Evaluation of a Pilot Wellness Elective for Master of Public Health Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Graduate student wellbeing is a public health issue in the United States. The COVID-19 outbreak exacerbated the mental health burden on graduate students worldwide. Culture of Wellness (PH 104) is a 2-week wellbeing elective course that teaches evidence-based wellbeing strategies for graduate students at a university in the United States. Our study aimed to evaluate the impact of this pilot wellbeing elective on Master of Public Health students' mental health and wellness during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: Participants included 22 Master of Public Health students from the class of 2021 at a university in the United States. We provided a pre-course survey to students that assessed their perception of their own personal wellbeing, their knowledge about various wellbeing strategies, and their confidence in applying 13 wellbeing strategies before taking the course. Post-course students completed the same survey following course completion, as well as a matching evaluation and a five-month follow up survey. RESULTS: Of the 13 strategies taught, students reported significant improvements in their ability to apply 10 strategies. There was a significant increase in self-reported emotional and physical wellbeing, as well as a significant decrease in burnout. Five months post-course, more than three quarters of respondents used strategies taught in the course on a weekly basis or more. LIMITATIONS: This pilot study is limited by its small sample size, which may restrict the generalizability of the findings. CONCLUSIONS: The PH 104 Culture of Wellness course was effective in improving graduate students' wellbeing and confidence in applying wellbeing strategies.

E-Mentoring Female Underrepresented Public Health Student Researchers: Supporting a More Diverse Postpandemic Workforce.

Within higher education, underrepresented students continue to face inequalities and discrimination, with unique challenges surfacing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mentoring through formal or informal channels is one way to offer assistance to such students. During COVID-19 lockdowns, as classes and work moved online, mentoring also transitioned online. Electronic mentoring, or e-mentoring, was implemented formally by some universities and informally by independent researchers. This article describes the informal mentoring experiences of the lead author with 8 female student researchers, 6 of whom were mentored online. The students represented different racial and ethnic backgrounds, offering a collection of e-mentoring case studies during the pandemic. These independent field reports should not be assumed to represent any of the students' 6 universities, but they are a sample of what can be achieved by invested e-mentors. By sharing these anecdotal experiences, the authors call on all researchers of underrepresented groups to consider e-mentoring to support underrepresented student researchers and diversify the public health research field.

Public Health Student Response to COVID-19.

To understand the role public health students play in response to COVID-19 despite cuts in funding for graduate student emergency response programs (GSERPs), we reviewed the websites of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Council on Education in Public Health, and individual schools and programs to identify student participation in COVID-19 response activities. Thirty schools and programs of public health are supporting public health agencies in response to COVID-19, primarily through the provision of surge capacity (n = 20, 66.7%), contact tracing (n = 19, 63.3%), and training (n = 11, 36.7%). The opportunity to participate in formal and informal applied public health experiences like practica, service-learning, and field placements can benefit both public health students and agency partners. Although recent publications have identified gaps in academic public health response to COVID-19, in part due to the cessation of funding for workforce development and other university-based programs in public health preparedness, schools and programs of public health continue to support public health agencies. Future funding should explicitly link public health students to applied public health activities in ways that can be measured to document impacts on public health emergency response and the future public health workforce.

Willingness to perform induced abortion and associated factors among graduating midwifery, medical, nursing, and public health officer students of University of Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia: institution based cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: In developing countries, abortion is often unsafe and a significant cause of maternal morbidity and mortality accounting for about 8% (4.7-13.2%) of maternal mortality worldwide. Internationally, safe abortion services are recognized as reducing maternal mortality, and liberalized abortion laws are associated with reduced mortality resulting from unsafe abortion procedures. However, health care providers have moral, social and gender-based reservations that affects their willingness towards providing induced abortion services. The purpose of this study was to assess willingness to perform induced abortion and associated factors among graduating Midwifery, Medical, Nursing, and Public health officer students of University of Gondar. METHODS: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted from March 29 to May 30, 2019. All graduating students available during data collection period were considered as study population. Stratified simple random sampling technique was used to select 424 study participants. Pre tested, semi- structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20. Ethical clearance was obtained from School of midwifery under the delegation of institutional review board of university of Gondar. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety students out of 424 students were willing to perform induced abortion for indications supported by Ethiopian abortion law, making a proportion of 68.4% (95%Cl: 64.2, 72.9). Sex (Being male (AOR = 4.89, 95%CI: 3.02, 7.89)), religion (being orthodox than protestant (AOR = 10.41, 95%CI: 3.02, 21.57)), being Muslim than protestant (AOR = 5.73, 95%CI: 1.37, 15.92)) and having once or less a week religious attendance (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI: 1.20, 3.34) were factors associated with willingness towards performing induced abortion. CONCLUSIONS: According to this study willingness of students towards providing induced abortion services was good. However female students, protestant followers and those students with more than once a week religious attendance should be encouraged to support women's access to induced abortion services by referring them to other health care professionals willing to provide induced abortion services.

