Brown School Research Articles

Seroprevalence of Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses antibodies in a cohort of asymptomatic pregnant women in a low-income region of Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2018-2019.

Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses are arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses) that infect millions of individuals in tropical and subtropical regions. In the Americas, arboviruses represent a major public health problem, especially among vulnerable groups such as the elderly, children, and pregnant women. In this study, the seroprevalence of IgM or IgG against these arboviruses in pregnant, young women in the city of Diamantina, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and the influence of sociodemographic factors on the incidence/prevalence of infection in this group were investigated. A cross-sectional investigation was conducted on a total of 135 pregnant women for Dengue and Chikungunya IgM and 88 pregnant women for Zika IgG. Dengue IgM was found on the serum of twenty participants (14.8%) and only one woman (0.7%) tested positive for Chikungunya IgM. Zika IgG was found in three (3.4%) participants and 2 women who tested positive for Zika virus were also positive for Dengue virus IgM. Although the arboviruses seroprevalence was higher frequency among young (20-25years old), brown and high school women, with a monthly income of 1-3 minimum wages, no association between these sociodemographic factors and arboviruses seroprevalence was found.

LHRT: The Importance of Our History

LHRT: The Importance of Our History

Theorizing the Role of Dopaminergic Polymorphic Risk Alleles with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED), Violent/Aggressive Behavior and Addiction: Justification of Genetic Addiction Risk Severity (GARS) Testing.

Scientific studies have provided evidence that there is a relationship between violent and aggressive behaviors and addictions. Genes involved with the reward system, specifically the brain reward cascade (BRC), appear to be associated with various addictions and impulsive, aggressive, and violent behaviors. In our previous research, we examined the Taq A1 allele (variant D2 dopamine receptor gene) and the DAT-40 base repeat (a variant of the dopamine transporter gene) in 11 Caucasian boys at the Brown School in San Marcus, Texas, diagnosed with intermittent explosive disorder. Thirty supernormal controls were screened to exclude several reward-deficit behaviors, including pathological violence, and genotyped for the DRD2 gene. Additionally, 91 controls were screened to exclude ADHD, pathological violence, alcoholism, drug dependence, and tobacco abuse, and their results were compared with DAT1 genotype results. In the schoolboys vs. supercontrols, there was a significant association with the D2 variant and a trend with the dopamine transporter variant. Results support our hypothesis and the involvement of at least two gene risk alleles with adolescent violent/aggressive behaviors. This study and the research presented in this paper suggest that violent/aggressive behaviors are associated with a greater risk of addiction, mediated via various genes linked to the BRC. This review provides a contributory analysis of how gene polymorphisms, especially those related to the brain reward circuitry, are associated with violent behaviors.

