thesis on health education pdf

Home > USC Columbia > Public Health, Arnold School of > SPH_HEALTH_PROMOTION_EDUCATION_BEHAVIOR > Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Theses and Dissertations

Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Exploration of the Association Between Obesogenic Environments and Childhood Overweight/Obesity Rates In Rural Counties in the United States , Kara Lea Ferguson Davis

Social Network Attributes Associated With Conversations About Smoking And Cessation And Differences By Socioeconomic Status , Victoria Catherine Lambert

Babe (Body Appreciation and Better Eating), Just Add a Dash of Self-Compassion: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Study for Black/African American Teenage Girls , Nkechi Bianca Okpara

No More Loosies: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Implementation and Enforcement of the Loose Cigarette and Bidi Sale Ban in India , Mayank Sakhuja

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Food Insecurity Resilience of Refugee Families in the United States: A Qualitative Study , Maryam Suliman Alhabas

Homestead Vegetable and Poultry Production and Related Practices: An Assessment in Nepal , Shiva Bhandari

Living With Ulcerative Colitis: Exploring Dietary Inflammatory Intake, Physical Activity, and Methods to Manage the Burden of Illness , Kelli E. DuBois

Exploration of the Role of Neighborhood Residential Segregation by Race and Ethnicity in Obesity Risk Among School-Aged , Melissa L. Fair

Perspectives About Food Safety in Diverse Low- And Middle-Income Countries , Sejla Isanovic

Nutrition Facts Label Use Among U.S. Adolescents , Jennifer Beth Mandelbaum

HIV-Related Stigma, Sexual and Gender Minority-Related Stigma, and Health Outcomes Among MSM Living With HIV: Measurement, Impact, and Intersectionality , Tianyue Mi

Greenspace Across the United States: Exploring Equity and Associations With Physical Activity, Obesity, and Health-Related Quality of Life , Ellen W. Stowe

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Knowledge, Willingness to Use & Uptake Among Black Heterosexual Men , Akeen Lowell Hamilton

A Contextual Evaluation of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program in South Carolina and Related Child Health Behaviors , Kathryn Irene Hoy

Food Choice Decision-Making Among School-Going Adolescents Amidst the Nutrition Transition in Urban Accra, Ghana , Krystal Krsna Rampalli

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Status, Green Space, and Walkability and Risk for Falls and Fracture Among Postmenopausal Women: The Women’s Health Initiative , Marilyn Elizabeth Wende

Evaluation of a Clinic-Based Peer Navigation Program (PNP) For African Americans Living With HIV In South Carolina , Kimberly Butler Willis

Applying Health Stigma Framework to Examine the Mechanisms Of HIV-Related Stigma on Clinical Outcomes , Chengbo Zeng

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Determinants of Nutrition Agenda Setting in the Context of the Double Burden of Malnutrition in Tamil Nadu, India , Shilpa Vimalananda Constantinides

Understanding the Role of Political Commitment and Coherence Across Sectors and Across National and Sub-National Levels in Enabling Improvements in Nutrition in Rwanda , Elyse Iruhiriye

Rethinking the Customer Experience: An Empirical Comparison of Airbnb and Hotels , Jing Li

Does Marriage, Employment and Having Children Matter? A Secondary Analysis on Physical Activity Levels, Leisure Time Physical Activity, and Social Roles Among Women in the United States , Tramaine Paul McMullen

Influences on Parents’ Food Shopping for Children’s Consumption in South Carolina , Nazratun Nayeem Monalisa

Social Networks, the Local Food Environment, and Maternal Food Choice for Children Ages 1 to 5 Years Old in Rural Mexico , Ligia Ivette Reyes

Studying the “Snip”: A Multi-Methods Exploration of Vasectomy in the Southern United States , Ashley Lauren White

Examining the Organizational Capacity of Public Libraries That Offer Obesity Prevention Programs , Olivia Whitt

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Women’s Socio-Economic Empowerment and Uptake of HIV Testing in Ethiopia , Dawit Alemu

Role of Resources for Care in Improving Care Behaviors, Children’s Nutritional Status and Early Childhood Development in Low- and Middle-Income Countries , Sulochana Basnet

Social Networks, Social Support, and Contextual Factors That Affect Blood Glucose Control Among Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Urban Ghana , Marian O. Botchway

Examining the Relationships Between Stress, Depressive Symptoms, and the Neighborhood Food Environment on Diet Quality Among Racially-Diverse Pregnant Women in South Carolina , Alycia K. Boutté

Experience of Persistent Pain Among Military Service Members Participating in an Interdisciplinary Intensive Outpatient Program , Barbara Katarzyna Bujak

The Plant-Based and Soul-Full Study (PASS): Examining How Owners of Local Vegan Soul Food Restaurants Promote the Consumption of Vegan Foods in the African American Community , Anthony Crimarco

Applying the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) in Program Evaluation of a Theory-Based Parental HIV Disclosure Intervention Among Parents Living With HIV (PLH) in China , Wendi Da

Sociocultural Factors Influencing Cervical Cancer Prevention and Control Behaviors in Cusco, Peru , Venice Elizabeth Haynes

Evaluating Impacts of a Multilevel Resilience-Based Psychosocial Intervention on Mental Health of Children Affected by Parental HIV in China , Yanping Jiang

Expanding Immediate Postpartum Contraceptive Options: South Carolina’s Medicaid Policy , Amy Mattison-Faye

Parenting and Child Self-Regulation as Mechanisms for the Relationship of Household Food Insecurity with Child Dietary Behavior , Hoa Thi Mai Nguyen

Helping South Carolina’s Children Thrive: Promoting Protective Factors to Prevent the Long-Term Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences Through the Development of Evidence-Based Public Health Policies , Aditi Srivastav

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV Prevention: A Mixed-Methods Study of Sexual Risks and Knowledge, Perceptions, and Willingness of PrEP Use Among African American Women in the South , Jamie Troutman

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Healthy Motivations for Moms-To-Be (Healthy MoM2B) Study: A Mobile Health Intervention Targeting Gestational Weight Gain among U.S. Women , Alicia Anne Dahl

The Impact of False Positive Mammography Results on Breast Cancer Screening Intention Among Black Women , Deeonna E. Farr

Examining Faith-Based Communities As Leverage Points For The Prevention Of Childhood And Adolescent Obesity , Caroline Glagola Dunn

Body Mass Index Trajectories And The Relationship Between Stressful Life Changes And Nutrition-Related Health Outcomes Among United States Army Soldiers , Julianna Marie Jayne

Understanding The Mechanisms Linking Gendered Intrahousehold Bargaining Power And Child Nutrition In Rural Nepal , Shibani Kulkarni

Interpersonal Communication About Cigarette Warning Labels Among U.S. Smokers: Differences Between Latinos And Whites , Victoria Catherine Lambert

The Effects Of The Affordable Care Act On The Receipt Of Colonoscopies Among Insured Elderly , Min Jee Lee

Racism, Black College Students’ Mental Health, And The Efficacy Of Diversity And Inclusion Initiatives: A Case Study. , Kaleea R. Lewis

Intervention For Women In Costa Rica Who Are Discouraged And Have Food Insecurity And Excess Body Weight , Tatiana Martínez-Jaikel

The Effect Of Neighborhood Characteristics And Acculturation On Vegetable Intake Among U.S. Hispanics , Anna Victoria Mesa

A Qualitative Exploration Of Experiences And Motivations For Diabetes Self-Management In African American Men Between The Ages Of 40-85 With Type 2 Diabetes , Anthony Q. Walker

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Effectiveness of Pictorial Health Warning Labels for Indonesia's Cigarette Packages , Dien Anshari

“An Uphill Battle”: Psychosocial Health and Self-Care among Advocates who work Against Gender-Based Violence in South Carolina , Ebru Cayir

Exploring Spatial Patterning and the Impact of Obesogenic built Environments for Youth Obesity , S. Morgan Hughey

Involvement Of Men In Responsible Parenthood In Croatia, India, And Mexico: Major Factors, Correlates, And National Policy , Salima Kasymova

Multilevel and Multisectoral Processes of Implementing Nutritionsensitive Ideology and Programming in Ethiopia’s Development Landscape , Andrea Marie Warren

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Breastfeeding Among Working Mothers in Saudi Arabia , Maryam Suliman Alhabas

Social Capital And Social Networks: The Importance Of Social Ties For Health Among Residents Of Disadvantaged Communities , Stephanie Child

Implementation Processes And Impacts Of School Store Policies In South Korea , Seul Ki Choi

Conversations About Sexuality On A Public University Campus: Exploring Perspectives From Campus Ministry Leaders And Students , Charis Rebecca Davidson

Sleep Disruption and Cancer Incidence in a Southeastern Veteran Population , Alexandria F. Delage

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Effects On Core Temperature, Hydration, Gastrointestinal Distress, And Performance In Exercising Humans , Dawn Marie Emerson

Sustainability Of Food And Nutrition Security Policies During Presidential Transitions: Integrating Socio-Political And Nutritional Sciences , Jessica Liana Escobar-Alegría

A Qualitative Study Of How Communities Think About And Act Upon Hunger In The Presence Of A Food Banking System , Eliza Miriam Fishbein

Examining Crowdsourced Social Media Platforms And Their Association With College Students' Alcohol Consumption, Perceived Risk, And Behaviors , Danielle Gentile

Quality Over Quantity: Positive Interactions During Family Meals In Food-Insecure Households Compensate For The Negative Impacts Of Household Chaos On Child Emotional Well-Being, But Not Diet Quality , Tiara Nicόl Rosemond

Enhancing Parent-Child Communication and Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Through Mobile Technology: A Randomized Trial , Danielle E. Schoffman

Examining Infant Health Outcomes Impacted By South Carolina's Regionalized System of Perinatal Care , Michael Grady Smith

Understanding Conceptualizations and Structural Environment for Improving Pre-Pregnancy Planning for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in Harare, Zimbabwe , Chiwoneso Beverley Tinago

Bayesian Semiparametric Quantile Regression for Clustered Data , Xin Tong

The Roots Of Perspective In The American Context: News Media Discourse And Stakeholder Perspectives About The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program , Nicholas Younginer

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Telling a Different Narrative: Exploring the Values and Challenges of Performing Enslaved Community Members’ Stories at U.S. Southern Plantation Museums , Stefanie Kate Benjamin

Post-Fall Decision Making Among Older Women Living in Continuing Care Retirement Communities: A Mixed Methods Study , Caroline D. Bergeron

eCPAT: Development and Testing of Mobile Technology to Engage Youth in Active Living Policy, Systems, and Environmental Health Promotion Efforts , Gina M. Besenyi

Building Capacity for Advocacy for Local Food Systems Change: An Ethnographic Study Documenting the Process of Change in South Carolina Communities , Casey Denise Childers

Refinement and Pilot Testing Social Networks for Encouraging Healthy Behaviors: The Social Pounds Off Digitally (Social POD) Study , Sarah B. Hales

