Graduate School Of Public Health Research Articles

Current issues related to education in the five core disciplines of public health at the school of public health in a private university

Objectives In Japan, schools of public health (SPH) have engaged in professional education focusing on five core disciplines: epidemiology, biostatistics, social and behavioral science, health policy and management, and occupational and environmental health. However, empirical information is lacking regarding the current state of this education and its associated challenges in Japan. In this article, we showcase this issue, using the master of public health (MPH) course at Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health (Teikyo SPH) as an example.Methods We summarized the current objectives and classes required to complete the MPH course at Teikyo SPH, using the course guideline published in 2022. Current issues and possible future directions in the course were summarized based on the opinions of Teikyo SPH faculty members.Results For epidemiology, lectures and exercises were designed to focus on how to formulating public health issues, collecting and evaluating data, and causal inference. Issues related to the design included ensuring that students had the necessary skills to apply epidemiology to emerging issues, and catching the course up with evolving techniques. For biostatistics, lectures and exercise classes focused on understanding data and statistics, as well as performing analyses. Issues included the understanding of theories, setting the course level, and a lack of appropriate education materials for emerging analytical methods. For social and behavioral science, lectures and exercise classes focused on understanding human behaviors and actions for problem solving. Issues included learning various behavioral theories in a limited timeframe, the gap between the lectures and various needs, and nurturing professionals who had the skills to perform in practical settings. For health policy and management, lectures, exercise classes, and practical training classes focused on identifying and solving problems in the community and around the world, and on integrating the disparate viewpoints of health economics and policy. Issues included few alumni who actually found work globally, a lack of students working in local or central administrations, and insufficient perspectives on rational/economic thinking and macro-economic transitions. For occupational and environmental health, lectures, exercise classes, and practical training classes focused on learning the occupational and environmental impacts of public health issues, and their countermeasures. Challenges included enriching the topics with regard to advanced technologies, environmental health, and socially vulnerable populations.Conclusion Through these reflections on MPH education at Teikyo SPH, the following recommendations are considered essential in order to prepare improvements to the program: reorganizing the curriculum to meet the needs of the day, accepting students with various backgrounds, addressing the increasing knowledge and skills that need to be acquired by the students, and enhancing the powers of professors to implement changes.

When it “Feels Like We’re in This Together”: Toward a Trauma-Informed Public Health Pedagogy Drawing on Lived Experiences

Since 2020, graduate public health students have been living through the intersecting pandemics of COVID-19 and structural racism while simultaneously experiencing classroom lessons on these topics. In this paper, we analyze 14 oral history interviews exploring these experiences, and identify needed shifts in public health pedagogy that these interviews illuminate. Interviews were produced through a participatory oral history project called Public Health Education Now, which was led by a team of faculty and MPH students based at the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. We analyzed the interviews using reflexive thematic analysis. In these interviews, students described lived experiences of trauma, isolation, and tensions in public health (Theme 1), as well as a desire for public health education anchored in their lived experiences that activates hope (Theme 2), and public health education that nourishes and sustains them (Theme 3). Our analysis advances a view of public health students of this era as survivor-learners whose lived experiences can be a rich resource for informing the future of public health education, provided appropriate supports are in place. We discuss the ways that trauma-informed teaching and learning responds to these findings. Finally, we suggest action steps toward incorporating trauma-informed public health pedagogy drawing on lived experiences into public health classrooms, programs, and schools.

Overlooked Inequities in Language May Undermine Progress in Tobacco Control: Further Thoughts on the Need for Reflection.

Journal Article Accepted manuscript Overlooked inequities in language may undermine progress in tobacco control: further thoughts on the need for reflection Get access Renee D Goodwin, PhD, MPH, Renee D Goodwin, PhD, MPH Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USADepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA Address Correspondence to: Renee D. Goodwin, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, Rm 514, New York, NY 10032. Phone: 212-304-6554, Email: rdg66@columbia.edu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1363-5729 Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Lisa K Walker, PhD Lisa K Walker, PhD Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, The City University of New York, New York, New York, USA Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic PubMed Google Scholar Nicotine & Tobacco Research, ntad069, https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntad069 Published: 05 May 2023 Article history Received: 17 April 2023 Published: 05 May 2023

Increasing student engagement with course content in graduate public health education: A pilot randomized trial of behavioral nudges.

