The Changing Association Between Prenatal Participation in WIC and Birth Outcomes in New York City

We analyze the relationship between prenatal WIC participation and birth outcomes in New York City from 1988-2001. The analysis is unique for several reasons. First, we restrict the analysis to women on Medicaid and or WIC who have no previous live births and who initiate prenatal care within the first four months of pregnancy. Our goal is to lessen heterogeneity between WIC and non-WIC participants by limiting the sample to women who initiate prenatal care early and who have no experience with WIC from a previous pregnancy. Second, we focus on measures of fetal growth distinct from preterm birth, since there is little clinical support for a link between nutritional supplementation and premature delivery. Third, we analyze a large sub-sample of twin deliveries. Multifetal pregnancies increase the risk of anemia and fetal growth retardation and thus, may benefit more than singletons from nutritional supplementation. We find no relationship between prenatal WIC participation and measures of fetal growth except among a sub-sample of US-born Blacks between 1990-1992. A similarly sporadic pattern of association exists among US-born Black twins. Our finding that the modest association between WIC and fetal growth is limited to a specific racial and ethnic group during specific years and even specific ages suggests that the protective effect of prenatal WIC on adverse birth outcomes in New York City has been minimal.

Use of and disparities in access to adaptive devices among U.S. adults with age-related eye diseases

This paper examines adaptive device use among two samples of U.S. adults aged 40 years and older with agerelated macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or cataracts from the 2008 and 2016 waves of the nationally-representative cross-sectional National Health Interview Survey (n=2875 and n=6233 respectively). Individuals who replied affirmatively to the question, “do you use any adaptive devices such as telescopic or other prescriptive lenses, magnifiers, large print or talking materials, CCTV, white cane or guide dogs?” were defined as adaptive device users. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression models of adaptive device use were estimated. The main regression models used 2008 data and included explanatory variables for vision-related limitations, other functional limitations, sociodemographic characteristics and the local availability of ophthalmologists and optometrists. 6.1% of the 2008 sample and 4.2% of the 2016 sample used adaptive devices, these percentages were significantly different. 31.4% of the 2008 sample and 24.0% of 2016 sample with multiple vision-related limitations used adaptive devices, these percentages were not significantly different. Based on previous research, adaptive device use among the subgroups with multiple vision-related limitations would be expected to improve functional ability. In the regression models, the likelihood of adaptive device use increased significantly with the number of vision-related limitations, family income and local ophthalmologist availability. The regression results provide evidence of socioeconomic and geographic disparities in adaptive device use in the U.S. Together the descriptive statistics and regression results suggest that public health strategies to increase access to adaptive devices are needed

Career and Mentorship Experiences of Women Educational Administrators in Rural Community Colleges

This study explored the topic of current women administrators and their mentorship experiences. The purpose is to examine if these individuals had a mentor at all and how that relationship evolved. There is a universal graying of administration in Higher Education Leadership and many institutions lack a long-term plan to mentor and replace the administrators after retirement. Many of the current leaders in rural education are approaching retirement opening many opportunities for new leaders to come in. Not only that, but there is a large disparity in the number of women educational leaders. One study by Wallace & Marchant (2009) looked at how females are being prepared for leadership in Australian universities and found an administrative gender gap where women hold only 24% of administrative positions and an age gap where more retirees will leave positions before new employees reach the qualification level. Women are not being prepared for leadership positions and often lack the qualifications to achieve such goals. These findings indicated an issue with learning opportunities, development opportunities, and career mobility. This study aimed to report how mentorship relationships came about and delves into the state of leadership training programs amongst Higher Education Leaders. Along that line it is important to discover if that working relationship helped prepare female administrators for their job and how that experience shaped their career