A Qualitative Study of the Massage Therapy Foundation's Best Practices Symposium: Clarifying Definitions and Creating a Framework for Practice , Ann Blair Kennedy

Support for Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Adolescent Access to Condoms and Contraceptions in South Carolina , Sarah H. Kershner

By Word of Mouth: A Qualitative Approach to Understanding the Integration of Preventive Dental Health in Primary Care Settings , Joni D. Nelson

Ethnic Discrimination: Measurement And Associations With Smoking-Related Outcomes Among Arab Male Current And Former Smokers In Israel , Amira Osman

Addressing Disparity: one Unique School’s Efforts to Provide Holistic Education in a low-income, Black Community , Allison Anne Parsons

The Influence of Self-Reported Degree of Masculinity/Femininity on Condom Use Among Black Men Who Have Sex with Men in the Deep South , Elizabeth D. Peeler

Framing Risk, Responsibility, and Resolution: A Mixed-Methods Study Exploring Traditional and Social Media Coverage of the 2014 Elk River Chemical Spill , Tracey Thomas

Statewide Scale-up of Group Prenatal Care in South Carolina , Kristin M. Van De Griend

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

The Emergence of U.S. Hospital-Based Doula Programs , Violet Dawn Beets

The Association between the Social Context of Mealtime, Children's Diet, Caregiver's Experiences with Discrimination and Household Food Insecurity , Michael Patrick Burke

The Comparative Effectiveness of Group Prenatal Care on Women's Psychosocial Health , Emily Heberlein

The Development, Implementation, and Testing of an Interactive Sexual Health Web-Based Application Intervention to Reduce Sexual Risk Behaviors Among College Students , Dawnyéa Dominique Jackson

A Community-Driven Approach to the Development of a Digital Decision Aid to Facilitate Informed Decision Making for Prostate Cancer Screening among African-American Men in Communities of Faith , Otis LaShaun Owens

Elucidating Perceived and Actual Cancer Risk in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods Differentially Impacted by Environmental Hazards to Inform Future Public Health Interventions , LaShanta J. Rice

Food Insecurity and Physical Activity among U.S. populations , Quyen G. To

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Understanding Online and offline Sex Seeking Behavior Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Implications For HIV/AIDS Interventions , Winston Eromosele Abara

Smokers' Neurological Responses to Imagery From Cigarette Package Warning Labels , Johann Fridrik Fridriksson

Exploring African American and White 18-19 Year Old Males' Communication Experiences With Their Parents and Partners About Sex and Contraception , Charlotte Toole Galloway

Investigating Developmental Patterns of Symptom and Impairment Change Among Youth With ADHD, Subthreshold ADHDand Youth Without ADHD , Lorie Love Geryk

Understanding the Early Stages of Development of A Global Health Partnership , Wendy Raquel Gonzalez Navarrete

Promoting Early Childhood Development Through Community Health Worker Interventions: Implementation and Measurement Issues In Rural Pakistan , Zaeem Haq

Evaluation of Mass Media Campaigns to Change Smokers' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors In China and Taiwan , Li-Ling Huang

Race, Ethnicity, and Differential Perceptions of Sexual Victimization (Assault) , Kaleea Regina Lewis

Postnatal Depression In Mexico: Healthcare Provider Conceptualizations and Policies In the Public Health Sector , Jean Marie Sims Place

Examining the Relationships Between Religiosity, Spirituality, Internalized Homonegativity, and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among African-American Men Who Have Sex With Men: The Sexual Health In Faith Traditions (SHIFT) Study , Stacy Whichard Smallwood

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Disciplines

Submissions

• Give us Feedback
• University Libraries

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

DigitalCommons@UNMC

Home > College of Public Health > Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health > Theses & Dissertations

Theses & Dissertations: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

From Survivors to Care Providers: A Multi-Dimensional Study on Physical Activity in Cancer Care , Gaurav Kumar

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Translating a pediatric weight management intervention into medically underserved areas , Caitlin Golden

Understanding the Compositional and Contextual Factors Influencing Maternal Health Experiences and Outcomes , Tambudzai P. Ndashe

Applications of the RE-AIM Framework in Health Promotion , Emiliane L. Pereira

A Community-Based Participatory Research Approach to Addressing Pediatric Asthma Disparities in Douglas County, Nebraska , Aislinn Rookwood

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Strengthening Capacity for Clinical and Translational Science: A Multi-Method Assessment of Research Capacity Development in a Regional Clinical and Translational Research Network , LaKaija Johnson

Mental Health Promotion, Early Identification & Treatment Services and Supports in Public K-12 School Districts: Three Case Studies to Explore Available Resources, Interventions, and Community Partnerships , Keenan Krick

Understanding the Perceived Risk and Biopsychosocial Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People Living with HIV and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Users in Nebraska: A Mixed Methods Approach , Titilola O. Labisi

Contextual Factors and STI/HIV Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Hispanic Youths aged 13 to 24 years , Mariam Taiwo

Depression and Parenting: A Mixed Method Analysis of Some Protective Factors for Depression Among African American Fathers Using a Community-Based Participatory Research Approach , Tatiana Tchouankam

A Study to Determine the Most Important Leadership Skills for Entry-Level Public Health Practitioners , Taelyr Weekly

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

The Development of a Mobile Application to Capture Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Policies and Practices in Family Child Care Homes , Alethea Chiappone

An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention Study on Changes in Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Outcome Expectations of Fathers , Sarah Hortman

From Pipeline to Health Equity: A Case Study of Health Profession Pipeline Students , Sonja F. Tutsch

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Identifying, Adapting, and Implementing a Weight Management Program in Rural Primary Care , Gwenndolyn Porter

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Health Literacy Changes in a Technology-Enhanced Diabetes Prevention Program , Cody Goessl

God, I Hope This Part of My Life is Over: A Focused Ethnography of a Correctional Youth Facility’s Therapeutic Climate , Eric Meyer

Potentially Reduced Exposure Products, Occupational Variations in Smoking, and Hardcore Smokers: Examining Important Elements in the Tobacco Use Spectrum , Raees A. Shaikh

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Determining the Adoption and Implementation of Nutrition Policies at Food Pantries Across the United States , Meagan Helmick

Examining Barriers to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services for Adolescents and Young Adults in Nebraska , Marisa Rosen

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Sex and Sexuality of Breast Cancer Survivors , Aja D. Kneip Pelster

Public Health Perspectives on Sexual Health and Family Planning , Molly McCarthy

Epigenetic Modifications of Human Placenta Associated with Preterm Birth , Drissa Toure

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Behavioral Care for Children in Urban and Rural Integrated Primary Care , David I. Taylor

Leisure Time Physical Activity Preferences, Behaviors, and Hypertension: Evidence From the China Health & Nutrition Survey, 2004-2011 , Junmin Zhou

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

School Design to Promote Physical Activity , Jeri Brittin

Understanding Access to Health Information: The Role and Measurement of Social Location , Megan S. Kelley

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Architecture and design for healthy eating in schools , Leah Frerichs

Characterizing culturally relevant food preparation in the home food environment: promoting healthy dietary behaviors in Mexican American families , Teresa Mary Smith

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Increasing girls' physical activity in afterschool programs through an enhanced staff professional development training , Danae Dinkel

A study measuring the effectiveness of public health leadership institutes: improving skills, instilling behaviors and the limitations that exist in moving towards outcome based results , Brandon Grimm

• Health Promotion, Social & Behavioral Health Website
• McGoogan Library

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Disciplines

Author Corner

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

Home > Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstone Projects > ALL-PROGRAMS > HLTH_COMMUNITY_HEALTH_THESES

Community Health Education Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2023 2023.

Identifying Barriers to Dental Care Among Hispanics in Southwest Minnesota , Lissette Garza

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

The Assessment of Emergency Preparedness Among University Students , Arliah Cox

Stress Coping Responses of Undergraduate University Students Prior to & Since the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic , Kaylee Diefenderfer

Perceptions of Well-Being Among College Majors , Baylee Jahraus

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Assessment of Perceived Levels of Stress and Coping Mechanism Use Among Elementary School Teachers , Lauren Larson

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

An Assessment of Knowledge, Behavior, and Consumption Patterns Surrounding Sugar- Sweetened Beverages Among Young Adults , Anne Harguth

Perceptions, Attitudes, Self-Efficacy, and Behaviors of Mouthguard Use Among Collegiate Athletes , Heather Prosser

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Infection and Vaccine Knowledge and Attitudes among University Students , McKenzie Schmitz

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Assessment of Perceived Levels of Stress and Coping Mechanisms Among University Students , Nancy Adomako-Saahene

A Needs Assessment: The Barriers Preventing Students at a Large Midwestern University from Accessing the Dental Clinic on Campus for Preventative Care , Pamela Briese

Incentive-Use in Worksite Wellness Programs in MN Government Agencies , Sandra Bromley

Assessing Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Hand Hygiene Among University Students , Linda Afia Mbroh

Blood Pressure Screening Practices Among Dental Hygienists , Mariah Sullinger

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Assessment of Stress Related Issues and Coping Mechanisms among College Students , Emeka Okoro

Assessing the Relationship Between Parenting Styles and Dietary Behaviors Among Young Adults , Breanna Tofteland

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Workplace Management Knowledge and Support for Employee Breastfeeding Practices , Elizabeth Heimer

Student’s Oral Health Knowledge, Oral Health Practices, and Their Susceptibility to Oral Health Diseases at a Midwestern University , Mouhamed Koubaytari

Avian and Pandemic Influenza Knowledge and Risk Perception in Southern Minnesota , Holly Munch

Preconception Health Knowledge among Undergraduate Women , Ashley Mae Paulsen

Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Current Mind-Body Practices and Perceptions of Undergraduate Students , Julia Ann Marie Putz

Screen Time and Sleep Condition among Selected College Students , Angela Lynn Sargent

Understanding Zoonotic Enteric Disease in Minnesota: A Spatio Temporal Analysis and Causal Theory Approach , Suchismita Swain

The Relationship Between Religiosity and Depression Among Sampled Kenyans In The Twin Cities Metro Area , Dorcas Waite

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

North Minneapolis Residents' Knowledge and Awareness of Indoor Air Quality in Older Residences , Blisse Marie Cajacob

Impact of Stigma on Attitudes towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help for Depression , Anna Marie Dierks

Fruit and Vegetable Availability, Nutrition Education and Access Amongst Food Pantries in California, Maine, Mississippi and South Dakota , Sarah L. Fowler

An Analysis of Western Medicine Mistrust Among Selected African Immigrant Women in Minnesota , Wanjiru Julie Gicheru

Minnesota Collaborative Agreement: Potential for Dental Hygienists to Increase Direct Access for Underserved Populations , Rachel Jane Kashani-Legler

Human Papillomavirus and Human Herpesvirus-8: Knowledge, Perception of Risk and Barriers to Screening and Treatment among Selected Students at Africa University, Zimbabwe , Rujeko Olga Machinga

