Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Eun Kyung Lee, Gwendolyn Donley, Timothy H. Ciesielski, Darcy A. Freedman, Megan B. Cole
Summary: Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) improve access to important health services for marginalized and underserved communities. The study examined the relationships between the availability of FQHCs, historic redlining, and health services utilization in six large states. The findings suggest that expanding FQHCs may be most impactful for medically underserved residents in certain geographic areas.
SOCIAL SCIENCE & MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Pediatrics
Emily E. Haroz, Luther G. Kalb, Jason G. Newland, Jennifer L. Goldman, Dana Keener Mast, Linda K. Ko, Ryan Grass, Parth Shah, Tyler Walsh, Jennifer E. Schuster
Summary: COVID-19 testing in schools can reduce virus spread, but challenges include initial lack of funding and limited resources, with strategies such as training testing champions and altering incentive structures to overcome these barriers.
Article
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Emily R. Goggins, Rachel Williams, Tesia G. Kim, Jenna C. Adams, Miah J. Davis, Michelle McIntosh, Michelle Uzor, Franklyn Geary, Denise J. Jamieson, Sheree L. Boulet
Summary: Despite stagnant maternal influenza vaccine acceptance rates, pregnant women who initially refuse may eventually choose to be vaccinated, with perceived barriers being the most common reason for refusal. Continued promotion of influenza vaccination during pregnancy is crucial for vaccine uptake. Women who are race discordant with their healthcare providers are more likely to be vaccinated compared to those who are race concordant.
JOURNAL OF WOMENS HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Education & Educational Research
Arvind Suresh, Nakia M. Wighton, Tanya E. Sorensen, Thomas C. Palladino, Roshini C. Pinto-Powell
Summary: This study investigates the impact of a streamlined, hybrid service learning curriculum on the attitudes and readiness of first-year medical students in addressing health barriers faced by medically underserved communities (MUC). The results show that the redesigned curriculum effectively improves students' positive attitudes towards MUC and their knowledge and confidence in addressing the health challenges of underserved populations. The program also significantly increases student interest in working with medically underserved patients in the future.
MEDICAL EDUCATION ONLINE
(2022)
Article
Oncology
Francesca Gany, Irina Melnic, Julia Ramirez, Minlun Wu, Yuelin Li, Luke Paolantonio, Nicole Roberts-Eversley, Victoria Blinder, Jennifer Leng
Summary: The study found that 70% of low-income cancer patients experienced food insecurity, with homelessness or living in sheltered/supportive housing, renting, and homeownership being associated housing characteristics. Factors such as living situation satisfaction, housing assistance needs, and feelings of overcrowding were also linked to food insecurity. These results could help prioritize screening for patients' nutrition and housing needs and developing interventions.
SUPPORTIVE CARE IN CANCER
(2021)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Xinxin Han, Patricia Pittman, Leighton Ku
Summary: NHSC clinicians have a positive impact on medical and behavioral health costs in community health centers, with each additional NHSC behavioral health staff FTE associated with a reduction of $3.55 in behavioral health care costs per visit, especially in rural CHCs.
Article
Oncology
Yun Hwa Jung, Il Yun, Eun-Cheol Park, Sung-In Jang
Summary: This study aimed to understand new-onset dyslipidemia in medically underserved areas among cancer survivors > 19 years using data from the Korean National Health Insurance Service. Cancer survivors for five years or more from MUA had a higher risk of dyslipidemia onset, with factors such as gender, age, income, disability, complications, and survival years playing a role.
Article
Health Policy & Services
Kathleen Rowan, Alana Knudson, Britta Anderson, Jennifer Satorius, Savyasachi Shah, Anne Stahl, Hayden Kepley
Summary: To address the opioid epidemic, the US Health Resources and Services Administration expanded the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) to include two new loan repayment programs (LRPs) - the Substance Use Disorder LRP and the Rural Community LRP. This article describes the role of these NHSC programs in addressing workforce shortages and providing substance use disorder treatment in underserved areas. The expansion of NHSC LRPs has increased the number of clinicians providing behavioral health treatment in underserved areas, particularly in rural areas. The majority of NHSC sites surveyed have increased their provision of substance use disorder treatment since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Stephanie Ioannou, Kyle Sutherland, Daniel A. Sussman, Amar R. Deshpande
Summary: This study assessed the impact of offering a blood-based test on colorectal cancer screening rates and patient preferences in a cost-free health fair setting. The results showed that blood-based testing is an effective method to increase screening rates in medically underserved populations, but efforts to improve access to follow-up colonoscopy are necessary.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Nathaniel Bell, Peiyin Hung, Ana Lopez-De Fede, Swann A. Adams
Summary: This study aimed to examine the impact of America's broadband infrastructure on expanding access to virtual care for underserved communities. The findings showed that only 31.9% of households in medically underserved areas met the Healthy People 2020 targets for broadband subscription rates, compared to 64.4% of non-MUA households. Although there was some convergence in broadband disparities between MUA and non-MUA households in urban areas over time, rural MUA households showed little improvement in broadband access.
JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Irene M. Tami-Maury, Yue Liao, Maria L. Rangel, Leticia A. Gatus, Eileen H. Shinn, Ashley Alexander, Karen Basen-Engquist
Summary: The study evaluated the effectiveness of the "Active Living After Cancer" program in minority and medically underserved breast cancer survivors, showing improvements in participants' physical activity, quality of life, and physical functioning.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Candice Schwartz, Ifeanyi Beverly Chukwudozie, Silvia Tejeda, Ganga Vijayasiri, Ivy Abraham, Mylene Remo, Hiral A. Shah, Maria Rojas, Alicia Carillo, Loraine Moreno, Richard B. Warnecke, Kent F. Hoskins
Summary: Providing individualized breast cancer risk estimates in federally qualified health centers was associated with increased use of mammography among women of racial and ethnic minority groups who were at high risk. This strategy could help promote equity in mammography use and reduce racial disparities in breast cancer mortality. Further investigation is needed to explore the potential benefits of this approach.
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Venu Ganti, Andrew M. Carek, Hewon Jung, Adith Srivatsa, Deborah Cherry, Levather Neicey Johnson, Omer T. Inan
Summary: This study presents a novel cuffless, wrist-worn device based on pulse transit time (PTT) for monitoring blood pressure in a diverse population, demonstrating accurate monitoring of diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) across different demographics and racial backgrounds. The device showed potential for widespread hypertension screening and management in medically underserved areas, empowering users with convenient remote monitoring capabilities.
JMIR MHEALTH AND UHEALTH
(2021)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Gang Du, Jingjing Zhang
Summary: Home health care services supply is insufficient and unbalanced in China, especially in terms of elderly nursing manpower. It is crucial to arrange the existing nursing personnel in a reasonable manner to fully utilize their service capabilities.
COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Jie Zhong, Jonelle Boafo, Abraham A. Brody, Bei Wu, And Tina Sadarangani
Summary: Our study revealed that communication between PCPs and ADCs is currently cumbersome and ineffective. Stakeholders characterized current communication as infrequent, delayed, incomplete, unreliable, irrelevant, and generic. Bidirectional, relevant, succinct, and interdisciplinary communication is needed to elevate the standard of care for persons living with dementia.
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL INFORMATICS ASSOCIATION
(2022)