UNCONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS AS A STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN CLEVELAND COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Households in Cleveland County experience severe housing cost burden, which negatively impacts health and well-being. More importantly, vulnerable households who spend more than 30% of income on housing costs experience this burden at a greater severity. To combat housing cost burden, an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCTs) intervention is proposed to support vulnerable families for two years. To effectively assess the impact of the UCTs, a quality of life and food security survey will be conducted before and after the program. Based on results from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) project, which demonstrated the effectiveness of UCTs in Stockton California, it is hypothesized that participants will reduce depression, anxiety, and food insecurity and experience higher quality of life, and more economic stability than at baseline. This intervention aims to show the effectiveness of UCT’s in positively impacting health outcomes while respecting the dignity and autonomy of community members.Master of Public Healt

UNCONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS AS A STRATEGY FOR IMPROVING HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IN CLEVELAND COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Households in Cleveland County experience severe housing cost burden, which negatively impacts health and well-being. More importantly, vulnerable households who spend more than 30% of income on housing costs experience this burden at a greater severity. To combat housing cost burden, an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCTs) intervention is proposed to support vulnerable families for two years. To effectively assess the impact of the UCTs, a quality of life and food security survey will be conducted before and after the program. Based on results from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) project, which demonstrated the effectiveness of UCTs in Stockton California, it is hypothesized that participants will reduce depression, anxiety, and food insecurity and experience higher quality of life, and more economic stability than at baseline. This intervention aims to show the effectiveness of UCT’s in positively impacting health outcomes while respecting the dignity and autonomy of community members.Master of Public Healt

Unconditional Cash Transfers As A Strategy For Improving Housing Affordability in Cleveland County, North Carolina

Households in Cleveland County experience severe housing cost burden, which negatively impacts health and well-being. More importantly, vulnerable households who spend more than 30% of income on housing costs experience this burden at a greater severity. To combat housing cost burden, an Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCTs) intervention is proposed to support vulnerable families for two years. To effectively assess the impact of the UCTs, a quality of life and food security survey will be conducted before and after the program. Based on results from the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (SEED) project, which demonstrated the effectiveness of UCTs in Stockton California, it is hypothesized that participants will reduce depression, anxiety, and food insecurity and experience higher quality of life, and more economic stability than at baseline. This intervention aims to show the effectiveness of UCT’s in positively impacting health outcomes while respecting the dignity and autonomy of community members.Master of Public Healt

Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on Improving Dietary Supplement Documentation in the Electronic Medical Record: Current Challenges and Opportunities to Enhance Quality of Care and Patient Safety

Background Around half the US population uses dietary supplements (DS), and concomitant use with medications is common. Many DS include bioactive substances that can interact with medications; therefore, accurate tracking is critical for patient safety. Unfortunately, documentation of patients’ DS use is often missing or incomplete in the electronic medical record (EMR), leaving patients susceptible to potential adverse events. Novel approaches to assist healthcare professionals (HCPs) in capturing patients’ DS use are needed. Objective To assess HCPs’ perspectives on challenges and facilitators of DS documentation in the EMR and their opinions on a proposed mHealth application (app) to aid in DS capture. Methods HCPs, recruited from professional networks, largely in North Carolina, using purposive sampling, took part in semi-structured interviews. We inquired about HCPs’ experiences with DS documentation in the EMR and their opinions about our proposed mHealth app. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded. Thematic analysis included deductive codes based on the interview guide, and inductive codes that emerged during transcript review. Results HCPs (N = 30) included 60% females, mean age 46 ± 10; 70% White. Pharmacists (20%), nurses (17%), and physicians (17%) were the most represented professions. Years in practice ranged from 3–35 years. Most HCPs were concerned about DS safety and potential supplement-drug interactions, and cited several barriers to accurate EMR DS documentation including time constraints, database inconsistencies, and poor patient-HCP communication about DS. HCPs’ views on our proposed mHealth app were generally positive. They expressed that our proposed mHealth app could streamline documentation processes and enhance patient-provider communication. HCPs expressed desire for a high-quality mHealth app that includes access to evidence-based DS information, integrates with the EMR, and does not increase time burdens. Conclusion HCPs believe documentation of patients’ DS use is important but not accurately captured in the EMR. Support was expressed for our proposed barcode-scanning DS mHealth app

