2:30 PM – 3:45 PM | Merten Hall, Rooms 1200, 1202 and 1203
Thriving Together: Unveiling the Symbiosis of Health and Society
2:40pm – 3:55pm | Merten Hall, Room 1200
Discussant: Ali Weinstein, Ph.D.
Developing a Digital Cerebral Vasculature Database for Applications in Stroke Management
Aseem Milind Pradhan (College of Engineering and Computing), Fernando Mut, Juan Cebral
Human cerebral collateral circulation acts as a vital safeguard against interruptions in blood flow, especially during strokes. The quality of collateral circulation significantly affects stroke treatment outcomes. However, assessing this circulation is subjective due to limitations in current metrics, and advanced imaging techniques cannot capture detailed collateral structures, leaving us with an incomplete understanding of the cerebral vasculature. In this study, we use a constructive constrained optimization algorithm to extend arterial trees reconstructed from MR images, generating realistic vascular models spanning from the aortic arch to cerebral arteries as small as 50 micrometers. These models can incorporate various Circle of Willis configurations and collateral vessel distributions to accommodate individual subject differences. Consequently, we aim to establish a comprehensive database of cerebral vasculatures (i.e., a virtual population) by combining multiple segmented geometries with varied extended arterial trees. We have developed a distributed lumped parameter model coupled with a mass transport solver to enable in silico angiographies for such large vascular networks. These virtual angiograms can be compared to patient-specific angiograms, identifying a model within the population (digital twin) that best approximates the patient’s cerebral vasculature. These virtual geometries facilitate blood flow simulations providing data inaccessible through conventional imaging. They can predict the impact of interventions like blockages, hemorrhages, or catheter insertion on a patient’s hemodynamics. This innovative approach offers promising prospects to enhance stroke management by providing a deeper understanding of cerebral vasculature and the consequences of various interventions.
Place of Residence Disparities in Access to Needed Specialists and Prescription Medications among Adults with Chronic Illnesses/Diseases/
Carolyn Faith Hoffman MPH (College of Public Health)
Background: Six in 10 American adults report having a chronic Illness/disease with four in 10 having two or more. Research indicates rural residents have lower socioeconomic status compared to urban residents, potentially affecting their access to and use of health information. Research Question: How does having a chronic illness influence one’s ability to see a needed specialist and/or receive needed prescriptions depending on place of residence? Methods: A secondary analysis of 2022 data from the Wave 4 National Survey on Health and Disability (n=2,725). Outcomes are: 1. “In the past year, have you been able to see the specialists you need to with your health insurance plan(s)?”; 2. “In the past year, have you been able to get all the prescription medications you need with your health insurance plan(s)?” The population included U.S. adults 18 years and older. Descriptive and bivariate analyses were conducted in STATA/MP 17.0 and unweighted. Findings: 18.1% of individuals in rural, non-core areas reported not being able to see a specialist compared to 12.2% of individuals residing in micropolitan areas and 15.2% in metropolitan areas. 15.2% of individuals in rural, non-core areas reported not being able to obtain needed prescription medications compared to 19.3% of individuals in micropolitan areas and 20.8% in metropolitan areas. Implications: Specialists should understand all factors influencing rural residents’ access to health care, as it could help them communicate more effectively with adults with chronic illnesses/diseases residing in rural areas who need care, cannot receive it, or may not perceive their need.
Navigating Trauma, Violence, and Reintegration in Society
2:40pm – 3:55pm | Merten Hall, Room 1202
Discussant: Shekila S. Melchior, Ph.D.
From Combat to Community: The Social Reintegration Process for Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Romuald Lenou Tassigne (Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution)
Reintegration of former child soldiers is one of the most critical components of peacebuilding. Streams of research have emerged to examine and appraise reintegration programs for child soldiers, but little is known about what it means to ‘successfully’ reintegrate child soldiers. This study will explore the social reintegration of former child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to investigate the application of community-based practices of reintegration, with the hopes of pinpointing key factors of ‘successful’ reintegration. The study uses a qualitative methodology and an ethnographic approach to determine several factors, including: the value of child soldiers’ voices and agency; the application of international humanitarian law; relations between communities and the state; and the use of bonding and bridging social capital in the facilitation of the social reintegration of former child soldiers.