Perceptions of Evidence-Based Decision-Making Among Full-Time Teachers and Senior Undergraduates in Public Health: A Nationwide Survey in Taiwan.

Using current best evidence to make decisions can improve outcomes of public health. Thus, establishing the capacities of evidence-based public health (EBPH) has become one of the core competences. To better scale up EBPH movement, efforts should focus on introduction of EBPH into school curriculum. However, data indicating the extent to which EBPH is used in universities are scant. In the current study, we conducted a nationwide questionnaire survey to investigate the perceptions toward EBPH among full-time teachers and senior undergraduates at all universities with a Department of Public Health in Taiwan. A structured questionnaire was distributed by post to all potential participants of nine universities in 2017. Questions included items related to awareness, knowledge, skills, behaviors, and barriers of EBPH. Results showed teachers were more aware of EBPH than students. In addition, teachers more often had sufficient knowledge and skills of EBPH, and more often applied the findings to decision-making after critical appraisal than students. Furthermore, personal barriers toward EBPH were more common in students than teachers. In conclusion, there are differences in awareness, knowledge, skills, behaviors, and barriers of EBPH between teachers and students. The data suggest that an initiative of systematically teaching EBPH to undergraduates is important.

Harnessing the expertise and enthusiasm of university students for assistance in disasters.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center's, College of Public Health modeled a student response team after similar successful programs at Emory University and the University of North Carolina. The team was created for three specific scenarios: epidemiology outbreak assistance, points of dispensing assistance, and monitoring social media in a disaster. Graduate students in public health are an overlooked volunteer resource. Many have prior work experience and are eager for the opportunity to gain additional practical experience while demonstrating classroom knowledge about the foundations of public health. Requesting agencies gain access to a dependable, replenishable volunteer pool. Academic institutions are encouraged to create teams to serve local communities, giving students access to serve local communities and to give students access to valuable applied experience that can be beneficial as they enter the public health workforce.

Assessment of tobacco control advocacy behavioural capacity among public health faculty and students: a cluster intervention study.

OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the outcomes of a tobacco control advocacy behavioural capacity (ABC)-building programme among public health faculty and students in China. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cluster intervention study with subjects matching in the different stages of the intervention and observation. METHODS: Public health students (n = 1046) and faculty (n = 199) were recruited in the intervention group. The intervention included a series of tobacco control advocacy curriculum and activities that were developed and implemented at schools or departments of public health in 22 universities across China. The control group participants (n = 540) were public health undergraduate students from another 11 universities selected from the different geographic regions. A comprehensive assessment tool was used to measure the tobacco control ABC and perceived stress level to compare changes at baseline, midterm and 12-month follow-up. Repeated measures analysis of variance, paired t tests and chi-squared tests, general linear model and generalized estimating equation were used to determine the time effect for targeted students and faculty. Multivariate analysis of variance and logistic regression model were conducted to evaluate the treatment effects for students between intervention and control sites. RESULTS: Nine hundred and thirty-seven students and 170 faculty members in the intervention group and 469 students in the control group were valid for the final evaluation. Findings from treatment effect analyses show that the capacity-building programme significantly improved public health students' ABC, including awareness of tobacco control messages (F = 107.65, P < 0.01), general and public heath tobacco control attitudes (F = 7.52, P < 0.01; F = 8.53, P < 0.01), advocacy interest and motivation (F = 10.11, P < 0.01) and public advocacy behaviour for both family members and relatives or friends. The perceived stress in the intervention group students was also reduced significantly in comparison with the control group students (F = 4.99, P < 0.01). For faculty members, their ABC except advocacy for family members was all increased by time effect analyses. The training programme did not impact faculty and students' smoking behaviour. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence to support the implementation of tobacco control advocacy capacity training among public health professionals and students to curb the tobacco epidemic in China.

