Community Health | Page 7 | College of Applied Health Sciences

Raj gets CHAD grant to examine inclusive diets in long-term care

June 14, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Culturally inclusive diets face regulatory barriers in long-term care facilities

KCH Assistant Professor Mina Raj received a grant from the Center on Health, Aging, and Disability for her project entitled, ““Towards the development of guidelines for inclusive foods in long-term care.”

The CHAD Pilot Grant, which is valued at for $29,646 for 18 months starting July 1, aims to find out more about resident preferences for inclusive diets from the perspectives of long-term care (LTC) personnel, and understand the practice and regulatory barriers and facilitators to promoting inclusive diets in long-term care facilities in order to ultimately develop guidelines for implementing inclusive diets in long-term care facilities.

An inclusive diet, as defined in this study, is one that considers dietary preferences that may be informed by cultural norms or traditions.

The study is important, Raj said, because, “Food is a fundamental aspect of community and is also tied to mental and physical health outcomes. For instance, eating traditional foods has been linked with promoting joy and delight among patients with dementia.”

“We have an increasingly diverse aging population, and as our health system pursues health equity and addressing health disparities, it is critical to understand how to ensure that long-term facilities promote inclusiveness and belonging,” she said. “Even though the number of racial and ethnic minority older adults living in long-term care facilities in the U.S. has increased substantially in the last few decades, these older adults are still very reluctant to reside in long-term care facilities and a primary concern is the alignment of dietary preferences and options offered in facilities. Availability of preferred foods that align with cultural norms and traditions could promote food consumption thereby reducing the risk of frailty and associated health conditions among older adults.”

Another of the study’s goals is to identify regulatory barriers to inclusive diets in LTC facilities. For example, one regulatory barrier is the vendors or grocery stores from which LTC facilities are allowed to purchase prepared meals or ingredients for cooking in the facility. The vendors may not offer inclusive diets or grocery stores may not sell produce needed to prepare meals that are traditional to certain communities, Raj said. Raj said she hopes this study can inform modification of these types of regulations and contribute to inclusion and health equity in LTC facilities..

Raj said the study will focus on long-term care facilities across Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.

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Tags: CHAD, Long-term care, Mina Raj

Community Health senior Briana Aldama discusses COVID and the class of 2021

June 20, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Students are attending college in a unique environment, and that includes students in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois. The AHS communications staff spoke with AHS seniors about online classes, truncated courses and how COVID-19 changed their expectations. Today, we speak with Briana Aldama, who graduated in May with a Bachelor of Science in Community Health.

Q: Why did you pick KCH?

A: I chose it because it aligned well with my occupational therapy career path in a way that would set me up for success.

Q: Which professors had the most impact on you?

A: Jeanine Bensken taught a course I took and introduced the class to research opportunities. I then took advantage of that and met with her to see my options. I ended up being most interested in her research within the college. I learned a lot from this experience and found that she was great support for me both personally and professionally.

Q: What course did you most enjoy?

A: I enjoyed most of my community health courses but CHLH 206: Medical Ethics really stood out to me these past 4 years. I think applying your knowledge to really difficult real-life examples is hard to do, but this course really challenged each student to think in a way that allows you to professionally acknowledge what decision will provide the best outcome.

Q: Did you enter KCH knowing your career path, or did KCH help you decide?

A: I did know I wanted to do occupational therapy when entering KCH, however, I feel these courses really allowed me to gain a new perspective in a way that a good occupational therapist should.

Q: What do you hope to do after you graduate?

A: I will be attending Midwestern University to obtain my doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy. As of right now, I am keeping an open mind as to which setting I would like to work in after graduation because I find all areas within this field to be integrating in their own ways.

Q: What was your favorite on-campus experience?

A: My favorite on-campus experience was running from Foellinger to the Kappa Delta house after I opened my sorority bid. It was such a fun experience and was the beginning of the friendships made during this time.

Q: What do you miss most because of the pandemic?

A: I missed the social aspect of college. School can get intense and stressful, so I feel that social support is very important to help get through the tough times. Having people to study with and then hang out with during moments of downtime is very important and helps to keep a healthy balance for students.

