Article Database

Decision-making processes shaping the home food environments of young adult women with and without children

Abstract:

Although young adult women consume the majority of their total daily energy intake from home food sources, the decision-making processes that shape their home food environments have received limited attention. Further, how decision-making may be affected by the transformative experience of motherhood is unknown. In this study, we explore the factors that influence two key decision-making processes—food choices while grocery shopping and the use of non-home food sources—and whether there are differences by motherhood status. In-depth interviews were conducted with 40 women, aged 20–29, living in southwest Georgia. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data stratified by whether or not children were present in the home. Decision-making was affected by numerous factors, which differed across groups. In regard to grocery shopping, women with children more frequently discussed the influence of nutrition and the preferences of children, while women without children more frequently discussed the influence of taste and the preferences of other household members. Cost, convenience, weight control, and pre-planning meals emerged as salient in both groups. In regard to the use of non-home food sources, convenience and taste were discussed by both groups, while social factors were only discussed by women without children. The cost of eating out was the only reason cited for eating inside the home, and this factor only emerged among women with children. Motherhood may be an important contributor to the decision-making processes that shape young adult women’s home food environments. Interventions may find success in framing messaging to emphasize factors identified as motivating healthy decisions, such as protecting the health of children, and practical strategies may be adapted from those already in use, such as pre-planning and budgeting for healthy meals.

Rural Community Health Needs Assessment Findings: Access to Care and Mental Health

Abstract:

This article highlights the qualitative results from focus groups conducted as part of a Community Health Needs Assessments in two rural Georgia communities. Four 1-hr focus groups were facilitated with 32 community stakeholders. Sessions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis identified two primary themes: mental health and barriers to accessing health care. Focus group participants discussed mental health challenges as they related to substance abuse and suicide. Participants acknowledged barriers to access, including no health insurance, cost, eligibility gaps for government-sponsored programs, the low availability of specialty care, and poverty. Addressing mental health and access to care in rural communities may require alternative, tailored programs.

Medication Adherence Among African American Women Who Have Been HIV Positive for 10 or More Years.

Abstract:

Although new HIV infections in African American women have decreased, this population still constitutes the over half of all new HIV infections in women. Risk-reduction interventions and advancements in antiretroviral therapies have helped HIV-positive persons live longer. However, there are lags in care linkages and retention. Medication adherence is an important aspect of enhancing quality of and prolonging lives of persons living with HIV/AIDS. While studies have explored barriers and facilitators to medication adherence, gaps in the literature related to adherence for high-risk populations remain. By using narrative inquiry and the Health Belief Model, this exploratory study sought to gain insight on facilitators of and barriers to medication adherence among African American women who have been HIV positive for 10 or more years. The women discussed personal experiences and cues to action that help them remain adherent. Additional studies testing interventions designed specifically for long-term survivors may be advantageous within public health.

Evolution of a Stand-Alone Undergraduate Public Health Program and the Inclusion of a Peace Corps Prep Certificate Program

Abstract:

For over a decade there has been a growing interest in undergraduate public health degree programs and global health careers. To this end, colleges and universities across the United States are training undergraduate students to meet these demands. In 2014, the Council on Education for Public Health began to accredit stand-alone, undergraduate public health programs. This article highlights the steps followed by one university to obtain Council accreditation. Additionally, the authors describe how the university’s Peace Corps Prep Certificate Program has been intertwined with the Public Health Studies curriculum to offer public health students a unique opportunity to fulfill both degree and program requirements, while receiving specialized training in global health.

The Vital System

Abstract:

The Vital System is the first published book by CM Burroughs. In these poems, the body is always at stake — vulnerable — and the poet dares to try and illuminate what she has called “the protective capability of violence.” Burroughs’s compression of phrasing, subverted syntax, and ability to release a story through cinematically sequenced images allow her to expose particular tensions that are gendered and racial as well as essentially human.

Culturally Based Health Assumptions in Sub-Saharan African Immigrants: Body Mass Index Predicting Self-Reported Health Status

Abstract:

This study examined whether Sub-Saharan African adult immigrants maintained cultural preferences for curvier/higher body size post-migration to the United States. Linear and multiple regression analyses were utilized to discern the predicting effects of Sub-Saharan African immigrants’ body mass index score on their self-reported health status at two post-migration data collection points. The initial assessment reveals that Sub-Saharan African immigrants’ overweight body mass index score predicted better self-reported health status. Four to six years later, higher body mass index score predicted a better self-reported health status and lower dietary acculturation moderated the predicting effect of body mass index on self-reported health status. Limitations of the study and implications for research and practice are explored.