This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience by Richard Brown

Reviewed by: This Is Not For You: An Activist's Journey of Resistance and Resilience by Richard Brown Patricia A. Schechter THIS IS NOT FOR YOU: AN ACTIVIST'S JOURNEY OF RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE by Richard Brown with Brian Benson Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, 2021. Photographs. 264 pages. $19.95 paper. This book is a memoir of artist and activist Richard Brown, a native New Yorker who adopted Portland, Oregon, as his hometown after retiring from the Air Force. His prose is elegant yet conversational, with a poetic concentration of feeling and images. The short, compelling chapters tell a life story from childhood to later middle age with a skillful blend of narrative and flashback. The scope is the World War II era to the present. The book's major theme is the evolution of a brilliant man, equal parts artist and activist, whose work involves the central political themes of our time: racism in policing and in environmentalism. It tells deeply human stories with nuance and insight about what politics really is: how people treat each other every day. The text does an especially good job at describing how corruption in White-dominated military and police institutions manifests as racism and how one man — at first individually and later collectively — organized to create positive change. It describes Brown's experience of racism as being surveilled and second-guessed at nearly every turn in his life. Brown was born in New York City in 1939, the first-born of five siblings who grew up in a stable and strict household with two hard-working parents. The opening chapters recount life in uptown Manhattan in the afterglow of the Harlem Renaissance, when Langston Hughes lived across the street from Brown's school, Sugar Ray Robinson drove around the neighborhood in his lavender Cadillac, and the 369th Harlem Hellfighters paraded down the avenue in military dress. Brown's mother, Agnes Brown, hailed from St. Croix and worked in a candy shop on the first floor of their building. She was the artist in the family, and her drawings and fashion designs entranced her son, as did a book of pictures by the experimental photographer William Mortensen. Richard Brown senior was a skilled mechanic by trade who ruled his household with stern discipline, including physical punishment of all its members. In retrospect, Brown views his parents' intense regulation of their children's lives as the best way they knew to protect them. He reflects candidly on the early deaths of Black men he knew who, lacking rules and discipline at home, were lost to drugs, gun violence, and police brutality. Brown studied art and photography at the School of Industrial Arts in midtown Manhattan. When his graduation date became compromised, however, conditions motivated him to join the Air Force at the earliest possible date, after he turned seventeen in February 1956. Brown's training, travels, and confrontations with racism in the Air Force compose the center chapters of the memoir. From basic training in Lackland, Texas, to tech training in Illinois, assignments in Oklahoma, the Philippines, Michigan, and Germany, Brown had to choose friends and allies wisely in systems that always held him in suspicion first and asked questions later, if at all. Brown served twenty years, knowing that he would exit still a young man, prepared to devote himself to art. His first job out of the service, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, brought him to the Pacific Northwest in the late 1970s. Brown's entry into Portland centered on his relationship with a lady friend, and his photography provided [End Page 219] another kind of passport to community. Brown showed his pictures at church-based venues and neighborhood gatherings. At one of these settings, he met Kathryn Bogle, a widely published journalist, professional social worker, and leading figure in the African American community. At the time, Bogle was writing for the Portland Observer, and she appreciated Brown's talent and got him connected to the paper. Brown was the staff photographer and a major presence at the Observer for the next fifteen years. An engaging sample of photographs is included in this memoir. Each section of the memoir...

CPNP 2022 Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts

CPNP 2022 Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts

A multi-year science research or engineering experience in high school gives women confidence to continue in the STEM pipeline or seek advancement in other fields: A 20-year longitudinal study.

There remains a large gender imbalance in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce deriving from a leaky pipeline where women start losing interest and confidence in science and engineering as early as primary school. To address this disparity, the Science Research & Engineering Program (SREP) at Hathaway Brown School was established in 1998 to engage and expose their all-female high school students to STEM fields through an internship-like multi-year research experience at partnering institutions. We compare data from existing Hathaway Brown School SREP alumnae records from 1998-2018 (n = 495) to Non-SREP students and national datasets (National Center for Educational Statistics, National Science Foundation, and US Census data) to assess how SREP participation may influence persistence in the STEM pipeline and whether SREP alumnae attribute differences in these outcomes to the confidence and skill sets they learned from the SREP experience. The results reveal that women who participate in the SREP are more likely to pursue a major in a STEM field and continue on to a STEM occupation compared to non-SREP students, national female averages, and national subsets. Participants attribute their outcomes to an increase in confidence, establishment of technical and professional skills, and other traits strengthened through the SREP experience. These data suggest that implementing similar experiential programs for women in science and engineering at the high school stage could be a promising way to combat the remaining gender gap in STEM fields.

