HAP Research

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty

Jennifer Pocock — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 17:44:33 +0000

Online learning expert suggests best practices for promoting academic honesty Jennifer Pocock Tue, 08/13/2024 - 13:44

In This Story

The growing popularity of easy-to-use artificial intelligence (AI) interfaces has reignited discussions about cheating in academics. Academic dishonesty, however, is a long-standing concern for faculty and a burgeoning area of research for online coursework. Whether cheating is more or less prevalent in remote coursework has been the topic of debate since online coursework went mainstream in the early 2000s. While online learning provides access to education for nontraditional students and in nontraditional circumstances (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), it’s important to ensure that students are authentically learning the material.

John Cantiello. Photo provided

To understand the prevalence of cheating and help teachers address it, John Cantiello, a professor of the Department of Health Administration and Policy, reviewed the existing literature on the topic. In the Journal of Health Administration Education, Cantiello, who was honored last year as an online teacher of distinction by the Stearns Center of Teaching and Learning, reports that many methods for preventing academic dishonesty are effective.

Not everyone agrees on what constitutes “dishonesty,” he points out. While some forms of cheating are clear-cut—having others do assignments or take tests in the place of the student, plagiarism, or copying answers, others are not. Up for debate are the use of tools like artificial intelligence, or consulting publications that, in a professional setting, would be available to them while solving problems.

“This paper illustrates varying results on the frequency of cheating in online, college-level courses,” Cantiello said. “Tools and strategies for preventing academic dishonesty vary in effectiveness, but some show significant success.”

Cantiello examined many different interventions to prevent online academic dishonesty, including frequent discussions on what constitutes cheating and plagiarism (e.g., can they use AI tools in this course?), technology (e.g., biometric hardware and software such as Turnitin or Examity), and varied testing strategies (e.g., limiting testing times, multiple versions of tests, and leaking fake answers online).

He suggests that a combination of strategies is the best way to limit cheating. “A holistic approach to course design that incorporates these elements and includes a variety of learning activities fosters an effective learning environment where academic integrity can be upheld,” Cantiello said. However, he says, more research is needed on how often and in what capacity cheating happens.

“Preventing Academic Dishonesty in Online Courses: Best Practices to Discourage Cheating” was published online in March 2024 in the Journal of Health Administration Education. Renee Hotchkiss Geschke is co-author on the paper.

Topics

College of Public Health

Artificial Intelligence

College of Public Health receives NIH grant to pilot AI chatbot for African Americans with depression

Mary Cunningham — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 17:03:05 +0000

College of Public Health receives NIH grant to pilot AI chatbot for African Americans with depression Mary Cunningham Mon, 06/10/2024 - 13:03

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Janusz Wojtusiak, PhD

Kevin Lybarger

As a leader in innovative health solutions, ��AV’s College of Public Health received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIM-AHEAD program grant to pilot an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot for Black and African Americans with depression. Professor Farrokh Alemi will enhance his first-of-its-kind, evidence-based artificial intelligence tool to address the medication needs of African Americans with depression.

Professor of Health Informatics Farrokh Alemi

The existing AI tool recommends antidepressants for 16,775 general-population patient subgroups, each representing a unique combination of medical history. For each of these subgroups, the current project will analyze the effectiveness and appropriateness of the recommendations for African Americans, using the NIH All of Us database and existing published literature.

To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first research focused on developing and evaluating an antidepressant recommendation system for Black and African American people.

“Antidepressant medications are a first-line treatment for depression; however, a majority of depressed patients do not experience improvement with their first antidepressant. Additionally, minority populations, including Black and African Americans, are not well represented in antidepressant studies, contributing to reduced antidepressant effectiveness in these populations,” said Alemi. “There is a significant need to synthesize available evidence regarding antidepressant effectiveness and provide personalized treatment recommendations, and this project addresses a major gap in the management of Black and African Americans with depression.”