Enhanced Dielectric Permittivity of Optimized Surface Modified Barium Titanate Nanocomposites

Abstract:

High permittivity polymer-ceramic nanocomposite dielectric films take advantage of the ease of flexibility in processing of polymers and the functionality of electroactive ceramic fillers. Hence, films like these may be applied to embedded energy storage devices for printed circuit electrical boards. However, the incompatibility of the hydrophilic ceramic filler and hydrophobic epoxy limit the filler concentration and therefore, dielectric permittivity of these materials. Traditionally, surfactants and core-shell processing of ceramic fillers are used to achieve electrostatic and steric stabilization for adequate ceramic particle distribution but, questions regarding these processes still remain. The purpose of this work is to understand the role of surfactant concentration ceramic particle surface morphology, and composite dielectric permittivity and conductivity. A comprehensive study of barium titanate-based epoxy nanocomposites was performed. Ethanol and 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilan surface treatments were performed, where the best reduction in particle agglomeration, highest value of permittivity and the lowest value of loss were observed. The results demonstrate that optimization of coupling agent may lead to superior permittivity values and diminished losses that are~ 2–3 times that of composites with non-optimized and traditional surfactant treatments.

“I Can Math!”: Reducing Math Anxiety and Increasing Math Self-Efficacy Using a Mindfulness and Growth Mindset-Based Intervention in First-Year Students

Abstract:

Math anxiety is a debilitating problem that affects many community college students. Neuropsychological research suggests that negative rumination when anticipating math situations substantially exhausts working memory load, contributes to execution anxiety, which interferes with learning and performance. Studies have shown that improving the psychological experience in the classroom could have a positive impact on students’ academic achievement. However, there is little to no research employing interventions designed to specifically address anticipation and execution math anxiety in community college students. The current research investigated the effect of embedding a combined mindfulness and growth mindset intervention within a required first-year, two-semester developmental statistics course. Results from this mixed methods pilot study indicate that this new combined approach not only reduced math anxiety, but had also increased math self-efficacy in a sample of college students. Replication of the research is warranted in order to substantiate the preliminary results.

Remittances and Risk of Major Depressive Episode and Sadness among New Legal Immigrants to the United States

Abstract:

Background: The impact of remittances on health problems like depression among immigrants is understudied. Yet immigrants may be particularly emotionally vulnerable to the strains and benefits of providing remittances.

Objective: This study examines the association between sending remittances and major depressive episode (MDE) and sadness among legal immigrants in the United States. Methods: Cross-sectional data (N=8,236 adults) come from the New Immigrant Survey (2003-2004), a representative sample of new U.S. permanent residents.

Results: In logistic regression models, immigrants who remitted had a higher risk of MDE and sadness compared to those who did not, net of sociodemographic and health factors. For remitters (N=1,470), the amount of money was not significantly linked to MDE but was associated with a higher risk of sadness among refugees/asylees compared to employment migrants.

Conclusions: Among socioeconomically vulnerable migrants such as refugees/asylees, sending remittances may threaten mental health by creating financial hardship. Initiatives that encourage economic stability for migrants may protect against depression.

Restoring Optimal Black Mental Health and Reversing Intergenerational Trauma in an Era of Black Lives Matter

Abstract:

Recent evidence-based research has suggested the impact of intergenerational trauma on both a biological and psychological level. This offers a potential explanatory mechanism for health inequities such as hypertension, obesity, depression, and heart disease in Black communities as a result of colonialism, American slavery, Jim Crow laws and segregation, and the prison-industrialcomplex and its contextual environment of over-policing Black communities. Thus, any intervention combating intergenerational trauma may also contribute to improving the physical health of Black communities. The Community Healing Network and the Association of Black Psychologists have partnered to develop Emotional Emancipation Circles (EEC), a social movement to combat the intergenerational trauma of colonialism and its effects on Black people throughout the world. Based upon Freire’s conscientization and radicalized awareness approach, EECs offer a holistic approach towards healing, centering on the personal narratives of marginalized populations and defying the lie of Black inferiority. This essay reflects on the implementation of an EEC with Black university student leaders actively engaged in social justice issues on an urban, predominantly white college campus in the Baltimore, Maryland area.