Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation Commons^™

Plan Mano Dura: A Punctuated Political Act? Addressing Gang Violence In El Salvador, Carlos A. Arias

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

On July 23, 2003, Salvadoran President Francisco Flores introduced a punitive and militaristic gang-prevention measure, Plan Mano Dura (Plan Iron Fist), in an attempt to solve the gang phenomenon plaguing El Salvador. Although it turned out to be an abject policy failure, its future effects and significance would far outweigh its intended impact, essentially dictating how El Salvador would combat gang violence for the next 20 years and beyond. As such, it is essential to better understand how such an ineffective policy could arise as a policy approach. This paper examines whether Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (PET) can account for the …

Activity Levels Among Older Adults In A Life Plan Community, Emily D. Winters

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

This study aimed to analyze resident's knowledge of the health and wellness programs available to them in their facility. It explored activity levels, preferred activity methods, and health and wellness program utilization among older adults residing in a life-plan community. A total of 166 survey respondents, aged 65 and older, were included in the analysis. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire designed to assess physical activity patterns, preferences for activity types, and engagement with the facility’s health and wellness offerings. Open-ended questions were assessed qualitatively through thematic analysis to find common themes within data. Results indicated that the most …

Comparing Cpr Ventilation Strategies Within Tualatin Valley Fire And Rescue Using A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study, Jack T. Hindley

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Study Objective: This was a registry based retrospective observational cohort study of roughly 1,150 cardiac arrest cases transported by the Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue emergency medical service (EMS) agency to hospitals in the Portland area from 2018-2019 and from 2022-2023 to compare cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) ventilation policy changes between these two years from continuous chest compressions (CCC) to a compression ventilation ratio of 30:2. Hospital outcomes were linked to EMS records through trauma registries, state discharge and emergency department data. The primary outcome was survival to discharge, and the secondary outcome was positive neurological outcome (Cerebral performance category score …

Academyhealth - 2024 Data Visualization Winners, Chelsea Keating, Emily Boniface, Mina Colon

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Social determinants of health, such as income, employment, social contexts, and the built environment, influence the risk of food insecurity. Food insecurity can be defined as uncertain access to food and can lead to negative health outcomes like increased risk for obesity, chronic disease, and adverse effects on a child's development and mental health. Drivers like limited physical access to food, limited transportation options, and the quality and access to food assistance programs within local systems perpetuate health disparities—particularly in those communities with populations who have been systematically marginalized. This descriptive study uses 2022 data from the National Health Interview …

Exploring Health Equity With Culturally Specific Providers Of Permanent Supportive Housing, Judith R. Solomon

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Chronic homelessness is an important public health issue. Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is a promising opportunity for transitioning people experiencing homelessness into housing, however there remain unaddressed racial inequities in service provision and outcomes. The aim of this study is to better understand the role of culturally specific (CS) providers of PSH in improving health equity. I analyzed interviews with CS PSH providers for themes related to health and healthcare. Providers spoke about the importance of connecting clients to healthcare. Providers stressed the importance of honesty and lived experience, highlighting the strong sense of responsibility to the community. Providers also …

Comparing Acuity Of Patient Care At Student Run Free Medical Clinic Locations, Hana Warmflash, Olivia Krol, Alex Foster

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Intro:

Student run free medical clinics (SRFC) are present at roughly 75% of Association of American Medical Colleges member institutions1,2 providing care for underserved populations, such as those experiencing houselessness. 3 Persons experiencing houselessness have a higher burden of illness than housed persons but experience a greater barrier to obtaining care4. Delays in care result in more complex and longer hospitals stays4,5.

Our SRFC, Bridges Collaborative Care Clinic (BCCC), functions to address emergent complaints and monitor chronic health conditions. We aim to demonstrate how relocating from River District Navigation Center (RDNC) to a more accessible location, Resource Center (RC), enabled …

How To Kill A Human: Creating An Immersive Learning Game, Théo Caldwell, Nathan Bonnell

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

How to Kill a Human is an experiment in teaching through gameplay. The environmental crisis facing the planet, though denied by many, is a collection of well-documented historical environmental catastrophes. The purpose of this project was to design a method of relating the impacts of environmental systems on human health, highlighting the dangers of ill planned human tampering, by presenting hypothetical environmental catastrophes and then relating them to documented historical disasters. In pursuit of this goal, we designed a semi-collaborative game for three to six players with a suggested age rating of 10+, ideal for teaching individuals of middle school …