Technology in Public Health Higher Education.

Streamed and recorded lectures as well as audience response technology are increasingly used in public health tertiary education, to train practitioners to address Asia-Pacific region's rapidly changing health needs. However, little is known about the impact on student performance, satisfaction, and understanding. This study aimed to assess postgraduate students' perceptions and their use of technology in a large epidemiology subject at an Australian university in internal and external modes. The study used both routinely collected student data (n = 453) and survey data (n = 88). Results indicate that students accept and use technology-based learning tools, and perceive audience response technology as well as streamed and recorded lectures as useful for their learning (96.6%). Students have shown a preference to review recorded lectures rather than viewing streamed lectures. Analyses further suggest that the use of recorded and streamed lectures may be linked to better student performance for external students (passing, any use odds ratio = 3.32). However, these effects are not consistent across all student subgroups and externally enrolled students may profit more than those enrolled internally.

Validation d'un questionnaire auto-administré sur les valeurs en politique publique de santé.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this article are to describe the development of a self-administered questionnaire assessing the core values in the field of public health ( radardesvaleurs.com ) and to report the results of a study testing the questionnaire's test-retest reliability, internal consistency and construct validity. METHOD: A 24-item questionnaire grounded in the conceptual framework of Shalom H. Schwartz (2000) was developed by a group of international experts in public health. Six scores were generated, each linked to a specific value and put on three axes: individualism-equity, autonomy-conformity and risk-security. The questionnaire was submitted to students attending the School of Public Health of the Université de Montréal (ESPUM) (n = 700). A total of 401 students completed the questionnaire, 52 of whom completed it again one month later. RESULTS: For the test-retest reliability, all percentages of agreement were equal or superior to 60% except for a single question (50%). All Cohen's kappa coefficients of individual items were strong (> 0.60) except for three questions which presented a very high percentage of agreement. The Intraclass Correlation coefficients of the values' scores varied between 0.27 and 0.77. The three axes' internal consistency was estimated by Cronbach's alphas (between 0.46 and 0.74). The exploratory factorial analysis only partially confirmed the questionnaire's theoretical structure. CONCLUSION: Despite the limits of the results, the questionnaire has an interesting level of reliability and validity, which makes its pedagogical use pertinent to pursue. The limitation to four items/value, as well as the representativeness of the sampling (ESPUM students), could explain certain empirical shortcomings of the questionnaire.

Attitudes and barriers associated with seasonal influenza vaccination uptake among public health students; a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Although research has explored influenza vaccination uptake among medical and college students, there is a dearth of research in understanding influenza vaccination uptake and attitudes toward the vaccine among future public health practitioners. Undergraduate public health students represent future public health practitioners who may be a significant educational resource for health information, including the importance of vaccinations. METHODS: This cross-sectional study utilized survey data from 158 undergraduate public health students attending a large public university in Southern California. The survey assessed public health students' attitudes and beliefs towards the seasonal influenza vaccine and seasonal vaccination rates among this population. RESULTS: Over 88% of respondents reported having been encouraged to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine, while only 43.0% reported receipt. Of the students who reported not receiving the vaccine, 49.4% believed it may give them the flu, 30.4% believed there may be dangerous side effects, and 28.9% believed they were not at risk for contracting the flu. Access to health care practitioners (OR: 3.947, 95% CI [1.308-11.906]) and social encouragement (OR: 3.139, 95% CI [1.447-6.811]) were significantly associated with receipt of the seasonal influenza vaccine. CONCLUSION: As public health program curriculum includes information about seasonal influenza vaccination and 68% of the sample were seniors soon to be exiting the program with an undergraduate degree in public health education, this low seasonal influenza vaccination rate is disturbing. This study may add to the body of data demonstrating how knowledge of the vaccine does not always guarantee vaccine uptake. Results of the current study suggest that it may be beneficial to provide additional information targeted to public health students, aimed at mediating safety concerns and increasing social pressure to assist in improving vaccine acceptance and rates in this population. Maximizing seasonal influenza vaccination uptake by addressing attitudes, barriers and misperceptions may not only improve vaccination rates among public health students, but also in communities served by these future public health practitioners.