Researchers will develop a Knowledge-enhanced Antidepressant Recommendation Dialogue System (KARDS), which will engage users in a back-and-forth conversation to acquire the patient information needed to identify the appropriate antidepressant medication. The AI will provide the patient with a list of recommended medications, list of the relevant studies, and an explanation for the medication decisions. The system will automatically send the patient’s clinician a brief point-of-care recommendation and explanation, with an option to examine a complete record of the conversation and the supporting evidence.

“Chatbots—or patient-facing dialogue systems like the one we will create—hold transformative potential for the health care sector and are increasingly prominent in psychiatric applications, predominantly through therapy-bot implementations,” said Alemi. “Our chatbot will help improve the detailed, time-consuming, medical history intake process, and provide point-of-care summary and prescription recommendations to the patients’ clinicians. The chatbot will make patients more comfortable because the natural language modality provides an intuitive, empathetic, stigma-free interface.”

Once the AI chatbot is developed, the team will test the dialogue system with Black and African American patients to evaluate system functionality and user preferences. Additionally, the project will train a Black or African American doctoral or master’s student in AI, expanding the available workforce and building the community’s capacity to address AI.

Alemi will lead the research team, which includes Janusz Wojtusiak, a George Mason professor of Health Informatics and the director of the Machine Learning and Inference Laboratory, and Kevin Lybarger, a George Mason assistant professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology in the College of Engineering and Computing. All three members have collaborated previously to diagnose COVID at home from presenting symptoms.

The $70,906 grant is part of the NIH’s AIM-AHEAD (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Consortium to Advance Health Equity and Researcher Diversity) program, which aims “to establish mutually beneficial and coordinated partnerships to increase the participation and representation of researchers and communities currently underrepresented in the development of AI/machine learning models and enhance the capabilities of this emerging technology, beginning with electronic health record data.”

Innovate for Good is an ongoing series that examines how George Mason faculty in the College of Public Health are harnessing technology to improve health outcomes.

If you have stories to share as part of the Innovate for Good series, email Mary Cunningham at mcunni7@gmu.edu.

Topics

Artifical Intelligence

Tech Talent Investment Program (TTIP)

George Mason researchers harness the power of artificial intelligence to match patients with the most effective antidepressant for their unique needs

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 29 May 2024 19:46:58 +0000

George Mason researchers harness the power of artificial intelligence to match patients with the most effective antidepressant for their unique needs Mary Cunningham Wed, 05/29/2024 - 15:46

Researchers in ��AV’s College of Public Health have leveraged the power of artificial intelligence (AI) analytical models to match a patient’s medical history to the most effective antidepressant, allowing patients to find symptom relief sooner. The free website, MeAgainMeds.com, provides evidence-based recommendations, allowing clinicians and patients to find the optimal antidepressant the first time.

Farrokh Alemi, principal investigator and professor of health informatics at ��AV’s College of Public Health

“Many people with depression must try multiple antidepressants before finding the right one that alleviates their symptoms. Our website reduces the number of medications that patients are asked to try. The system recommends to the patient what has worked for at least 100 other patients with the same exact relevant medical history,” said Farrokh Alemi, principal investigator and professor of health informatics at ��AV’s College of Public Health.

AI helped to simplify the very complex task of making the thousands of guidelines easily accessible to patients and clinicians. The guidelines that researchers created are complicated because of the amount of clinical information that is relevant in prescribing an antidepressant; AI seamlessly simplifies the task.

With AI at its core, MeAgainMeds.com analyzes clinician or patient responses to a few anonymous medical history questions to determine which oral antidepressant would best meet the specific needs. The website does not ask for any personal identifiable information and it does not prescribe medication changes. Patients are advised to visit their primary health care provider for any changes in medication.

In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control reported that more than 13% of adults use antidepressants, and the number has only increased since the pandemic and other epidemics since 2020. This website could help millions of people find relief more quickly.

Alemi and his team analyzed 3,678,082 patients who took 10,221,145 antidepressants. The oral antidepressants analyzed were amitriptyline, bupropion, citalopram, desvenlafaxine, doxepin, duloxetine, escitalopram, fluoxetine, mirtazapine, nortriptyline, paroxetine, sertraline, trazodone, and venlafaxine. From the data, they created 16,770 subgroups of at least 100 cases, using reactions to prior antidepressants, current medication, history of physical illness, history of mental illness, key procedures, and other information. The subgroups and remission rates drive the AI to produce an evidence-based medication recommendation.

