibility, focus on dissemination and/or implementation activities, and socio-ecological framework level to …

Commentary: Changing The Channel: Public Health Communication In The 21st Century, Anna Goodman Hoover

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This commentary asserts the need for research examining the use and efficacy of social media as a tool for meeting public health stakeholders’ information needs. The author points to several potential research questions for the field, situates studies addressing these questions within the PHSSR Research Agenda, and introduces the work of Harris et al. that is included in this issue of Frontiers. The commentary closes with a call for horizontal stakeholder communication that supports evidence-based decision-making.

Commentary: Hospital Tax-Exempt Policy: A Comparison Of Schedule H And State Community Benefit Reporting Systems, Laura L. Hitchcock

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

In Hospital Tax-Exempt Policy: A Comparison of Schedule H and State Community Benefit Reporting Systems, Rosenbaum et aldescribe the numerous variations between current state law in 24 states and federal requirements regarding nonprofit hospitals’ community benefit activities. The potential for nonprofit hospitals to help shape community health is great, and how states choose to address requirements regarding community benefit, and potentially reinforce the new federal requirements to incentivize hospital participation in addressing root causes of poor health, should be of significant interest to the public, policy makers and public and population health experts, given the large percentage of …

Hospital Tax-Exempt Policy: A Comparison Of Schedule H And State Community Benefit Reporting Systems, Sara Rosenbaum, Maureen Byrnes, Amber M. Rieke

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) revises federal tax exemption standards for nonprofit hospitals by clarifying and augmenting their community benefit obligations. The ACA amendments followed the 2009 launch of Schedule H – the form on which hospital community benefit, financial, and institutional activities are reported and which must be appended to each facility’s annual Form 990 nonprofit institution information return. Schedule H effectively creates a nationwide, standardized, facility-specific, transparent, and fully publicly accessible reporting system covering the nation’s more than 2,900 nonprofit hospitals. Schedule H delineates financial assistance and bad debt, and requires identification of community health …

Learning By Doing For Public Health Improvement, Glen P. Mays

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

All too often, the knowledge gained through learning-by-doing in public health fails to be fully harvested and disseminated because of missed opportunities to carefully study the experiences and innovations occurring in practice. The field of public health services and systems research (PHSSR) has emerged to capitalize on these opportunities before they are missed.

Rda For Copy Cataloging, Kathryn Lybarger

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

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

Health Management and Policy Presentations

This seminar examines a series of approaches for estimating the health and economic effects attributable to public health expenditures in the U.S., along with a novel method for estimating economies of scale and scope in the delivery of public health services. The use of instrumental-variables techniques and network analytic methods are described in these research approaches.

Snap And Obesity, Craig Gundersen

University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series

No abstract.

Predictors Of The Change In The Expression Of Emotional Support Within An Online Breast Cancer Support Group: A Longitudinal Study, Woohyun Yoo, Ming-Yuan Chih, Min-Woo Kwon, Junghwan Yang, Eunji Cho, Bryan Mclaughlin, Kang Namkoong, Dhavan V. Shah, David H. Gustafson

Community & Leadership Development Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVES: To explore how the expression of emotional support in an online breast cancer support group changes over time, and what factors predict this pattern of change.

METHODS: We conducted growth curve modeling with data collected from 192 participants in an online breast cancer support group within the Comprehensive Health Enhancement Support System (CHESS) during a 24-week intervention period.

RESULTS: Individual expression of emotional support tends to increase over time for the first 12 weeks of the intervention, but then decrease slightly with time after that. In addition, we found that age, living situation, comfort level with computer and the …

Southeastern Law Librarian Winter 2013, Seaall

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Valuation Of Recreational Beach Quality And Water Quality Management Strategies In Oahu, Jerrod M. Penn

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

Hawaii’s pristine ocean and tropical environment is a keystone of Hawaii tourism and the state economy. Water pollution from stormwater and development threatens the beach quality to both residents and tourists. In order to understand the lost nonmarket value, we assess changes in quality of beach characteristics including water and sand quality, swimming safety conditions, and congestion using a Discrete Choice Experiment of recreational beach users. Further, we study willingness to pay (WTP) for water management strategies in Hawaii using another discrete choice experiment, including structural and nonstructural Best Management Practices, testing, monitoring, and educational efforts.

Using a mixed logit …

Southeastern Law Librarian Special Election Edition 2013-2014, Seaall

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

From Shanghai To Huangbaiyu: Eco-Cities As An Alternative Modernity, Jared Flanery

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

No abstract provided.

