News | Page 6 | College of Public Health

Collins named fellow of Society of Behavioral Medicine

Bradley Collins, director of the Health Behavior Research Clinic and director of graduate programs in social and behavioral sciences, has been named a fellow of the Society of Behavioral Medicine. “This honor recognizes what we in the college already know about our esteemed colleague, Dr. Collins—that he is a highly accomplished researcher, recognized nationally and internationally for his work on tobacco control in low-income and predominantly minority families,” said Stephen Lepore, chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Collins is trained as a ps...

Awards

Faculty

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Bass, Alhajji receive top honors from Society of Behavioral Health

Research projects on HIV prevention in Philadelphia and hereditary disease in Saudi Arabia have won top honors for two researchers in the College of Public Health’s Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Society of Behavioral Medicine will award annual prizes for best research abstracts in the nation to Sarah Bass, associate professor and director of the Risk Communication Laboratory, and Mohammed Alhajji, a PhD candidate and research assistant in the Lab. Alhajji, who won in the student research category, proposed a promising intervention to prevent the sprea...

HIV/AIDS

Global health

Awards

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Students

How vaccine marketing mischaracterized the risks of HPV

When it hit the market in 2006, the vaccine against human papillomavirus was marketed to parents of girls as a way to prevent cervical cancer. Merck’s TV commercials for Gardasil, at the time a series of three vaccines, featured young women proclaiming they wanted to be “One Less” victim. But for years the marketing ignored a population of people who could benefit from it: boys and men, particularly gay men, who are at risk of other preventable types of cancer that HPV can lead to. Christopher Wheldon, assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences, has examined...

Prevention

Cancer

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Thomas co-authors guidebook on early psychosis and substance use

Substance use is a major problem among young people who are experiencing early psychosis, but there’s been little guidance to help healthcare professionals work with patients who are dealing with these issues together. Now, Elizabeth Thomas, a research assistant professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, has shared her expertise by co-authoring a new government-published guidebook on the subject. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has made First-Episode Psychosis and Co-Occurring Substance Use Disorders available for dow...

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Substance Use

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Phone calls, pediatric visits could lower secondhand smoke exposure, improve quit rates

Secondhand tobacco smoke is no longer an issue in most public places, but it remains a clear health threat for children whose parents smoke at home. Tobacco-smoke exposure (TSE) is a major cause of preventable disease in children, from sudden infant death syndrome and respiratory diseases to illnesses later in life. It’s more prevalent in low-income households. Across multiple studies, lower income and education have been observed as high barriers to maternal smoking cessation. Children in those homes are more vulnerable to the health effects of TSE. College of Public Health...

Smoking cessation

Children

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Digital literacy gaps could limit benefits of online health tools

Can low computer literacy limit a person’s ability to benefit from a health support system? A new study from Stephen J. Lepore, professor and chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, found that less tech-savvy people may not get the full benefits of an online health service. The push toward more technology in patient support may risk bringing the “digital divide” to healthcare. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the European Journal of Cancer Care, set up internet support groups for breast cancer patients. The resul...

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Cancer

Study finds association between adolescent overweight/obesity and snacking habits

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend that children eat nutrient-dense snacks throughout the day to meet their nutritional needs. But are teens snacking in ways that lead to better health—or unwanted weight? A new study led by College of Public Health researchers and published in Nutrients has found that adolescents with normal weight had fewer snacks daily and smaller snacks per occasion (i.e., fewer calories per snack) than teens classified as overweight or obese. Other findings from the study include that teens with overweight and obesity were consuming...

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Nutrition

With ACS working group, Sarwer combats bariatric bias

Studies continue to establish the medical benefits of bariatric surgery: Beyond helping persons with clinically severe obesity to lose pounds to look and feel better, bariatric procedures can result in lowered risk of obesity-linked issues including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, and premature death. But bariatric surgery faces an obstacle that many other medically beneficial procedures don’t. There’s a bias—across society and even within the medical community—against accepting obesity as a chronic disease, as many chalk it up to poor lifestyle choices...

Social and Behavioral Sciences

CORE

Review finds common pitfalls in post-hospital care for people with SMI

Successfully easing back into the commotion of everyday life is challenging for people discharged from hospitals. For people with serious mental illness (SMI), like schizophrenia or major depression, the period immediately after discharge can be a high-risk moment for homelessness, unemployment and loneliness. Absence of well-coordinated care after discharge often leads to a return trip to the hospital. “The phenomenon is common in many chronic conditions, but especially for people with SMI,” says Yaara Zisman-Ilani, an investigator at Temple’s Collaborative on Communit...

Mental Health

Collaborative on Community Inclusion

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Parents with mental illness more likely to have contact with Child Protective Services, study finds

Previous research shows that contact from Child Protective Services (CPS) can have significant, long-term implications for children and their parents. Children who are involved with the child welfare system have been shown to face poorer mental health, developmental and social outcomes. According to a new study published in Psychiatric Services from Temple’s Collaborative on Community Inclusion, adults with severe mental illnesses are estimated to be parents at almost the same rate as adults without mental illness; however, parents with a mental illness are much more like...

Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Social and Behavioral Sciences

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