Health Policy Commons^™

Fine Particles In Homes Of Predominantly Low-Income Families With Children And Smokers: Key Physical And Behavioral Determinants To Inform Indoor-Air-Quality Interventions, Neil E. Klepeis, John Belletierre, Suzanne C. Hughes, Benjamin Nguyen, Vincent Berardi, Sandy Liles, Saori Obayashi, C. Richard Hofstetter, Elaine Blumberg, Melbourne F. Hovell

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Children are at risk for adverse health outcomes from occupant-controllable indoor airborne contaminants in their homes. Data are needed to design residential interventions for reducing low-income children's pollutant exposure. Using customized air quality monitors, we continuously measured fine particle counts (0.5 to 2.5 microns) over a week in living areas of predominantly low-income households in San Diego, California, with at least one child (under age 14) and at least one cigarette smoker. We performed retrospective interviews on home characteristics, and particle source and ventilation activities occurring during the week of monitoring. We explored the relationship between weekly mean particle counts …

Zika 2016: A 3-Phase Longitudinal Study Of The Media Impact On Public Attitudes And Behavioral Response Characteristics, Karly Kownslar

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Using the Extended Parallel Processing Model (EPPM) as a theoretical framework, the present 3-phase longitudinal study examines the impact of media exposure to Zika information on public perception of the threat severity, personal susceptibility, and behavioral intentions toward the threat of Zika virus between May and November of 2016. A total of 826 participants took an online survey throughout three phases, roughly one month apart. Participants were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk and TurkPrime. Measured EPPM concepts include: perceived severity, susceptibility, self- efficacy, response-efficacy, third-person effects, combined with behavioral intentions. Participants also selected the sources from which they …

After Closure: Options For Pursuing A High Performance Rural Health System, Andrew F. Coburn Phd

Rural Hospitals (Flex Program)

Presented at the 2017 National Rural Health Association Annual Meeting. Coburn, a member of the Rural Policy Research Institute Panel, discussed the following key questions: What kind of rural health system is possible in places that cannot support a full-service hospital? How does a rural community navigate the transition from hospital-centric care toward new models that deliver high performance? What implementation support will be needed? Coburn noted that there is no single model for re-configuring the rural health system after hospital closure; local assets, affiliations and partnerships, financial and delivery flexibility and capacities must be critically assessed to determine the …

New Outpatient Experience Survey Design: A Quality Improvement Case Study, Nathan Paluso

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The purpose of this capstone project is to evaluate the implementation process for a new survey methodology introduced by Maine Medical Partners (MMP), by following the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) quality improvement cycle framework. This new survey has been implemented to collect data on patients’ experiences in the MMP outpatient facilities, and is offered to the patients via iPad at check-out after their appointment. Through observation at MMP practices and MMP staff interviews, strengths and weaknesses of the implementation process have been identified. Evidence-based solutions pertaining to the identified weaknesses have been selected through a literature review and are incorporated in recommendations …

Case Study: Healthy Texas Women Program In The Abilene-Taylor County Public Health District, Saul Francisco Delgado

School of Social Work

The public healthcare system faces continuous transformations and challenges of constant adjustments to the increasing usage of fee for service revenue and the decrease of federal investment to women’s healthcare services and to the safety net healthcare providers (Meit, 2013; Weisman, 1997).

In 2016, the Texas 84^th Legislation Session determined to consolidate two existing women’s healthcare service programs into one a single program: the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) program. The new women’s program is a preventative care program that provides services of family planning and chronic illness care under a complete fee for service reambursement system as its sourse …

The Role Of Public Versus Private Health Insurance In Ensuring Health Care Access & Affordability For Low-Income Rural Children, Erika C. Ziller Phd, Jennifer D. Lenardson Mhs, Amanda Burgess Mppm

Access / Insurance

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have played a critical role in ensuring access to health insurance coverage among children and have been particularly important sources of coverage for rural children. More than 35.5 million children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in September 2016—accounting for just over half of total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. Given the large proportion of rural children covered by public insurance, it is critically important to understand the role of that coverage in ensuring access to affordable healthcare for rural children. Using data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, this study …

The Everyday Food Practices Of Community-Dwelling Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender (Lgbt) Older Adults, Nevin Cohen, Kristen Cribbs

