Mind the Gap: A White Paper on Maine\u27s Missing COVID-19 Surveillance Data, How They Perpetuate Health Disparities of Maine\u27s Citizens with Disabilities, and What Can Be Done to Increase Maine\u27s Public Health Data & Service Equity

A white paper by Michelle Fong, a 2023 NH-ME Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) trainee and MPH student at the University of New England. Equitable health data represents all populations and can be linked to their common characteristics. Maine’s COVID-19 data can be disaggregated by gender, race, ethnicity, and age, but not by disability status or type. It is an example of inequity in data collection, or a data gap, that prevents analysis of pandemic health outcomes for Mainers with disabilities

Advancing Data Equity to Improve Health Equity for People With Disabilities (PWD)

Up to 26% of adults and 4.3% of children (nearly 70.6 million people) in the US have at least one disability. This is the largest population with consistent health disparities and intersects with all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. Equity is at the core of public health practice. Health data linked with disability data provide accountability and a basis for trust in leaders who seek meaningful health progress for people with disabilities (PWD). Disability data gaps hide health disparities and perspectives of PWD, perpetuating harmful biases.The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US law that upholds civil rights protections for PWD under the 14th amendment. Exclusion of PWD from benefits enjoyed by other US populations is illegal

Mind the Gap! Advancing Data Equity to Improve Population Health Equity for People with Disabilities

The Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies (CCIDS), Maine’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disability (UCEDD), carries out a variety of education and research activities designed to improve the social and health equity of people with disabilities (PWD). CCIDS sought to examine the health equity of Maine’s population with intellectual and neurodevelopmental disabilities (IDD/NDD) regarding Covid-19. However, we encountered a data gap. Therefore, we examined the drivers of data gaps for people with disabilities to make recommendations for improving their health equity by ensuring their representation in public health data, the evidence base for policymaking.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ccids_posters/1062/thumbnail.jp

Policy Brief: Advancing Data Equity to Improve Health Equity for People With Disabilities (PWD)

Up to 26% of adults and 4.3% of children (nearly 70.6 million people) in the US have at least one disability. This is the largest population with consistent health disparities and intersects with all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. Equity is at the core of public health practice. Health data linked with disability data provide accountability and a basis for trust in leaders who seek meaningful health progress for people with disabilities (PWD). Disability data gaps hide health disparities and perspectives of PWD, perpetuating harmful biases.The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) is a US law that upholds civil rights protections for PWD under the 14th amendment. Exclusion of PWD from benefits enjoyed by other US populations is illegal

Epoxidation of Palm Kernel Oil Fatty Acids

Epoxidation of palm kernel oil fatty acids using formic acid and hydrogen peroxide was carried out effectively using a homogeneous reaction. It was found that epoxidation reaction occurred optimally at a temperature of 40oC and reaction time of 120 minits. The oxirane conversion was the highest at 1.46mol and 0.85mol of hydrogen peroxide and formic acid respectively. It was found that a maximum of 99% relative conversion of ethylenic oxirane was obtained, similar to the conversion of iodine value. The formation of epoxide adduct of palm kernel oil fatty acids (FAPKO) was confirmed by 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectral analysis showed the disappearance of double bonds and replaced by epoxy group in the EFAPKO

Policy for a Singular Neurodevelopmental Disorder: A Multiple Streams Analysis of the Combating Autism Act of 2006 Using Kingdon’s Framework

The Combating Autism Act of 2006 (CAA) is a single-disorder law for the population with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), one of six neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). All NDDs have common origins, overlapping symptoms, and lifelong adverse individual and societal impacts. Yet, no analogous policy exists for the other NDDs. The inequity between related disorders is a curiosity, and moreover, it results in health and economic inequities with devastating consequences. This analysis examines the conditions that led to the CAA, which has been reauthorized three times since 2006 and is now known as the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act. Understanding how we arrived at this landmark legislation serves to inform future reauthorizations and elicit consideration of CARES equity for people experiencing all NDDs.https://dune.une.edu/ph_ile/1004/thumbnail.jp

Digital Divide: The Case of Developing Countries

This research paper assesses the impact of ICTs (which includes the Internet, mobile phone, pager, personal computer, and telephone) on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita in developing countries in 2005. It found a significant relationship between GNI per capita (in PPP international dollar) and adoption of each ICT (mobile phone, personal computer, and telephone) but not for Internet technology adoption. In addition, it identifies factors that developing countries need to consider in the adoption and application of ICTs for economic development

Student Labour and Training in Digital Humanities

This article critiques the rhetoric of openness, accessibility and collaboration that features largely in digital humanities literature by examining the status of student labour, training, and funding within the discipline. The authors argue that the use of such rhetoric masks the hierarches that structure academic spaces, and that a shift to the digital does not eliminate these structural inequalities. Drawing on two surveys that assess student participation in DH projects (one for students, and one for faculty researchers), the article outlines the challenges currently faced by students working in the field, and suggests a set of best practices that might bridge the disparity between rhetoric and reality

A Comparative Study of Current and Potential Users of Mobile Payment Services

Previous studies of mobile payment (m-payment) services have primarily focused on a single group of adopters. This study identifies the factors that influence an individual’s intention to use m-payment services and compares groups of current users (adopters) with potential users (non-adopters). A research model that reflects the behavioral intention to use m-payment services is developed and empirically tested using structural equation modeling on a data set consisting of 529 potential users and 256 current users of m-payment services in Thailand. The results show that the factors that influence current users’ intentions to use m-payment services are compatibility, subjective norms, perceived trust, and perceived cost. Subjective norms, compatibility, ease of use, and perceived risk influenced potential users’ intentions to use m-payment. Subjective norms and perceived risk had a stronger influence on potential users, while perceived cost had a stronger influence on current users, in terms of their intentions to use m-payment services. Discussions, limitations, and recommendations for future research are addressed