Q: What are the biggest changes on campus, pre and during COVID?

A: I would say the courses were the biggest change. Before COVID students would walk to class each day and have a set time to focus on class, as well as get to know the professors well. The campus also provided great study environments that may have not been as available for students at home during this time.

Q: What would you say to recommend KCH to a prospective student?

A: This is a perfect major to get into because I felt it prepared me well for health-related issues across the board and if you are interested in the health field, perhaps these courses can even help pique an interest you didn’t even realize you had!

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Improving Latinas’ perinatal mental health during COVID-19 crisis

April 26, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

*Authors Recommend Ways to Improve Latinas’ Perinatal Mental Health During COVID-19 Crisis. (Image provided)*

Authors recommend culturally appropriate communication while providing anxiety resources

Experiencing anxiety during pregnancy is associated with pregnancy complications, and Latinas today face many stressors related to COVID-19 as well as pre-existing racism and intolerance. A new commentary from KCH Assistant Professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo in Women’s Health Issues recommends ways for clinical practice, research, and policy to better support the mental health of pregnant and postpartum Latinas.

The commentary was published in Women’s Health Issues, the official journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health, which is based at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Lara-Cinisomo and colleagues explain that high rates of COVID-19 cases and pandemic-related job losses in Latino communities can exacerbate the ongoing immigrant and minority-related stressors affecting perinatal Latinas. They note that research has found a relationship between immigration policies and anxiety in Latinas, and that some communities report fearing deportation more than COVID-19.

The authors’ recommendations for clinical practice include using culturally appropriate communication—both one-on-one and over social media—to provide information about anxiety symptoms and resources. To allow for research into the combined effects of psychosocial, cultural, sociopolitical, and socioeconomic stressors, they suggest that the National Institutes of Health and other funders direct grants to investigators who have records of working with Latino communities; they also highlight the importance of examining different subgroups of Latinas, rather than treating them as a monolith.

The commentary’s policy recommendations include suggestions for improving health care as well as stressors in the larger environment. Lara-Cinisomo and her colleagues urge policymakers to direct additional funding toward bilingual and diversity-trained professionals, and toward increasing access to telemedicine and language services. They also advise officials to improve workplace health and safety (noting that structural racism leaves both Black and Latino workers disproportionately likely to work in jobs with high risks of COVID-19 exposure), halt deportations, and reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border.

“As the Biden-Harris administration begins implementing its policy priorities, we urge all elected officials to provide much-needed resources to clinicians working directly with perinatal Latinas, researchers working to understand the effects of the pandemic on these women, and the perinatal Latinas who are fighting to keep themselves and their families safe on all fronts,” the authors conclude. “Improving mental health for perinatal and postpartum Latinas has long been an important public health priority, and COVID-19 has made it even more pressing,” said Amita Vyas, Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health Issues and associate professor of prevention and community health at Milken Institute SPH. “This commentary helps move the work forward by offering concrete recommendations for clinicians, researchers, funders, and elected officials.”

“Recommendations for clinical practice, research, and policy to address the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety symptoms in immigrant and U.S.-born Latina mothers” has been published online as an article in press and will appear in a future issue of Women’s Health Issues.

Editor’s note:

To reach Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo, email laracini@illinois.edu.

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Tags: COVID-19, Perinatal health, Pregnancy, Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo

Community Health student feels confident about return to in-person instruction

April 26, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Student is also EMT and administers vaccines

*Nick Olivieri is an EMT and can give vaccines (Stock image)*

Nick Olivieri is a senior in the University of Illinois’ College of Applied Health Sciences, and expects to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in community health in May. But if he was returning to school in the fall—when UIUC and many other schools are expecting to return to in-person instruction in the midst of the pandemic—he would be looking forward to it.

“100 percent,” said Olivieri, an Orland Park, Ill., native. “U of I has put on an example for the rest of the nation. I get tested multiple times a week, and if people continue to do that, I don’t see a reason why I can’t be sitting next to my fellow classmates once we all know we’ve had some negatives. People are going to get vaccinated. I don’t see why our campus can’t be back in person, and people will actually get the real U of I experience that they thought they would when they signed up to come to the school.”

