The 2020 American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo is going virtual this year and faculty and students at the UGA College of Public Health are joining public health professionals from across the country share what they have learned on how public health can “create the healthiest nation.”

Below are just some of the topics they will be presenting October 24-28, 2020.

College Faculty Presentations at APHA 2020

Stuart Feldman, professor of health policy & management, has been elected by his peers to serve as a three-year term Section Councilor in the APHA Ethics Section. Dr. Feldman is also moderating a session for the APHA Ethics Section which will focus on the intersection of ethics and public health policy.

• Seeking Pragmatic Public Health Policies. Time and date: October 26, 12:30 – 2:00 p.m.

Deanna Walters, faculty in health promotion & behavior, will be presenting a poster on the implementation of four, two-day tactical emergency casualty care (TECC) courses for Emergency Medical Personnel between 2019 and 2020. The classes taught first-responders strategies for operating in high-stress mass casualty situations, requiring skills like bleeding control, low-light assessment, direct- and indirect-threat assessment, and operating with tactical gear. Cameron Conner (MPH ’20) and MPH student Crystal Shelnutt contributed to this work.

• Rescue Task Force: Teaching tactical emergency casualty care for first responders in an active shooter mass casualty scenario. Time and date: October 26, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Christina Proctor, assistant professor in health promotion & behavior, is presenting findings from a systemic review conducted to evaluate effective components of community domestic abuse interventions in Hispanic populations. Gloria Andia (BSHP’ 18) contributed to this research.

• Effective components of community domestic abuse interventions in Hispanic populations: A systemic review. Time and date: October 27, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Sally Kirklewki, a research professional in health promotion & behavior, will be giving an oral presentation on a study examining the moderating effect of physical activity on the relationship between bullying and mental health among sexual and gender minority youth.

• Physical activity improves mental health in sexual and gender minority youth, but not for those who have been bullied. Time and date: October 28, 1:15 – 1:30 p.m.

CPH Student Presentations at APHA 2020

Kandyce Hylick, a Ph.D. student in health promotion & behavior, will be giving a presentation on how about Project POWER and its impact on mental and sexual health outcomes among young adult pregnant women in Liberia.

• Project POWER: A cognitive behavioral mindfulness-infused group-based mental and sexual health intervention among young pregnant women in Liberia. Time and date: October 25, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Erica Taylor, a Ph.D. student in health promotion & behavior, will be presenting posters in two different APHA sessions – Harm Reduction in Substance Abuse and Global Health Poster Session: Mental Health.

• Pilot Trial of a Smartphone-based Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Consumption among Veterans Living with HIV/AIDS. Time and date: October 25, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.
• The Impact of Mental Health and Psychosocial Conditions on Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk in Liberian Communities Post-Conflict. Time and date: October 26, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Hannah Southall, a Ph.D. student in health promotion & behavior, will be presenting on how academic-community partnerships can be used to begin to address built environment challenges related to active living in rural Taliaferro County, Georgia, where 50% of adult residents reported no access to exercise opportunities.

• Academic-community partnerships to address built environment active living barriers: A pilot. Time and date: October 26, 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Margaret Leonard, an MSW-MPH student, will be presenting on her work using Albert Bandura’s Moral Disengagement Model to analyze rhetoric put forth by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to advocate for access to and purchases of guns, as well as to increase their organizational membership.

• The National Rifle Association’s use of moral disengagement to defend gun use in America. Time and date: October 27, 10:45 – 11:00 a.m.

Kiran Thapa, a Ph.D. student in epidemiology, will be giving a poster presentation on a recent study exploring perceptions of SNAP participants on the two policy options – restrictions on sugar-sweetened beverages and incentives for fruits and vegetables – and the impact of policy options on FV and SSBs purchase decisions.

• Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Restriction or Fruit and Vegetable Purchase Incentive in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Participant’s Voice and Choice Behavior. Time and date: October 27, 3:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Victoria Fonzi, a BS-MPH student, will be giving on an oral presentation on her work examining the motivations and perceptions surrounding the use of orthodox medical care, alternative care, and home-based treatments by caregivers of Ghanaian children with cerebral palsy.

• Care-seeking among mothers of children with cerebral palsy in Ghana. Time and date: October 28, 10:30 -10:45 a.m.

Members of the PRIME (Practice, Research, and Mentorship in Epidemiology) team will be presenting a series of posters examining the associations between variables – including cesarean section, gestational hypertension, environmental exposures – on pregnancy outcomes:

Mehar Anand, B.S., health promotion
Risk factors associated with having a primary cesarean section in Georgia  Time and date: October 25, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Rushan Momin, BBA, business administration
The prevalence of and risk factors associated with severe maternal morbidity in Georgia  Time and date: October 27, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Skarlet Velasquez, Ph.D. student, epidemiology
The association between the environmental endocrine disruptor Bisphenol A and polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review of epidemiological studies. Time and date: October 27, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Mechelle Claridy, Ph.D. student, epidemiology
Remote Monitoring of Gestational diabetes and pregnancy induced hypertension: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Time and date: October 27, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Posted on October 22, 2020.