Publications and Research

Malnutrition during old age is a significant public health issue. Prevailing behavioral and structural senior malnutrition interventions have had marginal success, largely failing to reflect the realities of people's daily lives. This novel study employed Social Practice Theory (SPT) to explore the food practices of an under-researched, yet highly vulnerable, segment of the older adult population—Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) seniors. Four focus groups were conducted with 31 older adult clients and volunteers at a national LGBT social service and advocacy organization. Findings revealed that food practices—far from being mere expressions of individuals' choices or immutable habits—are entities composed …

Umass Memorial Healthcare Information System Job Ladder, Matthew Simoncini, Vamsi Kavuru, Antariksh Nanda, Tahaseen Mahaboob Basha, Vikram Patil

School of Professional Studies

The capstone project report emphasizes the importance of a job ladder and the need of an hour to implement it at UMASS Memorial health care. The scope of this project is to create a well-established job ladder at UMASS with pre-defined standards on job levels related to Information Technology department that would facilitate in hiring, developing and promoting employees at various stages.

A Learning Framework For The Ywca Central Massachusetts, Dayna Ankermann, Manjushree Burdekar, Priyanka Joshi, Ying Song, Yumeng Chen, Xing Xie

School of Professional Studies

After meeting with the Director of Wellness and Health Equity at the YWCA Central Massachusetts (which will be referred to as the YWCA from here on out), we learned that as a non-profit gym and health center, it is heavily underfunded. The main focus of the project was to determine how to upkeep the facility while bringing in new customers with limited resources and budget. Due to the needs of the YWCA, our group focused on six aspects: revenue stream, donor retention, increasing membership, customer experience, social media marketing, and membership fee structure. After completing extensive research, we were able …

Human Services Management (Hsm) Certificate Program Expansion To Western Massachusetts Feasibility Study, Paul Campbell, Patrick Deschenes, Maria Pacheco, Bradley Paul, Elizabeth Vittum, Jing Zhang

School of Professional Studies

One of the most popular cost-savings programs that the Providers’ Council currently offers its members is a Certificate in Nonprofit Human Service Management (HSM) provided in partnership with Clark University and Suffolk University. As human services providers are struggling to hire and retain qualified staff, the need to provide professional development opportunities to help grow and expand a skilled health and human services workforce is a critical issue facing nonprofit organizations and communities in Massachusetts. This feasibility study examines the viability of Providers’ Council and Clark University expanding its HSM Certificate Program to organizations and staff located in western Massachusetts. …

Somali National University, Sharmarke Abdulla, Nikala Pieroni, Jenna Caskie, Sergii Odnodvorets, Tanyue Gong, Lahari Dasari

School of Professional Studies

The executive summary presents an overview of the principal conclusions and recommendations for Somali National University Faculty of Education (FoEd) regarding the following concerns: Difficulty with recruiting high quality prospects to the FoEd; Ineffective and counterintuitive use of social media as a tool to improve brand equity, as well as as a tool to attract and communicate with prospective and current students; Unbalanced gender ratio of current student body; Absence of student services and student supports; Low student retention rate; Limited resources for academic advising; This document is the result of a Clark University School of Professional Studies Capstone Project.

Opioid Use In Rhode Island - Review And Suggestions, Vanessa S. Kolb

Senior Honors Projects

It is estimated that over two million Americans have an opioid-related substance abuse disorder. Nationally, 91 people die every day from an opioid overdose, and 60% of drug overdoses involve an opioid. Rhode Island has enacted some of the strictest opioid-prescribing guidelines in the country, but since 2011 the number of overdose deaths within the state that involve illicit opioids has increased by 250%. In 2015, Governor Gina Raimondo established a special task force whose goal is to reduce the number of opioid-related overdose deaths in Rhode Island by one-third by 2018.

In this project, I analyze and compare best …

An Evaluation Of Mental Health Resources At Syracuse University, Joyce Lalonde

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This Honors capstone project discusses mental health at Syracuse University. As identified through quantitative and qualitative research, as well as through personal narratives and experiences, mental health resources and awareness at Syracuse University could be drastically improved. This project’s objective is to evaluate these mental health resources on Syracuse University campus and to offer recommendations to improve said resources and build awareness. This has been done through Mental Health Awareness Week and a Mental Health Report with additive research through an annotated bibliography. Through this, the project outlines the trajectory of mental health on campus. Overall, this project has shifted …

A Guide For Assessing Older Adults’ Needs On Maine Islands, Beatrice Byrne

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This template may help Maine island communities identify older adults’ needs and island resources, in order to allow older adults to age in the island communities.

