WDPH Summer Internship Report

The Mosakowski Institute is working with the Worcester Division of Public Health (DPH) in an effort that merges classroom skills and real world experience to improve the health of the Greater Worcester community. During the summer of 2015, thirteen Clark students interned with the DPH working on five projects that advanced goals of the Community Health Improvement Plans in the areas of healthy eating and activing living; substance abuse and mental health; health equity and health disparities; violence prevention, and more. More information about the summer 2015 internship projects can be found in the report

Childhood Trauma, a Cycle of Violence: Worcester, MA

This research examines the relationship between childhood trauma, indicated by early police contact, and the probability of later negative life experiences, including involvement in and perpetration of violence, criminal activity and gang involvement for men age 0-27 in Worcester, MA. This research was conducted using probit and tobit regression analysis using the Worcester Police Dataset. This study shows a positive and highly statistically significant correlation between childhood trauma and gang involvement as well as involvement in violence, perpetration of violence, and the number of incidents of violence. This suggests that a crisis intervention for childhood trauma, including witness-based childhood trauma, may help to break cycles of violence in the future

Youth Health Benchmarks in the Context of a Regional Health Improvement Plan

The Greater Worcester Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP) proposes a set of goals and objectives with the vision of Worcester being the healthiest city in New England by 2020. As a part of the plan, the Worcester Regional Youth Health Survey (RYHS) was conducted by the Worcester Division of Public Health during the 2013-2014 academic years. The RYHS allows the progress toward CHIP goals to be assessed, as well as the identification of additional areas for improvement. Findings will include the results of adolescent health behavior questions from the survey and those CHIP objectives that they inform, which include: healthy eating and active living, behavioral health, primary care and wellness, violence and injury prevention, and health equity and disparities. Progress towards meeting local CHIP goals will be framed by a comparison to national and state-wide data sets. A total of 8,703 youth participated in the survey from grades 9-12. The survey contained standardized questions that were taken from validated national surveys. The survey questions measured the prevalence of health-risk behaviors among youth and the community conditions which provide protective factors as well as the perceived behavioral standards

Problem Analysis in Community Violence Assessments: Reavealing Early Childhood Trauma as a Driver of Youth and Gang Violence

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how after early childhood trauma was identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence, problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. While there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision-makers did not consider this knowledge actionable until the research partner used the city’s own police records to demonstrate the extent of the problem in the city. Rigorous problem analysis, conducted collaboratively between practitioners and an academic research partner, helped to compel local change and ensured that strategies addressed the right risk factors and directed service to the appropriate target population

Improving Community Health through an Innovative Collaboration between Academics and Practitioners through the Worcester Academic Health Department

Session Description The newly established Academic Health Collaborative at the Worcester Division of Public Health links local universities with the Division of Public Health in a collaborative partnership that bridges health/public health academia and practice to improve community health. It allows the DPH to leverage academic and community resources and expertise to help it achieve its goal to become the “Healthiest City in New England by 2020”. This innovative collaboration allows the DPH and local partners to train a future generation of students that can work and communicate across disciplines and settings. In addition, it provides structured practicum and internship experience for area college and university students that serves not only the needs of public health but enhances the learning experience for the student. So far, these experiences have been tailored to address priorities identified by the WDPH to support the Division’s Strategic Plan and CHIP are addressed and implemented

Data Assimilation Enhancements to Air Force Weathers Land Information System

The United States Air Force (USAF) has a proud and storied tradition of enabling significant advancements in the area of characterizing and modeling land state information. 557th Weather Wing (557 WW; DoDs Executive Agent for Land Information) provides routine geospatial intelligence information to warfighters, planners, and decision makers at all echelons and services of the U.S. military, government and intelligence community. 557 WW and its predecessors have been home to the DoDs only operational regional and global land data analysis systems since January 1958. As a trusted partner since 2005, Air Force Weather (AFW) has relied on the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA/GSFC to lead the interagency scientific collaboration known as the Land Information System (LIS). LIS is an advanced software framework for high performance land surface modeling and data assimilation of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) information

Hungry Eye; Snow Truckin\u27: It\u27s freezing out here, but these kitchens on wheels are fired up!

A review of 11 food trucks that operate in the winter months or some even year-round in Maine. Includes illustrated map of locations

Problem Analysis in Community Violence Assessment: Revealing Early Childhood Trauma as a Driver of Youth and Gang Violence

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how subsequent to early childhood trauma being identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence; problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 years was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. Although there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision makers did not consider this knowledge actionable until the research partner used the city’s own police records to demonstrate the extent of the problem in the city. Rigorous problem analysis, conducted collaboratively between practitioners and an academic research partner, helped to compel local change and ensured that strategies addressed the right risk factors and directed service to the appropriate target population