Public Health Projects, 2008-present

Follow

• 

  Family, Social, and Sexual Health Education in Elementary Aged Children

  Sabrina Bedell, Madeline Eells, Tara Higgins, Suleiman Ismael, John Nesbitt, Colette Oesterle, Nicholas Sinclair, Liz Shayne, and Eileen CichoskiKelly

  Introduction. Multiple public health agencies stress the importance of school health education, including family, social and sexual health. The Schoolhouse Learning Center, a private elementary school with grades K-5, wishes to implement a social health curriculum guided by the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS).

• 

  Barriers to and Resources for Asthma Management in Vermont Elementary Schools

  Samantha Boyd, Benjamin Farahnik, Anja Jokela, Emily Keller, Russell Landry, Mikaela Lee, Alice Stoddart, Christopher Ting, Rebecca Ryan, and David Kaminsky

  Introduction. Asthma is a chronic obstructive lung disease that causes wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath, and is a cause of school absenteeism. School nurses play an integral role in asthma care for elementary-aged children.

• 

  Nutrition as the Foundation for Good Health: Evaluating the Impact of Food Programs on Health

  Adam Burgess, Nicholas Field, Douglas Handley, Laura Lazzarini, Dilasha Mahat, Daryl Selen, Raj Thakrar, Sarah Adams-Kollitz, and Janice Gallant

  Introduction. Previous studies have demonstrated a link between food insecurity and childhood behavioral problems, particularly internal problems such as anxiety and depression. Burlington Children’s Space (BCS), a local preschool and daycare in Burlington, VT, has created a healthy and nutritious meal program for their children, many of whom cannot afford enough to eat well at home.

• 

  An Evaluation of Food Insecurity & Health Behavior among Rural Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Participants

  Michael Capata, Ian Crane, Taylor Goller, Angie Li, Erin McElroy, Noah Quinlan, Deborah Shamsian, Thomas Delaney, Jill Jemison, Paul Feenan, and Breck Knauft

  Introduction. Access to healthy foods is a major barrier for individuals achieving a healthy diet. The literature reveals several investigations into causes of food insecurity, but few focus on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs that attempt to address food insecurity and related health behaviors of participants.

• 

  Access to Transportation For Chittenden County Senior Citizens

  Alejandro Castro, Leah Fox, Emily Hadley Strout, Pishoy Haroun, Blake Leavitt, Cordelia Ross, Mutlay Sayan, Alyson Platzer, and Jeanne Hutchins

  Introduction. Elderly age often means a progressive loss of independence and mobility. Research has shown that this lack of mobility has a detrimental effect on health and well-being. It is estimated that 25% of Vermonters will be ?65 years by 2030. Thus, the rapid rise in the elderly population will translate into a greater need for reliable transportation. We sought to explore if and how lack of transportation compromised areas of seniors’ daily lives.

• 

  Ensuring Access to Dental Care for Pregnant Women in Vermont

  Katia Chavez, Heather Gardiner, Shane Greene, Nicolas Monte, Dwight Parker, Shravan Rao, Reiko Sakai, Kristin Fontaine, and Wendy Davis

  Introduction. In Vermont, $2.7 million is spent annually caring for children ages 0-5 with early childhood caries (ECC) who require hospitalization for treatment. Nationwide, obstetricians are often not familiar with published prenatal oral health guidelines. It is unclear how providers in Vermont address prenatal oral health. Recently, the $495 Medicaid cap on reimbursement for perinatal dental care was lifted and now extends coverage 60 days after delivery, making the prenatal period an ideal time to intervene.

• 

  Factors Leading to Adolescent Drug Abuse in Winooski

  Yun-Yun Kathy Chen, Gia Fraher, Megan Wetzel, Ilsley Colton, Herman Kalsi, Weiss Surkhabi, Flang Nguyen, Kate Nugent, and Burton Wilcke

  Introduction. This study collaborated with the Winooski Coalition for a Safe and Peaceful Community (WCSPC) in order to identify underlying risk factors for initiating drug use in adolescents, ages 13-18 in Winooski, Vermont by implementing focus groups with community stakeholders and agencies.

• 

  Happy Feet: Podiatric Needs of the Burlington Homeless Population

  Priyanka Chilakamarri, Gurpinder Gill, Karl Kristiansen, Benjamin Rayikanti, Michael Sun, Whitney Thomas, Mark Pasanen, Julia Paradiso, and Aurora Lenz-Watson

  Introduction. Many homeless individuals spend a large portion of their days standing or walking, placing particular importance on lower extremity health in this population. However, few studies have been performed to investigate the podiatric needs of this group.

• 

  Competition as a Potential Motivator for Blood Donation

  Brandon Childs, Gary Gilmond, Hannah Lowe, Benjamin Jorgensen, Angelina Palombo, Chris Frenette, and Mark Fung

  Introduction. Investigating motivational factors for blood donation is invaluable to understanding how to increase blood availability. Our study evaluates the perceived effect of competition as an intrinsic motivator for blood donation.

