#UMNMCH student Mary Kate Leloux (she/her) (MPH 2024) wrote this reflection on how her deployment with the Minnesota Department of Health PRAMS Project and passion for communities has developed her interest in representative public health data. Path to the UMN MPH in MCH Program With undergraduate studies in biology and sociology, I was often asked […]
Tag: Health disparities
MCH Field Experience: Summer 2013
By Sonja Ausen-Anifrani This summer, I had the opportunity to fulfill my field experience requirement at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). I was stationed in the STD and HIV section of MDH and was employed with the task of developing protocol for the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review as it relates to perinatal transmission […]
How long-term benefits override upfront costs: using research and evaluation to justify a female condom intervention
In a time where economic interests override public health concerns, a new study published in AIDS and Behavior shows that public health spending can reduce costs in the long run. In general, female condoms are more expensive than male condoms. However, after cost-analyzing an initiative that distributed 200,000 condoms to women in a neighborhood with […]
Healthy Homes: Lead Poisoning
Keeping the home healthy: an environmental health issue. But should it also be a concern for MCH? Where children spend time eating, drinking, playing, doing homework and sleeping, should the MCH field focus on how living spaces may influence health? Many of the hazards that affect a child’s life course may originate in the home […]
MAMA: Motherhood Around the Globe
An online exhibition of global art, voices, and ideas, MAMA: Motherhood around the Globe is an inspiring community for anyone who is a mother, knows one, or works with one (that’s all of you!). Housed through the International Museum of Women, the website includes videos, facts, and figures promoting healthy moms and its significance with […]
Controversy over Co-Sleeping: A PubH Campaign
A controversial public health campaign coming from Milwaukee targets infant and caregiver bed sharing. 20% of Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate is attributed to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Sudden Unexplained Death in Infancy (SUDI); it is the 7th worst in the country, with also large disparity rates (Black infant mortality rates are almost 3 […]
Health Disparities and Children in Rural Areas
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has released a report on U.S. rural children and their health, called The Health and Well-Being of Children in Rural Areas: A Portrait of the Nation 2007. Compared to urban areas, children living in rural locations are more likely to face adverse health outcomes. The study uses parental responses from […]
Perceptions of HIV in Hard Hit Areas
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has released a new and enlightening report from a 12-city project initiated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Department created the plan to enhance HIV prevention, care and treatment in cities with high HIV/AIDS burden. These metropolitan cities represent 44% of the U.S.’s AIDS […]
HPV Vaccination Recommendation for Boys
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released recommendations for boys and the HPV vaccine yesterday. In order to reduce risk of acquiring genital warts, in 2009 the ACIP advised that the vaccine may be administered to males aged 9 through 26, however they did not recommend the vaccine for routine use. The unanimous […]
Fixing Fast Food
A fresh viewpoint on food and obesity in the United States by Mark Bittman of the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html. Focusing on claims that fast food is cheaper than buying groceries, Bittman compares food prices via graphics and data. An interesting aspect of the article is that the author focuses on cultural changes in cooking. He argues […]
When is neutrality not enough?
Minnesota made national headlines recently regarding the Anoka-Hennepin county school district’s policy on bullying. The New York Times reported that civil right lawsuits and investigations are currently underway to address complaints of harassment of gay students and teachers’ responses. The district’s current policy is to remain neutral and avoid conversations on sexual diversity. The lawsuit […]
Our prenatal prospects: some thoughts
The “new” science of fetal orgins, as a New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof describes, draws substantial correlations between many diseases (autism, schizophrenia, even obesity) and an infant’s uterine environment. Although research remains mixed, much of it indicates that life before birth has a substantial impact on later life course. (FYI: Barker and colleagues were […]
A new “culture of poverty”: recent research from sociology
An article in this past week’s New York Times explores the scholarly refashioning of America’s “culture of poverty,” a concept popularized by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in his infamous 1965 report, “The Negro Family: The Case For National Action.” As detailed elsewhere, Moynihan noted some disturbing trends among poor black Americans: fewer sustained marriages, a related […]
Increasing poverty, decreasing health coverage: new Census Report findings
The recently released (9/16/2010) 2009 Census Report found striking evidence of our ongoing Great Recession: An increase in the nation’s poverty rate to 14.3% — according to the press release, “the second statistically significant annual increase in the poverty rate since 2004” and the highest percentage of total poverty since 1994. That’s 44 million individuals, […]