Lewis Carroll's Photography and Modern Childhood by Diane Waggoner

Reviewed by: Lewis Carroll's Photography and Modern Childhood by Diane Waggoner Katherine Wakely-Mulroney (bio) Lewis Carroll's Photography and Modern Childhood. By Diane Waggoner. Princeton University Press, 2020. The impact of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass on modern conceptions of childhood was visual, as well as textual. John Tenniel's iconic illustrations encapsulate the play, discovery, boredom, frustration, and fear that Carroll's works describe. However, Diane Waggoner's study argues that the author's critical role in "expanding the meaning of the child to encompass a protean subversiveness, perversity, energy, and curiosity" was dependent on another, far less familiar cache of images (20). Between 1856 and 1880, the writer known in his private life as Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, created hundreds of portraits of children using the new technology of photography. These were designed for private viewership, artfully arranged in the pages of albums rather than displayed on gallery walls. As Waggoner shows, Dodgson's photographs nonetheless reflect his extensive engagement with the Victorian art world, responding to debates concerning realism, Pre-Raphaelite compositional strategies, and the work of other pioneering photographers. Waggoner's volume is a treasure trove of nineteenth-century visual culture, allowing for comparison between Dodgson's beautifully reproduced portraits and their many artistic influences. By arranging her study chronologically, Waggoner invites readers to follow the evolution of Dodgson's aesthetic against the backdrop of Victorian cultural change. More crucially, she provides a powerful sense of how Dodgson's desire to look at and capture images of children, predominantly girls, intensified over the course of his adult life. His controversial interest in producing, commissioning, and collecting sketches and photographs depicting girls in a state of partial dress, or fully nude, became particularly pronounced in his final decades, and is consequently addressed in the last chapter of Waggoner's study. If images of this nature formed the "logical endpoint for [Dodgson's] decades-long undertaking to picture children's bodies," they also provide a logical endpoint for any work that seeks to reckon honestly with the man behind the camera (185). Waggoner begins by exploring the development of Dodgson's photographic style during the 1850s and 1860s, placing his work in dialogue with that of other photographers of [End Page 440] childhood, including Julia Margaret Cameron, and highlighting his role in the elevation of photography from a technical practice to an imaginative art form. Waggoner also uses this introductory chapter to establish the important social function of photography to Dodgson's life. The ritual of taking photographs and guiding adult and child friends through the images arranged in his albums allowed Dodgson to cultivate and commemorate relationships simultaneously. The second chapter is dedicated to Dodgson's portraits of his muse, Alice Liddell, and her sisters, Lorina and Edith. Waggoner avoids spending too much time treading familiar ground here, as Dodgson's complicated relationship with Alice and her family has been the subject of considerable scrutiny and speculation. His pictures of the Liddell girls are instead considered alongside eighteenth-century child portraiture, which provided a blueprint for the author's vision of girlhood as a time of innocence, beauty, and playfulness. Dodgson moved beyond this aesthetic, Waggoner suggests, by establishing a "poetics of imperfection" that celebrated both the unique attributes of individual children and his intimate knowledge of each subject (which is strikingly apparent in his portraits of Alice) (110). Chapter 3 considers Dodgson's understudied photographs of boys. These formed a significantly smaller percentage of his output, yet offer a unique insight into varieties of Victorian masculinity and the author's own childhood. Images of Alfred Lord Tennyson's sons epitomize what Waggoner terms "girlish boyhood," emphasizing the sitters' vulnerability and need. By way of contrast, Dodgson's portraits of pupils at his alma mater Twyford, a preparatory school for boys aged eight to fourteen, emphasize their subjects' transition from boyhood to maturity. These images were taken in 1858, and Waggoner examines them alongside the discourse of masculinity codified by Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown's School Days, published the previous year, and in light of Dodgson's own tenure as a pupil at Rugby School (the setting for Hughes's...

Partnerships to Connect Aging Research to Policy

The fifth speaker is Dr. Kali Thomas. Dr. Thomas will discuss her experience working in partnership with government and non-profit organizational stakeholders to conduct aging research that informs policy and practice. Dr. Thomas is an Associate Professor at the Brown School of Public Health and research health science specialist at the Providence VA Medical Center, where her research focuses on identifying ways to improve the quality of life of older adults needing long-term services and supports (LTSS) through applied health services research.