“By matching patients to the subgroups, clinicians can prescribe the medication that works best for people with similar medical history,” said Alemi. The researchers and website recommend that patients who use the site take the information to their clinicians, who will ultimately decide whether to prescribe the recommended medicine.

Alemi and his team tested a protype version of the site in 2023, which they advertised on social media. At that time, 1,500 patients used the website. Their goal is to improve the website and expand its user base. The initial research was funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia and by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The researchers’ most recent paper in a series of papers on response to antidepressants analyzed 2,467 subgroups of patients who had received psychotherapy. “Effectiveness of Antidepressants in Combination with Psychotherapy” was published online in March 2024. Additional authors include Tulay G Soylu from Temple University, and Mary Cannon and Conor McCandless from Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland.

In This Story

Farrokh Alemi, PhD

Discover more Research from the College of Public Health

Topics

Artificial Intelligence

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

TTIP

Tech Talent Investment Program

Research

In the George

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 29 May 2024 15:50:53 +0000

Mason CARES intervention reduces stress and feelings of burden of family caregivers of older adults with dementia Mary Cunningham Wed, 05/29/2024 - 11:50

In This Story

Dr. Cathy Tompkins

Gilbert Gimm, PhD

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80% of those living with dementia receive informal care from family members or friends. This equates to 16 million family caregivers in the U.S. However, caring for family members with dementia is often associated with increased caregiver burden (which includes emotional, physical, and financial strain), stress, and worse physical health for the caregiver.

Catherine Tompkins, principal investigator, professor of social work, and associate dean of faculty and staff affairs in the College of Public Health.

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, led by ��AV researchers, found that a 9-week online stress management intervention program for family caregivers reduced burden scores by 15% for 97 family caregivers of older adults living with dementia. The Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers TM, intervention was specifically designed to help family caregivers manage their own stress when caring for older adults living with dementia or a chronic illness

“In this study, we found evidence of a range in average caregiver burden levels based on the dementia severity category of care recipients. The findings show that an online Zoom intervention in a peer group setting can be beneficial for family caregivers of older adults with mild, moderate, or severe dementia,” said Catherine Tompkins, principal investigator, professor of social work, and associate dean of faculty and staff affairs in the College of Public Health.

The intervention provided family caregivers with education and strategies to manage stress when caring for someone living with dementia. Examples of self-care techniques included breathing and meditation; troubleshooting behaviors associated with dementia; and peer-to-peer support within a virtual group setting.

Associate Professor Gilbert Gimm

“Reducing caregiver burden and managing stress are critical to the well-being of families. These findings show that effective stress management interventions for family caregivers can be facilitated through online peer groups,” said Gilbert Gimm, first author and associate professor of health administration and policy.

“Mason Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support Study: Assessing Family Caregiver Burden Post-Intervention” was published online in April 2024. Co-authors include George Mason Associate Professor Megumi Inoue, Professor Emily Ihara, Mason CARES Project Manager Shannon Layman, and Master of Social Work alumna graduate Harveen Pantleay. This study was supported by a grant (#2021048) from the Retirement Research Foundation (RRF).

The study is part of a larger project, entitled Mason CARES (Caregivers Aiming for Resilience, Empowerment, and Support), that implemented and assessed interventions for family caregivers.

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Tech inefficiencies, piles of (electronic) paperwork, and increased patient volume contribute to burnout of primary care physicians, study finds

Mary Cunningham — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 18:11:13 +0000

Tech inefficiencies, piles of (electronic) paperwork, and increased patient volume contribute to burnout of primary care physicians, study finds Mary Cunningham Tue, 01/30/2024 - 13:11

In This Story

Debora Goetz Goldberg, PhD, MHA, MBA

Burnout is an occupational phenomenon that results from chronic workplace stress, according to the World Health Organization.