Three interviews with island health leaders, one community conversation with older islanders, and one pilot test provided information about what to include in the template.

The template includes a demographic survey, guides for conducting semi-structured interviews and group conversations with older adults and caregivers, a guide and worksheet for analyzing the data, a guide for assessing community resources, a guide for dissemination, and a list of additional resources.

Under The Care Of The City Of Fremont: Employees Embrace A Healthier Lifestyle Through Worksite Wellness, Kelly Wright

Master's Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) if the City of Fremont has effectively implemented wellness activities that promote health and wellness for employees; and (2) what strategies can the City of Fremont use to encourage and increase employee participation in workplace sponsored health and wellness program activities.

An Experience Of Practitioners Navigating The Role Of Patient/Caregiver, Susan M. Shaw, Rain Lamdin

Patient Experience Journal

This journey involved one of us having (repeat) intraspinal surgery in a country far from home but of a similar culture and with the same first language. The carer travelled across the world to be present during the hospital stay. We kept a journal during our admission, and following discharge realised there were significant differences between how we had documented our experience and the record presented in the clinical notes. The particular examples we present illustrate the relationships, rules and issues that we navigated. We share our experience in the form of moments from our journal, some of them alongside …

Reconnecting The Mind And Body: A Pilot Study Of Developing Compassion For Persistent Pain, Sarah L. Parry Dr, Zoey Malpus Dr

Patient Experience Journal

As an alternative to the more typical cognitive behavioural approach to pain management, a novel pain management group based on the principles of compassionate mind training was developed for a particular sub-group of patients. Participants were patients of a community pain clinic, who were invited to participate in this alternative approach to pain management. The eight-week Compassion in Pain Groups included psychoeducation around persistent pain, the underlying principles of compassionate mind training, practical exercises such as diaphragmatic breathing, followed by a series of compassionate imagery exercises and group discussions. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses were undertaken to gain further insights …

Experiences Of Communication Barriers Between Physicians And Immigrant Patients: A Systematic Review And Thematic Synthesis, Salim Ahmed, Sonya Lee, Nusrat Shommu, Nahid Rumana, Tanvir Turin

Patient Experience Journal

Frequent immigration of peoples from outside often challenges various systems of any country; healthcare sector is the most confronted one. One of the most prominent reasons for this confrontation is communication gap between physicians and immigrant patients. In this systematic narrative review, we studied existing literature on physician-immigrant patient communication. We systematically searched the repositories of literature and followed some criteria to select literature. We selected 32 literatures for information extraction. Three themes emerged from the synthesis: Physicians’ viewpoint about communication barrier with their immigrant patients, Immigrant patients’ viewpoint about the communication barrier with their physicians, and Interpreter as a …

Patient Experiences Of Cancer Care: Scoping Review, Future Directions, And Introduction Of A New Data Resource: Surveillance Epidemiology And End Results-Consumer Assessment Of Healthcare Providers And Systems (Seer-Cahps), Michelle A. Mollica, Lisa M. Lines, Michael T. Halpern, Edgardo Ramirez, Nicola Schussler, Matthew Urato, Ashley Wilder Smith, Erin E. Kent

Patient Experience Journal

The shift towards providing high value cancer care has placed increasing importance on patient experiences. This scoping review summarizes patient experience literature, highlights research gaps, and provides future research directions. We then introduce a new resource that links the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey and longitudinal medical claims data. We conducted a scoping review to identify relevant research within the Medicare CAHPS domain that examine factors associated with patient-reported experiences with their cancer care. Gaps indicate a need …

“Quiet At Night”: Reduced Overnight Vital Sign Monitoring Linked To Both Safety And Improvements In Patients’ Perception Of Hospital Sleep Quality, Kevin Stiver, Nandini Sharma, Kayla Geller, Lisa Smith, Julie Stephens, Emile Daoud, Susan Moffatt-Bruce, Ernest Mazzaferri

Patient Experience Journal

Obtaining middle of the night vital signs is disruptive to sleep and not founded on evidence-based medicine. We sought to investigate the perception of quality of sleep and overall satisfaction during a hospital stay between an intervention group where overnight night vital signs were not obtained and a standard of care group where overnight vital signs were obtained every four hours. We also monitored for adverse events in the intervention and standard group. Low-risk observational stay patients with a planned cardiac procedure were eligible for this study. After consent, patients were randomized to the intervention or standard group. Participants were …