Gender Disparities in Weight Gain Among Offenders Who Are Obese Upon Entering Correctional Facilities

Background: Obesity is a significant health issue for offenders, who have a higher prevalence of obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes, compared to non-incarcerated populations. Within incarcerated populations, there are obesity disparities in terms of race, gender, and age, as well as excess weight gain during incarceration. Methods: This longitudinal study was conducted for 2005 – 2010 in collaboration with a Department of Corrections in the east south central region of the United States. From electronic health records of 10,841 offenders, weight, height, and demographic data were extracted. As determined from these data, 2,622 offenders met the inclusion criteria (two or more valid weight and height measurements and length of incarceration \u3e zero). Results: Women offenders who entered corrections as obese had a mean (and standard deviation) body mass index (BMI) of 36.2 (5.3) at baseline; the mean for men was 34.2 (4.4). For women who were obese at baseline, their BMI increased by 1.0 (3.3); for men their BMI decreased by 0.7 (3.1). Gender differences for changes in BMI among the obese population were significant (χ2 = 15.8, p \u3c 0.001). Women and men also differed in regard to weight gain (χ2 = 34.0, p \u3c 0.001). Further, those women and men who were not obese at baseline had an increase in BMI that was greater than the increase for the group that entered corrections as obese (p \u3e 0.001). Conclusions: Women offenders, obese or not at baseline, had greater gains in weight in comparison to men. However, there were no significant differences in BMI changes for race or correlations with age or length of incarceration. The findings related to gender warrant further investigations to explain these disparities and to evaluate the capacity of the corrections system to meet the health needs of women

Confronting Inequity: Social Justice Dialogue in a Health Science Library

Objective: To demonstrate how a departmental social justice discussion group was successful in achieving its purpose in introducing and discussing health-related social justice narratives and perspectives with personal meaning to each department member. Methods: In the aftermath George Floyd’s death, the Assistant Director of Research and Education Services at a health sciences library proposed devoting a portion of staff meetings to discuss issues in social justice and anti-racism. Each department member would generate a topic and organize readings or links to media in an internal LibGuide. Initially, there was a total of seven discussions, each lasting an average of twenty minutes. Each staff member described their motivation in selecting their topic and accompanying resources and led the subsequent discussion. Results: Discussion topics included white fragility, racial disparities surrounding leg amputations of Black diabetes patients in Mississippi, transracial adoption, local food deserts, white privilege in medical school education, black transgender violence and discrimination, and pipeline institutional racism. The readings and discussions revealed marginalized group perceptions and reality are not necessarily willingly acknowledged or addressed by the privileged group. The topic of food deserts was identified for follow-up action because of the need in the residential area adjacent to the health sciences campus. Conclusions: Participants felt the topics were timely, thought-provoking and useful in understanding current imbalances in social equity in health-related areas. Each department member could identify and share a social justice area of concern. Many of the topics are addressed in critical librarianship scholarship, and lessons from the discussions could be applied to increased understanding of, and service to, marginalized users of their library’s community. Team members agreed to continue the discussions at staff meetings once per month on broader diversity and social justice topics

Exploration of barriers and facilitators to publishing local public health findings: A mixed methods protocol

Background: Worldwide, the US accounts for a large proportion of journals related to public health. Although the American Public Health Association (APHA) includes 54 affiliated regional and state associations, little is known about their capacity to support public health scholarship. The aim of this study is to assess barriers and facilitators to operation of state journals for the dissemination of local public health research and practices. Methods: A mixed methods approach will be used to complete the 12-month study. Affiliate websites will be accessed through the APHA membership portal to evaluate organizational infrastructure and ascertain the presence/absence of a journal. The leader of each affiliate will be contacted via email containing a link to a 12-question on-line survey to collect his/her perceptions of scholarly journals and the publication of local health data. To determine barriers and facilitators to publication of local public health findings, 30-minute semi-structured telephone interviews will focus on the infrastructure of the association, perceptions of the leader about the journal (if in place), and its operation. Results: We anticipate that 54 affiliate websites will be reviewed to complete the extraction checklist, that 74% of affiliate leaders will respond to the survey, and that 11 semi-structured interviews will be conducted. A limited number of state/regional public health associations will operate journals and a small percentage of those without journals may express an interest in implementing them. Barriers to operation of journals may include lack of resources (i.e., personnel, funding), and low prioritization of publication of state and local public health findings. Facilitators may include strong affiliate-academic relationships, affiliate leadership with experience in publications, and affiliate relationships with state and local departments of health. Conclusions: The research proposed in this protocol may stimulate other state public health associations and other academic public health programs to follow suit; it would not be the first time that an observational research study served as an intervention

Exploration of barriers and facilitators to publishing local public health findings: A mixed methods protocol

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, the US accounts for a large proportion of journals related to public health. Although the American Public Health Association (APHA) includes 54 affiliated regional and state associations, little is known about their capacity to support public health scholarship. The aim of this study is to assess barriers and facilitators to operation of state journals for the dissemination of local public health research and practices. METHODS: A mixed methods approach will be used to complete the 12-month study. Affiliate websites will be accessed through the APHA membership portal to evaluate organizational infrastructure and ascertain the presence/absence of a journal. The leader of each affiliate will be contacted via email containing a link to a 12-question on-line survey to collect his/her perceptions of scholarly journals and the publication of local health data. To determine barriers and facilitators to publication of local public health findings, 30-minute semi-structured telephone interviews will focus on the infrastructure of the association, perceptions of the leader about the journal (if in place), and its operation. ANTICIPATED RESULTS: We anticipate that 54 affiliate websites will be reviewed to complete the extraction checklist, that 74% of affiliate leaders will respond to the survey, and that 11 semi-structured interviews will be conducted. A limited number of state/regional public health associations will operate journals and a small percentage of those without journals may express an interest in implementing them. Barriers to operation of journals may include lack of resources (i.e., personnel, funding), and low prioritization of publication of state and local public health findings. Facilitators may include strong affiliate-academic relationships, affiliate leadership with experience in publications, and affiliate relationships with state and local departments of health. CONCLUSIONS: The research proposed in this protocol may stimulate other state public health associations and other academic public health programs to follow suit; it would not be the first time that an observational research study served as an intervention

Patron perception and utilization of an embedded librarian program

Objective: The study measured the perceived value of an academic library’s embedded librarian service model. Setting: The study took place at the health sciences campuses of a research institution. Methods: A web-based survey was distributed that asked respondents a series of questions about their utilization of and satisfaction with embedded librarians and services. Results: Over 58% of respondents reported being aware of their embedded librarians, and 95% of these were satisfied with provided services. Conclusions: The overall satisfaction with services was encouraging, but awareness of the embedded program was low, suggesting an overall need for marketing of services