Significance Statement. Improving CVD interventions at health facilities leads to alleviation of disease burden and improvement in quality of lives among affected people. NCDs, including CVDs, reduce productivity and contribute to poverty, create a significant burden on health systems, and lead to a growing economic burden on national economies (WHO, 2010a). Additionally, CVDs have specific characteristics that further aggravate this burden, including that CVDs are to a large extent incurable and affected people live with their disease for a long period of time. This means that long-term interventions would require large amounts of money to be spent, but prevention of CVDs would actually save governments money in the long term. Against the negative impacts of NCDs, priority has to be given for implementing interventions that have a low cost but high impact and provide a good return on investment. Regarding CVD, it has been estimated that a regimen of aspirin, statin and blood pressure-lowering agents may significantly reduce the risk of death from CVD in people at high cardiovascular risk. Providing such a regimen to those eligible between 40–79 years of age has been estimated to avert about one fifth of cardiovascular deaths in the next 10 years, with 56% of deaths averted in people younger than 70 years. With effective management, the average yearly cost per head of implementing such a regimen has been estimated to range from US$ 0·43 to US$ 0·90 in low-income countries (Lim et al., 2007).
Significance Statement. Results of previous studies have suggested that marital status is associated with health, and that widowhood increases the risk of mortality. Prior research results also suggest that the context of the predeceased spouse’s death may have a bearing on the subsequent health and mortality risk experienced by the bereaved spouse. However, relatively few studies have examined variability in mortality as a function of historical health-related characteristics of the predeceased spouse. Furthermore, no known published studies to date have combined the use of group-based trajectory modeling to empirically evaluate end-of-life patterns of health change in the predeceased spouse with the survival of the bereaved spouse. The present research seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge by combining these two concepts, in order to explore how the predeceased spouse’s trajectory of morbidity during the last year of their life affects the subsequent survival of the bereaved spouse. It seeks, further, to evaluate the potential confounding or effect modifying roles of gender, age, place of death, use of hospice benefits, and the bereaved spouse’s own baseline comorbidity level, on survival. Gaining a better understanding of the impact of specific factors related to the context of the predeceased spouse’s death on the bereaved spouse’s subsequent survival may help health care providers, social service providers, and family members to identify bereaved elderly who may be at greater risk for adverse health outcomes following widowhood. Understanding which aspects of spousal health are most associated with mortality may also point to new strategies for support-based interventions among bereaved elderly.
Significance Statement. Regular Pap testing is accepted as a critical strategy for early detection and timely treatment of cervical cancer. A low incidence of invasive cervical cancer has been found among HIV infected women participating in a regular prevention program30. The potential benefits of routine screening are not being fully realized in the WCHD RWP. Identification of effective intervention strategies could help reduce barriers to early detection of invasive cervical cancer and its precursor lesions among this high risk group of women.
Significance Statement. This study will contribute to filling significant gaps in the literature concerning the impacts of restrictive practice laws in Georgia and will inform policy decisions regarding making Georgia a full scope practice state for APRNS like Certified Nurse Midwives. The results of this study can be valuable to advocates working to move Georgia from a restrictive practice state to a full scope practice state.
Significance Statement. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a global crisis. Approximately 37 million people are living with HIV worldwide [1]. An estimated number of 1.8 million people contracted the virus in 2016, with 2% of new cases occurring in the United States [1]. There is a significant economic burden associated with HIV. The domestic prevention and control of HIV is a challenging issue due to several factors, such as poverty, environment, and individual behavior. HIV continues to spread rapidly in key populations, including GBMSM. YB-GBMSM are the most at risk-population for contracting HIV [41]. Research studies examining the experiences of YB-GBMSM can provide insight into the underlying causes of health disparities related to the spread of HIV.
Significance Statement. This CNA toolkit and plan for management has the potential to be used at food banks and their agencies across the United States and beyond. Data can be more democratically collected and synthesized to paint a larger picture of the landscape for food distribution clients than would be possible by a food bank alone. Resource and infrastructure gaps can be better identified through the GIS map to inform agency and food bank strategic plans and policy on a local, state, and national level. Information gathered would be useful for more than just food banks, informing research and actions of other nonprofit service providers and academic institutions. Areas for improvement in efficiency of client services could be illuminated by the use of this toolkit. Agencies will be able to identify areas of duplication and service gaps. New collaborations between agencies and even neighboring food banks could develop based on the data collected and maps created. This tool has the potential to give clients of food distribution and other services a voice that has not been heard before. In a time where terms like “food justice” and “food sovereignty” are gaining traction, this project can help nonprofits large and small incorporate them into their own work more easily.
Significance Statement. In order to improve current nutrition programs and reduce the high prevalence of malnutrition in poor Mexican communities, a review of UKA’s nutrition education component was needed.
Significance Statement. Stormwater management starts with small actions, proper disposal of waste, and implementation of GI that can have significant impacts on water quality. Individual and community stewardship can have a lasting effect on water quality, the health of the neighborhood, and the health of the bay. Stewardship skills are also passed down generationally, which helps to create a sustainable path for the future. Improving water quality can increase safe recreation and safe sources of food, which can improve health and increase pride in the community and the city. Engagement by individuals in a community provides hands on approach that provides benefits at the social and ecological level that may be difficult to replicate at a higher level (Xxxxxx, Xxxx, Xxxxxxx, & Elmqvist, 2014). This proposal focuses on cost effective methods for reducing pollutants from entering local watersheds, demonstrating how communities can be stewards for the environment and their own health. The process for this community to develop storm water stewards through social marketing, outreach, education, and GI implementation can serve as a model to be replicated in other communities and to be used to increase awareness of stormwater management. It can also demonstrate how small actions can have significant positive impacts on the community ecosystem and health. Emphasizing and demonstrating the connection between public health, our structural environment, and the natural environment within the community provides a new perspective in viewing daily activities. The end result of this proposal will ultimately aid in the protection of the Chesapeake Bay, an important water source, and the health of the city, with implications for sustained replication in other cites as well.
Significance Statement. This thesis confronts the primarily reactive efforts of existing public health surveillance systems and the paucity of training related to child sexual abuse prevention. The Physician’s Power to Protect educational program is designed to educate medical professionals on the prevention and early detection of child sexual abuse. However, this recently created and adopted educational program at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University needs to be evaluated for effectiveness. In public health, program evaluation “is a standardized method that’s routinely used to assess the effects of educational programs (Xxxxxx, 1997).” This thesis develops a public health grant proposal to evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum, methods and teaching resources of the Physician’s Power to Protect program. The implementation of a sound evaluation approach will position the study and Physician’s Power to Protect for replication in other environments
Significance Statement. The implementation of curriculum improvements will provide SWEAT’s mothers with a powerful tool that aims to build self-efficacy, and that will allow them to challenge barriers and further educate themselves on how best to maintain their own health and safety, as well as that of their children. The development of this curriculum and its validation and enhancement through this special studies project will also serve as a landmark endeavor in South Africa, which, if shared with SWEAT sites in each of the nation’s provinces, as planned, has the potential to reach a substantial number of women and their families.