Digital advances in the learning space have changed the contours of student engagement as well as how it is measured. Learning management systems and other learning technologies now provide information about student behaviors with course materials in the form of learning analytics. In the context of a large, integrated and interdisciplinary Core curriculum course in a graduate school of public health, this study undertook a pilot randomized controlled trial testing the effect of providing a "behavioral nudge" in the form of digital images containing specific information derived from learning analytics about past student behaviors and performance. The study found that student engagement varied significantly from week to week, but nudges linking coursework completion to assessment grade performance did not significantly change student engagement. While the a priori hypotheses of this pilot trial were not upheld, this study yielded significant findings that can guide future efforts to increase student engagement. Future work should include a robust qualitative assessment of student motivations, testing of nudges that tap into these motivations and a richer examination of student learning behaviors over time using stochastic analyses of data from the learning management system.

A Road Map to Rigor and Relevance in Pharmaceutical Policy Research.

The Milbank QuarterlyVolume 100, Issue 2 p. 341-344 Milbank Quarterly Classics A Road Map to Rigor and Relevance in Pharmaceutical Policy Research JULIE M. DONOHUE, Corresponding Author JULIE M. DONOHUE [email protected] Address correspondence to: Julie M. Donohue, PhD, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto St, A635, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (email: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this author JULIE M. DONOHUE, Corresponding Author JULIE M. DONOHUE [email protected] Address correspondence to: Julie M. Donohue, PhD, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, 130 DeSoto St, A635, Pittsburgh, PA 15261 (email: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this author First published: 07 March 2022 https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12555Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume100, Issue2June 2022Pages 341-344 RelatedInformation

The Vaccine Communication Demands on Community-Based Workforces.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are experiencing some of the highest demand in years for a wide spectrum of health and social services. Their client-facing employees have taken on a new, challenging role as a sought-after source of COVID-19 vaccine information and guidance. These workforces operating on the frontlines, do their best to meet the increased need for services and information, often without additional resources or training to do so. The most effective immediate response to this challenge is a comprehensive communication support system working in tandem with CBOs. Our three organizations, the New York Vaccine Literacy Campaign at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Hunger Free NYC, and Health Leads, have collaborated in key short-term approaches to meet these needs. We outline these processes and anticipated outcomes and offer lessons learned to advocate for long-term structural changes needed to increase community-level communication support.

Community-engaged Processes for Restarting Federally Funded Research in a Community-based Organization during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic.

Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO) is one of three study sites partnering with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (Pitt Public Health) for a National Institutes of Health-funded randomized controlled trial on a financial management intervention for people with HIV who are experiencing homelessness or housing instability. After the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020, the study team used a community-engaged approach to adapt research protocols at this site. We sought to describe a community-engaged approach to restarting National Institutes of Health-funded research during the COVID-19 pandemic. Partners at Pitt Public Health and BAO developed a set of agency-wide COVID-19 policies and procedures for BAO organized around Rhodes' critical elements of community engagement. The challenges presented by COVID-19 in the research sector have provided an opportunity to reevaluate study activities and increase the extent to which research is conducted in a community-centered manner.