Young Adults’ Attitudes and Perceptions on Health Insurance and their Health Insurance Literacy Levels , Law Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Relationship between Nurses' Job Satisfaction and Quality of Healthcare They Deliver , Samuel Aron

Employees' Interests and Preferences Regarding Worksite Exercise Programs , Amber Butcher

Religiosity, Spirituality, and Quality of Life Among Selected University Students , Abby Austin Kreitlow

Health Literacy Proficiency, Sources of Health Information, and Perceived Barriers to Health Literacy Among Selected Members of the Hmong Community in Minnesota , Amanda Vang

Elderly Patient Adherence to Ocular Pharmaceuticals; Impact of Educational and Physical Barriers , Lucky Wagner

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Physical Environment and Women's Physical Activity Behaviors , Beth Ann Brisky

Plan B Emergency Contraception: Sampled University Students' Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors , Natalie Hazel

Risk Perceptions of Cardiovascular Disease in College Students , Antonia Kolas

Knowledge of HPV, Perception of Risk, and Intent to obtain HPV Vaccination among sampled Male University Students at Minnesota State University, Mankato , Lia Lambert

Sex Education Background of Students at MSU, Mankato Prior to Enrollment at the University , Natalie McConkey

Sampled University Students' Perceived Risk of Diabetes & Self-reported Diabetes Risk Factors , Ajibike R. Shodunke

University Students' Perceptions Of The Severity Of Binge Drinking , Lauren Eleanore Stone

Breastfeeding knowledge, practice, attitudes, and influencing factors: Findings from a selected sample of breastfeeding mothers in Bemidji, Minnesota , Hadeel Adnan Tanash

Recognition of and Attitudes Toward, Intimate Partner Violence Among Sampled University Students , Samantha Maureen Wobschall

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Health Promotion in the Workplace: Exploring Perspectives of Barriers and Incentives to Employee Participation , Amanda Conlon

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Alcohol Use Among Students at Minnesota State University - Mankato , Ganisher Davlyatov

The Impact of Telephonic Health Coaching on Physical Activity, Healthy Eating, and Cholesterol Levels , Jill Marie Hansen

Selected College Students' Perceptions, Knowledge and Awareness of Sexual Abuse of Children , Farhiya A. Muse

Access to EMS Services and Training, Knowledge, and Perceptions Related to First Aid and Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Skills Among College Students , Feifei Sun

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Mothers' Health and Health Behaviors that Influence Childhod Obesity Maternal BMI and Infant Feeding Methods , Mohamed Abdullah Alammari

Assessment of Selected University Students' Knowledge of Blood Donation and the Relationship with Intent to Donate Blood , Jeffrey Allerson

Study of International Students' Definations of, and Perceptions About, Domestic Violence Against Women , Sarbinaz Zamirovna Bekmuratova

Health Care Providers' Intention to Provide Culturally Competent Health Care to Somali Based Upon the Indirect Measures of the Integrated Behavioral Model , Amanda Kaye Ciesinski

The Relationship Between Religiosity & Selected Health Behaviors of African Americans of the Pentecostal Faith , Caprice Jones-Agunbiade

Perceptions of Risk Associated with Unintended Pregnancy and Sexually Transmitted Infections among University Women attending Minnesota State University, Mankato , Jessica Maria Seide

The Relationship Between Disordered Eating Behaviors and Exercise Addiction Among Selected University Students at Minnesota State University, Mankato , Haley Wasko

Theses/Dissertations from 2011 2011

Assessing Students' Risk Factors for Type II Diabetes at a Midwest Public University , Nicole DeCourcy Ferrian

An Investigation on HIV Related Stigma to Improve HIV Prevention Efforts in North Dakota , Krissie Lynn Mayer-Guerard

Use of Social Marketing Promotional Strategies to Create Awareness of Worksite Health Promotion Programs: A Survey of Program Coordinators , Anna Catherine Stahl

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS

Author Corner

• All Authors
• Submit Research

University Resources

• Digital Exhibits
• ARCH: University Archives Digital Collections
• Library Services
• Minnesota State University, Mankato

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• NAM Perspect
• v.2020; 2020

Health Literacy and Health Education in Schools: Collaboration for Action

M. elaine auld.

Society for Public Health Education

Marin P. Allen

National Institutes of Health (ret.)

Cicily Hampton

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

J. Henry Montes

American Public Health Association

Cherylee Sherry

Minnesota Department of Health

Angela D. Mickalide

American College of Preventive Medicine

Robert A. Logan

U.S. National Library of Medicine and University of Missouri-Columbia

Wilma Alvarado-Little

New York State Department of Health

July 20, 2020

Introduction

This NAM Perspectives paper provides an overview of health education in schools and challenges encountered in enacting evidence-based health education; timely policy-related opportunities for strengthening school health education curricula, including incorporation of essential health literacy concepts and skills; and case studies demonstrating the successful integration of school health education and health literacy in chronic disease management. The authors of this manuscript conclude with a call to action to identify upstream, systems-level changes that will strengthen the integration of both health literacy and school health education to improve the health of future generations. The COVID-19 epidemic [ 10 ] dramatically demonstrates the need for children, as well as adults, to develop new and specific health knowledge and behaviors and calls for increased integration of health education with schools and communities.

Enhancing the education and health of school-age children is a critical issue for the continued well-being of our nation. The 2004 Institute of Medicine (IOM, now the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [NASEM]) report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion [ 27 ] noted the education system as one major pathway for improving health literacy by integrating health knowledge and skills into the existing curricula of kindergarten through 12th grade classes. The NASEM Roundtable on Health Literacy has held multiple workshops and forums to “inform, inspire, and activate a wide variety of stakeholders to support the development, implementation, and sharing of evidence-based health literacy practices and policies” [ 37 ]. This paper strives to present current evidence and examples of how the collaboration between health education and health literacy disciplines can strengthen K–12 education, promote improved health, and foster dialogue among school officials, public health officials, teachers, parents, students, and other stakeholders.

This discussion also expands on a previous NAM Perspectives paper, which identified commonalities and differences in the fields of health education, health literacy, and health communication and called for collaboration across the disciplines to “engage learners in both formal and informal health educational settings across the life span” [ 1 ]. To improve overall health literacy, i.e., “the capacity of individuals to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” [ 42 ], it is important to start with youth, when life-long health habits are first being formed.

Another recent NAM Perspectives paper proposed the expansion of the definition of health literacy to include broader contextual factors, including issues that impact K–12 health education efforts like state rather than federal control of education priorities and administration, and subsequent state- or local-level laws that impact specific school policies and practices [ 39 ]. In addition to addressing individual needs and abilities, socio-ecological factors can impact a student’s health. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses a four-level social-ecological model to describe “the complex interplay” of (1) individuals (biological and personal history factors), (2) relationships (close peers, family members), (3) community (settings such as neighborhoods, schools, after-school locations), and (4) societal factors (cultural norms, policies related to health and education, or inequalities between groups in societies) that put one at risk or prevent him/her from experiencing negative health outcomes [ 11 ]. Also worth examining are protective factors that help children and adolescents avoid behaviors that place them at risk for adverse health and educational outcomes (e.g., self-efficacy, self-esteem, parental support, adult mentors, and youth programs) [ 21 , 59 ].

Recognizing the influence of this larger social context on learning and health can help catalyze both individual and community-based solutions. For example, students with chronic illnesses such as asthma, which can affect their school attendance, can be educated about the impact of air quality or housing (e.g., mold, mites) in exacerbating their condition. Students in varied locations and at a range of ages continue, often with the guidance of adults, to take health-related social action. Various local, national, and international examples illustrate high schoolers taking social action related to health issues such as tobacco, gun safety, and climate change [ 18 , 21 , 57 ].

By employing a broad approach to K–12 education (i.e., using combined principles of health education and health literacy), the authors of this manuscript foresee a template for the integration of skills and abilities needed by both school health professionals and children and parents to increase health knowledge for a lifetime of improved health [ 1 , 29 , 31 ].

The right measurements to evaluate success and areas that need improvement must be clearly identified because in all matters related to health education and health literacy, it is vital to document the linkages between informed decisions and actions. Often, individuals are presumed to be making informed decisions when actually broader socio-ecological factors are predominant behavioral influences (e.g., an individual who is overweight but has never learned about food label-ling and lives in a community where there are no safe places to be physically active).

Health Education in Schools

Standardized and broadly adopted strategies for how health education is implemented in schools—and by whom and on what schedule—is a continuing challenge. Although the principles of health literacy are inherently important to any instruction in schools and in community settings, the most effective way to incorporate those principles in existing and differing systems becomes a key to successful health education for children and young people.

The concept of incorporating health education into the formal education system dates to the Renaissance. However, it did not emerge in the United States until several centuries later [ 26 ]. In the early 19th century, Horace Mann advocated for school-based health instruction, while William Alcott also underscored the contributions of health services and the school environment to children’s health and well-being [ 17 ]. Public health pioneer Lemuel Shattuck wrote in 1850 that “every child should be taught early in life, that to preserve his own life and his own health and the lives of others, is one of the most important and abiding duties” [ 43 ]. During this same time, Harvard University and other higher education institutions with teacher preparation programs began including hygiene (health) education in their curricula.

Despite such early historical recognition, in the mid-1960s, the School Health Education Study documented serious disarray in the organization and administration of school health education programs [ 45 ]. A renewed call to action, several decades later, introduced the concepts of comprehensive school health programs and school health education [ 26 ].

From 1998 through 2014, the CDC and other organizations began using the term “coordinated school health programs” to encompass eight components affecting children’s health in schools, including nutrition, health services, and health instruction. Unfortunately, the term was not broadly embraced by the educational sector, and in 2014, CDC and ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) unveiled the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) framework [ 36 ]. This framework has ten components, including health education, which aims to ensure that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Among the foundational tenets of the framework is ensuring that every student enters school healthy and, while there, learns about and practices a healthy lifestyle.

At its core, health education is defined as “any combination of planned learning experiences using evidence based practices and/or sound theories that provide the opportunity to acquire knowledge, attitudes, and skills needed to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors” [ 3 ]. Included are a variety of physical, social, emotional, and other components focused on reducing health-risk behaviors and promoting healthy decision making. Health education curricula emphasize a skills-based approach to help students practice and advocate for their health needs, as well as the needs of their families and their communities. These skills help children and adolescents find and evaluate health information needed for making informed health decisions and ultimately provide the foundation of how to advocate for their own well-being throughout their lives.

In the last 40 years, many studies have documented the relationship between student health and academic outcomes [ 29 , 40 , 41 ]. Health-related problems can diminish a student’s motivation and ability to learn [ 4 ]. Complications with vision, hearing, asthma, occurrences of teen pregnancy, aggression and violence, lack of physical activity, and low cognitive and emotional ability can reduce academic success [ 4 ].