Part of the reason Olivieri is so confident is that, as a licensed Emergency Medical Technician, he is eligible to administer COVID-19 vaccines. As part of his graduation requirement, Olivieri is doing an internship as a medical assistant at Frances Nelson Health Center, a walk-in clinic in Champaign, where UIUC is based.

“One of the first things they said my first day on the internship, was like, ‘OK, cool. You got your EMT license. You are eligible to give the vaccine,’” he said. “And it took a bit of asking after that. But eventually a slower day around the clinic, so one of the physician’s assistants brought me over to the vaccination clinic, and he let me do it. And only through this internship would I be able to do that, which I’m grateful for.”

Not that Olivieri—who has himself gotten vaccinated—didn’t have some hesitation about putting needles into arms.

“Well, I won’t lie. When I first was approached, asked to do it, I was a little hesitant. I didn’t have any previous experience giving shots, but I knew someone would be training me. And I’ve always learned throughout EMS that you’re only going to learn through actually doing it. You can’t overthink it.”

Most people age 16 and older in Central Illinois are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine, and Frances Nelson is administering vaccines to “almost anyone who asks,” Olivieri said. Still, some are naturally concerned about taking the needle or the potential side effects.

“There are cases where people get a wave of anxiety or fear,” he said. “And these people, we take them to the side and we try to calm them down by just like talking to them. Because these bad reactions, they’re very rare. But I do tell these people that I take this vaccine. And every institution worth their while in the U.S. opts for the vaccine. And I think it’s a civil duty getting it.”

In his role as an EMT and at Frances Nelson, Olivieri is an obvious choice for classmates and friends to come to for advice.

“I am somewhat knowledgeable about health care, and I’ve taken enough science classes to know how the vaccine works,” he said. “But I’m still no expert on this whatsoever. (Classmates) do ask me questions about the vaccine. And I have nothing but good to say about it. I’m pretty confident in the safety of it. (But) with the collective knowledge of all the scientists in America, the CDC is the best source.”

Olivieri added that he will not “baby-sit” his fellow classmates about their behavior on campus.

“It is frustrating to see a large group of campus going out every weekend, things like that,” he said. “But people are also in control of their own decisions. But I would say yes, it is a bit frustrating when people do not follow such recommendations given by the CDC and university.”

Olivieri is quick to point out that he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in without his AHS training.

“You can enter many different fields through Community Health, and they kind of give you a good way of thinking about health care,” he said. “I wanted to help people in health care, but I wasn’t really sure in what way. Community Health at AHS really helps you learn about all the types of positions throughout the health system.”

Olivieri already has had a number of experiences for someone of his age. Yet, he has big plans ahead.

“I want to get a job at an ambulance company, but also look for other jobs in a clinical setting. I want to do that for a couple of years and hopefully take the (Medical College Admission Test), do well, and gain admission into medical school.”

With his training, Olivieri is well on his way.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

Tags: alumni

Public health training gives chaplain a different perspective

Jan. 19, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Systematic reviews have found that religion is associated with decreases in depression, faster recovery from depression, less drug dependence, less drug abuse, better physical health, longer life, and an increased sense of purpose, well-being, hope and optimism

Kristin Godlin is an ordained Presbyterian minister and a chaplain at Carle and OSF Heart of Mary Medical Center in Urbana. She’s also a PhD candidate in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois.

That confluence gives Godlin a unique perspective in her role, but one she hopes doesn’t remain unique for long. Godlin’s research looks at the connection between religiosity and public health. Godlin, an alum of the Master of Public Health in AHS, said, “From a health standpoint, religion functions primarily as a means of helping people to cope with stress.”

Chaplains provide spiritual and emotional support to patients and their families. While most chaplains are themselves religious, they care for people of all faiths, as well as people who are not religious. Within the context of hospital emergency departments, chaplains additionally serve as a kind of go-between for staff members, patients, and their families. They also facilitate meetings between families and physicians.