An Evidence-Based Approach on Academic Management in a School of Public Health Using SMAART Model

Data-driven modeling, action, and strategies have become popular, and the education community has witnessed increased interest in data-driven decision-making (DDDM). DDDM values and prioritizes decisions supported by high-quality, verifiable data that has been effectively processed and analyzed. The objective of our study is to describe the design, development, and implementation of a data-driven, evidence-based model of academic development in the context of CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) utilizing SMAART (Sustainability Multisector Accessible Affordable Reimbursable Tailored) model. The alignment of academic and student affairs within CUNY SPH brought with it several challenges. Defining roles and responsibilities across different student and academic affair units with a goal of collaborative leadership model and lack of meaningfulness were key challenges. It was important to listen to the experiences and recommendations of various individuals performing various functions in different capacities. A unified framework of key data indicators was needed to create a transparent and equitable model. An innovative interactive SMAART SPH dashboard designed, developed, and implemented to guide data-driven, evidence-based decision-making. Institutions can use a large amount of data from various sources to improve students’ learning experience, enhance research initiatives, support effective community outreach, and develop campus infrastructure to bring in sustainability.

The Additional Career Option of Proceeding to Graduate Schools of Public Health for Freshly Board-Certified Anesthesiologists

The Additional Career Option of Proceeding to Graduate Schools of Public Health for Freshly Board-Certified Anesthesiologists

India's COVID-19 Burdens, 2020.

The purpose of this article is two pronged; first, to identify and report public health implications of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and second, to report challenges uniquely faced by the citizens of India from a population health perspective. We have done both while closely examining epidemiological data that is accessible via SMAART's RAPID Tracker. This policy informatics platform is a live database aimed to track the geospatial spread of the COVID-19 outbreak and policy actions globally and is administered collaboratively by CUNY's Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy and a global, non-profit public health incubator. Infectivity, incidence, and recovery rates were computed and graphical representations of epidemiological datasets were studied. We have discussed a plausible conceptual framework based on the principles of population health informatics for countries with similar characteristics to build a stronger public and community health foundation in order to safeguard populations during a health emergency in the future.

Valuing Infant Health in the United States.

In this issue of Pediatrics , Goldstein et al1 present new findings on state and local government expenditures and infant mortality in the United States. How much a society and/or individuals are willing to pay for something reflects its importance and monetizes its value.2 Nevertheless, investing wisely (eg, assessing the “return on investment” and domains of investing in medicine versus health) has been and continues to be challenging. Infant mortality statistics, like all vital statistics, are concerned with real people. They describe events and provide information about characteristics related to individuals entering or leaving life or changing their civil status.3 It is important to go behind those numbers and remember that each one represents a significant moment in life. The first recorded “vital statistics concerned with people” indicated that, in 1915, for every 1000 live births, ∼100 infants died before their first birthday.3–7 In 2018, the US infant mortality rate declined to 5.67 deaths per 1000 live births, making that year’s infant mortality rate the lowest reported in … Address correspondence to Michele Kiely, DrPH, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, The City University of New York, 55 W 125th St, Room 714, New York, NY 10027. E-mail: michele.kiely{at}sph.cuny.edu

Climate Change and Health: New approaches are expected from epidemiologists

Climate change is becoming mainstream in public health research given the direct impact on health from extreme weather, heat waves, and other indirect health impacts. The usual approaches in epidemiology study design and analyses are not as effective given the gravity of climate change that some termed as an existential threat. Epidemiologists are therefore expected to pursue a paradigm shift in their approach to deal with this threat from climate change. The aim of this presentation is to provide two approaches as examples of how epidemiologists engage this public health threat. One approach is health policy communication. This is not a strength of most epidemiologists and not taught in graduate schools of public health. The International Network for Epidemiology and Policy (INEP) was formed to address this gap and one of its first tasks was to address Climate Change Health Policy. The process of this initiative from the 24 international epidemiology societies who are members of INEP and up to the publication of a policy brief will be described. The second approach is a collaboration with non-traditional partners such as faith leaders, social scientists, ecologists, politicians and physical scientists to address climate change from a multidisciplinary perspective. The common focus would be community engagement. This will be demonstrated through a partnership with the Pontifical Academy of Science that culminated in a Nature Springer Book to be published inclusive of a diverse group of authors and notable Nobel Laureates in Chemistry and Biology.