The Effect of Nature Based Environmental Education on the Health Related Quality of Life of Low Income Black and Hispanic Youth

The Effect of Nature-Based Environmental Education on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Low-Income Black and Hispanic YouthNadav Sprague1, Christine C. Ekenga11 Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USABackground: Urban, low-income, Black and Hispanic youth experience multiple health and educational disparities. These youth also experience disparities in nature contact, an environmental exposure that has been associated with enhanced physical and emotional well-being. Nature-based education (NBE) uses nature contact to promote healthy behaviors and academic success in youth. However, few studies have evaluated the health outcomes of NBE. In this prospective study, we evaluated the impact of NBE on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of low-income, urban Black and Hispanic youth.Methods: Participants were recruited from four schools in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The sample consisted of 378 children, ages 9-15 years old, assigned to an intervention group or a school-matched control group. The 15-week intervention included weekly environmental in-class lessons and monthly nature-based trips. Study participants completed pre- and post-intervention questionnaires that included demographic questions and six validated HRQoL domains (Physical Health Functioning, Emotional Health Functioning, School Functioning, Social Functioning, Family Functioning, and overall HRQoL). Logistic regression models were used to evaluate the intervention’s influence on HRQoL.Results: Approximately 61% of the intervention group and 17% of the control group experienced a clinically significant improvement in overall HRQoL. After adjusting for age and past environmental education and nature-contact experiences before entering the intervention, the NBE intervention was associated with a clinically significant improvement in overall HRQoL (OR = 1.70, 95% CI = 1.01, 2.43).Conclusion: Nature-based education is a low-cost method for improving HRQoL and for low-income, urban, Black and Hispanic youth.

Policy and ideology collide: an examination of Affirmative Action for students of Brazilian public higher education

ABSTRACT Following months of debate in 2012, Brazilian President Rousseff signed the Quota Law establishing quotas for the percentages of Black, Brown, and indigenous public secondary school students that public universities must enroll. Guided by a social dominance theory framework, this paper examines the extent to which such a policy can challenge an ideology – racial democracy – that legitimizes inequality. Using secondary data, I evaluate the main arguments made by the policy’s detractors against empirical research on the academic and diversity impacts of affirmative action in public universities in Brazil. How has a deeply entrenched myth of racial democracy influenced the implementation of a policy that centers racial ideology? Answers to this question have implications for better understanding: (1) the role policy can play in disrupting inequality and humanizing marginalized people and (2) how, if at all, evidence supporting equitable policy can disrupt a society’s adherence to a dominant ideology.

The Crucible

Book Review| April 10 2020 The Crucible The Crucible. Bedlam Theatre Company with Nora Theatre Company, Central Square Theatre, Boston, MA. 12September–12October2019. Directed by Tucker, Eric. The Arthur Miller Journal (2020) 15 (1): 60–71. https://doi.org/10.5325/arthmillj.15.1.0060 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation The Crucible. The Arthur Miller Journal 10 April 2020; 15 (1): 60–71. doi: https://doi.org/10.5325/arthmillj.15.1.0060 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All Scholarly Publishing CollectivePenn State University PressThe Arthur Miller Journal Search Advanced Search The following symposium was conducted by Lenke Wood's AP English class at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island, after attending a performance on 2 October 2019.[Editor's Note: Given the frequency with which Miller's The Crucible is taught in high school classrooms, it was a delightful experience to receive this selection of responses to a live production of the play (as opposed to the students just reading the text) by this evidently insightful group of teens. While the accessibility and immediacy of Eric Tucker's engaging production clearly made an impression on all, it is interesting how far their thoughts spin out from what they witnessed. Many felt almost a part of the production, drawn in and able to make clear connections to the present day; several even reevaluate their own responsibility to get engaged in a way that would have made Miller proud. Collectively they consider... Issue Section: Symposium on The Crucible You do not currently have access to this content.

American Indian Social Work Students: Factors that Influence Success in Graduate School

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Many barriers exist for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students pursuing advanced degrees. The Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis has a higher than average graduation rate for AI/AN students. The purpose of this article is to understand the lived experiences of AI/AN students at the Brown School and how the experiences influence graduation rates.Methods: This study collected data from Brown School alumni who were associated with the Buder Center between 1991 and 2013; nine interviews were analyzed.Results: Six themes were identified: 1) AI/AN student cohort, 2) social work skill development, 3) service to AI/AN communities and people, 4) success as balance, 5) cultural identity, and 6) resiliency.Discussion: Institutional supports were described by participants as factors that affected their success in the program; these combined with student characteristics, beliefs and attitudes influenced the high rate of AI/AN student graduates at the Brown School.

