Health Policy Commons^™

Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake Among College Students, Erin Hoening, Elizabeth Morse, David Phillippi, Krystal Huesmann

DNP Projects

Background: Public health strategies to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake among college students living in residential communities varied, some universities opted to mandate COVID-19 vaccines while other universities opted to promote and influence the choice for vaccination.

Purpose: This descriptive, cross-sectional study examined the voluntary uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among residential students on a college campus in the southeastern U.S. that elected an evidence-driven health promotion strategy that included strong health promotion messaging coupled with coordinated efforts to make the vaccine accessible and appealing to students on campus.

Methods: Analysis of vaccine uptake was derived from campus electronic health records during …

Maximising Access To Timely Trauma Care Across Population Of Karachi And Its Districts: A Geospatial Approach To Develop A Trauma Care Network, Muhammad Nabeel Ashraf, Mohammad Salman Khalil, Ahwaz Akhtar, Lubna Samad, Asad Latif

Department of Anaesthesia

Objectives: To develop and propose a cost-effective trauma care network for Karachi, Pakistan, by calculating maximum timely trauma care (TTC) coverage achieved with the addition of potential designated private and public level 1 and level 2 trauma centres (TCs).
Setting: A lower middle-income country metropolis, Karachi is Pakistan's largest city with a population of 16 million and a total of 56 hospitals as per government registry data.
Participants: 41 potential TCs selected using a two-level, contextually-relevant TC designation criteria adapted from various international guidelines.
Primary and secondary outcome measures: Maximum TTC coverage achievable with the addition of potential TCs. Proposed …

House: Homeless Opioid User Service Engagement Program. Year 1 Report, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd, Katharine Knight Mph, Evelyn Ali Bs, Thomas Chalmers Mclaughlin Msw, Phd, Katie Rosingana Ba, Tyler Egeland Ba, Mark Richards Bs, Karen Pearson Mlis, Ma

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

Homelessness and lack of stable housing is often a barrier to achieving stability for individuals who are experiencing homelessness (IWAEH) with an OUD. In order to meet the complex needs of IWAEH with OUD, the Department of Health and Human Services funded a pilot program in 2021, the Homeless Opioid Users Service Engagement (HOUSE) Program; clinicians at Greater Portland Health provide clients with low-barrier Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), while staff at Preble Street provide casework support and rapid housing assistance to individuals who have been identified as being at high risk of overdose, are experiencing homelessness, and are diagnosed with …

Prevalence Of Metabolic Syndrome Among The Adult Population In Western China And The Association With Socioeconomic And Individual Factors: Four Cross-Sectional Studies, Xinyin Xu, Jing Zeng, Wei Yang, Ting Dong, Xin Zhang, Shuwen Cheng, Xiaobo Zhou, Maigeng Zhou, Ling Niu, Guanghui Yi, You Li, Lishi Zhang, Yin Deng, Xianping Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: This study explored the prevalence of and individual influencing factors for metabolic syndrome (MS) as well as associated socioeconomic factors and regional aggregation.

Design: Four cross-sectional surveys were analysed for trends in MS and associations with socioeconomic and individual factors through multilevel logistic regression analyses. The risk associated with nutrient intake was also assessed through a dietary survey in 2015.

Setting: From 2010 to 2018, 8-15 counties/districts of West China were included.

Participants: A total of 28 274 adults were included in the prevalence analysis. A total of 23 708 adults were used to analyse the related factors.

Results: …

Defensa Y Oposición Al Aborto Legal: Una Exploración De Las Estrategias Y Las Agendas Dentro De Los Movimientos A Favor Y En Contra De Los Derechos Reproductivos En Buenos Aires, Argentina / Defense And Opposition Of Legal Abortion: An Exploration Of The Strategies And Agendas Within Pro- And Anti- Reproductive Rights Movements In Buenos Aires, Argentina, Hannah Levenstein

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La Ley para legalizar el aborto en la Argentina fue sancionada en diciembre de 2020. Esta expansión de los derechos reproductivos fue un resultado de años de lucha y debate entre dos activismos opuestos, un movimiento a favor y otro en contra de la legalización del aborto. Este proyecto es una investigación exploratoria de las estrategias usadas por los dos activismos, cómo han cambiado antes y después de la legalización del aborto, y cuáles son los próximos pasos cada uno de estos grupos. Analizando cinco entrevistas con militantes de los activismos pro-aborto y anti-aborto, complementado con una investigación bibliográfica en …

Asian Americans And The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Multi-Lingual Survey In Greater Boston, Carolyn Wong, Ziting Kuang

Institute for Asian American Studies Publications

This report on Asian Americans and the Covid-19 Pandemic describes lessons from a multilingual survey administered in Greater Boston during the Fall, Winter, and early Spring of 2020-21. The Institute for Asian American Studies (IAAS) at UMass Boston designed and administered the IAAS Covid-19 Survey on the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic for Asian Americans. The IAAS Covid-19 Survey was designed to fill significant gaps in data available from a previous Spring 2020 survey, Living in Boston During Covid-19, which was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and administered by UMass Boston’s Center for Survey Research …