Generational Differences in Food Perception and the Risk of Chronic Disease Among Jamaican Immigrant Families Living in New York City

Abstract Objectives A Quarter of all US-based Jamaicans live in New York City (NYC) (N = 178,750). Compared to African Americans, Black Caribbeans experience lower rates of obesity (36% vs. 29%) and hypertension (38% vs 35%), but similar rates of diabetes (13% vs. 15%). Little is known about how diet and acculturation affect risk of chronic disease among Jamaican immigrants of different age groups. The aims of this study were to identify among three generations of Jamaicans living in NYC: a) how food experiences influence food perceptions and dietary behaviors; and b) how acculturation, social norms, socio-economic status and trans-national movements affect diet and risk of chronic disease. Methods Group and individual interviews with youth (n = 10), parents (n = 6) and grandparents (n = 8) used open-ended questions, were recorded and lasted 45 – 90 min. Participants received $20 gift cards as incentives. Recordings were transcribed, and analyzed using Dedoose 7.0. Results Three major themes emerged: Food perceptions and the concept of clean food impelled participants from all generations to consume a healthier diet consisting of more fresh fruits and vegetables and less processed foods. Among youth, remote acculturation to the US culture and global foods made it more acceptable to replace traditional home cooked foods with processed foods. Third, acculturation provided older Jamaican immigrants with easier access to healthcare and health education. The health advice provided by doctors, dietitians and other healthcare professionals was well respected and older Jamaicans reported high levels of compliance. Conclusions Among youth, early exposure to US culture and foods while living in Jamaica may increase future risk of chronic disease by making it more acceptable to replace cultural foods with American foods. Food perceptions and the concept of clean food play an important role in the way that Jamaicans of all ages think about, purchase and eat food. Truly valuing fruits and vegetables made adult Jamaican immigrants more receptive to health education and more likely to lower their risk of chronic disease. Funding Sources CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Dean's Dissertation Grant (Dissertation research support for author Horlyck-Romanovsky).

Availability of Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Education in the United States: A Challenge to Growing the Workforce

The nurse practitioner (NP) workforce in the United States is growing rapidly in size, with a concomitant impact on the health care system ( American Association of Nurse Practitioners 2019a American Association of Nurse Practitioners. (2019a). NP fact sheet. Retrieved from https://www.aanp.org/about/all-about-nps/np-fact-sheet Google Scholar ; Auerbach et al., 2018 Auerbach D.I. Staiger D.O. Buerhaus P.I. Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians—Implications for the physician workforce. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018; 378: 2358-2360 Crossref PubMed Scopus (88) Google Scholar ). Likewise, the number of graduate nursing education programs offering NP degrees and the number of graduates have also grown substantially ( Salsberg, 2018, June 5 Salsberg, E. (2018, June 5). Changes in the pipeline of new NPs and RNs: Implications for health care delivery and educational capacity. [Health Affairs blog]. Retrieved from https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20180524.993081/full/ Google Scholar ). Starting from 2008, the nursing profession has emphasized the need for alignment of NPs’ education, certification, licensure, and clinical practice setting ( APRN Consensus Work Group & National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN Advisory Committee 2008 APRN Consensus Work Group & National Council of State Boards of Nursing APRN Advisory Committee. (2008). Consensus model for APRN regulation: Licensure, accreditation, certification and education. Retrieved from https://www.ncsbn.org/Consensus_Model_for_APRN_Regulation_July_2008.pdf Google Scholar ). However, there has been discordant growth in NP education program availability relative to the continuing unmet demand for specialty-trained NPs. Kristin H. Gigli, Post-doctoral Scholar, CRISMA Center, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. Jeremy Kahn, Professor of Critical Care Medicine and Health Policy & Management, CRISMA Center, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and Department of Health Policy & Management, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, PA. Grant Martsolf, Professor, Department of Acute and Tertiary Care, University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing, Pittsburgh, PA; and Adjunct Policy Researcher, RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