“Who will believe me?”: Narrative literature review on barriers for help seeking among men who experienced intimate partner violence (IPV)
Shaan Muberra Khan (College of Public Health), Dr. Denise Hines
Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization among men by aggressive female partners is a less focused aspect, as men victim often “masked” themselves and cases remained underreported. We aimed to consolidate existing evidence on the barriers of help seeking among female perpetrated male IPV victims. We conducted a narrative literature review out of the literature published in English and available in the databases of PubMed and Google Scholar. The key words used were: “intimate partner violence”, “male victim”, “victimized men”, “help seeking”, and “experience”. We employed two steps for this review: we first conducted an extensive search of the existing literatures, and then we screened the collected literatures in terms of their relevance to issues of IPV among men. Societal gender bias and masculinity norms put men in difficult position to acknowledge abuse, identify themselves as ‘victim’ and make help seeking decision. Female partner’s false allegation, fear being separated from children, public humiliation and embarrassment refrained male victims from reporting to formal (i.e., police, justice system) and informal (i.e., family, friends, coworker) helping sources. Lack of proof in case of verbal and psychological abuse and absence of physical injury further intensified the denial of formal help. Existing IPV support needs a reform, acknowledging the need of victimized men and understanding moral responsibilities of service providers where male victims can disclose their IPV experience. The importance of better-informed empathetic response should be taken into account when formulating policies to ensure justice for men and eliminate gender-based violence globally.
Words Woven: The Art of Language and the Power of Storytelling
2:40pm – 3:55pm | Merten Hall, Room 1203
Discussant: Austin A. Deray
Large Language Model tailoring of market segment specific vaccine uptake messages
Kevin E Cevasco (College of Public Health), Rediet Woldesalassie, Amber Elston, Amjad Alghamdi
This project demonstrates a method to use the OpenAI Application Programming Interface to generate bespoke vaccination uptake messaging text and graphics customized to clustered audiences. During the 2023-2024 respiratory virus season, only 27% of adults aged 18 years or older in the United States expressed a definitive or probable intention to receive vaccinations against influenza, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Public health organizations have conducted media campaigns to improve vaccine uptake; however, studies found only modest positive effects on behavior change and knowledge. To improve health intervention uptake, the World Health Organization recommends segmenting audiences and customizing messages. We use the Risk Perception Attitude (RPA) framework to segment groups because a person’s disease outcome risk and vaccine efficacy perceptions have shown to be primary immunization decision drivers. The RPA’s risk and efficacy themes align with the Elaboration Likelihood Model, which posits that information processing varies based on an individual’s pre-existing attitudes. We extend on prior findings that psychographic factors have higher vaccine uptake effect size than sociodemographic variables. Our prior psychographic research results provide clearly defined target audiences as input to Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to generate the tailored messages. For example, vaccine uptake messages that emphasize social benefits may not be as effective in a high disease risk perception group.
Rhetorical Storytelling: Blending Doxastic and Epistemic Knowledge
Tyler Martinez (College of Humanities and Social Sciences)
This research aims to make a compelling case for telling compelling stories. The Western epistemological tradition is logocentric–researchers often emphasize empirical knowledge derived through the scientific method. People on both sides of the political spectrum have begun to distrust scientifically derived knowledge in favor of facts that can be felt and seen; in other words, there is a growing preference for knowledge that can be confirmed by human perception. Researchers in psychology (McAdams 1996), neuroscience (Fletcher 2023), rhetoric (Crowley 2006), and narratology (Frank 2010) suggest that humans are fundamentally narrative animals. We learn best when we can feel knowledge and integrate it into the stories we keep as companions. I look to methods developed from marginalized knowledge traditions, such as Jo-Ann Archibald’s (2008) indigenous storywork, Jose Esteban Munoz’s queer utopianism, and Aja Y. Martinez’s (2019) critical race theory counterstory to argue for the necessity of blending epistemic and doxastic knowledge into narratives. Stories are rhetorical when they reflexively blend doxastic and epistemic knowledge in such a way that leaves them open to argumentation rather than imposing a political, ethical, or moral hegemony. Rhetorical stories become good companions to the humans who keep them alive; they are rigid enough to transmit traditions while remaining flexible enough to adapt to new information.