'Fitness orientation' and social support among predictors for long-term bariatric success

For those who have bariatric surgery procedures, increasing physical activity post-surgery is an important component of maintaining weight loss. But patients don’t always engage in enough physical activity to receive the full benefits of the surgery. A study led by Sara Kovacs, assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Kinesiology, examined what factors influence participation in physical activity among people who have had bariatric procedures. The research found the strongest predictors of increased physical activity were an increased “fitness orientation,”...
Kinesiology
CORE
Obesity
nurses administer coronavirus vaccine

Nursing students administer first doses of COVID vaccine

Nursing students from the College of Public Health were among the first Philadelphia healthcare providers to deliver COVID vaccines when inoculations of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine began in the city on Wednesday, December 16. Junior nursing students Madison Nesteruk, Dana Senour and Alondra Torregrossa joined Temple University Hospital registered nurses and CPH faculty members to assist in the vaccination of 250 front-line employees at the hospital. Temple received 1,950 doses of the vaccine in the first week of its availability, part of a batch of around 15,000 arriving in Phi...
Nursing
Students
Coronavirus
Lovell Harmon and his children on the temple campus

For Lovell Harmon, 'it's all connected to public health'

Over the course of his career, Lovell Harmon has helped health insurers like Aetna, Independence Blue Cross, United Healthcare and others connect with underserved communities. He has worked to make sure that those in need get what they need, while those in business can keep their business. There was the time he was consulting with an insurer that was concerned about a woman who was repeatedly getting admitted to the hospital for diabetic shock, spending days at a time in a hospital bed. The company’s concern was the cost. They suggested she was abusing the system. “Nobody...
a suitcase and a paper mask

A negative test before or after travel doesn’t necessarily mean you are COVID-free

Many people who may still be weighing travel or holiday celebrations with extended family may be considering testing for COVID in order to gather safely. However, testing negative for the virus does not make gathering safe and should not be used as the basis for shortening quarantine periods. In recent weeks and months, many institutions and states, including Pennsylvania, had required that out-of-state travellers must take a COVID-19 test and/or quarantine for 14 days after travel. Then, last week, the CDC changed its guidance to a 10-day quarantine, or 7-day quarantine with a...
Opinion
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Coronavirus
illustration of medical supplies and instruments

Two alumni show how public health can help pharmaceuticals

Matt Phillips spends a lot of time researching infectious diseases and the impact that vaccines can have on patient outcomes. “Who is getting sick? How long are they out of work when they get sick? How much does it cost to care for them?,” asks Phillips, who earned his undergraduate and masters degrees in public health at Temple. He sets up studies to investigate. “It’s finding the value of a vaccine that we could introduce into society to help these patients.”   ...
Alumni
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Social Work
emergency room waiting area

Connecting early spinal cord injury treatment with long-term outcomes

Between 250,000 and 500,000 people worldwide suffer a spinal cord injury (SCI) each year.  These are life-changing injuries. Only about one third of patients recover enough to return to work. Research has suggested links between the type of injury, methods of acute care, and rehabilitation outcomes, but there remain gaps in connecting specific early treatment events to long-term patient outcomes. A study led by Shivayogi Hiremath, assistant professor in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, will apply new methodologies to examine patient data, seeking links bet...
Physical Therapy
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
patient and nurse communicating over a tablet

Research on improving patient-provider communication recognized by ASHA

One potential way to improve both the outcomes and the economics of hospital stays is simply to help more patients communicate better, suggests a Temple co-authored paper that has been recognized for excellence by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The article, “Improving Patient Safety and Patient-Provider Communication,” explores the use of augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) strategies for patients who have difficulty accessing conventional nurse call systems due to their conditions or treatment.   The paper, co-authored by Rebecca A...
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Aisha Bhimla

Doctoral research on physical activity in Asian American communities earns APHA recognition

The American Public Health Association has named Temple researcher Aisha Bhimla winner of the Best Student Poster Presentation award (in the Physical Activity section) at October’s APHA Annual Meeting. Bhimla, who earned her PhD in kinesiology at the College of Public Health earlier this year, is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Asian Health in Temple’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine. At the APHA conference, held virtually this year, she presented her research about how the physical activity of Asian Americans in urban environments is affected by the way they percei...
Kinesiology
Students
Awards
illustration of prescription bottles and syringes

'Art for Change' illustrates impact of the opioid crisis

Seventeen Temple University students have contributed artwork and poetry to Art for Change, an online exhibition illustrating the opioid crisis and its intersection with students’ lives. The interactive exhibition can be viewed online and is intended to foster conversation through online commenting from November 12 through 15. The art will also be posted to the project's Instagram, Facebook and Twitter feeds. Art for Change is part of Temple’s “MyLens...Our Issues” project, which is focused on reducing stigma and discrimination around opioid use, including barriers to...
Opioids
Kristie Patten

Alumna Patten recognized with AOTA's highest honor

Kristie Patten, a two-time Temple alumna who earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy and a PhD in educational psychology from Temple, has been recognized with the highest academic honor in her profession. The American Occupational Therapy Association has named Patten recipient of the 2021 Eleanor Clarke Slagle Lectureship Award, which honors an individual who has “creatively contributed to the development of the body of knowledge of the profession through research, education, and/or clinical practice.” Patten is currently vice dean for academic affairs at New...
Alumni
Awards
Occupational therapy

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