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Intermittent Fasting as an Early Intervention in Diabetes and Obesity
Nam Trinh
Intermittent fasting has been a popular diet over the last decade. New research during the last 3 years have been promising and show that it can be an effective diet for patients with diabetes.
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Patient Education on Sweetened Beverages: an Interactive and Module-based Approach
Matt Tsai
As sugary beverages continue to contribute to negative health outcomes, there remains a need for efficient, effective patient education in this area. A custom, interactive and reflective web-based module on sugary beverages for adult participants (n=42) was introduced at a rural Vermont outpatient clinic. Built-in quizzes evaluated learning through a pre and post-intervention design. On average, participants improved significantly from a pre-module mean score of 3.00 to a post-module score of 4.33 (p<0.0001). Additionally, participants' average rating of the module's effectiveness was 8.3 out of 10. A module-based approach may be one efficacious solution to improve patient education on sugary beverage consumption.
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Increasing the use of Probiotics concurrently with Acute Antibiotic Treatment: A Community Perspective in Newtown, CT
John Vandenberge
Acute antibiotic courses are known to cause gastrointestinal side effects including nausea, bloating, and diarrhea. Patients at Newtown Primary Care in Newtown, CT being treated with antibiotics for upper and lower respiratory infection often present with these side effects. These symptoms may deter patients from taking the full course and promote bacterial resistance, delayed recovery, and increased patient healthcare costs. Safely tolerating antibiotic regimens is important especially in those at high risk for Clostridium difficile colitis. Probiotics have been shown to prevent antibiotic associated diarrhea and effectively balance bacterial species within the gut microbiome. An educational, easy-to-read handout was developed for Newtown patients starting an antibiotic to help maintain gut microflora via naturally fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut.
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Let's put the Kibosh on Cardiovascular Disease
David Viscido
Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the US. Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the most common form of heart disease. The age-adjusted rate of death due to heart disease is no longer on the decline, and Vermont is not meeting its statewide goals for reducing the death rate due to CHD. The purpose of this project was to reinforce decades-long efforts to educate Vermonters on the modifiable risk factors of heart disease. The hope is to remind people that, though heart disease isn't going away any time soon, we can each make healthy lifestyle changes to reduce our risk of heart disease.
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Patient Guide to Access Quality Health Information Online
Danielle Wall
A large percentage of patients use online search engines to access health information. However, there is a large amount of health information online that is unregulated and not evidence-based. As a result patients may acquire health information that is incorrect which may negatively affect patient-provider relationships and patient's healthcare. A brochure was created to highlight safe practices for accessing health information online.
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Increasing Awareness of Health Risks Associated with Vaping in Youths
Patricia Wang
E-cigarette and use of electronic nicotine delivery systems is a growing trend among youths in the United States. According to the National Institute of Health 2018 Monitoring the Future Survey, the 10th and 12th grade increases in nicotine vaping are the largest ever recorded for any substance in 44 years of tracking youth drug use. Increasing evidence about the potential health risks of vaping, as well as prediction of future cigarette use or experimentation, underlines the need for more preventative health measures to curtail this growing drug epidemic. The aim of this community health project was the development of an educational fact sheet on vaping as an aid for primary health care providers in Vermont to discuss e-cigarette use with teens, older youths, or their guardians.
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A Quick Guide To Eating Healthy with Type II Diabetes
Caleb Lee Watkins
Diabetes is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the U.S. and in the state of Vermont. With an increased prevalence of diabetes and a worsening obesity crisis, the total cost of diabetes management is increasing as well. The population around Bellows Falls, VT has not been spared from this epidemic. Many patients in this region have struggled to make and maintain lifestyle changes, particularly surrounding diet and exercise. Therefore, a one-page, double-sided handout was created to provide easily digestible information to patients about managing their diabetes through proper nutrition.
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A Quick Guide To Eating Healthy with Type II Diabetes
Caleb Lee Watkins
Diabetes is becoming increasingly more prevalent in the U.S. and in the state of Vermont. With an increased prevalence of diabetes and a worsening obesity crisis, the total cost of diabetes management is increasing as well. The population around Bellows Falls, VT has not been spared from this epidemic. Many patients in this region have struggled to make and maintain lifestyle changes, particularly surrounding diet and exercise. Therefore, a one-page, double-sided handout was created to provide easily digestible information to patients about managing their diabetes through proper nutrition.
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Improving Cardiac Arrest Outcomes with Hands-Only CPR
Ethan Witt
Bystander CPR is one of the most effective and necessary components of cardiac arrest management, increasing survival rates by two to three times. However, rates of bystander CPR are inadequately low. Hands-only CPR has been found to be an effective intervention in the management of cardiac arrest and addresses many of the barriers to bystander CPR.
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Mindfulness: an underutilized tool for patients and providers alike
Candice Wolf
A healthy body begins with a healthy mind, and a healthy mind begins with mindfulness. Mindfulness means paying attention on purpose and without judgment. It has been shown to reduce: anxiety, blood pressure, gastrointestinal distress symptoms, PTSD, pain, insomnia, depression, and healthcare cost. 63% of American’s are stressed about the future of the nation, money, work, the political climate, violence, and crime. Primary care providers have the opportunity to introduce patients to mindfulness to compliment and/or potentially replace current alternative pharmacologic options.
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Postpartum Family Planning: Increasing awareness among patients of the health benefits of spacing pregnancies and options for postpartum birth control
Hannah Woodruff
Short-interval pregnancies are associated with significant health risks for mothers and infants. The majority of short-interval pregnancies are unplanned. Education about postpartum fertility, health benefits of spacing pregnancies, and postpartum birth control options may provide an opportunity for improved health outcomes.
