Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons^™

Cardiovascular Risk Assessment - From Individual Risk Prediction To Estimation Of Global Risk And Change In Risk In The Population, John A. Batsis, Francisco Lopez-Jimenez

Dartmouth Scholarship

Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death and risk prediction formulae such as the Framingham Risk Score have been developed to easily identify patients at high risk that may require therapeutic interventions. Using cardiovascular risk formulae at a population level to estimate and compare average cardiovascular risk among groups has been recently proposed as a way to facilitate surveillance of net cardiovascular risk and target public health interventions. Risk prediction formulas may help to compare interventions that cause effects of different magnitudes and directions in several cardiovascular risk factors, because these formulas assess the net change in risk …

Physician Assessment: Measuring Competence And Performance, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

No abstract provided.

Medical-Legal Partnerships: Addressing The Unmet Legal Needs Of Health Center Patients, Peter Shin, Fraser Rothenberg Byrne, Emily Jones, Joel B. Teitelbaum, Lee Repasch, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs), now available at over 180 hospitals and health centers across 38 states, are an important option for addressing the legal needs affecting low-income and vulnerable patients, and thereby improving their overall health. We estimate that each year, anywhere between 50 and 85 percent of health centers users - or between ten and 17 million people - experience unmet legal needs, many of which negatively impact their health. In a medical-legal partnership, health care staff at hospitals, clinics, and other sites are trained to screen for health-related legal issues, refer the patient to an affiliated lawyer or legal …

Everything's Better In Moderation: Young Women's Gender Role Attitudes And Risky Sexual Behavior, Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Purpose This study examines the association between gender role attitudes and risky sexual behavior among young women. Previous studies have posed seemingly contradictory arguments: that either traditional attitudes or egalitarian attitudes are associated with riskier behavior. Methods Data are based on the children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, representing 520 sexually active 18–19-year-old women. Propensity radius matching was used to assess differences in rates of multiple sexual partners and sex outside of a committed relationship. Results Relative to moderate gender role attitudes, both egalitarian gender role attitudes and traditional gender role attitudes are associated with higher rates of …

Female Condom Knowledge, Attributes And Behavior: Barriers To Use And Potential For Acceptance Among Sexually Active Undergraduate Students, Paige Nuzzolillo 6368479

Honors Scholar Theses

Minimal research has been conducted on the acceptability of the female condom among college populations despite its existence in the world market since 1992. The FC2, an improved version of FC1, has recently been released in the United States, thus prompting the need for further acceptability studies. Due to increasingly high rates of STDs among those aged 15-24, every method of protection against STDs/HIV and pregnancy must be utilized. This study involved a campus-wide survey which examined University of Connecticut (Uconn) main campus (Storrs) undergraduate students’ knowledge of the female condom, perceptions of and attitudes towards the female condom as …

Implementation Of The Wiegand Sun Safety Program Into Physicians’ Offices In Southern Nevada, Breanne Eddington

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this study Nevada Cancer Institute’s Wiegand Sun Safety Program was implemented in 14 clinics in Southern Nevada as a pilot run to increase awareness in children and their guardians through educational materials in pediatricians’ and family physicians’ offices. It was hypothesized that the increased display of information regarding sun safety and skin cancer in physicians’ offices would increase patient and guardian awareness of the subject and increase the likelihood of patients and/or guardians asking their physician questions about skin cancer and sun safety, resulting in an increase in preventive actions by guardians to protect their children from damaging rays …

Oral Cancer In Nevada: A Public Health Perspective, Karl Kingsley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, and oral cancer remains the eighth leading cause of cancer death among US males. Although previous epidemiologic studies have found that overall rates of cancer, including oral cancer, have declined in the US in recent decades – these declines are neither uniform nor consistent within this population. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that rates of oral cancer in Nevada are relatively high, although no evidence was available to support these assertions.

Oral Cancer Epidemiology: Based upon this information, a detailed and thorough epidemiologic examination of oral cancer rates in …

Belize As A Classroom, Jordan Norris, Molly Calico

Impact Belize

During the week of January 7-14, 2010, Molly Calico and Jordan Norris participated in the Impact Belize program through the College of Health and Human Services. This program took place in Gales Point, a rural, underserved community in Belize. Impact students provided medical, dental and public health services to the community in an interdisciplinary service-learning format. As Master of Public Health students, Molly and Jordan directed health education initiatives and served on the Leadership Team for the program. Having participated in January of 2009 as well, Molly and Jordan were well prepared to conduct public health research and to assume …

Impact Belize 2010 Executive Report, Ritchie D. Taylor, Jordan Norris, Molly Calico, Bernie Strenecky, Daniel Carter, Dawn Garrett Wright, Eve Main, Bonny Petty, Molly Kerby, Jill Norris

Impact Belize

No abstract provided.