The Relationship Between Eviction, Rent Burden, And Poor Births In Kalamazoo County, Michigan, Joseph Agati

Masters Theses

Millions of Americans get evicted every year, with thousands coming from Kalamazoo County, Michigan alone. Additionally, many more live with rent burden, paying over 30% of their monthly income on rent. Both eviction and rent burden have been linked to adverse health effects, such as depression and anxiety, and negative coping mechanisms, such as alcoholism and smoking. This study asks if eviction and rent burden are correlated with poor births in Kalamazoo County as there are hundreds of poor births in the county every year, as well as which social vulnerability themes are most predictive of eviction and poor births. …

La Política Cultural Del Aborto: Las Percepciones Y El Manejo Del Aborto En Arica, Chile, Eva Strelitz-Block

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Chile has a long history of restricting access to legal abortion. Until 2017, when the government passed the law N° 21.030 decriminalizing abortion on three grounds, abortion was completely illegal. However, despite this movement towards decriminalization, legal abortion access is still very limited and highly restricted. In this criminalized, highly stigmatized environment, self-managed abortion has emerged as a way to transform the landscape of abortion. This qualitative, exploratory study seeks to explore perceptions of abortion and practices of abortion management both within and outside of the official healthcare system among women and people with the capacity to become pregnant and …

A Comparative Analysis Of Migrant Health Policies And Practices In The Us And Switzerland, Rebecca Mak

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Migrants compose a large proportion of the population in both the US and Switzerland. The social vulnerability of migrants has been well-established in literature, but few studies have attempted to compare healthcare policies and approaches that most effectively support migrant health using multiple measures.

To fill this gap in the literature, this study will comparatively analyze of the efficacy of US and Switzerland migrant health policies and services by assessing access to and quality of care for migrants in each country. Four main features of healthcare systems were analyzed: insurance policy, healthcare utilization, NCD outcomes, and patient perceptions of care. …

Evaluating The Validity Of Restrictions On Blood Donation Eligibility For Men Who Have Sex With Men (Msm) In The United States, France, And Switzerland, Swathi Gorantla

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For the first time in a decade, the number of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) diagnoses is higher for heterosexual people compared to gay and bisexual men (Florêncio, 2022). Additionally, in the United States, the American Red Cross has declared a national blood crisis due to the nationwide shortage of donated blood. During this crisis, charged with the new information on HIV diagnosis rates, many advocates for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) community question why discriminatory policy surrounding gay and bisexual men donating still exist around the world. These policies are changing worldwide – several European countries have …

Microplastics, The Environment, And Reproductive Health: How Is The Accumulation Of Microplastics In Our Environment And Bodies Impacting Reproductive Health?, Katherine Hayward

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As global trends in both production and consumption of plastics continue to evolve, the bioaccumulation and biomagnification of microplastic particles in our everyday lives follow suit. This increasingly relevant problem has only recently been explored in the context of global health, and more specifically, reproductive health. Along with this steady increase in plastics and our exposure to them, researchers have separately observed adverse patterns in reproductive health. The chemicals involved throughout the microplastic life cycle may be playing a key role in these simultaneous patterns. With the aid of previous studies and publications on microplastics, exposure pathways, endocrine disruptors, and …

Multi-Modality Typical Imaging Features In Superior Pulmonary Sulcus (Pancoast) Tumour: A Case Report, Dr Chakka Sneha, Dr Rudresh Hiremath, Dr Gurumurthy B

Radiology Teaching Files

A 53 years old male patient came with complaints of pain and tingling sensation of left shoulder joint & left upper limb since 3 months. Patient is a chronic smoker with past history pulmonary tuberculosis. The patient had completed ATT 15 years back

Pericallosal Lipoma With Corpus Callosal Dysgenesis In An Elderly Patient: A Rare Case Report, Dr Theertha K C, Dr Sudha Kiran Das, Dr Gurumurthy B

Radiology Teaching Files

A 55 year old female patient came to the neurology OPD with complaints of giddiness since 1month and vomiting since 15 days. There was no history of focal neurological deficit/ fever/ seizures/ headache/visual disturbances. No history of any co-morbidities. Neurological examination was normal.