Burnout often includes emotional exhaustion, negative feelings or mental distance from one’s job, and a low sense of accomplishment at work. COVID-19 increased feelings of burnout in primary care physicians, and a new study, sought to understand primary care clinicians’ perspectives on burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic, the causes of burnout, and strategies to improve clinician well-being.

Debora Goldberg

Inefficiencies of electronic health records systems and high levels of documentation contribute to burnout, according to clinicians participating in a recent study led by Debora Goldberg, associate professor in ��AV’s College of Public Health. Other contributors to burnout included high patient volume, staffing shortages, and expectations for responding to patient emails and telephone calls. Most participants also described the need to work after clinic hours to complete documentation.

“The results of this study provide an in-depth view of participating clinicians’ experiences and perceptions of burnout and other mental health challenges. These viewpoints can improve awareness of the issues and strategies to improve the health and well-being of our clinician workforce,” said Goldberg, the principal investigator.

Most of the suggested strategies to improve clinician well-being were changes at the organizational level and included increasing efforts to improve work-life balance, enhancing the use of team-based care models, optimizing electronic health record functions, providing accessible mental health services, granting additional administrative time to complete documentation, and increasing institutional awareness and recognition of the issues surrounding burnout.

Additionally, clinicians reported experiencing traumatic events during the pandemic and in some cases reported both burnout and depression. The study findings align with previous research that reported primary care physicians indicated dramatic increases in their workload since the beginning of the pandemic and an escalation in staffing issues, both contributing to an increase in burnout and stress among clinicians.

This research was funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Health and Public Safety Workforce Resiliency Training Program (1 U3NHP45404-01-00), and ��AV College of Public Health Intramural Pilot Study Funding.

“Anxiety, COVID, Burnout and Now Depression”: a Qualitative Study of Primary Care Clinicians’ Perceptions of Burnout” was published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in November 2023. Tulay Soylu from Temple University; Carolyn Faith Hoffman, a Mason doctoral student; and Rachel E. Kishton and Peter F. Cronholm from the University of Pennsylvania are co-authors.

Topics

coronavirus; covid-19

Research

Mason Momentum

Innovate for Good: Mason Professor continues study of social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers with grant from NIH National Institute on Aging

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:20:01 +0000

Innovate for Good: Mason Professor continues study of social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers with grant from NIH National Institute on Aging Mary Cunningham Fri, 09/01/2023 - 11:20

As Baby Boomer generation continues to age, the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is increasing. Today, more than six million Americans are living with dementia. Family caregivers of people living with ADRD experience high levels of psychosocial distress, and many of the caregivers themselves are older adults themselves. There is a lack of support for these family caregivers, and Chinese American caregivers face additional challenges in caregiving and self-care due to their immigrant and minority status.

Professor in ��AV's College of Public Health Y. Alicia Hong received a one-year $115,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health—National Institute of Aging Emory Roybal Center to expand her study of a social media intervention for Chinese American caregivers of people with dementia. The interprofessional team will test the Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE) intervention program, an app-based personalized behavior intervention, to improve their confidence in caregiving and reduce social-emotional distress.

“Caring for a family member or loved one with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) is challenging and stressful, caregivers often experience negative health outcomes as a result. As American population becomes older and more diverse, more support is needed for family caregivers, but interventions for racial minority caregivers have been limited. WECARE is designed for Chinese American dementia caregivers to enhance their caregiving skills, reduce stress, and improve well-being,” said Hong, the principal investigator.

With a 2021 seed grant from Virginia Center for Aging, Hong and her team first developed the WECARE protocol, which was published in JMIR Aging in June 2022. From there, the team piloted the protocol with 24 Chinese American dementia caregivers. The results from the pilot were published in JMIR Aging in April 2023.

The pilot study indicated WECARE is feasible, acceptable, and effective as a culturally tailored intervention via a social media app. Study participants reported that using the app reduced depressive symptoms and caregivers’ burden. This study informs future research on digital interventions to support dementia caregivers, especially underserved minority caregivers.