But the public health portion of the job is one that is still quite new, even for Godlin. At the time she was board certified as a chaplain, there was an announcement made at the Association of Professional Chaplains’ annual conference that the Templeton Foundation had provided a group of chaplaincy leaders called Transforming Chaplaincy a grant of $4.5 million for the purposes of helping to train chaplains to become more research literate. The idea, Godlin said, was that if chaplains were more research literate, they would be better able to guide and evaluate and advocate for their profession.

The money could be used to encourage chaplaincy training programs to include in their curricula courses and lessons in research methodology and statistics, or how to read and understand research, Godlin said. But also, a significant part of the grant was to enable 16 board-certified chaplains the opportunity to pursue Master of Public Health degrees or Master of Science degrees for the purposes of learning how to not only read research but to generate research to support chaplaincy.

“I didn’t know hardly anything about public health when I started,” Godlin said. “I was a blank slate coming in. I think, particularly now that we have been going through the pandemic, I have a much greater understanding of what public health is all about and why they are approaching things the way they did than I ever would have before. And I really do think that’s an extraordinarily important part of the training, which I didn’t realize at the time I was getting it.”

The connection of religion and public health is particularly timely, Godlin said, because of COVID-19. Godlin recently came across a study which found that religiosity was negatively associated with intention to be vaccinated. “It was a sad commentary on how people who are more religious are less likely to take protective health measures,’ she said. “It caused me to think about how important it is for religious leaders to have an understanding of what public health is all about.

“And the National Association for the Advancement of Science has recently started made a significant effort to try to introduce science into the core curricula of divinity schools and seminaries across America. I can see, especially during the pandemic, how important that is for religious leaders to understand how science works and why public health professionals are making the recommendations that they are.”

Godlin, who grew up in Champaign-Urbana, earned two masters’ degrees from Yale Divinity School after doing her undergrad at Northwestern. But she returned to the area and trained as a chaplain and that’s when she got the research grant. At that point, she reached out to KCH assistant professor Robyn Gobin, because of Gobin’s interest in religion and spirituality and its effect on mental health.

“Dr. Gobin,” Godlin said, “has been an extraordinarily helpful mentor and partner along the way.”

“I shifted into the MPH-PhD program to focus more on research,” Godlin said. “Over the past few years, the focus of my research has been on the use of religion in coping with domestic violence. Studies find that up to 97% of women who experience domestic violence turn to God for help; so particularly for that population, religion is exceptionally important. My goal is to help religious leaders, chaplains, counselors, and therapists to strengthen their spiritual support for survivors, to help survivors to use their religion more effectively, and ultimately to improve survivors’ physical and mental health outcomes.”

Overall, Godlin believes the marriage of religion and public health through chaplaincy can help close the gap on misinformation.

“For the vast majority of people who have a religious background, when you say you are a chaplain, it opens doors that do not open for other people. And so people share things that they would not—patients share things and family members share things that they would not ordinarily share with other people.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Tags: alumni, Robyn Gobin

Pandemic showed importance of telehealth, telemedicine

Dec. 12, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Telehealth is here to stay, even with the COVID pandemic essentially over

Telehealth and telemedicine, two initiatives that became ubiquitous because of the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged the globe in 2020, are here to stay, according to two alums from the College of Applied Health Sciences’ Master of Public Health program.

Lauren Geary, who graduated from the MPH program in 2016 and is now Program Manager, Adolescent and Behavioral Telehealth Initiatives at the American Academy of Pediatrics, says the virtual health programs will stick around even after a COVID vaccine is widely distributed and people are inoculated.

“Yeah, I do think that it will stick around, and I think that it does improve access to care for several populations,” she said. “And I think that generally, it’s more convenient for people sometimes. Obviously, it’s not going to be a replacement for in-person care, but I think people are realizing how valuable it can be as a complement to in-person care.”

Alexis Katzenbach is another MPH alum who is the Program Manager of ECHO Initiatives at AAP. ECHO stands for Extension for Community Health Care Outcomes, a telementoring program that brings together subject matter experts and health care providers with those interested in learning about a variety of topics, one being COVID-19.