Children Receiving A Nutrition And High-Quality Early Childhood Education Intervention Are Associated With Greater Math And Fluid Intelligence Scores: The Guatemala City Municipal Nurseries, Ana M. Palacios, Lisa A. Villanueva, Matthew B. Flynn, Erik Parker, Stephanie Dickinson, Helen W. Bland, Greg A. Reinhart

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background: About 47% of children < 5 years of age are stunted in Guatemala. In this study, the investigators aimed to compare growth and cognitive outcomes between children in second grade that attended five Guatemala City Municipal Nurseries (GCMN) vs. same sex, grade, and age-matched children. Methods: A cross-sectional design nested in a retrospective cohort was implemented between 2015 and 2019. Children that attended the GCMN and matched controls completed a math test and validated receptive language and fluid intelligence tests. The primary caregivers completed a sociodemographic survey. General and generalized linear mixed effect models were used to compare children that attended the GCMN vs. controls. The models were adjusted by maternal education, sex, asset score, and other relevant covariates. Results: Children that attended the GCMN exhibited greater math and fluid intelligence scores relative to the controls in the adjusted models (ß = 6.48; 95% CI (2.35–10.61)) and (ß = 1.20; 95% CI (0.12–2.29)), respectively. Lower odds of stunting were significant for children who went to any early childcare institution (AOR = 0.28; 95% CI (0.09–0.89)). Conclusions: The importance of integrating nutrition and high-quality early childhood education interventions in cognitive and growth outcomes is highlighted in this study. The GCMN model may be a scalable model in similar low-resource settings.

Radiological Review Of Dumbbell-Shaped Spinal Schwannoma With Extradural And Intradural-Extramedullary Components, Dr Sai Siddartha Kosinepalli, Dr. Sudha Kiran Das, Dr Gurumurthy B

Radiology Teaching Files

Complains of paresthesia in the bilateral lower limbs. No e/o pain. CBC, RFT, LFT, ESR, CRP are within normal limits.

Association Between Serum Lycopene And Lung Cancer Mortality: An 18-Year Follow-Up Study Of A National Cohort, Evans Afriyie-Gyawu, Padmini Shankar, Gulzar H. Shah, Alicia A. Brown, Shannon Cearley, Akwasi Ampofo-Yeboah, Nathaniel Abrams, Jian Zhang

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background: Lycopene is a carotenoid found in some fruits and vegetables that is responsible for the red pigment in tomatoes and tomato products. While many studies have shown a link between lycopene and protection against the initiation and/or progression of lung cancer, data on its effect on lung cancer survivability is limited.

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to see if there was a link between lycopene levels in the blood and lung cancer mortality. A secondary goal was to see if dietary factors influence lycopene levels in the blood.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective …

Safest Cities In The Mountain West, Saha Salahi, Dielle T. Telada, Zachary Walusek, William E. Brown Jr., Caitlin J. Saladino

Cities & Metros

This fact sheet examines AdvisorSmith’s ranking list of the safest U.S. cities, drawing from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) dataset released in September 2021. Monthly crime data are presented for violent crimes (e.g. murder, rape, robbery, assault) and property crimes (e.g. burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft). Data for the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah are included.

Covid-19 And Social Determinants Of Health: Medicaid Managed Care Organizations’ Experiences With Addressing Member Social Needs, Samuel T. Opoku, Bettye Apenteng, Linda Kimsey, Angela H. Peden, Charles F. Owens

Health Policy & Community Health: Faculty Publications

Background

The significant adverse social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has cast broader light on the importance of addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MMCOs) have increasingly taken on a leadership role in integrating medical and social services for Medicaid members. However, the experiences of MMCOs in addressing member social needs during the pandemic has not yet been examined.

Aim

The purpose of this study was to describe MMCOs’ experiences with addressing the social needs of Medicaid members during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

The study was a qualitative study using data from 28 semi-structured …

R.A.C.E. To Recovery Year 1 Evaluation Summary Report, Katie Rosingana Ba, Evelyn Ali Bs, Tyler Egeland Ba, Mary Lindsey Smith Phd

Substance Use Research & Evaluation

Through a collaborative effort led by the Healthy Community Coalition, the multi-sector Rural Addiction Care Expansion (R.A.C.E.) to Recovery initiative consortium is utilizing evidence-based, community-wide response to impact and reduce the effects of the opioid epidemic in the Western Maine Public Health District/ Greater Franklin County. To assess and evaluate the implementation, successes, and challenges of the RACE to Recovery project, the Cutler Institute is collecting and analyzing data for both process and outcomes of the initiative.

In the first year of the initiative, the Cutler evaluation team utilized both primary and secondary data to assess RACE to Recovery program …

Policy And Behavior: Comparisons Between Twitter Discussions About The Us Tobacco 21 Law And Other Age-Related Behaviors, Page D. Dobbs, Jason B. Colditz, Shelby Shields, Anna Meadows, Brian A. Primack

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Faculty Publications and Presentations

To combat the e-cigarette epidemic among young audiences, a federal law was passed in the US that raised the minimum legal sales age of tobacco to 21 years (commonly known as Tobacco 21). Little is known about sentiment toward this law. Thus, the purpose of our study was to systematically explore trends about Tobacco 21 discussions and comparisons to other age-restriction behaviors on Twitter. Twitter data (n = 4628) were collected from September to December of 2019 that were related to Tobacco 21. A random subsample of identified tweets was used to develop a codebook. Two trained coders independently coded …