To date, there have been no long-term sequential studies of the impact of K–12 health education curricula on health literacy or health outcomes. However, research shows that students who participate in health education curricula in combination with other interventions as part of the coordinated school health model (i.e., physical activity, improved nutrition, and/or family engagement) have reduced rates of obesity and/or improved health-promoting behaviors [ 25 , 30 , 34 ]. In addition, school health education has been shown to prevent tobacco and alcohol use and prevent dating aggression and violence. Teaching social and emotional skills improves academic behaviors of students, increases motivation to do well in school, enhances performance on achievement tests and grades, and improves high school graduation rates.

As with other content areas, it is up to the state and/or local government to determine what should be taught, under the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution [ 48 ]. However, both public and private organizations have produced seminal documents to help guide states and local governments in selecting health education curricula. First published in 1995 and updated in 2004, the National Health Education Standards (NHES) framework comprises eight health education foundations for what students in kindergarten through 12th grade should know and be able to do to promote personal, family, and community health (see Table 1 ) [ 12 ]. The NHES framework serves as a reference for school administrators, teachers, and others addressing health literacy in developing or selecting curricula, allotting instructional resources, and assessing student achievement and progress. The NHES framework contains written expectations for what students should know and be able to do by grades 2, 5, 8, and 12 to promote personal, family, and community health.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. National Health Education Standards. Available at: National Health Education Standards Website. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/standards/index.htm (accessed June 19, 2020).

The Coordinated Approach to Child Health (CATCH) model, which was first developed in the late 1980s with funds by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, serves to implement the NHES framework and was the largest school-based health promotion study ever conducted in the United States. CATCH has 25 years of continuous research and development of its programs [ 24 ] and aligns with the WSCC framework. Individualized programs like the CATCH model develop programming based on the NHES framework at the local level, so that local control still exists, but the mix and depth of topics can vary based on need and composition of the community.

Based on reviews of effective programs and curricula and experts in the field of health education, CDC recommends that today’s state-of-the-art health education curricula emphasize four core elements: “Teaching functional health information (essential knowledge); shaping personal values and beliefs that support healthy behaviors; shaping group norms that value a healthy lifestyle; and developing the essential health skills necessary to adopt, practice, and maintain health enhancing behavior” [ 13 ]. In addition to the 15 characteristics presented in Box 1 , the CDC website has more detailed explanations and examples of how the statements could be put into practice in the classroom. For example, a curriculum that “builds personal competence, social competence, and self-efficacy by addressing skills” would be expected to guide students through a series of developmental steps that discuss the importance of the skill, its relevance, and relationship to other learned skills; present steps for developing the skill; model the skill; practice and rehearse the skill using real-life scenarios; and provide feedback and reinforcement.

Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum

• 1. Focuses on clear health goals and related behavioral outcomes.
• 2. Is research-based and theory-driven.
• 3. Addresses individual values, attitudes, and beliefs.
• 4. Addresses individual and group norms that support health-enhancing behaviors.
• 5. Focuses on reinforcing protective factors and increasing perceptions of personal risk and harmfulness of engaging in specific unhealthy practices and behaviors.
• 6. Addresses social pressures and influences.
• 7. Builds personal competence, social competence, and self-efficacy by addressing skills.
• 8. Provides functional health knowledge that is basic, accurate, and directly contributes to health-promoting decisions and behaviors.
• 9. Uses strategies designed to personalize information and engage students.
• 10. Provides age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate information, learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials.
• 11. Incorporates learning strategies, teaching methods, and materials that are culturally inclusive.
• 12. Provides adequate time for instruction and learning.
• 13. Provides opportunities to reinforce skills and positive health behaviors.
• 14. Provides opportunities to make positive connections with influential others.
• 15. Includes teacher information and plans for professional development and training that enhance effectiveness of instruction and student learning.

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/sher/characteristics/index.htm (accessed June 19, 2020.)

In addition, CDC has developed a Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool [ 14 ] to help schools conduct an analysis of health education curricula based on the NHES framework and the Characteristics of an Effective Health Education Curriculum.

Despite CDC’s extensive efforts during the past 40 years to help schools implement effective school health education and other components of the broader school health program, the integration of health education into schools has continued to fall short in most US states and cities. According to the CDC’s 2016 School Health Profiles report, the percentage of schools that required any health education instruction for students in any of grades 6 through 12 declined. For example, 8 in 10 US school districts only required teaching about violence prevention in elementary schools and violence prevention plus tobacco use prevention in middle schools, while instruction in only seven health topics was required in most high schools [ 6 ].

Although 8 of every 10 districts required schools to follow either national, state, or district health education standards, just over a third assessed attainment of health standards at the elementary level while only half did so at the middle and high school levels [ 6 ]. No Child Left Behind legislation, enacted in 2002, emphasized testing of core subjects, such as reading, science, and math, which resulted in marginalization of other subjects, including health education [ 22 , 31 ]. Academic subjects that are not considered “core” are at risk of being eliminated as public school principals and administrators struggle to meet adequate yearly progress for core subjects, now required to maintain federal funding.

In addition to the quality and quantity of health education taught in schools, there are numerous problems related to those considered qualified to provide instruction [ 5 , 7 ]. Many school and university administrators lack an understanding of the distinction between health education and physical education (PE) [ 9 , 16 , 19 ] and consider PE teachers to be qualified to teach health education. Yet the two disciplines differ regarding national standards, student learning outcomes, instructional content and methods, and student assessment [ 5 ]. Kolbe notes that making gains in school health education will require more interdisciplinary collaboration in higher education (e.g., those training the public health workforce, the education workforce, school nurses, pediatricians) [ 29 ]. Yet faculty who train various school health professionals usually work within one university college, focus on one school health component, and affiliate with one national professional organization. In addition, Kolbe notes that health education teachers in today’s workforce often lack support and resources for in-service professional development.

Promising Opportunities for Strengthening School Health Education

Comprehensive health education can increase health literacy, which has been estimated to cost the nation $1.6 to $3.6 trillion dollars annually [ 54 ]. The National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) includes the goal to “Incorporate accurate, standards-based, and developmentally appropriate health and science information and curricula in childcare and education through the university level” [ 49 ].

HHS’s Healthy People Framework presents another significant opportunity for tracking health in education as well as health literacy. The Healthy People initiative launched officially in 1979 with the publication of Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention [ 50 ]. This national effort establishes 10-year goals and objectives to improve the health and well-being of people in the United States. Since its inception, Healthy People has undertaken extensive efforts to collect data, assess progress, and engage multi-stakeholder feedback to set objectives for the next ten years. The Healthy People 2020 objectives were self-described as having “input from public health and prevention experts, a wide range of federal, state, and local government officials, a consortium of more than 2,000 organizations, and perhaps most importantly, the public” [ 51 ]. In addition to other childhood and adolescent objectives (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, vaccinations), Healthy People 2020 specified social determinants as a major topic for the first time. A leading health indicator for social determinants was “students graduating from high school within 4 years of starting 9th grade (AH-5.1)” [ 52 ]. The Secretary’s Advisory Committee report on the Healthy People 2030 objectives includes the goal to “eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity, and attain health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all” [ 53 ]. The national objectives are expected to be released in summer 2020 and will help catalyze “leadership, key constituents, and the public across multiple sectors to take action and design policies that improve the health and well-being of all” [ 53 ].

In terms of supports in federal legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 recognized health education as a distinct discipline for the first time and designated it as a “well-rounded” education subject [ 2 , 22 ]. According to Department of Education guidelines, each state must submit a plan that includes four academic indicators that include proficiency in math, English, and English-language proficiency. High schools also must use their graduation rates as their fourth indicator, while elementary and middle schools may use another academic indicator. In addition, states must specify at least one nonacademic indicator to measure school quality or school success, such as health education. Under the law, federal funding also is available for in-service instruction for teachers in well-rounded education subjects such as health education. These two items open additional pathways for both identifying existing or added programs and having the capacity to collect data.

While several states have chosen access to physical education, physical fitness, or school climate as their nonacademic indicators of school success, the majority (36 states and the District of Columbia) have elected to use chronic absenteeism [ 2 ]. Given the underlying causal connection between student health and chronic absenteeism, absenteeism as an indicator represents a significant opportunity to raise awareness of chronic health conditions or other issues (e.g., student social/emotional concerns around bullying, school safety) that contribute to absenteeism. It also represents a significant opportunity for schools to work with stakeholders to prevent and manage such health conditions through school health education and other WSCC strategies to improve school health. Educators are more likely to support comprehensive health education if they are made aware of its immediate benefits related to student learning (e.g., less disruptive behavior, improved attention) and maintaining safe social and emotional school climates [ 31 ].

In an assessment of how states are addressing WSCC, Child Trends reported that health education is either encouraged or required for all grades in all states’ laws, with nutrition (40 states) and personal health (44 states) as the most prominent topics [ 15 ]. However, the depth and breadth of such instruction in schools is not known, nor if health education is being taught by qualified teachers. In 25 states, laws address or otherwise incorporate the NHES as part of the state health education curriculum.

The authors’ review of state 2017–2018 ESSA plans, analyzed by the organization Cairn, showed nine states that have specifically identified health education as one of its required well-rounded subjects (Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, North Dakota, and Tennessee) [ 8 ]. Cairn recommends that most states include health education and physical education in state accountability systems, school report card indicators, school improvement plans, professional development plans, needs assessment tools, and/or prioritized funding under Title IV, Part A.

In 2019, representatives of the National Committee on the Future of School Health Education, sponsored by the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) and the American School Health Association (ASHA), published a dozen recommendations for strengthening school health education [ 5 , 31 , 55 ]. The recommendations addressed issues such as developing and adopting standardized measures of health literacy in children and including them in state accountability systems; changing policies, practices, and systems for quality school health education (e.g., establishing Director of School Health Education positions in all state and territory education agencies tasked with championing health education best practices, and holding schools accountable for improving student health and well-being); and strengthening certification, professional preparation, and ongoing professional development in health education for teachers at both the elementary and secondary levels. Recommendations also call for stronger alignment and coordination between the public health and education sectors. The committee is now moving ahead on prioritizing the recommendations and developing action steps to address them.

Integrating Youth Health Education and Health Literacy: Success Stories

Minnesota statewide model: integrating school health education and health literacy through broad partnership.

The Roundtable on Health Literacy held a workshop on health literacy and public health in 2014, with examples of how state health departments are addressing health literacy in their states [ 28 ]. One recent example of a strong collaboration between K–12 education and public health agencies is the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) within the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Statewide Health Initiative [ 35 ].

SHIP was created by a landmark 2008 Minnesota health reform law. The law was intended to improve the health of Minnesotans by reducing the risk factors that lead to chronic disease. The program funds grantees in all of the state’s 87 counties and 10 tribal nations to support the creation of locally driven policies, systems, and environmental changes to increase health equity, improve access to healthy foods, provide opportunities for physical activity, and ensure a tobacco-free environment [ 35 ]. Local public health agencies collaborate with partners including schools, childcare settings, workplaces, multiunit housing facilities, and health care centers through SHIP.