Training American Indian and Alaska Native Social Workers for Indian Country

ABSTRACTThis study reviews student's perspectives of an American Indian and Alaska Native Indian Studies center in a Master of Social Work degree (MSW) program from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. The article describes the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies many contributions over the years and how it continues to grow in innovative ways. This article begins by considering the social, economic, and historical circumstances that make Native-focused training in social work critical to the future of Indian Country. The article then discusses the founding of the center, the curriculum, program offerings and the effectiveness of the center's services. Additionally, results of the evidence indicates that financial assistance and support programs are strong factors in recruitment, student motivation to pursue a degree, and persistence to completion of a Master of Social Work credential. Lastly, the paper offers recommendations for recruiting, retaining and graduating American Indian and Alaska Native graduate students.

USP Escuela de enfermería y el Programa de Inclusión Social: un enfoque histórico

In the early days of Brazilian nursing, the best category to build the profession was sought: white women. The color of one skin was an impediment to study nursing. At the Nursing School of University of Sao Paulo (EEUSP), there was never an official mechanism to bar black people from taking the course, but even so, it has always trained a small number of black students. With USP's Social Inclusion Program (Inclusp), in 2007, the expectation was to expand access to the University for this particular group of people. That is why, this study was based on the hypothesis that few black nurses graduate EEUSP still, compared to the white majority who enter the course each year. Goals: Identify whether EEUSP continues to train few black nurses, even with affirmative action, and describe the experience of black and Brown school students and alumni. Method: First, it sought to map how many benefited from the program and who these people were; then, some of these black graduates were invited to tell their stories and experiences as a student. Results: The color underreporting in the studied documentation compromised the results. There were five descriptive interviews. Conclusions: That despite the program, EEUSP continues to train few black nurses, contributing to the fact that, until today, the number of black nurses trained by public institutions remain small.

Is Sitting Really the New Smoking?

AffiliationsAlan M. Beck is with the Prevention Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO. Amy Eyler is with the Brown School and the Prevention Research Center, Washington University in St. Louis.

Connecting the Dots Between Sustainable Diets and Biocultural Systems in a Rural Indigenous Community of the Ecuadorian Andes (OR20-07-19)

ObjectivesCharacterize the psychosocial and agroecological dimensions of sustainable diets and their roles in an Andean biocultural system. MethodsA participatory mixed-methods design: 1) focus groups (n = 39) and key informant interviews (n = 7) were recorded, translated, transcribed, and analyzed using three-staged coding; 2) information was triangulated with participant observations, local records, and descriptive statistics from a survey to female household heads (n = 57); 3) rural appraisal activities for agronomic calendars and yields; 4) ten sites, purposively selected, prospected with local informants to obtain a Margelef-Shannon’s K Diversity Index; 5) a subset of five sites for agroecological parameters with MO-Dirt methods for soil health and laboratory analysis; 6) a crossover analysis of agrobiodiversity, land-family size ratios and diet; and 7) four community-based system dynamics sessions to elucidate causal-loop diagrams. ResultsA psychosocial dimension was centered in indigenous identity, customary institutions, and agrarian knowledge. Identity was grounded in Mother Earth (Pachamama) and traditional foods. Customary institutions reinforce trust and reciprocity, mobilize labor-intensive tasks and food production and processing. Traditional knowledge includes agrarian calendars, pest control, seed selection, and soil restoration measures. An agroecological dimension is characterized by a pre-Hispanic system of terraces, trenches, and contention walls, as well as ecological richness. Combined analysis of both dimensions, including ethnographic testimonials, archeological research, and local records, reveal that the community is a remarkable biocultural space, which seems to promote sustainable crop yields through the generations. ConclusionsThis study suggests the viability of a reinforcement loop in indigenous-based agri-food systems, in which sustainable diets support a stable biocultural space and where the dynamic interaction between psychosocial and agroecological factors assure the stability of biocultural space. Research on biocultural systems represents an opportunity to elucidate ideas for present and future sustainability and food security challenges. Funding SourcesFunded by the Brown School’s International Dissertation Award.