Differences Between Stem Students And Faculty On Seeing Value In A Classroom Belonging Exercise, Kaisa S. Holt

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Efforts to enhance belonging in undergraduate STEM classrooms are believed pivotal for student success. However, we must not only promote belonging interventions but also understand STEM students and faculty perceptions of their value and utility. We gathered perspectives of faculty and undergraduates regarding the implementation and efficacy of a belonging exercise (Our Lives Lived, OLL) used in multiple STEM classes at one university over two years. We hypothesized that students would see more value in the exercise than faculty. We sent a survey instrument with an OLL summary and a series of open-ended responses to faculty. We recruited for focus …

Universal Health Care, Oregon, Jennifer S. Arnold, Bethany Clouse, Alec Martin

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Historically, the US has chosen not to fund universal health care at every opportunity, leaving our nation as the only industrialized country without some system of health coverage for our citizens and with the worst health care outcomes of any high-income nation in the world. Health care in Oregon is no exception. Our current health care system is financially unsustainable, harmfully complex, and socially unjust, as well as inequitably delivered. Too many Oregonians, because of their race, age, income, geography, or insurance, endure vastly different health care access, varied health care quality, and wide-ranging health outcomes. In 2019, the Oregon …

Behind The Walls: The Implications Of Assisted Living Building Codes On Resident Safety, Adam Pennavaria, Lindsey Smith, Paula Carder, Cassandra Hua, Eric Jutkowitz, Kali Thomas

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

As the US population collectively ages, issues related to assisted living (AL) resident safety have become an increasingly pressing issue for the general public, reflected by major media reporting in the last year. The building codes that govern ALs play an important role in mitigating the risks associated with falls, wandering, and other hazards, especially for residents living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. We sought to understand how states vary in their approaches to building code regulations that might impact resident safety. We used search term-based text retrieval to identify areas of text relevant to locks, alarms, and egress …

Expanded Patient Reach At New Student Run Free Medical Clinic Location, Olivia Krol, Hana Warmflash, Alex Foster

OHSU-PSU School of Public Health Annual Conference

Background: Critical to modern medical education, student run free medical clinics (SRFCs) are present at more than 75% of AAMC member institutions. SRFCs educate students while providing low-barrier, free healthcare to underserved populations. SRFCs provide unique leadership and health systems management opportunities not traditionally emphasized in training, including leading logistical and operational changes.

In this project, we highlight the impact of a student-led operational initiative that transitioned our clinic from the River District Navigation Center (RDNC) to the Resource Center (RC), improving accessibility.

Methods:

Deidentified patient data from medical clinics from January 2024 to February 2025 were analyzed using RStudio …

Project Turnkey Evaluation, Anna Rockhill, Sarah Mercurio, Franklin Holcomb Spurbeck

Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative Publications and Presentations

In 2020-2021 Oregon legislators approved $74.7 million to assist communities to purchase local motels and convert them into emergency shelters. The goal was to help keep people safe during COVID and to address the need for housing for victims of the wildfires in light of the deficit of appropriate shelter resources facing the state. A total of 19 projects received funding, and by 2023 all of the projects were providing services to people experiencing homelessness. Combined, this resulted in 865 new units of emergency shelter-- a 20% increase in the state’s supply. According to an analysis done by Oregon Community …

Decriminalizing Drugs: A Comparative Study Of Oregon In An International Context, Fox Millsaps

University Honors Theses

Oregon made history in 2020 when voters joined together to approve ballot measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, which decriminalized personal amounts of all illicit substances. This was done in a bid to begin treating the ongoing drug crisis as a public health issue as opposed to a criminal justice issue. While Oregon may be the first in the nation to make such a move, they are not the first government to experiment with decriminalizing 'hard drugs.' Some argue that Oregon’s model was based on Portugal's decriminalization effort and point to Portugal's success as a potential outcome …

Humanity In Trauma, Alyssa K. Thompson

University Honors Theses

The main objective of the literature review is to use the trauma-informed care paradigm to argue that the current implementation of trauma-informed care reinforces hierarchies of harm, leading to feelings of moral obligation and moral injury while perpetuating othering. This literature review criticizes trauma-informed care, emphasizing lived experiences against the characteristics trauma-informed care aspires to reflect. The review centers on the broad themes of understanding, universality, and acceptance of the present trauma-informed care paradigm. The critique comes from the silently excluded group of healthcare workers, with a personal perspective from a professional who worked in an urban hospital emergency department …

Oregon's Senate Joint Resolution 12: Understanding The Implications Of A Constitutional Right To Healthcare, Anna Starr, Mpp