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Contraception Health Notes at Brookfield Family Practice
Nana Agyepong
The Brookfield Family Practice office sees a variety of patients, including women that are of reproductive age. The topic of contraception and contraception choices is always very relevant. My preceptor makes all of his own patient education handouts and expressed the need for an up to date handout on contraception choices for his own use and for the practice in general.
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Fluoride and Dental Health: Franklin County, Massachusetts
Ava Bakhtyari
This project was designed to identify the unique dental needs specific to Franklin County, MA and to identify potential preventative measures. It focused on dental hygiene and the importance of fluoride in supporting strong and healthy teeth, as the majority of Franklin County, MA does not have fluoride in public drinking waters. The specific intervention consisted of distributing educational flyers to patients and providers on the importance of fluoride-products. The project was designed to increase the awareness and use of in-office fluoride varnish treatments.
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Determination of Return to Play in Infectious Mononucleosis
Tessa R. Barclay
Splenic rupture is a rare, but potentially life-threatening, complication of infectious mononucleosis. Splenic rupture is generally uncommon four weeks after infection onset, however given the long incubation period and prodromal symptomatology characteristic of infectious mono, it can be difficult to determine an individual patient's risk in the clinical setting. Additionally, diagnostic labs have high false negative rates in the first 1-2 weeks of infection. To help alleviate diagnostic uncertainty and protect patients against outcomes such a splenic rupture, an evaluation and consolidation of the available literature yielded a simplified schematic of advisable activity levels for each stage of infection.
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Healthcare Workers Understanding of Food Insecurity in Hinesburg VT
Nate Benner
Food insecurity is a worldwide public health issue, and is even pervasive among relatively affluent communities in the United States. This project evaluated healthcare workers comfort in the topics of epidemiology and locally available resources with respect to food insecurity before and after an informational presentation. Results showed overall improvement in comfort on these topics following the presentation. Future research should be aimed at understanding if this changes referral rates.
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Naloxone Administration: An Educational Video
Jennifer Boccia
Identification of the need for client education on the use of naloxone opioid reversal kits.
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Educating High School Students on the Negative Health Effects of Vaping
Nicholas Bompastore
E-cigarettes surpassed conventional cigarettes in 2014 to become the most commonly used tobacco product among youth. Vaping exposes users to multiple toxins that have been shown to cause asthma and other lung diseases, heart disease, neurologic problems, and cancer. The goal of this project was to provide educators at Londonderry and Bishop Guertin High School, and physicians at Primary Care of Hudson, with evidence based information on the harmful effects vaping has on adolescents. The information was given in the form of a pamphlet that was designed to appeal to teens and written at a level they would understand.
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List of Local Resources for Substance Abuse Disorders in Burlington, VT
Gesca Borchardt
List of local resources in Burlington, VT for the treatment of substance abuse disorders. The list was modified into a smartphrase and added to Epic. The providers of South Burlington Family Practice were given access to this smartphrase.
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Needs Assessment: Complementary Medicine (CM) Services
Zara S. Bowden
In 2012, 33.2% of U.S. adults used complementary health approaches, spending over $30 billion. Despite this substantial investment and a growing body of research supporting the use of these approaches, access to them is still limited in the Primary Care setting. While Central Maine Medical Center’s Family Medicine Residency (CMMC FMR) has historically acknowledged the importance of an holistic approach to care, many of the complementary health approaches previously offered are no longer available. To determine specific, patient-identified needs regarding these approaches, a Needs Assessment was performed by surveying established patients presenting for appointments at CMMC FMR. The data collected through this assessment was used to underscore priority needs and to propose action plan items for future incorporation of complementary health approaches into CMMC FMR’s practice.
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Prostate Cancer Screening Guidelines: Providing Patient Education
Michael Burton
The United States Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) is planning to update their prostate cancer PSA screening guidelines to a category C from category D grade. This could potentially lead to confusion among both providers and patients as they have become accustomed to the previous guidelines and there has always been much discussion among providers about whether to offer the test. This project seeks to provide information to patients about the upcoming change so that they are more informed and able to better participate in discussion with their doctor about the pros and cons of PSA testing.
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Improving Sleep: Promoting Sleep Hygiene Techniques
Katherine Clifford
About one third of adults in the U.S. get insufficient sleep, defined as less than 7 hours of sleep per 24 hour period, with similar statistics in Chittenden County, Vermont. Poor sleep/insomnia is a common complaint of patients visiting their primary care providers, and has many important consequences for physical and mental health. While sedative hypnotic medications and over the counter sleep aids are commonly used, they have many important side effects. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), which includes sleep hygiene techniques, is recommended as an effective, first line nonpharmacologic intervention for chronic insomnia. This project sought to create an educational patient handout to promote sleep hygiene techniques, a behavioral intervention aimed to improve sleep in the patient population at Hinesburg, VT.
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Smoking Prevention Program for Adolescents: A Hands-on Approach
Sean Closs
This project is an initial pilot idea for hands-on experiences to reinforce smoking prevention in adolescents. The proposed idea is to have students specifically those identified 'at-risk', being given opportunities to interact with pathology specimens on-site at the hospital, introduce spirometry, and real-world panel discussions. The resources of the hospital provide a unique opportunity for promotion of this public health goal.
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Management of Mental Health Illness: an Actionable Non-Pharmacologic Approach
Cody J. Couperus
Mental health illness is a pervasive and incurs tremendous cost onto society. Patients benefit from a multi factorial approach to treatment including non-pharmacological methods. This project includes development of a handout utilizing compiled resources and motivational interviewing to facilitate patient use of these interventions.
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