Science is discovering hot flashes are much more than just a sweaty sign of menopause — their frequency or severity may also be linked to heart problems, stroke and cognitive decline later in a woman's life, CNN reported Sept. 24. A study presented at the 2019 conference of the North American Menopause Society last week found night sweats were linked to cognitive dysfunction in menopausal women, decreasing the ability to pay attention and perform higher‐level thinking tasks. Another found a direct link between the frequency and persistence of hot flashes and cardiovascular events later in a woman's life. And here's a startling finding: Another study found there's even a link between childhood trauma and hot‐flash severity later in life. “Having a hot flash is a much more significant event than providers actually appreciated for many years,” said psychiatry professor Rebecca Thurston, who directs the Women's Biobehavioral Health lab at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. “We're starting to link these hot flashes to various different health indices and outcomes, including women's cardiovascular health,” she said.

Enhancing Graduate Practicum Project Development and Selection at Schools of Public Health: A Case Study

Experiential learning is a core competency of curricula across accredited U.S. schools of public health, helping students to hone diverse skill sets that will enable them to readily join the workforce and contribute to solving complex public health problems. At the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (SPH), all master’s and doctoral students are required to complete a practicum during their degree programs; yet practicum development and selection processes are often overlooked. To enhance the experiential learning program and Human Research Protection Program processes surrounding student practica at the CUNY SPH, researchers mined an administrative database and analyzed characteristics of practicum projects undertaken by graduate students. Findings from this novel study will facilitate policy and procedural changes within the SPH Office of Experiential Learning, which oversees the practicum program, and across SPH offices, including the Human Research Protection Program, to promote an optimal, student-centered practicum experience. Additionally, these analyses will serve as a model for other schools of public health seeking to develop, refine, and strengthen their practicum programs.

Development of a Community-Engaged Classroom for Teaching Health Communications: Lessons Learned From Nine Semesters of Implementation

Community-engaged classrooms (CECs) offer many advantages to both students and community-based organizations by creating an environment that enriches student learning and contributes to meeting needs identified by the community. Students who are engaged with communities during their studies report that they learned to apply skills, develop networks, and increase their decision-making skills, confidence, professional portfolio, and ownership of projects. In this article, we report on a CEC model for a graduate-level course called “Overview of Health Communications” at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health, which has been sustained for nine semesters. This article outlines the approach for developing the CEC model, steps for implementing the course, course evaluation design, and results. We also present lessons learned from both the community organizations’ and students’ perspectives and recommendations to inform future CEC projects.

Communications Recommendations for Sugar-Sweetened Beverage-Free Zones.

AffiliationsP. Christopher Palmedo is with the Department of Community Health and Social Sciences, City University of New York, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York, NY.

Interjurisdictional Variance in US Workers' Benefits for Emergency Response Volunteers.

Volunteers who are deployed during times of disaster are critical public health system assets. These individuals share concerns about a variety of subjects with public health law implications, including whether they are entitled to employment benefits before, during, and after disaster response. We examined and analyzed state employment benefit laws pertaining to emergency response volunteers. We used the Emergency Law Inventory (ELI; https://legalinventory.pitt.edu )-an informatics tool developed at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health that contains more than 1300 statutory and regulatory provisions affecting volunteer activities-to access certain employment laws in 60 jurisdictions. Analyses of the laws revealed that fewer than half of the jurisdictions have laws that protect seniority, vacation time, sick time, or overtime privileges. Additionally, there is tremendous variance and lack of uniformity among the jurisdictions concerning employment status requirements, geographic constraints, time limitations, and economic impacts. Major disasters often necessitate interjurisdictional response. To facilitate effective deployment of volunteers, employment laws should be uniform across the states. Furthermore, limitations that impede volunteer responders should be eliminated.

Risk Analysis: From Inside Baseball to Science Fiction.

AffiliationsBernard D. Goldstein is with the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh, PA.