Using funding from the National Institute of Aging grant, the team will add more personalized features to WECARE and test it with a larger sample size of participants. Caregivers will learn to apply problem-solving strategies, which can boost self-efficacy and master of caregiving, leading to positive health outcomes for themselves and those they care for. The program will include personalized feedback to reinforce learning, social networking to enhance social support, and location-specific resources.

The research team includes Pramita Bagchi in Mason’s Department of of Statistics and Jessica Lin in Mason’s Department of Computer Science. Additional consultants on the project include Van Ta Park at the University of California San Francisco School of Nursing, Hae-Ra Han at Johns Hopkins University, and Kate Lu from the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center.

Innovate for Good is an ongoing series that examines how Mason faculty in the College of Public Health are harnessing technology to improve health outcomes. If you have stories to share as part of the Innovate for Good series, email Mary Cunningham at mcunni7@gmu.edu.

In This Story

Y. Alicia Hong, PhD

Jessica Lin

Topics

social media intervention

Research

National Institutes of Health

In the George

Mason researchers develop first social media intervention for Chinese American dementia caregivers

Mary Cunningham — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 14:06:40 +0000

Mason researchers develop first social media intervention for Chinese American dementia caregivers Mary Cunningham Wed, 11/02/2022 - 10:06

In This Story

Y. Alicia Hong, PhD

Led by Alicia Hong, professor of Health Administration and Policy, the interdisciplinary team developed a culturally-tailored WeChat wellness program to improve caregiver skills and reduce their stress.

More than 6 million Americans aged 65 years and older are living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias (ADRD). More than 11 million family caregivers of ADRD provide an estimated 15.3 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $255.7 billion a year. Family caregivers of ADRD experience high rates of psychosocial distress and negative health outcomes. Minority and immigrant family caregivers face additional barriers; however, few culturally tailored mobile health (mHealth) were designed for these populations.

To address this public health need, ��AV researcher Alicia Hong, professor of Health Administration and Policy, led a multidisciplinary research team to develop Wellness Enhancement for Caregivers (WECARE) program to improve caregiving skills, reduce distress, and improve psychosocial well-being of underserved Chinese American family caregivers of ADRD. The protocol development of WECARE was recently published on JMIR Aging. To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this is the first culturally tailored social media-based interventions for Chinese American dementia caregivers.

According to Hong, several cultural factors can influence caregivers’ experience. Chinese American family caregivers tend to keep problems within the family and do not seek external help because of the stigma associated with dementia and their cultural value of “saving the face.” The isolation is exacerbated by their minority and immigrant status, and those without English proficiency are further marginalized. Caregivers have limited knowledge and use of formal care and support services; they are also disconnected from “mainstream” dementia support groups due to language and cultural barriers.

“We developed this wellness program for Chinese American caregivers with the specific barriers they face in mind. We wanted them to see themselves in the program and get the most out of it to help them and the family member they care for. We hope more mHealth interventions can be developed for immigrant and minority caregivers,” said Hong.

WECARE is a seven-week mHealth program delivered via WeChat, a social media app popular among Chinese Americans. By subscribing to the WECARE official account, users can receive multiple interactive multimedia articles pushed to their WeChat accounts each week. Users also have the option of joining group chats for peer support.

Other team members of WECARE include Kang Shen, a recent Mason graduate from the Health Informatics master’s program; Kate Lu and Hsiaoyin Chen from Chinese Culture and Community Center, Inc; Yang Gong of University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Biomedical Informatics; Van Ta Park of University of California San Francisco School of Nursing; and Hae-Ra Han of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing.

The team is currently testing the feasibility and effectiveness of WECARE. The study was funded by Virginia Center for Aging Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases Research Award Fund. The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of ��AV.

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In sickness and health: the influence of paid leave on employee commitment

Taylor Thomas — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 18:23:45 +0000

In sickness and health: the influence of paid leave on employee commitment Taylor Thomas Tue, 10/18/2022 - 14:23

In This Story

Priyanka Anand, PhD

George Mason Associate Professor of Health Administration and Policy discusses the importance of job-protected paid leave.