Use of a Systematic Consultation Process to Facilitate Nursing Research Projects: An Exemplar.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this article is to describe the use of a well-established, 5-stage consultation process, to advise a research team on planning strategies to engage domestic violence shelters (DVSs) as community partners in their study. The research team is testing a health promotion intervention for teens living in shelters with their parent and needed to enlist shelters as sites to recruit teens and conduct the intervention. Consultation aims were to (a) identify highly promising strategies described in peer-reviewed literature for identifying, recruiting, and collaborating with community organizations in research and (b) identify DVSs that would potentially serve as effective community partners for the study. METHODS: A clinical nurse specialist and a public health master's degree student led the consultation. The consultation process included (a) a systematic review of 29 peer-reviewed articles about research or program evaluation studies that engaged community partners and (b) a comprehensive online search of information about DVSs. OUTCOMES: Consultants identified 104 strategies used in studies to engage community partners and 10 specific DVSs most likely to effectively engage in the study. CONCLUSION: Clinical nurse specialists are well situated to provide consultation to research teams and should follow well-established consultation processes and systematic data collection procedures.

Innovation in values based public health nursing student selection: A qualitative evaluation of candidate and selection panel member perspectives.

OBJECTIVES: Values based recruitment emerges from the premise that a high degree of value congruence, or the extent to which an individual's values are similar to those of the health organization in which they work, leads to organizational effectiveness. The aim of this evaluation was to explore how candidates and selection panel members experienced and perceived innovative methods of values based public health nursing student selection. DESIGN AND SAMPLE: The evaluation was framed by a qualitative exploratory design involving semi-structured interviews and a group exercise. Data were thematically analyzed. Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted with selection panel members. Twenty-two successful candidates took part in a group exercise. INTERVENTION: The use of photo elicitation interviews and situational judgment questions in the context of selection to a university-run public health nursing educational program was explored. RESULTS: While candidates were ambivalent about the use of photo elicitation interviews, with some misunderstanding the task, selection panel members saw the benefits for improving candidate expression and reducing gaming and deception. Situational interview questions were endorsed by candidates and selection panel members due to their fidelity to real-life problems and the ability of panel members to discern value congruence from candidates' responses. CONCLUSIONS: Both techniques offered innovative solutions to candidate selection for entry to the public health nursing education program.

The active engagement model of applied ethics as a structure for ethical reflection in the context of course-based service learning.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this case report is to explore the active engagement model as a tool to illuminate the ethical reflections of student physical therapists in the context of service learning in a developing country. METHODS: The study participants were a convenience sample of six students. The study design is a case report using a phenomenological perspective. Data were collected from students' narrative writing and semi-structured interviews. The steps of the active engagement model provided the structural framework for student responses. The analysis process included open coding, selective coding, and member checking. RESULTS: Results showed the emergence of two main themes: 1) gathering rich detail and 2) developing independent moral identity. Students' descriptions of their relationships were detailed and included explanations about the complexities of the sociocultural context. Independent and deliberate agency was evident by the students' preparedness to be collaborative, to raise ethical questions, to identify ethically important aspects of their practice and to describe their professional roles. The students noted that the use of the model increased their engagement in the ethical decision-making process and their recognition of ethical questions. CONCLUSIONS: This case report illustrates attributes of the active engagement model which have implications for teaching ethical reflection: scaffolding for ethical reflection, use of narrative for reflection, reflection in action, and illumination of relevant themes. Each of these attributes leads to the development of meaningful ethical reflection. The attributes of this model shown by this case report have potential applications to teaching ethical reflection.

Lessons learnt from a three-year pilot field epidemiology training programme.