A Cross-Sectional Needs Assessment of Adolescent Physical Activity in the Early Nutrition Transitioning Country of Haiti (P16-006-19)

ObjectivesAn exploratory assessment of physical activity (PA) to identify covariates of PA behaviors in Haitian adolescents. MethodsStudents from two urban schools participated in two different data collection methodologies: a self-reported survey (n = 100) assessing school, transportation, and leisure-time PA; an objective accelerometry study (n = 55). Self-reported diet behaviors were also collected. Parent and non-parent caregivers reported demographic data. Logistic regression identified potential correlates of PA; PA was operationalized as meeting the World Health Organization’s recommendation (WHO REC) of ≥60 minutes of moderate/vigorous PA per day for adolescents. ResultsSelf-reported data. The school PA model showed age (OR = 2.03; 95% CI = 0.66, 6.31), gender (OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 0.40, 4.97), and dietary diversity score ([DDS]; OR = 1.49; 95% CI = 1.17, 1.90) were significantly associated with WHO REC. Age (OR = 1.90; 95% CI = 1.55, 6.53), gender (OR = 1.22; 95% CI = 1.19, 3.03), DDS (OR = 1.25; 95% CI = 0.99, 1.57), and caregiver’s occupation in the market (OR = 5.66; 95% CI = 1.27, 25.20) were significant correlates of WHO REC in the transportation PA model. The leisure-time PA model found gender (OR = 3.95; 95% CI = 1.09, 14.33), DDS (OR = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.09, 1.74), and bringing a snack/meal to school (OR = 4.17, 95% CI = 1.18, 14.67) to be significant covariates of WHO REC. Objective data. The model of accelerometry PA identified age (OR = 4.17; 95% CI = 1.31, 55.79), gender (OR = 48.19; 95% CI = 22.16, 77.92; female reference group), DDS (OR = 4.48; 95% CI = 1.12, 16.76), and household access to a flush toilet (OR = 0.03; 95% CI = 0.46, 64.45) as significant correlates of WHO REC. ConclusionsAs nutrition transition is underway in Haiti, so is the onset of the dual burden of malnutrition; PA can alleviate the negative health consequences of both phenomena, but heretofore such data have been unavailable for Haiti. Results support a) early adoption of policies and programs for PA and nutrition together and b) future investigation into Haitian PA behaviors and their sociocultural determinants. Funding SourcesThis study was funded by the Public Health Cubed Grant of the Washington University Institute of Public Health and the Brown School of Social Work International Dissertation Research Award.

Socioeconomic, Dietary and Health Determinants of Body Composition in Haitian School Children Aged 3–13 Years (P11-130-19)

ObjectivesThis study aimed to characterize socioeconomic, dietary and health factors associated with body composition of school-aged children in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. MethodsBaseline data from a cluster randomized controlled trial of children aged 3–13 years (n = 1084) to test the effectiveness of lipid-based nutrient supplement on anemia and other nutrition outcomes was used for this analysis. Anthropometric measures of height and weight were collected from the children using standard WHO protocols. Parent surveys provided information on household-level socioeconomic and demographic information and frequency of dietary intakes and infectious disease morbidities of the children. Body composition was determined using bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA). Equations, validated using deuterium dilution method in Gambian school children, were then used to derive fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM). Multiple linear regression modeling identified factors associated with body composition. ResultsThere were 43.7% of children categorized as moderately thin (body mass index (BMI) z score < -1). Mean percentage of FM was 7.8% (SD ± 3.5) and 11.9% (SD ± 4.9) while mean FM (kg) was 1.7kg (SD ± 0.8) and 3.1kg (SD ± 3.5) for thin children and those not thin, respectively. Child’s age, ear infection in the last month and bread consumption were negatively associated with FM (%), whereas child’s sex, maternal BMI, and toilet type used showed a positive relationship. FM (kg) was positively associated with child’s age, sex, height-for-age z score, maternal BMI, house ownership and toilet type used. Models 1, 2, and 3 with BMI z score, FM (%) and FM (kg) as dependent variables respectively showed: [F(6, 773) = 16.2, β = –1.5, P < .001, (Adj. R2 = .11)], [F(6, 747) = 42.2, β = 2.7, P < .001, (Adj. R2 = .25)] and [F(6, 746) = 36.0, β = -2.7, P < .001, (Adj. R2 = .22)]. ConclusionsThis study provides evidence of socioeconomic, dietary and health factors associated with body composition in Haitian school-aged children, however more research is required to identify additional factors mediating this relationship. Funding SourcesSupported by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Micronutrient Fortified Food Aid Products program FFE-521-2012/034-00, the Masters Research Fellows Program of the Brown School and E3 Nutrition Lab.