Priyanka Anand, PhD

According to surveys conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2018, only 56 percent of Americans have access job-protected leave afforded by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), leaving 44% of Americans ineligible for this coverage because they haven’t been employed long enough or their workplace is too small.

The FMLA grants employees the ability to take an unpaid leave of absence to care for loved ones in the event of an unforeseen illness or disability. Because many Americans cannot afford to hire professional care providers when a family member falls ill or has a disability, they are often left with the responsibility of providing the care themselves, which is referred to as informal care. For this reason, many people are forced to reduce hours working a paying job to attend to their informal care duties, causing severe loss in income and risking losing their job entirely.

Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at ��AV Dr. Priyanka Anand’s research centers on social safety net programs with a particular focus on disability policy and paid leave. Her most recent research, titled “The role of paid family leave in labor supply responses to a spouse’s disability or health shock,” was featured in the 2022 Economic Report of the President.

Anand’s research provides insight into the influence of paid leave on labor supply decisions and labor force participation. She shares her knowledge of how health shocks affect families and disrupt employment and is available for further comment.

What is difference between FMLA, parental leave, and paid family or caregiving leave?

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was established in 1993 to guarantee 12 weeks of job-protected leave for individuals who are away from work due to medical conditions. FMLA is most known for maternity leave, but also covers long and short-term health conditions and caring for a sick or disabled family member. Job-protected leave, like FMLA, means their job will be available when they return from leave; however, employers are not required to compensate employees while on leave.

Parental leave can be paid or unpaid depending on an individual’s place of employment. Parental leave is given on a company-by-company basis and is not guaranteed in the United States. Paid family or caregiving leave, on the other hand, allows employees to take compensated leave to care for a family member experiencing a health condition.

What factors should someone consider when deciding whether to take time off to care for a family member?

When faced with the prospect of caring for a family member, individuals should closely consider their options and understand the potential outcomes of each. My research provides a framework of three pathways people generally take after a family member’s health shock. The first is to continue working and either provide informal care in addition to working or rely on formal care, which can be costly. The second is to take a short period of leave (either paid or unpaid) and eventually return to work. The third pathway is leaving the workforce entirely to provide full-time informal care.

Individuals oftentimes have to choose between the lesser of evils when faced with what to do about a loved one’s care, all of which result in some form of financial consequence both in the household and on the broader economy. The availability of paid leave can play an important role in this decision as well.

What would the addition of state or federal paid leave policies mean for American workers?

In states that have paid leave policies, the length of paid leave ranges from six to 12 weeks, but most states do not have any paid leave policies at all. In April 2021, President Biden proposed the American Families Plan which would have federally ensured all workers in the U.S. are guaranteed 12 weeks of paid family leave. Unfortunately, it did not pass through Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The availability of paid leave and job protection is designed to offset the financial burden of the health shock. Paid family leave allows workers to maintain a steady income while finding a permanent solution for their long-term caregiving needs, rather than choosing between losing earnings or paying for formal care. The ultimate goal of paid family leave is to alleviate the emotional and financial burdens that come hand-in-hand with a family member experiencing an illness or disability, allowing the individual to maintain their participation in the labor force and improve their overall well-being.

In addition to the cost-saving benefits, paid family leave policies have the potential to alleviate gender workforce disparities given that the burden of caregiving often falls onto women.

Priyanka Anand is an associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy at ��AV. She is a renowned researcher whose work includes estimating the effect of the ACA Medicaid expansions on federal disability insurance applications, examining the relationship between rising health insurance costs and employee compensation, and analyzing the time use of people with disabilities. Anand’s novel findings on paid family leave, which are in the 2022 Economic Report of the President and published in the Journal of Health Economics, identify implications for the future of federal paid leave policies.

For more information, contact Michelle Thompson at 703-993-3485 or mthomp7@gmu.edu.

About Mason

��AV, Virginia’s largest public research university, enrolls 39,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason has grown rapidly over the last half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2022, Mason celebrates 50 years as an independent institution. Learn more at http://www.gmu.edu.