• 

  Creating an Online CME Module: Early Detection and Diagnosis of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

  Alex Coffman, Grant Goodrich, Matthew Jordan, Erica Marden, Xiaofan Pan, Cornelia Willis, Emily Xue, Martha Richardson, and William Pendlebury

  Introduction. The number of individuals living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the United States is growing annually; only 40% are properly diagnosed. Primary care providers should identify individuals with cognitive impairment and provide options for care; early diagnosis of dementia and AD helps patients and families plan for the future, increases quality of life, and allows for treatment options.

• 

  The Effectiveness of Health Care Coordinators within a Novel Home Care Model for Elders

  Betsy Davis, Jan Carney, Sean Bullis, Sarah Fieber, Chang-Wei Huang, Elizabeth May, Caitlin McFarland, Jacob Reynolds, and Katelyn Shea

  Introduction. Our project studied the effectiveness of health care coordinators in a program known as Support and Services at Home (SASH). SASH has been designed to fill the needs of independent, home-bound elders who still need regular access to healthcare.

• 

  Circle Time Health Curriculum Designed for Pre-Schoolers

  Angela Doswell, Laura Griesinger, David Hermel, Bharath Krishnamurthy, Josephine Stout, Daniel Stratz, Phildrich Teh, Elizabeth Valitchka, Jennifer Fink, and Cate Nicholas

  Introduction. Over 20% of low-income, Head Start eligible children are not up to date on regular healthcare exams. While many barriers exist in ensuring universal access and compliance with standard healthcare visits for young children, we sought to educate children about physician’s practices in order to engage and integrate their involvement and understanding of their well-being.

• 

  Barriers to Identifying Trafficked Youth in the Vermont Healthcare Setting

  Benjamin Earle, Sarah Johnson, Nishan Bingham, Sarah Rosner, Maya Son, Edith Klimoski, Courtney Schaad, and Andrea Green

  Introduction. Human trafficking affects victims’ physical and psychological health. This study aimed to identify the barriers to access, disclosure, and identification in a healthcare setting for potential trafficked youth in Vermont.

• 

  Congestive Heart Failure Patient Education Intervention to Address 30 Day CHF Readmission

  Jeanne Gosselin, Jennifer Hanson, Sonam Kapadia, Matthew Lin, Brenton Nash, Luke Neill, Christine Tran, Ted James, William Hopkins, and Lori Notowitz

  Introduction. The ACA Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program recently cut reimbursement for 30 day readmissions. Risk-adjusted congestive heart failure (CHF) 30-day readmission rate at Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC) in 2012 approached 22.2% among Medicare patients.

• 

  Assessing the Feasibility of a Mobile HIV Screening Unit in Vermont: A Community Survey

  Kelsey Preston, Daniel Haddad, William Thompson, Sarah Ebert, Kevin Saiki, Leslie Wenning, Stephen Balise, Janel Martir, Peter Jacobsen, and Jerry Larrabee

  Introduction. Estimates show that 20% of HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their serostatus, in part due to limited access to testing services. Challenges of HIV testing within communities may be overcome by providing non-traditional avenues for testing and counseling, such as mobile HIV testing units. Such services have demonstrated success in increasing awareness of personal HIV status, and facilitating diagnosis and treatment.

• 

  The Sara Holbrook Community Center: A Needs Assessment

  Elizabeth Abernathey, Meredith Bryden, Kristin Carr, W. Christian Crannell, Colin King, Andrew Nobe, Michelle VanHorne, Stephen Contompassis, and Jenny Kounta

  Introduction. The Sara Holbrook Community Center (SHCC) offers an after school program for 36 elementary students from the diverse North End neighborhood of Burlington. In recent years, disrespectful behavior and bullying have become a growing problem in the program. Through administering a needs assessment to the staff at Sara Holbrook, we examined the strengths and challenges facing the program and devised potential recommendations to address staff-identified issues.

• 

  What Are the Barriers and Motivators to Exercise in 50-65 Year-Old Adults?

  Raymond A. Addante, Patrick M. Benson, Liqun Chen, Jenna Ford, Jessica Louie, Kenneth S. Mensch, Dijana Poljak, Kathryn Schlosser, Pam Farnham, and Alexandra Jasinowski

  Introduction. The benefit of exercise in adults has been well established. Research has demonstrated improved cardiovascular health, decreased bone fractures, and increased mental capacity. While the benefits of exercise has clearly been demonstrated, personal barriers to exercise are yet to be fully elucidated. Thus, in collaboration with the YMCA, this study aimed to clarify barriers to exercise in 50-65 year-old adults.