Improving Farm Management Decisions By Analyzing Production Expenditure Allocations And Farm Performance Standing, William A. Osborne

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

This study examines the potential effects of categorical increases in production expenditures on farm income performance according to farm standing. The objective of this study is to expose differences in anticipated net farm income return from production expenditure investments and the optimal expense allocation strategy for each performance level. Studying farm performance through segregation by utilizing a two-tier analysis and quantile regression acknowledges the possibility that managerial strategy can differ based on managerial ability. Study outcomes are useful to farm managers because they offer more prescription style results and interpretations than found in other farm performance studies. Study findings show …

Concurrent Choice For Social Interaction And Amphetamine Using Conditioned Place Preference In Rats: Effects Of Age And Housing Condition, Justin R. Yates, Joshua S. Beckmann, Andrew C. Meyer, Michael T. Bardo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Social interaction can serve as a natural reward that attenuates drug reward in rats; however, it is unknown if age or housing conditions alter the choice between social interaction and drug.

Methods: Individually- and pair-housed adolescent and adult male rats were tested using conditioned place preference (CPP) in separate experiments in which: (1) social interaction was conditioned against no social interaction; (2) amphetamine (AMPH; 1 mg/kg, s.c.) was conditioned against saline; or (3) social interaction was conditioned against AMPH.

Results: Social interaction CPP was obtained only in individually-housed adolescents, whereas AMPH CPP was obtained in both individually-housed adolescents and …

Effects Of Family Structure On Educational Attainment And Health Insurance Coverage Of Youth In The Lower Mississippi Delta Region, Chaquenta L. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

A large body of research, typically nationally focused, has examined the relationship between family structure, educational attainment, and healthcare access. Within this field of study, there is limited availability of regionally based studies, specifically the Lower Mississippi Delta (LMD) region. This exploratory study examines the effects of family structure on high school graduation rates and health insurance coverage within the LMD region. The objective is to determine if family structure has a direct impact on the educational attainment and health outcomes of a child within the region using concepts from nationally focused literature. Through the use of an OLS regression, …

Gis-Based Expert Systems Model For Predicting Habitat Suitability Of Blackside Dace, Benjamin L. Blandford, John Ripy, Ted H. Grossardt, Ryan Evans, Sara Hines

Kentucky Transportation Center Presentations

This study presents a GIS-based predictive habitat suitability model for the blackside dace, a federally-listed threatened species of the Upper Cumberland River basin in southeastern Kentucky. The model is a rules-based system which incorporates expert knowledge about habitat preferences for the species. The five habitat factors identified by experts and included in this model are stream gradient, canopy coverage, riparian vegetation type, riparian zone width, and stream order. Using GIS, the five habitat parameters were parameterized and combined across the entire stream network. Combinations were evaluated by blackside dace experts in terms of habitat suitability. The resulting model was tested …

Predicting Students’ Confidence: How Teacher Feedback And Other Sources Influence Self-Efficacy In Mathematics Classrooms, Megan Kleine-Kracht Thomas

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

In this two-part dissertation, the sources of self-efficacy were investigated for elementary and middle school students in mathematics classrooms. In the first study, the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Scale (Usher & Pajares, 2009) was validated with a younger sample. Participants included 367 fourth- through sixth-grade students; these participants completed two surveys investigating their beliefs regarding their capabilities to perform successfully in mathematics. This study included an examination of the psychometric properties and a confirmatory factor analysis of the Sources of Middle School Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale, and an investigation into the relative power of mastery experience, vicarious experience, social persuasions, …

An Examination Of Education Services For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders In Rural Areas, Melissa A. Murphy

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Much research and media attention in recent years has focused on Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), a pervasive developmental disorder that impacts children in multiple areas of their lives. Early identification and intervention, as well as access to mental health, behavioral, and pediatric services for this population are crucial to their later outcomes and quality of life (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001; Blane & Borden, 2008; Jacobson & Mulick, 2000; Rogers & Vismara, 2008). Unfortunately, research suggests that access to educational services may be complicated for individuals living in rural areas (Applequist, 2009; Collins et al., 2005, Ludlow, Conner, & Schechter …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Client Feedback In Group Psychotherapy, Norah C. Slone

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

A review of the adult psychotherapy outcome literature reveals decades of empirical studies that support the efficacy of group treatment for mental health concerns (Burlingame, Fuhriman, & Mosier, 2003; Horne & Rosenthal, 1997). Although research demonstrates positive results for the utilization of group therapy, between 33-50% of clients drop out before treatment is completed (Baekeland & Lundwall, 1975; Wierzbicki & Pekarik, 1993). Methods for improving psychotherapy retention have been addressed through the application of a client feedback model (i.e., monitoring treatment outcome routinely). Although using client feedback has been found to be beneficial for improving retention and even enhancing client …

The Impact Of Racial Identity, Masculinity, And Academic Self-Concept On The Academic Achievement Of African American Male High School Students, Howard Lloyd

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Previous literature has evidenced that young African American males are experiencing less academic success than their Caucasian male and African American female counterparts (Davis, Williams, & Williams, 2004; Flores, 2007). The deceleration of achievement in this population has spawned some inquiry into the struggles of African American students. However, investigators have primarily examined differences in sex, school attributes, socioeconomic status, family structure, and other external factors. Previous research has also highlighted the unique obstacles young African American men face in education settings. While researchers have identified several external predictors of academic achievement among African American males, scant information relates to …