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Hongjie Liu appointed to Montgomery County COVID Advisory Board
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Will continue work on models for tracking and responding to the pandemic
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News
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The COVID-19 epidemic in rural U.S. counties
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Having first reached epidemic proportions in coastal metropolitan areas, COVID-19 has spread 4 around the country. Reported case rates vary across counties from zero to 125 per thousand 5 population (around a state prison in the rural county of Trousdale, Tennessee). Overall, rural 6 counties are underrepresented relative to their share of the population, but a growing proportion 7 of all daily cases and deaths have been reported in rural counties. This analysis uses daily 8 reports for all counties to present the trends and distribution of COVID-19 cases and deaths in 9 rural counties, from late March to May 16, 2020. I describe the relationship between population 10 density and case rates in rural and non-rural counties. Then I focus on noteworthy outbreaks 11 linked to prisons, meat and poultry plants, and nursing homes, many of which are linked to 12 high concentrations of Hispanic, American Indian, and Black populations. The growing 13 epidemic in rural counties is apparently driven by outbreaks concentrated in these institutional 14 settings, which are conducive to transmission. The impact of the epidemic in rural areas may 15 be heightened due to their weaker health infrastructure and more vulnerable populations, 16 especially due to age, socioeconomic status, and health conditions. As a result, the epidemic 17 may contribute to the ongoing decline of health, economic, and social conditions in rural areas.
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MPRC People
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Philip Cohen, Ph.D.
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Philip Cohen Publications
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Park Spaces and the User Experience: Reconsidering the Body in Park Analysis Tools
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As a strategy for combating physical inactivity, obesity, and other health conditions, the apperception of greenspace and importance of human-nature relationships have increased in recent decades. With this raised awareness in greenspace, the development of park auditing tools has been positioned primarily in the material conditions (e.g., physical environmental conditions) of parks. An examination of existing park auditing tools has shown that by focusing on particular material conditions, built environment and active living scholars have set aside other characteristics, namely, those that consider the user (e.g., the active human), as a separate concern from the focus of these tools. We have sought to engage with these tools to examine how they can be more effective in analyzing both the physical and human elements of parks and other natural environments.
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MPRC People
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Jennifer D. Roberts, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
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Jennifer D. Roberts Publications
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Creating Supportive Environments for LGBT Older Adults: An Efficacy Evaluation of Staff Training in a Senior Living Facility
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Supportive housing later in life tends to be a key concern for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) elders. Most senior care providers are un(der)prepared to meet the needs of older LGBT adults. This study evaluated the efficacy of a 4 h, face-to-face, research-based, LGBT-diversity training designed to improve senior housing facility staff’s cultural competency regarding the needs of LGBT elders. Findings from this study found a significant increase in LGBT content knowledge between pre- and post-intervention assessments and a significant decrease in perceived preparedness when working with LGBT elders. These effects remained significant after controlling for staff designation, religion, educational attainment, and training session. Findings suggest that staff’s cultural competence affected their perceived readiness to address LGBT elders’ needs. Implications are related to the concept of cultural humility or the lifelong process of understanding others’ experiences based on the recognition of lack of un(der)preparedness to create a culturally supportive residential environment.
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MPRC People
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Jessica N Fish, Ph.D.
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Jessica N Fish Publications
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Sacoby Wilson describes community "sacrifice zones" in Wired
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COVID impact on areas of high particulate concentrations is greater
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News
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Long-term exposure to particulate air pollution and brachial artery flow-mediated dilation in the Old Order Amish
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Background Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) has been associated with endothelial dysfunction, an early marker of cardiovascular risk. Our aim was to extend this research to a genetically homogenous, geographically stable rural population using location-specific moving-average air pollution exposure estimates indexed to the date of endothelial function measurement. Methods We measured endothelial function using brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in 615 community-dwelling healthy Amish participants. Exposures to PM < 2.5 μm (PM 2.5 ) and PM < 10 μm (PM 10 ) were estimated at participants’ residential addresses using previously developed geographic information system-based spatio-temporal models and normalized. Associations between PM exposures and FMD were evaluated using linear mixed-effects regression models, and polynomial distributed lag (PDL) models followed by Bayesian model averaging (BMA) were used to assess response to delayed effects occurring across multiple months. Results Exposure to PM 10 was consistently inversely associated with FMD, with the strongest (most negative) association for a 12-month moving average (− 0.09; 95% CI: − 0.15, − 0.03). Associations with PM 2.5 were also strongest for a 12-month moving average but were weaker than for PM 10 (− 0.07; 95% CI: − 0.13, − 0.09). Associations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 with FMD were somewhat stronger in men than in women, particularly for PM 10 . Conclusions Using location-specific moving-average air pollution exposure estimates, we have shown that 12-month moving-average estimates of PM 2.5 and PM 10 exposure are associated with impaired endothelial function in a rural population.