“I definitely don’t think (telehealth is) going away,” she said. “A lot of the discussions we have around ECHO and a lot of other organizations that are running ECHOs are specifically talking about that right now. We’re running a flu ECHO right now. And it’s a lot of the same discussion. How are we doing this safely? What are innovative ways to get evidence-based guidance shared?”

As much as both support virtual health and wellness programs, virtual learning is not as clear-cut, Katzenbach said, stressing she was speaking for herself, and not AAP.

“I can speak to the fact that my husband is a high school science teacher. And it definitely affects (students’) social. There’s a big social impact and emotional impact not being able to see their friends,” she said. “There’s an impact on learning as well. Virtual learning is tough for a lot of people. So not being able to do it in person, not being able to receive the support that they otherwise would have in person is difficult. But I know that the social and emotional impact is huge.”

Parents are also struggling with the full-day virtual learning format, Katzenbach said, adding that students are spending the same number of hours at their computers as they would spend in the classroom.

Both agreed, however, that they are applying what they learned in the MPH program to their current occupations.

“Some of the things that stick with me relate to, I think program evaluation was a really beneficial course that we took and also health behavior theory,” Geary said. “We learned about cultural competence and equity within our program. And those are things that we want to continue to ingrain in all of our work. So that was really helpful to have an intro to all of that through my graduate education.”

For her part, Katzenbach said, “I use logic models in every single position that I’ve been in. That definitely applied the information we learned in our grant writing. We did a lot of grant writing in one of our classes. And that is something that I’ve done in every role as well. I did learn a lot from our health behavior theory class. I was working at a local health department right after graduation for about four years in chronic disease and tobacco-related work. So the health behavior theory class was really, really helpful in implementing programs related to that.”

Katzenbach said she had a close friend in the Community Health program at Illinois.

“Community Health really jived with my interests and was still along the health field. And so it seemed like a really good next step for me. And it turned out to be the right one.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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MPH student Faith Washington talks about her contact tracing work

Dec. 10, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Students in the Master of Public Health program in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois have been asked by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Dept. to apply the skills they are learning as contact tracers. Periodically, we will speak with them about how they are doing in these roles. Today, we speak with Faith Washington.

Q: Is the work you’re doing for CUPHD different than what you were trained for in the MPH program?

A: In the MPH program, I am studying health behavior and promotion, so there are a few parallels regarding convincing people to do what is in their own best interest and the public’s best interest. I think the main difference is the turnaround time. For the health behaviors I study and would like to ultimately work to promote, the effects may not be seen as quickly as the impact of my advice regarding COVID-19 would be. For example, encouraging people to get screened for prostate cancer would potentially decrease the disease’s mortality rates because more cases are caught in the early stages. Still, that data wouldn’t be evident for quite a while, whereas encouraging people to isolate and quarantine has an almost immediate impact on the spread and identification of COVID-19 cases in the community.

Q: What field/industry were you hoping to work in upon graduation?

A: I hope to work in either public health program research, implementation, and evaluation at a state or federal level or to work as a health journalist. I am very passionate about improving the general public’s health literacy so that people can better advocate for themselves and their needs in medical settings and ultimately lead healthier happier lives.

Q: What kinds of questions do you ask in the work you’re currently doing?

A: As a contact tracer, I ask COVID-positive people how they feel, what symptoms they are experiencing if they require any resources like masks or food, and with whom they have recently interacted. At CUPHD, there is an emphasis on ensuring that everyone has what they need to safely and adequately quarantine or isolate. Hence, all of these questions are really important. I have found that giving out CUPHD contact information also reassures people that if they have a need that they don’t disclose during the interview, that is OK. We will still be prepared to assist them.

Q: Do you find people are willing to respond truthfully?

A: For the most part, people are willing to answer truthfully. It becomes relatively easy to tell when people are being dishonest. The one question that seems to get the most pushback is, “Do you have any close contacts?” Generally, people do not want to give out the personal information of their friends and family. Still, once I explain that we protect and respect everyone’s privacy and confidentiality and that we are only asking so that we may reach out to their close contacts and provide them with proper guidance and assistance regarding quarantine, people become more willing to disclose that information.