• 

  Addressing Health Needs of Burlington Probation and Parole Clients

  Zoe F. Agoos, Alison W. Frizell, David Y. Harari, Michael Ma, Jigar M. Patel, Jordan E. Perlman, Michael Ursiny, Herb Sinkinson, and Jill K. Jemison

  Introduction. Higher rates of recidivism have been observed in offenders with specific health risks. Criminal justice literature identifies probation/parole as an ideal time to im-plement health interventions to reduce recidivism, but significant barriers exist

• 

  Screening for Food Insecurity in Primary Care

  Jenna Arruda, Logan Bartram, Bruno Cardoso, Andrew Jones, Amanda Peel, Darlene Peterson, Justin Van Backer, Sarah Weisman, and Marianne Burke

  Introduction. Hunger Free VT (HFVT) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters. HFVT developed an internet-based Continuing Medical Education (CME) course in order to bring awareness to the issue of food insecurity and enhance medical provider training. The CME course entitled Childhood Hunger in Vermont: The Hidden Impacts on Health, Development, and Wellbeing was started by 59 health care providers in VT but only completed by 4.

• 

  Assessing Attitudes Towards Tobacco Advertising in Winooski, VT

  Kristopher Azevedo, Benjamin Brown, Eric Chang, Jessie Evangelista, Ian McDaniels, Olga Kusina, Anisha Patel, Kate Nugent, Burton Wilke, and Jan Carney

  Introduction. Smoking rates are 15% in Vermont and higher in low-income populations. Winooski, Vermont is vulnerable to high tobacco use rates given that 23.6% of Winooski residents live below the poverty line. Tobacco advertising, which has been shown to have a direct, dose-dependent association with youth tobacco use, is highly prevalent in stores in Winooski.

• 

  Analysis of Learning Outcomes in LGBTQ+ Medical School Curriculum

  S. Blaney, S. Gardner, J. Garuz, J. Hobson, J. Kelada, H. Munroe, J. Pan, J. Taylor, C. Nicholas, and M. Murray

  Introduction. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth are at increased risk for negative health outcomes and experience increased barriers to health care.

• 

  Establishing A Continuum of Care to Improve Follow-Up Rates for Survivors of Sexual Assault

  M. Bole, J. Ellis, W. Hine, J. Larson, D. Nettlow, J. Price, K. Root, K. Vastine, and J. Gallant

  Introduction. In 2011 there were over 1000 reported sexual assaults in Vermont. Current recommendations suggest that survivors of sexual assault (survivors) receive follow- up care within two weeks after an initial Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exam, but fewer than 15% receive documented follow-up. A published report has demonstrated increased follow-up to over 80% when appointments are scheduled prior to discharge from the emergency department (ED).

• 

  Promoting Screening of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Vermont: A proposal for ongoing continuing medical education (CME)

  Bryan Brown, Jessica Faraci, Shrey Kanjiya, Elizabeth Landell, Marisa Liu, Emily Rosen, Eli Schned, William Pendlebury, Jeanne Hutchins, and Martha Richardson

  In 2010, 11,382 Vermonters were diagnosed with dementia, many of whom had Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In 2025, an estimated 1 in 8 Vermonters aged 65 or older will have some form of dementia. Reported rates of overlooked dementia are between 35% and 90% or greater. Clinical presentations of dementia are often insidious and attributed to aging, making an accurate diagnosis difficult. Because of the challenges of dementia screening and diagnosis, primary care physicians (PCPs) are often unwilling to diagnose, discuss, and treat dementia due to AD.3 Although physicians are reluctant to screen for dementia, research in Vermont (VT) has shown a clear preference by patients and their families for earlier diagnosis. A timely diagnosis allows the patient and their family to plan for the future and start treatment earlier. Our research demonstrated PCPs may be misinformed about the usefulness and implications of dementia screening and diagnosis. In an effort to further educate physicians, we propose instituting a mandatory continuing medical education (CME) hour focused on screening for dementia. Our project surveyed 72 physicians to determine their attitudes towards screening, the assessment tools they use, and their attitudes towards a required CME hour.

• 

  Evaluating Barriers to Health in Homebound Individuals

  B. Clements, T. Goldberg, D. Gorlen, E. Goveia, K. Hughes, D. Mealiea, N. Meredyth, R. Meehan, A. Anton, and J. Carney

  Introduction. Homebound individuals in Vermont often have multiple comorbidities and can face significant food insecurity. In response to this problem, the Chittenden County Emergency Food Shelf (CEFS) Homebound Delivery Program (HDP) delivers one week of food per month to 130 individuals in Chittenden County, Vermont.

• 

  Money Follows the Person: Transitioning Nursing Home Residents into the Community

  Whitney Creed, Ryan Hendrix, Matthew MacKinnon, Marissa Mendez, Nancy Tran, Shane Verhoef, Hope Yu, Linda Martinez, Rio Demers, Jeanne Hutchins, and William Pendlebury

  Introduction. Research has shown that admission to nursing homes (NH) is associated with decline in several measures of well-being; transitioning out of a NH into the community is a positive predictor for quality of life. Currently, the State of Vermont offers several housing options for Medicaid eligible NH residents; however, there are very few opportunities to fully integrate into the community