SHIP models the integration of (1) law, (2) policy, (3) goal setting, and (4) resource building and forging some 2,000 collaborative partnerships and measuring outcomes. SHIP sets a helpful example for others attempting to create synergies across the intersections of state government, health education, local communities, and private organizations. The principles of health literacy are within these collaborations.

Grantees throughout the state have received technical assistance and training to improve school nutrition and physical activity strategies (see Figure 1 ). SHIP grantees and their local school partner sites set goals and adopt best practices for physical education and physical activity inside and outside the classroom. They improve access to healthy food environments through locally sourced produce, lunchrooms with healthier food options, and school-based agriculture. In 2017, SHIP grantees partnered with 995 local schools and accounted for 622 policy, systems, and environmental changes.

SOURCE: Minnesota Department of Health, Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives. 2012. Statewide Health Improvement Partnership Evaluation Data, Minnesota Department of Health Legislative Report 2017. Reported by SHIP grantees using the REDCap system. This data represents the activities and reach of partner sites active between September 24, 2016, and August 25, 2017.

Minnesota has also undertaken a broad approach to health literacy by educating stakeholders and decision makers (i.e., administrators, food service and other staff, students, community partners, and parents) about various health-related social and environmental issues to reduce students’ chronic disease risks.

SHIP grantees assist in either convening or organizing an established school health/wellness council that is required by USDA for each local education agency participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or School Breakfast Program [ 46 , 47 ]. A local school wellness policy is required to address the problem of childhood obesity by focusing on nutrition and physical activity. SHIP also requires schools to complete an assessment that aligns with the WSCC model and provides annual updates. Once the assessment is completed by a broad representation of stakeholders, SHIP grantees assist schools in prioritizing and working toward annual goals. The goal setting and assessment and goal-setting cycle is continuous.

The Bigger Picture: A Case Study of Community Integration of Health Education and Health Literacy

Improving the health literacy of young people not only influences their personal health behaviors but also can influence the health actions of their peers, their families, and their communities. According to the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases, from 2002 to 2012, the national rate of new diagnosed cases of Type 2 diabetes increased 4.8% [ 32 ]. Among youth ages 10–19, the rate of new diagnosed cases of Type 2 diabetes rose most sharply in Native Americans (8.9%) (although not generalizable to all Native American youth because of small sample size), compared to Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders (8.5%), non-Hispanic blacks (6.3%), Hispanics (3.1%), and non-Hispanic whites (0.6%).

Since 2011, Dean Schillinger, Professor of Medicine in Residence at the University of California San Francisco and Chief of the Diabetes Prevention and Control Program for the California Department of Public Health, has led a capacity-building effort to address Type 2 diabetes [ 23 , 28 , 44 ].

This initiative called The Bigger Picture (TBP) has mobilized collaborators to create resources by and for young adults focused on forestalling and, hopefully, reversing the distressing increase in pediatric Type 2 diabetes by exposing the environmental and social conditions that lead to its spread. Type 2 diabetes is increasingly affecting young people of color, and TBP is specifically developed by and directed to them.

TBP seeks to increase the number of well-informed young people who can participate in determining their own lifelong health behaviors and influencing those of their friends, families, communities, and their own children. The project aims to create a movement that changes the conversation about diabetes from blame- and-shame to the social drivers of the epidemic [ 23 ].

TPB is described by the team that created it as a “counter-marketing campaign using youth-created, spoken-word public services announcements to re-frame the epidemic as a socio-environmental phenomenon requiring communal action, civic engagement, and norm change” [ 44 ]. The research team provides a description of questionnaire responses to nine of the public service announcements in the context of campaign messages, film genre and accompanying youth value, participant understanding of film’s public health message, and the participant’s expression of the public health message. The investigators also correlate the responses with dimensions of health literacy such as conceptual foundations, functional health literacy, interactive health literacy, critical skills, and civic orientation.

One of the campaign partners, Youth Speaks, has created a toolkit to equip and empower students and communities to become change agents in their respective environments, raising their voices and joining the conversation about combating the spread of Type 2 diabetes [ 56 ].

In a discussion of qualitative evaluations of TBP and what low-income youth “see,” Schillinger et al. note that “TBP model is unique in how it nurtures and supports the talent, authenticity, and creativity of new health messengers: youth whose lived experience can be expressed in powerful ways” [ 44 ].

COVID-19: Health Crisis Affecting Children and their Families and a Need for Health Education and Health Literacy in K-12

In a recent op-ed, Rebecca Winthrop, co-director of the Center for Universal Education and Senior Fellow of Global and Economic Development of the Brookings Institution asked, “COVID-19 is a health crisis. So why is health education missing from school work?” [ 58 ] She notes that “helping sustain education amid crises in over 20 countries, I’ve learned that one of the first things you do, after finding creative ways to continue educational activities, is to incorporate life-saving health and safety messages.” Her call is impassioned for age-appropriate, immediately available resources on COVID-19 that can be easily incorporated into distance lesson plans for both children and families. Many organizations, such as Child Trends, are curating collections of such resources. Framing these materials using principles of health literacy and incorporating them into health education messages and resources may be an ideal model for incorporating new pathways for public health K–12 learning.

Call to Action for Collaboration

Strategic and dedicated efforts are needed to bridge health education and health literacy. These efforts would foster the expertise to provide students with the information needed to access and assess useful health information, and to develop the necessary skills for an emerging understanding of health.

Starting with students in school settings, learning to be health literate helps overcome the increased incidence of chronic diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, and imbues a sense of self-efficacy and empowerment through health education. It also sets the course for lifelong habits, skills, and decision making, which can also influence community health.

Pursuing institutional changes to reduce disparities and improve the health of future generations will require significant collaboration and quality improvement among leaders within health education and health literacy. Recommendations provided in previous reports such as IOM’s 1997 report, Schools and Health: Our Nation’s Investment [ 26 ]; the 2004 IOM report on Health Literacy [ 27 ]; and the 2010 National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy [ 49 ] should be revisited. More recently, a November 2019 Health Literacy Roundtable Workshop (1) explored the necessity of developing health literacy skills in youth, (2) examined the research on developmentally appropriate health literacy milestones and transitions and measuring health literacy in youth, (3) described programs and policies that represent best practices for developing health literacy skills in youth, and (4) explored potential collaborations across disciplines for developing health literacy skills in youth [ 38 ]. With its resulting report, the information provided in the workshop should provide additional insights into collaborations needed to reduce institutional barriers to youth health literacy and empowerment.

At the national level, representatives from public sector health and education levels (e.g., HHS’s Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, Department of Education) can collaborate with school-based nongovernmental organizations (e.g., SOPHE, ASCD, ASHA, National Association of State Boards of Education, School Superintendents Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education) to provide data and lead reform efforts. Leaders of higher education (e.g., Association of American Colleges and Universities, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health) can join with philanthropies and educational scholars to pursue curricular reforms and needed research to further health education and health literacy as an integral component of higher education.

Among the approaches needed are (1) careful incorporation of key principles of leadership within systems; (2) the training and evaluation of professionals; (3) finding and sharing replicable, effective examples of constructive efforts; and (4) including young people in the development of information and materials to ensure their accessibility, appeal, and utility. Uniting the wisdom, passion, commitment, and vision of the leaders in health literacy and health education, we can forge a path to a healthier generation.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express our gratitude to Melissa French and Alexis Wojtowicz for their support in the development of this paper.

Funding Statement

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily of the authors’ organizations, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), or the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (the National Academies). The paper is intended to help inform and stimulate discussion. It is not a report of the NAM or the National Academies.

Conflict-of-Interest Disclosures: Wilma Alvarado-Little has no relevant financial or non-financial relationships to disclose. She contributed to this article based on her experience in the field of health literacy and cultural competency and the opinions and conclusions of the article do not represent the official position of the New York State Department of Health. Cherylee Sherry discloses that she works for the Minnesota Department of Health in the Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives which oversees the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership Program funded by the State of Minnesota.

Contributor Information

M. Elaine Auld, Society for Public Health Education.

Marin P. Allen, National Institutes of Health (ret.)

Cicily Hampton, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

J. Henry Montes, American Public Health Association.

Cherylee Sherry, Minnesota Department of Health.

Angela D. Mickalide, American College of Preventive Medicine.

Robert A. Logan, U.S. National Library of Medicine and University of Missouri-Columbia.

Wilma Alvarado-Little, New York State Department of Health.

Kim Parson, KPCG, LLC.

• USF Research
• USF Libraries

Digital Commons @ USF > USF Health > College of Public Health > Public Health Practice > Theses and Dissertations

Public Health Theses and Dissertations

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Linking Shared Decision Making to Outcomes in Simulated Prenatal Genetic Counseling Sessions , Raquel C. Chavarria

Interrelationships Among Local Values of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature, Heat Index, and Adjusted Temperature , Andrea Giraldo

Evaluation of Pediatric Genetics Clinics’ Workflows, Efficiencies, & Genetic Counselor Job Satisfaction , Ashlyn M. Keziah

Analyzing the Relationship Between Preeclamptic Severity and Placental Methylation , Mackenzie C. Maggio

A Differentially Methylated Region Analysis Between Three Disease States of Major Depressive Disorder in Primarily African-American Cohorts , Lanie KateLynn Mullins

Preliminary investigation of differences in host mitochondria membrane potential during Toxoplasma gondii infection , Bryan L. Ortega

Theses/Dissertations from 2023 2023

Needs Assessment for a Web-Based Support Resource for Patients with a Pathogenic Variant in LMNA , Dylan M. Allen

Evaluation of a Story-telling Approach to Educate Minority Populations About Inherited Cancer , Celestyn B. Angot

Using the Genetic Counseling Skills Checklist to Characterize Prenatal Genetic Counseling , David A. Cline

Reframing Resistance, Resilience, and Racial Equity in Maternal Health: A Mixed Methods Exploration of Paternal Involvement and the Racial Disparity in Severe Maternal Morbidity , Marshara G. Fross

Student Perceptions of the Nonmedical Use of Prescription Stimulants and Preferences for Health Education , Ana Gutierrez

Relationships between Leading and Trailing Indicators at Construction Sites in Yanbu Industrial City, Saudi Arabia , Anas H. Halloul

Variability of Air Sampling Results Using Air-O-Cell Cassettes , Christina M. Haworth

Use of Silica Dust and Lunar Simulants for Assessing Lunar Regolith Exposure , Layzamarie Irizarry-Colon

The Aging Workforce: How it Relates to Incident Rates within a Distribution Warehouse and a Chemical Manufacturing Building , Elisabeth V. Jones

Fuzzy KC Clustering Imputation for Missing Not At Random Data , Markku A. Malmi Jr.