Information And Incentives: Improving The Health Of New York City's Low-Income Population, Kathryn Linehan, Lisa Sprague

National Health Policy Forum

The National Health Policy Forum sponsored a site visit to New York City (NYC) in April 2010 to explore health care delivery for Medicaid beneficiaries and the uninsured in New York City’s hospital-dominated market. New York offers real-time examples of government policy and provider initiatives in health information technology (IT) and quality improvement being played out on a large, complex, and dynamic stage with multiple stakeholders. Site visit participants heard from providers and others who discussed efforts to improve the quality of care for low-income New Yorkers through a variety of methods, such as the adoption and use of electronic …

A Colorectal Cancer Screening Project In An Old Order Mennonite Community: Capstone Project Technical Report, Maria Eve Main

Nursing Faculty Publications

The purpose of this project was to determine if colorectal cancer (CRC) screening education and community access to fecal occult blood tests (FOBT) is associated with an increase in the uptake of FOBT in an old order Mennonite community. Utilizing a modified cultural model, an educational offering on CRC screening and access to FOBT in the community was delivered to a self-selected sample of age-eligible participants. Thirty-three age eligible residents completed the CRC screening questionnaires and received education on CRC screening. Twenty-nine of the age-eligible participants were found to be at average risk and twenty-three elected to receive FOBT testing …

Effects Of Perceived Fitness Level Of Exercise Partner On Intensity Of Exertion, Thomas G. Plante, Meghan Madden, Sonia Mann, Grace Lee

Psychology

Problem statement: Social comparison theory was used to examine if exercising with a research confederate posing as either high fit or low fit would increase the exertion in exercising. Approach: 91 college students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: Biking alone, biking with a high fit confederate, or biking with a low fit confederate. All participants were instructed to complete 20 min of exercise at 60-70% of their maximum target heart rate. Results: Results indicated that participants in the high fit condition exercised harder than those in the low fit condition. However, no mood differences emerged between conditions. …

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (Ship), Carol O'Shaughnessy

National Health Policy Forum

The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP), created by section 4360 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) of 1990 and administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), supports grants to states and jurisdictions to provide information, counseling, and assistance to Medicare beneficiaries and their families on Medicare and other health insurance questions. This publication describes the program and presents its funding history.

Oral Health Checkup: Progress In Tough Fiscal Times?, Cynthia Shirk

National Health Policy Forum

Almost ten years after the surgeon general’s report designating dental disease as the “silent epidemic,” the nation continues to struggle with adequate access to and utilization of dental services. This is particularly true for low-income individuals, who experience more than twice the amount of untreated dental disease as their higher-income peers. This issue brief reviews sources of dental coverage for low-income children and adults and the challenges these programs face. It highlights some examples of state Medicaid initiatives to improve access and utilization for children and the progress of these initiatives. Finally, it examines the potential effects of the economy …

Latino Family Variables And Sexual Activity In Latino Adolescents, Brittany Nicole Barber

Counselor Education and Counseling Psychology Research Exchange Conference

Researchers’ focused examination of Latino adolescents’ cultural values and sexual activity has yielded questions regarding the cultural- and gender-specific attitudes and practices of these youth (Deardorff, Tschann, & Flores, 2008). Cultural values include family-related variables such as different aspects of familism, parent-adolescent communication, and parental monitoring, which have been found to decrease adolescents’ engagement in other negative activities such as aggressive behavior, (Dishion & McMahon, 1998), substance use (Estrada, Rabow, & Watts, 1982), and delinquency (Clark & Shields, 1997). Research investigating these risk behaviors has often implicated Latino adolescents’ level of assimilation to White, mainstream society as a potential risk …

The Ryan White Hiv/Aids Program, Jessamyn Taylor

National Health Policy Forum

This publication describes the basics of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the largest federal program solely focused on treating people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States. The program funds cities, states, and community-based organizations to provide primary care, prescription drugs, and support services to low-income, uninsured, and underinsured people living with HIV/AIDS.

Unmasking The Moving Threat: Reckless Driving, Borderline Personality Disorder, And The Impact On Motor Vehicle Accidents, Charlene Lam

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Motor vehicle accidents (MVAs), a leading cause of mortality in the United States have an enormous impact on public health. Researchers contend that approximately 90% of all MVAs are, to some extent, a result of driver characteristics and behavior (Lewin, 1982). One of the least researched driver characteristics is psychiatric comorbidity, especially borderline personality disorder (BPD), a disorder that is characterized by impulsivity and emotional volatility.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between BPD and driving citations.

Method: Using two measures for BPD, we surveyed a consecutive sample of patients who were being seen …

Changing Po2licy: The Elements For Improving Childhood Asthma Outcomes, Anne Rossier Markus, Meagan Lyon, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

Childhood asthma is a serious and chronic health issue that affects one in seven U.S. children and their families, compromising their health and quality of life and placing a heavy financial burden on families as well as an enormous strain on the health care system. Treating, managing, and ultimately preventing and reducing the burden of asthma represents a critical test of the ability of the U.S. health system – health insurers, clinical care providers, and public health agencies – to work together. Our investigation found that, as a country, we already know enough to act and improve life for the …

The Medical Education Of Physicians, Jonathan Saxton

National Health Policy Forum

This background paper provides a descriptive overview of the process of education, licensing, certification, and continuing education involved in becoming and continuing to practice as a physician.

The Economic Stimulus: Gauging The Early Effects Of Arra Funding On Health Centers And Medically Underserved Populations And Communities, Peter Shin, Brian K. Bruen, Emily Jones, Leighton C. Ku, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

During times of economic crisis, community health centers and other health care safety net providers become even more vital to the communities they serve. The current downturn, with its high levels of unemployment and enormous impact on family incomes, carries major implications for health insurance coverage. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed into law on February 17, 2009, provided slightly more than two billion dollars to community health centers for capital improvements, expansion (or retention) of personnel and services, and adoption of health information technology. All of these uses not only support health centers' mission to serve populations …