Patient Perspectives on the Development of a Novel Mobile Health (mHealth) Application for Dietary Supplement Tracking and Reconciliation—A Qualitative Focus Group Study

BackgroundMore than 170 million adults use dietary supplements (DS) in the United States, which can have both benefit and harm to patient health. DS use is often poorly documented in the medical record and can pose health risks if not properly communicated with providers. Reasons for poor DS documentation include low disclosure rates, time constraints of clinical encounters, and providers’ failure to inquire about DS use. This study was conducted to assess patients’ views on the facilitators and barriers to using a mobile health (mHealth) application (app) to collect and share DS information with their healthcare providers.MethodsUtilizing a theory-based conceptual model, we conducted 7 patient focus groups (FGs) to assess opinions on DS safety, provider communication, comfort with technology use, and our proposed mHealth app. Participants were recruited from the general public and through patient advisory groups. Patient views will inform the creation of an mHealth app to improve DS patient-provider communication and tracking and reconciliation in the electronic medical record (EMR).ResultsOverall, participants believe their DS information is inaccurately represented in the EMR, leading to safety concerns and negatively impacting overall quality of care. Participants desired an app designed with (1) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance; (2) ease of use for a variety of technical efficacy levels; (3) access to reliable DS information, including a DS-drug interaction checker; and (4) integration with the EMR.ConclusionAn app to simplify and improve DS entry and reconciliation was of interest to patients, as long as it maintained health autonomy and privacy and possessed key valuable features

Elucidating the role of disorder and free-carrier recombination kinetics in CH_3NH_3PbI_3 perovskite films

Apart from broadband absorption of solar radiation, the performance of photovoltaic devices is governed by the density and mobility of photogenerated charge carriers. The latter parameters indicate how many free carriers move away from their origin, and how fast, before loss mechanisms such as carrier recombination occur. However, only lower bounds of these parameters are usually obtained. Here we independently determine both density and mobility of charge carriers in a perovskite film by the use of time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy. Our data reveal the modification of the free carrier response by strong backscattering expected from these heavily disordered perovskite films. The results for different phases and different temperatures show a change of kinetics from two-body recombination at room temperature to three-body recombination at low temperatures. Our results suggest that perovskite-based solar cells can perform well even at low temperatures as long as the three-body recombination has not become predominant

Metal halide perovskites for energy applications

Exploring prospective materials for energy production and storage is one of the biggest challenges of this century. Solar energy is one of the most important renewable energy resources, due to its wide availability and low environmental impact. Metal halide perovskites have emerged as a class of semiconductor materials with unique properties, including tunable bandgap, high absorption coefficient, broad absorption spectrum, high charge carrier mobility and long charge diffusion lengths, which enable a broad range of photovoltaic and optoelectronic applications. Since the first embodiment of perovskite solar cells showing a power conversion efficiency of 3.8%, the device performance has been boosted up to a certified 22.1% within a few years. In this Perspective, we discuss differing forms of perovskite materials produced via various deposition procedures. We focus on their energy-related applications and discuss current challenges and possible solutions, with the aim of stimulating potential new applications

Investigations on morphology and photophysical characteristics of CH3NH3PbI3 polycrystalline films

Mesoscopic superstructured solid state solar cells based on organic-inorganic lead halide perovskites have recently emerged as alternative to dye sensitized solid state solar cells. This work focuses on thorough morphological characterization of solution-processed CH3NH3PbI3 and on the identification of factors affecting the morphology of the crystallized product. It is shown that the material can adopt a wide range of morphological habits. The results allow insight into possible electron pathways important for both device optimization and understanding of working principle. Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging allows to spatially resolve emerging fluorescence and correlate differences in lifetimes to morphological features. Cathodoluminescence mapping allows investigating phase distribution in CH3NH3PbI3 polycrystalline coatings prepared by different methods and indicates formation of multiple phases exhibiting CL in the visible range. A study on stability of material and devices in local ambient conditions shows rapid degradation of material and device performance under exposure to high relative humidity.MASTER OF ENGINEERING (MSE