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MPRC People
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Robin Puett, Ph.D.
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Robin Puett Publications
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Comparing National Probability and Community‑Based Samples of Sexual Minority Adults: Implications and Recommendations for Sampling and Measurement
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Scientific evidence regarding sexual minority populations has generally come from studies based on two types of samples: community-derived samples and probability samples. Probability samples are lauded as the gold standard of population research for their ability to represent the population of interest. However, while studies using community samples lack generalizability, they are often better able to assess population-specific concerns (e.g., minority stress) and are collected more rapidly, allowing them to be more responsive to changing population dynamics. Given these advantages, many sexual minority population studies rely on community samples. To identify how probability and community samples of sexual minorities are similar and different, we compared participant characteristics from two companion samples from the Generations Study , each designed with the same demographic profile of U.S. sexual minority adults in mind. The first sample was recruited for a national probability survey, whereas the second was recruited for a multicommunity sample from four U.S. cities. We examined sociodemographic differences between the samples. Although there were several statistical differences between samples, the effect sizes were small for sociodemographic characteristics that defined the sample inclusion criteria: sex assigned at birth, race/ethnicity, and age cohort. The samples differed across other characteristics: bisexual respondents, respondents with less education, and those living in non-urban areas were underrepresented in the community sample. Our findings offer insights for recruiting community samples of sexual minority populations and for measuring sexual identity on probability surveys. They also bolster confidence in well-designed community samples as sources for data on sexual minority populations.
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MPRC People
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Jessica N Fish, Ph.D.
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Jessica N Fish Publications
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Positioning population studies to understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Faculty Associate Sonalde Desai contributes to IUSSP panel session
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Coming Up
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A Longitudinal Assessment of Parental Caregiving and Blood Pressure Trajectories: Findings from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for Women 2000–2011
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Background Few studies have investigated the consequences of caregiving on the objectively measured physiological health outcomes in China. This study used population-based longitudinal data to examine the association between parental caregiving and blood pressure among Chinese women. Method This is a retrospective analysis of 2586 women using five waves of data from the Ever-Married Women Survey component of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2000, 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011). We applied growth curve models to examine trajectories of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) associated with parental caregiving among women in China. Results In multivariable analyses of blood pressure trajectories adjusting for potential confounders, parental caregivers had higher systolic (β-coefficient (β) = 1.16; p ≤ 0.01) and diastolic blood pressure (β = 0.75; p ≤ 0.01) compared with non-caregivers across multiple waves. Caregivers and non-caregivers had similar levels of systolic blood pressure at baseline, but caregivers exhibited relatively higher growth rate over time. Diastolic blood pressure was much higher among caregivers at the baseline measure, and across time relative to non-caregivers. Moreover, low-intensity but not high-intensity caregivers showed higher growth rate compared with non-caregivers for both SBP and DBP. Discussion Our results demonstrate the negative cardiovascular consequences of parental caregiving among Chinese women. Findings from the study can be used to develop future stress management interventions to decrease hypertension risk within women who provide care to their parents.
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Retired Persons
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Sunmin Lee, Sc.D.
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Sunmin Lee Publications
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Rashawn Ray interviewed on Ahmaud Arbery's shooting case at NPR
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As the country mourns Ahmaud Arbery's death, NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with University of Maryland sociology professor Rashawn Ray about why men of color disarm themselves as a defense mechanism.
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News