a courtroom with a judge overseeing a case

CDC-funded study examines problem-solving court interventions for drug offenders

Some criminal offenders with drug and other charges may have an option that allows them to participate in a problem-solving court program—a pretrial diversionary program that treats the underlying problems that contribute to criminal behavior and improves outcomes for victims, litigants, and communities. Although the mission of problem-solving courts is fairly uniform, the strategies they use to keep drug misusers alive and healthy vary tremendously. Elizabeth Van Nostrand, a legal epidemiologist and associate professor in the College of Public Health’s Department of Healt...
Health Services Administration and Policy
Research
a woman receives a covid-19 test

$8.7 million CDC-funded study will explore post COVID-19 conditions using hospitalization and testing data

The College of Public Health has been awarded $8.7 million by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor post COVID-19 conditions (PCCs), the new or persisting health effects that COVID-19 patients experience months or years after infection. Post COVID-19 conditions, also called long COVID, can include difficulty with thinking and concentration (“brain fog”), depression, muscle pain, headache, heart palpitations, and serious complications such as inflammation of the heart muscle, lung function abnormalities, and psychiatric issues. A recent study found one in...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Coronavirus
Research
Resa Jones presents at a symposium for The Philadelphia Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research and Practice Collaborative

New collaboration unites epidemiology and biostatistics faculty from across Philadelphia

The Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics has co-founded a new collaboration bringing together epidemiologists and biostatisticians from multiple universities to partner on research and pursue opportunities to aid the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health. The Philadelphia Epidemiology and Biostatistics Research and Practice Collaborative, formed in the wake of COVID-19, includes epidemiology and biostatistics faculty at the College of Public Health, Drexel University, Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of Pennsylvania. “We want to think abo...
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Research
Community
a doctor shows a patient information on a tablet

Patient study explores mental health stigma, trains students for community health data careers

Some healthcare studies produce not just new research—but also new researchers. For a study of healthcare patients that began in 2020, Yaara Zisman-Ilani, assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, enlisted the aid of two College of Public Health undergraduate students. Both students have graduated and now work in municipal health research roles, putting their training on that study to work as they begin their careers.  The study examined shared decision making perceptions among patients with depression in minority populations, as well as the a...
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Research
Students
Mental Health
a blurred hospital waiting room

Training tool found to reduce racial bias among healthcare staff

A new online training tool has been shown to be effective in reducing racial bias among staff workers in primary care medical offices, in a study led by Gabriel Tajeu, assistant professor of Health Services Administration and Policy. “Our research group previously had discovered that front desk staff in the healthcare setting—who weren't physicians or registered nurses—were a fairly significant source of perceived discrimination,” Tajeu says. “That can be a barrier to healthcare. Patients who experience discrimination are less likely to follow treatment plans and les...
Health Services Administration and Policy
Research
Racism
a nurse enters data at a computer

How nurses can benefit from statistical knowledge

Nurses can benefit from continually strengthening their quantitative skills, whether they’re working in clinical settings or performing research, a new article by College Public Health researchers suggests. “When armed with appropriate statistical knowledge, nurses can play a unique role in using data to promote health and prevent disease among individuals, communities and populations,” the commentary, in the Journal of Advanced Nursing, concludes. The article is an interdepartmental collaboration by Krista Schroeder, assistant professor of nursing, Levent Dumenci, profes...
Nursing
Research
sherief ibrahim

MPH alumnus hopes firearm suicide research will shape state law

Sherief Ibrahim, who graduated with his master of public health this May, has compiled research on firearm suicides that he hopes will persuade legislators who oppose gun regulation that, in some cases, it is justified and life-saving. The focus of his research is Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which allow family members or law enforcement to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone at risk of suicide. Gun suicide attempts are almost always fatal; in states that allow them, ERPOs have been shown to cut suicides by up to 13%.  But firearm control in any fo...
Health Services Administration and Policy
Students
Research
a mother kisses her smiling child

New protocol cuts mothers' smoking to improve child health

A five-year study from the College of Public Health has shown the effectiveness of an intervention designed to reduce cigarette smoking by mothers that can expose children to health risks. Mothers who participated in the program, called Babies Living Safe and Smokefree (BLiSS), were 9.55 times more likely to abstain from smoking than a control group. Results from the study were published in the March 2022 issue of The American Journal of Public Health, co-authored by Bradley Collins, professor and PhD program director in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences; Stephen...
Smoking cessation
Research
Social and Behavioral Sciences
a woman works in a classroom with two children

Better early intervention needed for children with developmental disabilities

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can face extraordinary challenges, and poor early diagnosis and inappropriate treatment with medication is a growing problem, writes Yaara Zisman-Ilani, assistant professor of Social and Behavioral Science, in a recent issue of Psychiatric Services.   “This is an urgent wake-up call,” she writes in the “Taking Issue” essay. Factors including poorly trained caregivers, economic disparities and bias, and the reduction of in-person social interactions due to COVID-19 pandemic may lead to an unprecedented wa...
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Research
a hand holding a transgender pride flag

Study highlights importance of access to gender-affirming procedures

New findings from a College of Public Health study add to the growing body of literature that gender-affirming procedures, such as hormone therapy or surgery, have positive psychosocial benefits for transgender people who undergo such procedures. The study also finds that barriers to accessing healthcare providers raise expectations of future discrimination, potentially leading individuals to forego these procedures and the quality-of-life benefits they can bring. “These findings come at a time when state legislatures are advancing bills that aim to restrict access to, and i...
Research
LGBTQ Health
Social and Behavioral Sciences

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