Piloting a Spanish-language Web-based Tool for Hereditary Cancer Genetic Testing , Gretter Manso

Development of a ddPCR Multiplex to Measure the Immune Response to Borrelia burgdorferi. , Kailey Marie McCain

A Healthcare Claims Investigation of Parasomnia Epidemiology, Associations with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Correlates , Anh Thy Ha Nguyen

Diet and Salivary Microbiome on Cardiovascular Risk and Glycemic Control in Participants with and without Type 1 Diabetes: The CACTI Study , Tiantian Pang

Evaluation of Two Methods to Estimate Wet Bulb Globe Temperature from Heat Index , Stephi Pofanl

Intimate Conversations: A Mixed-Methods Study of African American Father-Adolescent Sexual Risk Communication , Shanda A. Vereen

Assessment of ISO Heart Rate Method to Estimate Metabolic Rate , Karl Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2022 2022

Outcomes of a Periodic Exposure Assessment of Workers at a University Campus , Logan M. Armagast

Evaluating the Effect of Public Health Governance Structure and Public Opinion on COVID-19 Disease Control Interventions , Daniel Chacreton

Alpha Synuclein: A therapeutic target and biomarker for Parkinson’s Disease , Max Chase

A Study of Noise Exposures for Amusement Park Employees by Positions and Ride Categories , Danielle M. Dao

Bayesian Network-based Diagnostic Support Tool with Limited Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Work-related Elbow Injuries , Cristina Maria Franceschini Sánchez

Understanding Food Insecurity as a Multidimensional Construct: A Mixed Methods Approach to Assess Changes in Food Insecurity Status among People Seeking Emergency Food Assistance , Whitney M. Fung Uy

Host-Pathogen Coevolution Between Tasmanian Devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) and Devil Facial Tumor Disease , Dylan Garret Gallinson

Joint Models for Repeated Measured, Non-Normally Distributed Multilevel Data , Weiwei He

Crosswalking Wet Bulb Globe Temperature and Heat Index , Paul Irvin

Impact of Perinatal Exposure Counseling on Patient Reported Emotional Outcomes and Decisional Empowerment , Madison J. Lake

Measurements of Generalizability and Adjustment for Bias in Clinical Trials , Yuanyuan Lu

Examining the Relationship between Racial Respect among Black Early Childhood Professionals and their Perceptions of Black Children , Kayla Nembhard

Etiology of sterile intra-amniotic inflammation: An exploratory study , Zoe M. Taylor

Evaluating and Improving a Novel Toolkit for Implementation and Optimization of Lynch Syndrome Universal Tumor Screening , Tara M. Wolfinger

Assessing Reported Use of Clinical Genetic Counseling Skills , Nicole M. Wright

Theses/Dissertations from 2021 2021

Exploring Adult Attachment in Intimate Relationships among Women who Were Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence in Childhood: A Convergent Mixed Methods Approach , Ngozichukwuka C. Agu

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Disinfectant-Impregnated Wipes Versus Detergent Wipes for Surface Decontamination , Jacob Amadin

Limited Point of Care Ultrasound Clinical Decision Support Model for Work-related Injuries of the Shoulder Utilizing Bayesian Network , Gwen Marie Ayers

Synthesis of a Multimodal Ecological Model for Scalable, High-Resolution Arboviral Risk Prediction in Florida , Sean P. Beeman

Feasibility of a Virtual Group Nutrition Intervention for Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder , Acadia W. Buro

Defining Codes Based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research in the Context of the Implementing Universal Lynch Syndrome Screening , Jasmine A. Burton-Akright

Americans’ Familiarity, Interest, and Actions with Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing , Riley L. Carroll

Does Better A1C Control Worsen Osteoarthritis? An Electronic Health Record Cross-Sectional Study , Sarah C. Cattaneo

Analysis of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Gene Expression Profiles in a Prospective, Community-based Cohort , Jan Dahrendorff

Differential Privacy for Regression Modeling in Health: An Evaluation of Algorithms , Joseph Ficek

Does Time-Weighted Averaging for WBGT and Metabolic Rate Work for Work-Recovery Cycles? , John W. Flach

Screening of Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder: Identifying Factors Impacting Implementation of Screening Recommendations Using the Theoretical Domains Framework , Tara R. Foti

Epigenetic Potential in an Introduced Passerine , Haley E. Hanson

Face Mask Use to Protect Against COVID-19; Importance of Substrate, Fit, and User Tendencies , Evelyn Kassel

Novel Educational Material for Patients with a Variant of Uncertain Significance (VUS) in a Cancer Risk Gene , Meghan E. Kelley

Mechanisms and Mitigation: Effects of Light Pollution on West Nile Virus Dynamics , Meredith E. Kernbach

Seasonality in Competence to Transmit West Nile Virus for a Widespread Reservoir , Kyle L. Koller

Mealtimes in Early Childhood Education Centers During COVID-19: A Mixed-Methods Assessment of Responsibilities, Interactions, and Best Practices , Joanna Mackie

Development and Validation of an Isothermal Amplification Assay for Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus , Mikayla D. Maddison

Evaluating the Development and Implementation of Campus-based Sexual and Interpersonal Violence Prevention Programming , Robyn Manning-Samuels

Bait-and-Kill: Targeting a Novel Heme Biochemical Pathway in Hundreds of Cancers , Christopher G. Marinescu

Acclimatization Protocols and Their Outcomes , Ayub M. Odera

Promoting HPV vaccination with vaccine-hesitant parents using social media: a formative research mixed-method study , Silvia Sommariva

Sleep Diagnoses and Low Back Pain in U.S. Military Veterans , Kenneth A. Taylor

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

Journey Mapping the Minority Student’s Path Toward Genetic Counseling: A Holistic Picture , Tatiana E. Alvarado-Wing

Using Observations from the UAW-Ford Ergonomic Assessment Tool to Predict Distal Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders , Zachariah T. Brandes-Powell

Do Similar Exposure Groups (SEG) differ from Air Force base to Air Force base? A Combat Arms Training and Maintenance (CATM) noise exposure comparison of Moody AFB and MacDill AFB. , Miriam F. Escobar

Predictors of Premature Discontinuation from Behavioral Health Services: A Mixed Methods Study Guided by the Andersen & Newman Model of Health Care Utilization , Shawna M. Green

Non-invasive Sex Determination and Genotyping of Transgenic Brugia malayi Larvae , Santiago E. Hernandez Bojorge

Does Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Increases the Risk of Preeclampsia Among Primigravid Women? , Astha Kakkad

Evaluating Effects of Cancer Genetic Counseling on Several Brief Patient Impact Measures , Alyson Kneusel

Impact of Heat-Related Illness and Natural Environments on Behavioral Health Related Emergency and Hospital Utilization in Florida , Natasha Kurji

The Quantification of Heavy Metals in Infant Formulas Offered by the Florida WIC Program , Naya Martin

Differences in Knowledge Acquisition, Perceived Engagement and Self-Efficacy in Latino Promotores Delivering the Heart Disease Prevention Program Su Corazόn, Su Vida , Samuel Matos-Bastidas

Spatial and Temporal Determinants Associated with Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus Activity in Florida , Kristi M. Miley

Using Observations from the UAW-Ford Ergonomic Assessment Tool to Predict Low Back Musculoskeletal Disorders , Colins Nwafor

On the Importance of Context: Examining the Applicability of Infertility Insurance Mandates in the United States Using a Mixed-Methods Study Design , Nathanael B. Stanley

Exploration of Factors Associated with Perceptions of Community Safety among Youth in Hillsborough County, Florida: A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Methods Approach , Yingwei Yang

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

The Ability of the U.S. Military’s WBGT-based Flag System to Recommend Safe Heat Stress Exposures , David R. Almario

The Relationship between Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) Derived Metrics and Indices of Glycemic Control , Ryan Bailey

“Man plans but ultimately, God decides”: A Phenomenological Investigation of the Contextual Family Planning Beliefs of Recently Resettled Congolese Refugee Women in West Central Florida. , Linda Bomboka Wilson

‘If He Hits Me, Is That Love? I Don’t Think So’: An Ethnographic Investigation of the Multi-Level Influences Shaping Indigenous Women’s Decision-Making Around Intimate Partner Violence in the Rural Peruvian Andes , Isabella Li Chan

An Assessment of the Role of Florida Pharmacists in the Administration of Inactivated Influenza Vaccine to Pregnant Women , Oluyemisi O. Falope

Epidemiological Analysis of Malaria Decrease in El Salvador from 1955 until 2017 , Tatiana I. Gardellini Guevara

Self-Collected Sampling Methods for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea Screening Among College Women: Exploring Patient-Centered Intervention Characteristics , Stacey B. Griner

The Relationship Between Hand and Wrist Musculoskeletal Disorders and Hand Activity and Posture , Warren M. Henry

Speeding Diagnosis and Saving Money Using Point of Care Ultrasound Rather Than MRI for Work-related MSK Injuries , Jared A. Jeffries

Mitigating Barriers to Chronic Disease Risk Factor Prevention and Management in Disadvantaged Communities , Krys M. Johnson

Comparing Family Sharing Behaviors in BRCA Carriers with PALB2 Carriers , Joy E. Kechik

Investigating Air Pollution and Equity Impacts of a Proposed Transportation Improvement Program for Tampa , Talha Kemal Kocak

Exploring Young Women’s Choice to Initiate Use of Long-acting Reversible Contraception: A Mixed Methods Approach , Helen Mahony

Evaluation of Clinical Practices and Needs about Variants of Uncertain Significance Results in Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmia and Inherited Cardiomyopathy Genes , Reka D. Muller

Effects of Medications with Anticholinergic Properties and Opioids on Cognitive Function and Neural Volumetric Changes in Elderly Australians , Malinee Neelamegam

Sundaas Story: A Mixed-Methods Study of Household Sanitation Provisioning in Urban Informal Housing in India , Sarita Vijay Panchang

A Retrospective Study of the Opioid Epidemic and Fentanyl Related Overdose Fatality Cases in a Florida West Coast Medical Examiner District Population , Anne Terese Powell

Using Predicted Heat Strain to Evaluate Sustainable Exposures , Samantha L. Thacker

Isokinetic Sampling Efficiency Differences for Blunt Edge vs Sharp Edge Sampling Probes , Cory A. Treloar

Using the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to Investigate Daily Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (emtricitabine/tenofovir DF) Implementation via Community-based HIV Testing Sites in Florida , Deanne E. Turner

“We can learn some things from them, but they can learn some things from us too”: Intergenerational Perceptions of Shared Infant Feeding Information , Alexis L. Woods Barr

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Comparison of Modeled and Measured Pesticide Concentrations in Air , Trenell Davis Boggans

Effectiveness of Biocide Substitution and Management Plan Implementation for the Control of , Adelmarie Bones

Design, Construction, and Characterization of the University of South Florida Wind Tunnel , Jason S. Garcia

Advanced Search

• Email Notifications and RSS
• All Collections
• USF Faculty Publications
• Open Access Journals
• Conferences and Events
• Theses and Dissertations
• Textbooks Collection