The Life and Career of Matthew O. Howard

The Life and Career of Matthew O. Howard

Realizing the Truth to Help Others: A Photovoice Investigation of Barriers to Healthy Living in People with Serious Mental Illness

Reaching for a Healthier Lifestyle:A Photovoice Investigation of Barriers to Healthy Living in People with Serious Mental Illness Lara Carson Weinstein, MD, MPH, DrPH, Mariana Chilton, PhD, MPH, Renee Turchi, MD, MPH, Ann Klassen, PhD, Marianna LaNoue, PhD, Stephan Lamar, Sandra Yorgey, Lois Kramer, Irwin Smith, and Leopoldo Cabassa, MSW, PhD What Is the Purpose of this Study? • To investigate social and structural factors that affect weight loss in partnership with community co-researchers enrolled in a group lifestyle program for overweight/obese people with serious mental illness (SMI) living in supportive housing settings. What is the Problem? • People with mental illness in the United States are almost twice as likely to be obese compared with those without a mental illness. • Lifestyle factors, such as poor dietary choices and physical inactivity, are often cited as causes of obesity in this population, which limits the response to the obesity epidemic primarily to behavioral change interventions. • In response, this project is grounded in a human rights framework to ensure that the people most affected by the problem are included in understanding and addressing the problem. What Are the Findings? • Co-researchers selected 33 photos reflecting two overarching themes: 1) structural barriers, such as poor quality food, transportation costs, limited Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP) benefits, limits of food pantries, easy availability of tobacco and alcohol products, and limited places for exercise, and 2) strategies for overcoming structural barriers, such as healthy eating on a budget. • Co-researchers highlighted structural barriers that were a cause or consequence of food insecurity and situations that threaten the right to healthy food and opportunities for a healthy life. • Co-researchers reported examples of knowledge and skills they learned through participation in the project that were used to overcome structural barriers to healthy eating and physical activity, and likely contributed to weight loss. Who Should Care Most? • Health practitioners who care for people with SMI who are obese, to better understand the multilevel challenges to healthy eating and physical activity. • Researchers developing interventions to support health in people with SMI, to recognize the importance of addressing the social determinants of health in new interventions. • Policymakers, to understand the impact of cuts to programs such as the SNAP and Social Security, and how these cuts disproportionally affect the health of people with disabilities. [End Page 335] Recommendations for Action • Provide opportunities for populations affected by complex health problems to offer real-life insights to inform intervention development and help to address hidden and important barriers to achieving a healthy life in the community. • Continue to support creative community-based participatory research approaches, such as Photovoice, to provide opportunity for deeper dialogue and engagement with marginalized populations. • Advocate for structural and policy level changes to increase the availability of healthy food options in low-income neighborhoods, improve income supports, maintain and increase food subsidies, and incorporate changes to the built environment to support physical activity, to ensure the right to food and the right to health for people with psychiatric disabilities. [End Page 336] Lara Carson Weinstein Department of Family and Community Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University Mariana Chilton Health Management and Policy, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University Renee Turchi Community Health and Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University Ann Klassen Community Health and Prevention, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University Marianna LaNoue School of Population Health, Thomas Jefferson University Stephan Lamar Pathways to Housing PA Sandra Yorgey Pathways to Housing PA Lois Kramer Pathways to Housing PA Irwin Smith Pathways to Housing PA Leopoldo Cabassa Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis Copyright © 2019 Johns Hopkins University Press