Q: Any frustrations that people are not listening to the health guidelines?

A: I become very frustrated when I see people not adhering to health guidelines because I see the negative impacts this virus has had on so many people and their families. It is hard to have one conversation with someone severely ill and potentially dying and then call another person who has mild symptoms or is asymptomatic and refuses to isolate and could be spreading this virus to others, who may then be my next severely ill call.

Q: Do people you know ask you for COVID advice?

A: My family doesn’t ask me for COVID advice because I always offer it before they have a chance. I am always in contact with my parents and brother to ensure that they are not succumbing to quarantine fatigue and they are continuing to follow all health guidelines. Fortunately, my family has been taking this very seriously, and my parents and brother are all able to work and learn from home right now. My friends sometimes ask me for COVID advice or ask me general questions if they don’t understand the reasoning behind something that public health officials are asking everyone to do right now. However, for the most part, my friends are also all still staying home and not really physically interacting with the world right now.

Q: What are you missing out on because of the pandemic, in terms of working face-to-face with people?

A: I think what I am most missing out on are the benefits of in-person classes. This is my first semester as an MPH grad student, but I studied communication with a concentration in health for my undergraduate degree here at UIUC, and there is such a stark difference between learning on Zoom and learning in a classroom. Mainly because there is so much collaboration necessary in public health courses. I am concerned that the connections I am making with my cohort are not as strong as they would have been had the semester been typical, but a lot of MPH students also work at CUPHD right now, so I do have more interaction with them through work, which I value a lot.

Q: What ways has COVID-19 affected you? Have you traveled? Have you been able to go home, see family?

A: I generally count myself as lucky because, while COVID has affected me a lot, it could have been much worse. Like many other class of 2020 students, I didn’t get a formal graduation, which was upsetting. I also have not been able to see my friends from high school for a very long time. We usually all congregate when we are home in Chicago, but due to the pandemic, we haven’t been home, and we haven’t been willing to potentially risk the health of our families by being together. I also have not traveled, which is rare for me. I usually travel to see friends or just take a trip to some landmark or interesting spot in the country, but most things are closed, and I am also not willing to get on a plane right now. While all of these things have been less than ideal, I count myself as fortunate because I do not personally know anyone who has died from COVID, and I was the only member of my immediate family and friend group to ever catch the virus, which I recovered from.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Tags: COVID-19, MPH

MPH student Maggie Hamielec talks about working as a contact tracer and COVID

Dec. 07, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Q: Is the work you’re doing for CUPHD different than what you were trained for in the MPH program?

A: I am currently working as a contact tracer with the CUPHD. One thing I love about this position is a public health background is not necessary, which allows many more individuals to be able to help out during this pandemic. While being in the MPH program is a bonus, I don’t think it is a training that is explicitly needed to be an effective contact tracer.

Q: What field/industry were you hoping to work in upon graduation?

A: I would like to either work in research on sexual health/health education or work in infectious disease epidemiology.

Q: What kinds of questions do you ask in the work you’re currently doing?

A: My job as a contact tracer has two main tasks: interviewing confirmed COVID-19 cases and notifying individuals who were in contact to a confirmed case that they need to quarantine.

During positive case interviews, we ask about symptoms and pre-existing conditions to collect epidemiologic data, known exposures to other positive cases to determine how the virus is being spread in the community and information about employment, household members and socializing to identify close contacts that will need to quarantine. We also ask if the cases have everything to isolate safely and do everything we can to provide them with resources needed such as food, shelter, housing/income resources, masks, thermometers and toiletries.

During close contact notifications, we tell the individuals the date of exposure, explain how long and why they will need to quarantine, educate them on symptoms, provide them information on testing and as with positive cases, we also ask about any resources needed to make sure they can quarantine safely.

For both groups, we also monitor the individuals throughout their isolation/quarantine periods using health assessments, which ask about symptoms, if the person has had to leave isolation/quarantine for any reason and as a way to follow again to make sure the individual is able to isolate/quarantine safely.