PROBLEM: The Pacific region has widely dispersed populations, limited financial and human resources and a high burden of disease. There is an urgent need to improve the availability, reliability and timeliness of useable health data. CONTEXT: The purpose of this paper is to share lessons learnt from a three-year pilot field epidemiology training programme that was designed to respond to these Pacific health challenges. The pilot programme built on and further developed an existing field epidemiology training programme for Pacific health staff. ACTION: The programme was delivered in country by epidemiologists working for Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network partners. The programme consisted of five courses: four one-week classroom-based courses and one field epidemiology project. Sessions were structured so that theoretical understanding was achieved through interaction and reinforced through practical hands-on group activities, case studies and other interactive practical learning methods. OUTCOME: As of September 2016, 258 students had commenced the programme. Twenty-six course workshops were delivered and one cohort of students had completed the full five-course programme. The programme proved popular and gained a high level of student engagement. DISCUSSION: Face-to-face delivery, a low student-to-facilitator ratio, substantial group work and practical exercises were identified as key factors that contributed to the students developing skills and confidence. Close engagement of leaders and the need to quickly evaluate and adapt the curriculum were important lessons, and the collaboration between external partners was considered important for promoting a harmonized approach to health needs in the Pacific.

Delivering Tobacco Cessation Content in the Middle East Through Interprofessional Learning.

Objective. To explore the attitudes of pharmacy, pharmacy technician, medical, and public health students before and after an IPE activity that focused on smoking cessation in the Middle East. Methods. A pre-post intervention research design using the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) was used for this study. The tool contained 20 items, categorized under the following subscales: teamwork and collaboration, professional identity, and patient-centeredness. Results. A total of 47 out of 50 students from four different health disciplines in Qatar (medicine, pharmacy, pharmacy technician, and public health) who participated in the activity completed a pre- and post-intervention pre-validated questionnaire (94% response rate). Total attitude scores were calculated for all the 20 items along with attitudinal scores of the three domains. Most of the students reported having a positive attitude toward IPE; the number of students having a positive attitude toward IPE increased after the IPE session. The overall median (IQR) score increased from 82 (16) before the session to 84 (15) after the session. Students from different disciplines did not vary in their attitude scores. Conclusion. Health care professional students in Qatar perceived IPE positively, believing that it enhanced their communication skills, collaboration and appreciation of professional roles. This study has implication on developing effective methods to implement IPE in various health professional education curricula.

Student outbreak response teams: lessons learned from a decade of collaboration.

OBJECTIVES: Student response teams within colleges of public health effectively address important concerns for two stakeholders. For universities, students learn the fundamentals of field epidemiology and provide popular training and networking opportunities. For health departments, students serve as surge capacity as trained workforce available during outbreak investigations and potentially for routine tasks. STUDY DESIGN: This paper describes the interaction between a student response team and several health departments utilizing specific examples to demonstrate the various roles and activities students can fulfill. Lessons learned from both University team leaders and the various health departments are also included. METHODS: The program evolved over time, beginning with a needs assessment of local health departments and a determination of student training needs, collection, and confidential transmission of data, and interviewing techniques. Over the last decade students have worked on outbreak investigations, case-control studies, program evaluations, and in-field responses. RESULTS: Since 2005, over 200 public health graduate students have contributed more than 1800 h investigating 62 separate disease outbreaks in Arizona. In addition, over the past four years students also worked an additional 2500 h to assist county health departments in routine enteric investigations, specifically for Campylobacter and Salmonella. Best practices and lessons learned found that communication, preplanning and a willingness to collaborate increased the learning opportunities for students and ability for health departments to increase their capacity both during an emergency and for routine work. CONCLUSIONS: Establishment of a student response team (1) trains students in field experiences; (2) creates trained surge capacity for health departments; (3) increases collaboration between schools of public health and state/local health departments; (4) establishes a way to share funding with a local health department; and (5) increases the number of students being placed in health departments for projects, internships, and jobs following graduation.

Survey on awareness of folic acid recognition and intake by female students.

To reduce the risk of neural tube defects, studies have been conducted on female students of medical services, nutritional science, and nursery education that investigated the awareness of folic acid by using questionnaires. Many investigators have suggested the need to provide detailed information about the awareness of folic acid and knowledge about folic acid intake and neural tube defect risk reduction. The dietary habits of female students showed a positive correlation with their estimated folic acid intake, suggesting that improvements in dietary habits are associated with the consumption of folic acid. The importance of folic acid intake must be more aggressively promoted among female students. Thus, many learning opportunities should be provided for such students to help increase their folic acid intake.