Useful Links

• Rights Information
• SelectedWorks
• Submit Research

Home | About | Help | My Account | Accessibility Statement | Language and Diversity Statements

Privacy Copyright

UKnowledge > College of Public Health > Public Health M.P.H. Theses & Dr.P.H. Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Cardiovascular Disease among commercially insured adults with type 1 diabetes in the US , 2016-2019 , Orighomisan F. Agboghoroma

Improving Black Maternal Outcomes in Christian County, KY: A Social Marketing Approach to Perinatal Provider Change , Ariel A. Arthur

Current Linkage to Treatment and Recovery Support Services for Patients with a Substance Use Disorder: A Survey of Kentucky Physicians , Seif Atyia, Terry Bunn, Dana Quesinberry, and Timothy S. Prince

Empirical Insights into Survivorship Care: A Cross-Sectional Study of CoC Accredited Hospitals in Kentucky , Amanda M. Beckett

Changes in Primary Care Availability in Appalachia , Whitney Beckett

Redefining ED Utilization: A Rabies Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Perspective , David Bennington

The Relationship Between Social Vulnerability and Cardiovascular Disease Outcomes in Kentucky , Karcyn Brummett

The Effects of Stigma within the PrEP Care Cascade Among People Who Inject Drugs in Rural Kentucky , Abby Burton

Implementation of a Postpartum Depression Program in a Rural Kentucky County , Abby Cecil

Dental Outreach in Academic Dental Settings , Tisha Clayborn

A Case Study in Prospective Program Evaluation , Sarai Rosemary Combs

A Case Study in Program Evaluation: A Prospective Program Evaluation of Timely Reporting and Action of an Infectious Disease Outbreak , Destiny Cozart

INVESTIGATING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH AND DRUG SELLING AMONG PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS IN RURAL APPALACHIA, KENTUCKY , Grace A. Debo

Fall 2023 COVID-19, Influenza, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccine Uptake in Kentucky , Abigail Dial

Human papilloma virus type 16 seroprevalence among men living with HIV , Ashley Duff

Adolescent Vaccination Rates and Pharmacists' Ability to Prescribe and Administer , Paul Jake Faulkner

McCovid Campaign – A Social Media Implementation to Decrease Vaccine Hesitancy in Rural Counties , Harper Ford

Interprofessional Collaboration in a Lung Cancer Screening Learning Collaborative , Angela Fu

Novel cannabinoid use among young adults in Lexington, Kentucky , Victoria A. Hamilton

Evaluating a High School MRSA Prevention Program: A Case Study , Jamie Henning

The Distribution of CP-CRE cases from 2013-2020 in the Commonwealth of Kentucky , Hannah Hiscox

DEMOGRAPHIC AND BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PEOPLE WHO HELP OTHERS INJECT DRUGS: A STUDY OF PEOPLE WHO INJECT DRUGS IN APPALACHIA KENTUCKY , Ryli Hockensmith

Patient Access to GLP-1 RA’s: A Medicare Part D Policy Analysis , Celine Hummer

EVALUATION OF PUBLIC RADON MESSAGING IN KENTUCKY AS COMPARED TO THREE OTHER STATES , Abigail Knapp

Characterizing the Relationship Between the Presence of Depression Risk, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Benzodiazepine Use to Get High , Julia Kollitz

Page 1 of 18

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS

Browse by Author

• Collections
• Disciplines

Author Corner

• Submit Research

New Title Here

Below. --> connect.

• Law Library
• Special Collections
• Copyright Resource Center
• Graduate School
• Scholars@UK

• We’d like your feedback

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

University of Kentucky ®

An Equal Opportunity University Accreditation Directory Email Privacy Policy Accessibility Disclosures

• Dissertations & Theses
• Collections

EliScholar > School of Public Health > Public Health Theses Digital Library

Public Health Theses

Theses/dissertations from 2024 2024.

Effect Of The Lifestyle, Exercise, And Nutrition (lean) Weight Loss Intervention On Anxiety Among Breast Cancer Survivors , Faiad Alam

Stakeholder Perspectives On Therapeutic Value Assessment , Victor M. Amana

Ecological Factors Influencing The Evolution Of Jamestown Canyon Virus In The Northern United States , Ellie Bourgikos

The Roads Less Traveled: A Metaresearch Analysis Of Local Histories In Racial Health Equity Research , Devin Trévion Brown

Enriching An Acute Kidney Injury Prediction Model Among Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Patients: Leveraging Electronic Health Record Data , Enci Cai

Remotely Sensed Assessments Of Malnutrition In South Sudan , Rebecca Chausse

Gestational Weight Gain And Epilepsy In The Offspring: A Population-Based Retrospective Cohort Study , Jiawen Chen

A History Of Cioms (council For International Organizations Of Medical Sciences) And The Creation Of Multinational Consensus For Human Subjects Research Ethics , Abigail Belle Cheung

Energy Assistance And Health: Policy Recommendations , Gabriella Crivelli

Constructing The Birthing Body Across The 20th Century: A Thematic Analysis Of Infertility Disorders In The New England Journal Of Medicine , Nicola Davis

Unveiling Chagas Disease: An In-Depth Analysis Of Epidemiological Patterns In High Burden Latin American Nations , Nicole Del Castillo

Examining Factors Associated With Covid-19 Disruptions To Tuberculosis Services , Tejaswini Dharmapuri Vachaspathi

“How Long On Top Of The Hill?”: The Legacy Of Community Mental Health Programs, Institutionalized Relationships, And The Stifling Of Black Power (new Haven, 1963-1971) , Sophie Elizabeth Edelstein

Ivermectin Mda For Malaria Control And Plasmodium Species Diversity In Burkina Faso , Julia Ellman

Wearable Passive Air Sampling And Crohn's Disease In Pregnancy , Hazel Ann Fajardo

BMI's Early Echo: Deciphering Adolescent Body Mass Indicator On Adulthood Breast Cancer , Tianyu Feng

Comparing Immunogenicity And Relative Effectiveness Of Siil-Pv (pneumosil) To Incumbent Streptococcus Pneumoniae Vaccines And Higher-Valent Vaccines In Development , Laura Anne Fitch

Investigating The Impact Of Temperature Variations On African Trypanosome Transmissibility Within The Vector Tsetse Flies , Sophie Ann Genigeorgis

Prep-Aring For Prevention: Mental Health, Internalizations, And Contextual Factors As Barriers To Prep Uptake Among Sexual Minority Men And Nonbinary Individuals , Amanda Glatter

Maternity Care Deserts: Maternal And Child Health Associations , Dara Elizabeth Gleeson

Measuring The Differential Effect Of Internalized Homonegativity On Hiv Prevention Outcomes By Sexual Orientation Disclosure Status Among Ymsm Across Two Us Cities , Liv Gotte

Exploring The Association Between Density Of Unconventional Oil And Gas Development And Religious Adherence: An Ecological Cross-Sectional Study , Ashley Michelle Grey

Comparing HPV Vaccination Uptake In Democrat And Republican Us States Using Presidential Elections Voting Patterns In 2016 And 2020 , Omar Guerrero

Exploring The Associations Between Stereotypes Of Aging And Dementia And Self-Reported Health In Parent-Adult Child Dyads , Yunke Gu

Effects Of Wildfire Smoke And Nonsmoke Pm2.5 On Respiratory, Circulatory, And Mental Health In Nevada: A Case-Crossover Study On Emergency Department Visits From 2016-2019 , Riena Harker

Page 1 of 40

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Disciplines
• Researcher Profiles
• Author Help

Copyright, Publishing and Open Access

• Terms & Conditions
• Open Access at Yale
• Yale University Library
• Yale Law School Repository

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

Home > Public Health > SPH_DISS

Public Health Dissertations

Dissertations from 2024 2024.

Distinguishing Collaboration From Other Forms of Group Work to Build and Pilot a New Collaboration Assessment Tool For More Informed and Effective Collaboration , Leigh Alderman

Improving Understanding of Overdose Trends in the United States Using Multiple Surveillance Data Sources , Shannon Casillas

One in Two: Lived Experiences of HIV Seroconversions among Black Sexual Minority Men in the HIV Workforce , Daniel Driffin

Understanding the Role of Mindfulness for Physical Activity Among Black/African American Women with Arthritis , Elizabeth Fallon

Evaluating the Effectiveness and Impact of This is a TEST , Lauren Finklea

Exploration Of Tobacco Use Behaviors Amid Societal Or Policy Changes And Rise Of E-cigarettes In US , Nikita Gajanan Kute

Participatory Community-Academic Research Partnerships for Health Equity , Michelle Marcus

Examining Disrespect in Maternity Healthcare Settings: Lifting Black Women's Voices to Improve Maternal Health Outcomes , Sherry Maxy

A Comprehensive Policy Analysis to Address the Public Health Dilemma of Systemic Ableism and Patient Distress Following Prenatal Screening for Disabilities , Stephanie Meredith

“If You Build It, Will They Come? Yes.” Enhancing Delivery of Mindfulness Interventions Via Telehealth: Insights From Researchers and Interventionists Serving Racial and Ethnic Minoritized Communities , Josephine Mhende

Risk and Protective Factors in the Caregiving Context for Violence Exposure Outside of the Home, HIV Risk, and HIV Infection Among Youth Ages 13 to 24 in Lesotho , Elizabeth Perry

Arrested Mobility™: Policy Grounded Health Equity Solutions and Actions for Georgia , Tony Price

Mathematical Modeling to Support Public Health Officials with Evaluating Immunization and Non-pharmaceutical Intervention Strategies During and Outside Periods of Outbreak Response , Gabriel Rainisch

The Place-Based Impacts of Social Determinants of Health: An Examination of Social and Structural Influences , Nikita Rao

COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy Among Women with a Live Birth: Findings from The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, 25 US Jurisdictions, 2021. , Beatriz Salvesen von Essen

Describing at risk populations and emerging trends in opioid and stimulant co-occurrence in drug use, nonfatal overdoses, and fatal overdoses in the United States , Herschel W. Smith IV

Nicotine, Tobacco, Marijuana Use Typologies among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth and Young Adults in the United States , Michael Brandon Talley

Novel Tools to Measure Latent Tuberculosis Infection Among Populations at Higher Risk in the United States , Laura A. Vonnahme

Dissertations from 2023 2023

Relationships between Body Mass Index, Adiposity Distribution and Treatment Outcomes among Patients with Tuberculosis from the Country of Georgia , Tsira Chakhaia

Application of epidemiologic methods to investigate the heterogenous impact of COVID-19 , Sushma Dahal

Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Tobacco Use, Tobacco Advertising Exposure and Its Effects on Subsequent Tobacco Use Among U.S. Youth , Vuong Van Do

Pandemics, Epidemics, and Public Health Crises– Oh My! An Examination of Tobacco Use During Public Health Emergencies , Robert T. Fairman