Q: Do you find people are willing to respond truthfully?

A: Not always. It definitely varies from person to person. I have spoken to individuals who are willing to tell me every single place they have been in the prior month and I have people who swear at me for asking how they are feeling because that is “personal information”. I think people often fear that they will get in trouble for telling us who they have been around or where they have been. I can understand why some feel that way, but CUPHD is more concerned about preventing the spread of COVID-19 within our community than it is with punishing those not following health guidelines.

Q: Any frustrations that people are not listening to the health guidelines?

A: Yes! It is incredibly frustrating to hear about weddings, parties on campus or even people knowingly leaving isolation while infectious. I understand the burnout and pandemic feeling that most, if not all of us are currently feeling, but ignoring our problems never works. As time has gone on, my frustrations are less about the individuals within our community, and more about the federal government continuing to dismiss the pandemic. This is a team effort and without clear, well-communicated national health guidelines, we are going to continue to struggle with controlling the spread of COVID-19.

Q: Do people you know ask you for COVID advice?

A: I do have a lot of family and friends ask for COVID advice. Most often it is about what qualifies as close contact and how concerned one should be if they were exposed. I also have explained infectious periods more times than I can count (cue an “If I had a nickel for every time I was asked about COVID, I could afford to pay off my student loans” joke). It does get a little bit tiring, but the whole reason I am in public health is because I am passionate about community wellbeing. Knowing that I am someone whose opinion and experience is trusted and valued by my loved ones keeps the burnout at bay and reminds me what I am working hard for!

Q: What are you missing out on because of the pandemic, in terms of working face-to-face with people?

A: As someone who considers themself an extravert, it is working face-to-face! One thing this pandemic has really halted is the ability to socialize with people I work with. Zoom calls and social distancing make it very hard to connect with people outside of professional/academic settings.

Q: What ways has COVID-19 affected you? Have you traveled? Have you been able to go home, see family?

A: My mom lives in Poland and I had planned on visiting her in August and unfortunately was not able to due to the pandemic. Last time I saw her was in 2017 when I had just graduated high school and I wanted to keep up the post-grad tradition as I finished my undergraduate degree this summer as well.

I have not traveled much. I do enjoy being outdoors, so I have gone hiking a few times in Kickapoo State Park and Shawnee National Forest when the weather was nice!

I have gone home to the suburbs to see my dad, something I would not be comfortable doing if I wasn’t privileged and able to quarantine before and after seeing him, in addition to test frequently thanks to being a student here at UIUC and having a job that allows me to maintain social distance and mandates proper PPE.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Tags: COVID-19, Maggie Hamielec

MSHA alum Zaid Ahmed talks about his COVID-19 contact tracing work

Dec. 06, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Students in the Master of Science in Health Administration program in the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois have been asked by the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Dept. to apply the skills they are learning as contact tracers. Periodically, we will speak with them about how they are doing in these roles. Today, we speak with Zaid Ahmed.

Q: Is the work you’re doing for CUPHD different than what you were trained for in the MSHA program?

A: I would say that the work I did for CUPHD wasn’t really different from the MSHA, per se. Contact tracing is essentially just calling infected cases and close contacts to gather information on their symptoms, job status, family information etc. It isn’t really like anything I learned in my MSHA program but I know that my role is a small part of the study of epidemiology. I’m not applying anything from my academics but I am just a part of the epidemiological system, if that makes sense.

Q: What field/industry were you hoping to work in upon graduation?

A: I was hoping to work in the data/technology/analytics side of healthcare upon graduation.

Q: What kinds of questions do you ask in the work you’re currently doing?

A: I ask people who they’ve come into contact with, if their family members have any chronic disease that makes them vulnerable to COVID-19, basic information like address and birthdays, and whether or not they’ve experienced any symptoms.

Q: Do you find people are willing to respond truthfully?

A: People have been pretty truthful with me.

Q: Any frustrations that people are not listening to the health guidelines?

A: There have been several people who were frustrated with their two-week quarantine and some people have admitted to breaking it by going out somewhere. It is frustrating, but I can’t police them 24/7.