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

Problems persist throughout the U.S. healthcare system including exorbitant costs, poor health scores, high rates of uninsured, and lack of access to services among marginalized groups. Among many proposed solutions is a constitutional provision to healthcare. Largely based in ethics, healthcare as a right is also expected by many to improve health outcomes. However, while constitutional provisions for healthcare are found in countries around the world, empirical research results are limited and mixed at best. In the wake of social justice movements and resurgence of vibrant conversations about human rights, and with international pressure mounting for the U.S. to follow …

The Political Economy Equilibrium Of Environmental And Trade Policies In The U.S., Linda Allen

Hatfield Graduate Journal of Public Affairs

The U.S. has incorporated environmental policies into its all free trade agreements since it negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the early 1990s. The inclusion of environmental policies represented a major shift in trade policy but the environmental policies have not drastically changed in subsequent trade agreements over the past 25 years despite the continued involvement of environmental constituencies and policymakers. The punctuated equilibrium model provides the analytical framework for understanding the factors that gave rise to the drastic policy shift under NAFTA as well as the subsequent policy stasis, in order to inform future policymaking efforts. …

Federal Forest Working Group: Retrospective Of Accomplishments And Ongoing Considerations 2009–2018, Pete Dalke

National Policy Consensus Center Publications

The collaborative efforts of the Federal Forest Working Group to address issues, challenges, and opportunities facing the health of Oregon's federal public forests and that of neighboring human communities has spanned three Oregon governors over more than a decade. The engagement and related direct efforts of each of these gubernatorial administrations and the state’s executive branch agencies, federal management agencies, including the US Forest Service, and many diverse partners have been essential to the advancement of this work. This report attempts to capture the underpinnings of the Federal Forest Working Group, the accomplishments over time, and considerations for future focus. …

Consumer Satisfaction With Aging & Disability Resource Connection Of Oregon: Round 6, Diana L. White, Allyson Stodola

Institute on Aging Publications

This report describes findings from the sixth consumer satisfaction survey conducted with consumers or family members who are served by the Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) of Oregon, focusing on Call Center staff (or Information, Referral and Assistance; IR&A) and recipients of options counseling services. The Institute on Aging at Portland State University directed the project, partnering with Washington State University Social & Economic Research Center, who conducted the telephone survey between February 27 and April 5, 2019.

Following The Money From Investments To Outcomes, Robert Zako, Rebecca Lewis

TREC Project Briefs

While it’s accepted that mixed-use development promotes active travel, researchers don’t have a consensus on exactly how land use determines people’s travel patterns.

The research examined:

• The relationship between pedestrian travel and land use mix;
• The impact of land use mix on pedestrian travel;
• How operationalizing land use mix influences individual travel behavior

This work contributes theoretical and empirical tools for research and practice in transportation and land use planning.

Better Outcomes: Improving Accountability & Transparency In Transportation Decision-Making, Robert Zako, Rebecca Lewis

TREC Final Reports

This report aims to help policymakers and staff at all levels of government make transportation investments that serve the public better.

Amazingly, we simply don’t know how effective government spending is at achieving the outcomes the public expects and has been promised! Clearly, taxpayer dollars buy roads, bus service, airports, ferry service, and other transportation facilities and services. But it is unclear how well such investments help get people where they want to go, create jobs, improve public health, support community development, and provide other benefits. In other words, it is uncertain how cost-effectively the means (transportation investments) achieve the …

The Case For Age-Friendly Communities, Margaret Neal, Alan Kenneth Delatorre

Institute on Aging Publications

The report was funded by Grantmakers In Aging, an organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening grantmaking for an aging society. The movement toward age-friendly communities is growing, with the key impetus being population aging. Beyond what individuals themselves can do to age optimally, the movement to create communities that are age friendly focuses on how the economic, physical, and social environments can be improved to address not only the needs but also maximize the assets of an aging population, for the benefit of all.