Buprenorphine Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder: An Examination of Benefits and Barriers. , Olivia K. Golan

Food Insecurity and Chronic Disease Among Working-Age US Adults , Kiara Maddox

Community Engagement in the International Emergency Response to Ebola, 2014-2016 , Daniel W. Martin

Examing how Nurses' Personal Experiences with Mental Illness Relate to Stigma and Discrimination against People with Mental Illness in Rural Northern Uganda. , Connie Olwit

Patterns of Tobacco Product Use in the US Population using the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study , Wellington C. Onyenwe

Unintended Pregnancies Among Adult Mothers Who Have Not Graduated High School: Family Planning Intentions, Birth Control Practices, and Optimal Interpregnancy Intervals , Alexandria L. Parham

Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Assess the Service Needs of Youth Experiencing Homelessness in Atlanta , Jasmine Rockwell Heard

Virtual Delivery in Home Visiting: A Qualitative Exploration of SafeCare® Provider Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic , Ashley E N Watson

Dissertations from 2022 2022

Understanding the Role of Preemption in the United States and the Relationship between State-level Preemption Policies and Vulnerability and Mortality during the COVID-19 Pandemic , Maeh Al-Shawaf

Exploring Issues of Substance Use Among Special Populations , Victoria Churchill

Postpartum Social Support Experiences of Black Mothers with Depression during COVID , Brooke DiPetrillo

Factors Affecting Healthcare Access Among Diverse Populations: Implications for the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond , Michelle Mavreles Ogrodnick

Measuring Progress Toward Epidemic Control in a High-Prevalence District: Comparison of Alternate Methods of Incidence Estimation, Trends in HIV Incidence, and Impact of Misclassification on Outcome Estimates in the Chókwè Health and Demographic Surveillance System , Robert Nelson

Analyzing and Contextualizing Experiences of Sexual Violence Among Sexual and Gender Minority Populations , Zainab G. Nizam

A Longitudinal Examination of the Sociality of Cardiovascular Disease and its Most Common Risk Factor, Hypertension , Brenda Parker

Assessing for Social and Economic Inequities in Vocational Rehabilitation Services among Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities , Bridgette M. Schram

Comparative Assessment of Methodology to Forecast and Assess the Transmission Potential of Epidemics/Pandemics , Amna Tariq

Role of Anti-tobacco Campaign and Tobacco Marketing in Tobacco Use Behaviors among the US Population , Yu Wang

Public Health and Economic Implications of Non-pharmaceutical Interventions in the State of Georgia , Renee White

Dissertations from 2021 2021

Water Quality in the Chattahoochee River Watershed, 2010-2019: An Analysis of Spatiotemporal Variations of Total Coliforms, Escherichia Coli, Turbidity, and Optical Brighteners along Surface Waters , Sarah N. Anderson

Examining the Relationship between Perceived Neighborhood Context on Sexual Risk Behaviors among Black Men who Have Sex with Men in the South , Terrika Barham

Leveraging Federal Policies to Prevent and Respond to Communicable Disease Outbreaks , Samuel Clasp

Use of Cigarette and Non-cigarette Combustible Tobacco Products Among African Americans: An Examination of Risk Factors and Protective Factors , Cherell Cottrell-Daniels

Longitudinal Analyses Of Frailty Trajectories Among European Older Adults , Linh Dinh

Differences in the Association between Use of Electronic Vaping Products and Subsequent Tobacco and Marijuana Use among US Youth , Zongshuan Duan

Optimizing Personal Protective Equipment Use and Infection Prevention Behaviors to Protect Healthcare Workers , Kimberly Erukunuakpor

HIV and HCV Outcomes Among People Who Inject Drugs: Identifying those at most risk for transmission and opportunities for prevention , Kimberly N. Evans

Making The Case to Improve the Availability and Reliability of Public Health Spending Data: An Examination of Preventive Care Expenditures among High-Income Countries from 2000 to 2019 , Kristy Hayes

Violence against Children and Youth, Adverse Childhood Experiences, and Their Associated Health Outcomes: Global Perspectives from Nigeria, Zambia, and a Systematic Scoping Review , NaeHyung Lee

A Longitudinal Analysis of Trajectories and Predictors of Fidelity Using the SafeCare Parenting Model , Matthew J. Lyons

Epidemiology of Malaria and Other Diseases of Public Health Importance and Implications for Interventions in High Transmission Settings in Sub-Saharan Africa , Leah Moriarty

Expanding U.S. Unintentional Drug Overdose Surveillance Using Novel Data Sources and Analyses , Desiree Mustaquim

Correlates and Contexts of High-Risk Sexual Behaviors Among Youth in the Slums of Kampala: Implications for HIV Prevention and Program Development , Jane B. Palmier

Post-Tuberculosis Metabolic Disease and Mortality Among Patients Treated for Tuberculosis , Argita Salindri

Characterizing Household Preparedness and Emergency Supply Kit Possession in the United States -- 2020-2021 , Amy Helene Schnall

Local Health Department activities to address health disparities: What do public health practitioners view as impactful? , Shaunda Scruggs DrPH

Hypoglycemia in the Hospital and in the U.S. Population , Payal Suresh Shah

Population-level Characterization of Nocardiosis in the United States , Rita M. Traxler

Understanding and Enhancing the Beliefs and Practices of Parent Educators and the Use of Corporal Punishment by Caregivers , Jyll Walsh

Dissertations from 2020 2020

Characterization of Men with Hemophilia B and Factors Associated with Treatment Practices, Participating in the Community Counts Registry from 2014 to 2018. , Fiona M. Bethea

Justice Involvement and Stress in U.S. Adult Women , Joy Burns

Associations of Chronic Infectious and Non-infectious Disease Comorbidities with HIV Clinical Outcomes , Nang Kyaw

Comparative Assessment of Epidemiological Models for Analyzing and Forecasting Infectious Disease Outbreaks , Kimberlyn Roosa

Predictors of Late Stage Cervical Cancer Diagnoses and Disparities in the U.S. (A Closer Look at the Interactions Between Characteristics of Access, Women & Place) , Yamisha Rutherford

Dissertations from 2019 2019

An Epidemiology of Adolescent Obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean , Lynnette A. Ametewee

An Examination of Family and Provider Factors Predicting Behavior Change in Real-World Implementations of a Behavioral Parenting Model , Jessica Brown

The Impact of Child Maltreatment on Suicidal Ideation, Polysubstance Use, and Sexual Risk Behaviors , Rachel Culbreth

Examining the Relationships between Early Sexual Debut and Social Norms, Sexual Behaviors, and Sexual Violence in Nigerian Girls and Young Women , Natasha Deveauuse-Brown

Encouraging Action During Overdose Events – the Good, the Bad, and the Barriers , Thomas Griner

Race, Discrimination, and Substance Use , Dina Jones

Transgender Women's Health: HIV/AIDS and Beyond... , Krishna Kiran Kota

Dissertations from 2018 2018

Social Media Marketing to Encourage HIV Testing among Young Black College Men , Jamal Jones

Factors Associated with Adults’ Perceptions of Nicotine and Nicotine e-Liquid Harm to Young Children and Associations with Nicotine Handling Behaviors in the Home , Catherine Blanchard Kemp

Measuring Parent Engagement in a Group-based Parent-focused Prevention Program (Legacy for Children TM) to Improve Child Development Outcomes , Akilah Heggs Lee

Differences in Exposure to Perfluorocarbons and Renal and Liver Function among Foreign-Born U.S. Residents , Reynolds A. Morrison

Child Maltreatment Victimization and Adolescent Weapon Carrying: Exploring the Role of In-Home Firearm Access and Parent-Child Relationships , Melissa Osborne

Evaluating Racial and Geospatial Disparities and Contextual Factors in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer among Women with Breast Cancer , Lia Scott

Beyond an Epidemic: Examining the Syndemic Relationship between Alcohol, Violence and HIV among Youth Living in the Slums of Kampala , Malikah Waajid

The Impact of Medical Home on Outcomes for Children with Special Health Care Needs , Rebecca Wells

Child Maltreatment-Related Homicides: Examining Characteristics and Circumstances in the Context of Victim-Perpetrator Relationship , Rebecca Wilson

Opioid Misuse Among Students Pursuing Higher Education , Heather A. Zesiger PhD

Dissertations from 2017 2017

Bicycling for Transportation: Health and Destination, Results of a survey of students and employees from a southern urban university , Joseph M. Bryan

An Examination of the Gender Disparities in Receiving Diabetes-specific Healthcare Services , Matthew Jackson

The Concurrent and Longitudinal Associations of Bullying Perpetration, Acceptance of Partner Violence, and Adolescent Dating Violence Perpetration , Alana M. Vivolo-Kantor

The Connection between Marijuana, Cigarette Smoking and Metabolic Syndrome among Adults in the United States , Barbara Yankey

Dissertations from 2016 2016

Machine Learning Approaches for Assessing Moderate-To-Severe Diarrhea in Children , Tracy L. Ayers

Health Literacy in High-Risk Populations , Iris Feinberg

Evidence-based Child Maltreatment Prevention: An Examination of Risk and Novel Approaches , Katelyn Guastaferro

Quality Improvement in Stroke Care and Its Impact: the Georgia Coverdell Acute Stroke Registry Experience , Moges Ido

Combined Environmental and Social Stressors in Northwest Atlanta's Proctor Creek Watershed: An Exploration of Expert Data and Local Knowledge , Na'Taki Osborne Jelks

Syndromic Surveillance using Poison Center Data: An Examination of Novel Approaches , Kai Yee Law

The Influence of Caregiver Mental Health On Parenting Focused Intervention Service Utilization and Parenting Behavior Change , Tia McGill Rogers

Effects of an Evidence-Based Parenting Program on Physiological Markers of Stress among at-risk Parents for Child Maltreatment , Ashwini Tiwari

Examination of Latin American Community-Based Interventions to Promote Physical Activity in Public Spaces: Analyzing Effectiveness, Applicability and Transferability Across National Contexts , Andrea D. Torres

Access To Care and Social/Community Characteristics and for People Diagnosed and Living with HIV in California, 2014 , William H. Wheeler

Dissertations from 2015 2015

Psychosocial and Oxidative Stress and Health of Adults , Francis Annor

Electronic Cigarettes: Associated Beliefs and Reasons for Use among US Adults , Ban A. Majeed

Exploring Leading Causes of Childhood Morbidity using the Global Enterics Multicenter Study (GEMS), Rural Western Kenya, 2008-2012 , Katharine A. Schilling

Advanced Search

• Notify me via email or RSS
• Collections
• Disciplines
• Submit ETD (Thesis/Dissertation)

Home | About | FAQ | My Account | Accessibility Statement

Privacy Copyright

MA Thesis Final Document Jan 14, 2020

• January 2020

• Plan International Ethiopia

Discover the world's research

• 25+ million members
• 160+ million publication pages
• 2.3+ billion citations
• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up