Q: Do people you know ask you for advice on dealing with COVID-19?

A: People have not asked me for COVID advice but they have asked where the cases are concentrated so they know to avoid those locations.

Q: What are you missing out on because of the pandemic, in terms of working face-to-face with people?

A: I’m missing out on the opportunity to see my fellow MSHA students and the ability to meet my professors in person.

Q: What ways has COVID-19 affected you? Have you traveled? Have you been able to go home, see family?

A: COVID made my dad lose his job although he’s managed to find another job. I haven’t been able to see my cousins in a long time. I have been spending these past few months at home with family so it hasn’t been all bad.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Tags: alumni, MHA

Mobile app aims to help older adults manage medications

Oct. 05, 2020 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

A team of researchers will seek to improve medication adherence rates in older adults with a novel app

Jeannie Lee, who specializes in geriatrics and behavioral research at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, assists on a medication review appointment with an elderly woman and her daughter-in-law.

Despite known benefits of taking prescription medications on time and with regularity, estimates indicate about half are not taken, leading to increased health care costs and mortality.

With new federal funding, however, a team of researchers from the University of Illinois’ College of Applied Health Sciences and the University of Arizona Health Sciences will seek to improve medication adherence rates in older adults with a novel mobile application.

With a team comprised of experts in pharmacy, nursing, educational psychology and cognitive aging, Kinesiology and Community Health professor Wendy Rogers and University of Arizona College of Pharmacy’s Jeannie Lee, PharmD, BCPS, BCGP, will use a five-year, $3.09 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance and test the Medication Education, Decision Support, Reminding, and Monitoring System 2.0 (MEDSReM-2), an integrated mobile app and companion website.

The MEDSReM-2 system will support medication adherence for hypertension and blood pressure (BP) management for older adults. While not yet publicly available, it is available to the research team and will be further developed and tested with study patients before commercial marketing.

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the most prevalent chronic disease among older Americans, estimated to affect 67 percent of people age 60 or older, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BP medications are remarkably effective in reducing negative outcomes of uncontrolled hypertension and proper adherence to blood pressure medications can yield major reductions in heart failure and stroke, as well as preserve cognitive function.

“Though medications are very effective for hypertension control, the typical hypertension medication adherence rate is only about 50 percent, and hypertension control in older adults is only 53 percent,” said Dr. Lee, the college’s assistant dean of student services and an associate professor who specializes in geriatrics and behavioral research. “Proof that medications do not work if people fail to use them.”

In a previous research project led by Kathleen C. “Kathie” Insel, PhD, RN, chair of the Biobehavioral Health Division in the UArizona College of Nursing, Dr. Lee and fellow collaborators developed and field-tested the first iteration of the MEDSReM app. This initial app was a technology translation of the Multifaceted Prospective Memory Intervention (MPMI), a series of strategies seeking to increase medication adherence by supporting cognitive processes.

Rogers, Lee, Dr. Insel and other collaborators now have started to use the grant to build on the original MEDSReM app, which integrates the successes of the MPMI strategies into a single, easy-to-use mobile app. If the technology proves to be useful, they plan to expand the next iteration for other diseases and populations.

The MEDSReM-2 app will capitalize on technological advancements such as integration of a wireless blood pressure monitor to provide feedback on the relationship between a person’s adherence rates and their blood pressure. In addition, the app will enable the smartphone camera to provide an easy set-up for entering medications, supporting missed-dose decisions, and personalizing their reminder schedule. The MEDSReM-2 system will also include a web portal to provide educational materials and feedback visualizations. Through this multidimensional approach, the research team believes patient medication adherence rates will be sustained and BP levels improved.

Other collaborators on the NIH grant include: Dan Morrow, a professor in the College of Education at Illinois, and Tim Hale, a teaching assistant professor in KCH at Illinois; Tracy Mitzner, PhD, Senior Research Scientist at Georgia Institute of Technology, and Josephine D. Korchmaros, PhD, director, UArizona Southwest Institute for Research on Women.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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