"We are on the rise"

“We are on the rise.” From the soaring top floor of Morgan Hall, this was the message that Temple Provost Hai-Lung Dai shared with over 60 supporters of the College of Public Health (CPH), who gathered on April 22 to learn about the college’s plans for future growth and meet new recipients of student scholarships. Dai said that the college has become a model for research and education at Temple. “If we look at research dollars per faculty member, the College of Public Health is number one in the university,” he said, noting that its supporters have been critical to b...

Temple Researchers Map the Changing Landscape of IV Drug Use

It might sound counterintuitive:  the idea that providing needles to IV drug users is a good public health strategy.  But Prevention Point Philadelphia (PPP), a health services organization that runs one of the largest syringe exchange programs in the country, is proving that clean needles are a powerful tool in preventing HIV transmission.  Now two researchers from Temple University’s College of Public Health are helping PPP improve its services by conducting an innovative analysis of 15 years of client data.  Their findings—just published in AIDS and Behavior—may ha...

Taking control of postpartum weight gain

A lot changed for Teeah Mccall after she gave birth to her daughter Kristina. Not only did she find herself with a new set of responsibilities as a parent, but she also had to adjust to her post-pregnancy body, which included a few extra pounds. According to a research study by the Center for Obesity Research (CORE) in the College of Public Health, Mccall is not alone. The childbearing period is a critical life stage for weight gain and the development of cardiometabolic disease, especially for the nearly three-quarters of African American women who enter pregnancy already over...

Opinion: Should we re-examine health research?

In recognition of National Public Health Week, Dean Laura Siminoff offers her take on the direction of public health research and practice in the United States.  She argues that instead of investing the majority of our healthcare research funds into finding cures for diseases, we should look more closely at preventing those diseases in the first place.  As a society, why should we focus on preventing diseases as well as trying to cure them?  Some of our largest funding organizations invest pennies of our health care research dollar on prevention, compared to the billions o...

CPH researcher part of landmark NCAA-DOD concussion study

Temple University has been designated as one of a select number of institutions to participate in the largest-ever study of concussion in sport. This research is part of the landmark $30 million NCAA-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) initiative to fund the most comprehensive study of concussion and head impact exposure ever conducted. “We will begin baseline screening as part of the CARE Consortium for all of our student-athletes this summer,” says Ryan Tierney, associate professor of kinesiology and co-principal investigator for the study. “It is our hope that the data be...

A Fierce Kind of Love

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you,” wrote Maya Angelou. This sentiment is at the heart of an exhibit produced by the Institute on Disabilities at Temple University, with community engagement efforts from social work graduate student Liz Green. The Institute, in collaboration with the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy will bring the all too often unheard stories of people with intellectual disabilities to City Hall March 4 – May 6. Through a combination of photo portraits and audio recordings, the exhibit shares...

ACE-ing IT

An important piece of White House gun safety policy and funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have provided new work for Temple MSW students. After a rash of school shootings, the President and his team developed an initiative that in part was to reduce gun violence. HRSA saw the opportunity to move toward a goal to build a workforce of social workers who are able to work with children, youth and adolescents who may be at risk for mental health or substance use issues. “HRSA has taken the grain of that idea, to improve treatment for young peop...

New online tool for parents with mental illnesses

Stacks of books on parenting and child development sit on parental nightstands around the world, countless websites offer advice on all things child-rearing, but there are few resources out there for parents with mental illnesses, such as chronic depression or bipolar disorder. Now a new online tool developed by the Temple University Collaborative on Community Inclusion of Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities and funded by aims to give valuable assistance to these parents. “There’s not really a lot out there for parents with mental health issues that look at some speci...

The impact of privatizing home health care

In a recent study published in Home Health Care Management & Practice, social work researcher William Cabin reviews Medicare-certified home health agencies (HHAs). Cabin compares two types of HHAs: non-profit HHAs and those that are private on cost, profitability and quality of care since the advent of the prospective payment system (PPS) in October 2000. Under PPS, Medicare pays HHAs a predetermined cost for services. The cost is adjusted depending on the health condition and needs of the patient. Since 2000, when the PPS system was created, home health costs have grown b...

Sarwer comments on release of new dietary guidelines

Today, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and Agriculture (USDA) released the eighth edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. "Historically, the guidelines have focused on the amount of sugar, fat, cholesterol and sodium we should eat each day. The latest version reminds us to limit the amount of sugar and salt we eat each day," said David Sarwer, associate dean of research and director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education (CORE). The guidelines are released every five years. The latest version emphasizes not only the composition of an...

Pages