Creswell Policing Project Final Report, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Kent Robinson, Robert Winthrop, Rachel Sykes, Rebecca Craven

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

The Center for Public Service worked with the City of Creswell, Oregon to assess their current policing arrangements and service demand, and to develop a series of options for police services. Creswell is a small city of about 5,000 just south of Eugene, Oregon. Creswell currently purchases its police services from the Lane County Sheriff under an annual intergovernmental agreement (IGA). Citizens in the community have challenged this model and proposed the establishment of a city police department. This study developed scenarios and cost analysis for several options including a city police department, an independent public safety special district, and …

Dissolved: Lessons Learned From The Portland Multnomah Food Policy Council, Amy K. Coplen, Monica Cuneo

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The city of Portland, Oregon, is often hailed in news and popular media as the capital of the U.S. alternative food movement. In 2002, the Portland Multnomah Food Policy Council (PMFPC) was established to address the region's growing interest in cultivating a sustainable local food system. Council members contributed to many notable achievements, including a healthy corner store initiative, a beginning farmer training program, and changes to zoning codes to expand urban agriculture. However, the PMFPC was dissolved in the summer of 2012 after local government agencies expressed that the council was losing relevancy. After a decade of conducting food …

Consumer Satisfaction With Aging & Disability Resource Connection Of Oregon: Round 4, Diana White, Sheryl Dejoy Elliott

Institute on Aging Publications

The report describes the fourth round of consumer satisfaction surveys that were conducted with people who had been in contact with the Information & Referral/Assistance (I&R/A) Call Center or received Options Counseling (OC) services of Aging and Disabilities Resource Connection (ADRC) of Oregon. Data for this survey were collected in November 2014. This Executive Report summarizes and presents data on overall satisfaction, conclusions, and recommendations for the ADRC program.

Evaluating Your Age-Friendly Community Program: A Step-By-Step Guide, Margaret B. Neal, Iris Wernher

Institute on Aging Publications

This guidebook was developed to help you document and evaluate your community’s progress in becoming more age friendly. Although this task may sound intimidating, with a small dose of courage and by understanding a few key terms, the building blocks of evaluation can come alive and help guide your work.

Connecting People And Place Prosperity: Workforce Development And Urban Planning In Scholarship And Practice, Greg Schrock

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

In recent years, the field of workforce development has emerged as a distinct area of policy and practice. While planning scholars have begun to engage with the workforce development field, its relevance and points of connection to planning scholarship remain underexplored. This article attempts to define the workforce development field by articulating its core concerns as well as its domains of practice and scholarship outside the planning field. The article locates workforce development within three stands of planning scholarship, concluding that workforce development represents an important bridge for planners between “place” and “people” prosperity within communities.

Aging And Equity In The Greater Portland Metropolitan Region, Alan Kenneth Delatorre, Margaret B. Neal

Institute on Aging Publications

Aging and Equity in the Greater Portland Metropolitan Region discusses the opportunities and needs created by the increase in older adults in the region. The 65 and older population is expected to more than double over the next two decades, to over half a million people. Planning for the inevitable and unprecedented aging of our population provides an opportunity to improve our environments while becoming a leader in the push to create sustainable, equitable, and age-friendly communities.

Report And Recommendations Of The Balance Of Crop Research Working Group Of The National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education And Economics (Nareee) Advisory Board, Mark Mclellan, Leo Holt, Twilya L'Ecuyer, Robert Taylor, Julia Sabin, Milo Shult, Anne Marie Thro, Paul Heisey

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

In December of 2012, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science & Technology (PCAST) issued a report to the President on Agricultural Preparedness and the Agriculture Research Enterprise. The PCAST report recognizes the long-term history of public investment in agricultural research. The report also recognized significant private investment into agricultural research. Significantly, the report is adamant that the agricultural research enterprise is not prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The report cited two reasons:

1. too little competitive research and
2. an imbalance of research priorities between private and public funding sources.

This report addresses the latter issue.

Members …

Action Plan For An Age-Friendly Portland, The Age-Friendly Portland Advisory Council

Institute on Aging Publications

The goal of this Action Plan is to enhance Portland, Oregon’s age friendliness. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), an "age friendly" city:

• has structures and services that are accessible and inclusive of older people with varying needs and capacities
• emphasizes enablement rather than disablement, and
• is friendly for people of all ages and abilities

The action steps that comprise this plan are intended to move Portland toward future development and activities that foster not only physical environments but also social and service environments that meet these criteria, making Portland a community for all ages.

Consumer Satisfaction With Aging & Disability Resource Connection (Adrc) Services: Round 2, Diana L. White, Sheryl Elliott

Institute on Aging Publications

Aging and Disabilities Resource Centers (ADRC) are a program of the Administration for Community Living (ACL), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), and the Veterans Health Administration. They serve as a single entry point into the long-term services and supports systems for older adults and those with disabilities. The goal is to provide a coordinated system of information and access to those seeking long-term services and support, thereby minimizing confusion, enhancing individual choice, and supporting informed decision-making.