About the College of Health and Human Services

The College of Health and Human Services prepares students to become leaders and to shape the public's health through academic excellence, research of consequence, community outreach, and interprofessional clinical practice. The College enrolls more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students in its nationally-recognized offerings, including 6 undergraduate degrees, 13 graduate degrees, and 6 certificate programs. The college is transitioning to a college of public health in the near future. For more information, visit https://chhs.gmu.edu.

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CHHS Research

Department of Health Administration and Policy

Anand discusses research on paid leave with U.S. policymakers

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 01:12:02 +0000

Anand discusses research on paid leave with U.S. policymakers Mary Cunningham Thu, 10/13/2022 - 21:12

In This Story

Priyanka Anand, PhD

Priyanka Anand, associate professor of Health Administration and Policy, shared her research with staffers from the Joint Economic Committee and the National Partnership for Women and Families.

Priyanka Anand, associate professor of Health Administration and Policy

Priyanka Anand, associate professor of Health Administration and Policy, has conducted research on the impact of paid family leave mandates on labor supply and caregiving decisions following a spousal disability or health shock. Recently, she discussed her research with staffers on the U.S. Joint Economic Committee, the National Partnership for Women and Families, and a legislative aid from Senator Jamie Raskin’s office.

Anand’s trip to the Hill allowed for important dialogue about paid leave, which remains a hot topic after being excluded from the recent Inflation Reduction Act. The United States does not have a universal paid family leave policy. Her research was featured in the 2022 Economic Report of the President.

With staffers on the Joint Economic Committee, Anand provided a brief overview of her research and answered their questions related to how covid has changed the perspective on paid leave, gender differences in the impact of paid leave, and some of the long-term benefits of receiving federal disability benefits. Anand says they were interested in learning about findings regarding the benefits of expanding access to paid leave and providing federal disability benefits. The Joint Economic Committee uses data to shape the economic narrative via hearings and reports.

“I was happy to see that the staffers were still interested in talking about paid leave, but I think everyone (myself included) was still disappointed about how it got left out of the Inflation Reduction Act and uncertain about when will be the next chance to pass any kind of universal paid leave policy,” said Anand. “Our findings have important policy implications for current efforts to expand access to paid leave to those who are most in need. I am still hopeful that change can happen.”

Anand also met with a representative from the National Partnership for Women and Families to discuss a variety of issues related to paid leave, including why the adoption of paid family leave is so low, even in states with a paid leave policy, and whether there was a way to incentivize employers to encourage their employees to use paid leave when they are eligible. They discussed the abundance of research on parental leave, but the lack of research on paid sick leave and paid caregiving leave, which is part of Anand’s research focus. The National Partnership for Women and Families aims to improve the lives of women and families by achieving equality for all women.

“Learning what questions policymakers are asking about paid leave and disability policy was really helpful for me to use when shaping the direction of my future research. It was also helpful to learn about how to make my research most accessible to them since it can lead to policy changes,” said Anand.

The meetings were set up for Anand as part of the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s Grantee Conference that showcases cutting-edge research on how economic inequality affects economic growth and stability. Equitable Growth is funding Anand’s current research that uses machine learning methods to predict who has access to paid leave through their employer. Their preliminary results show that workers who most need paid leave because of a household shock are less likely to have access to it.

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Study finds correlation between number of tobacco retailers and prevalence of tobacco use in Virginia counties

Mary Cunningham — Thu, 25 Aug 2022 16:59:02 +0000

Study finds correlation between number of tobacco retailers and prevalence of tobacco use in Virginia counties Mary Cunningham Thu, 08/25/2022 - 12:59

A new study from Hong Xue and colleagues shows that the county-level association between tobacco retailers and adult smokers can be largely explained by several social determinants of health, including mental and physical health.

Hong Xue, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy

Smoking-related costs in the United States account for more than 12% of health care spending, making the United States one of the top countries to have health issues caused by smoking. Many public health practitioners and researchers, including Associate Professor Hong Xue in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, have identified the importance of evidence-based policies and regulations to reduce tobacco use, including regulating the tobacco industry.

Xue’s most recent study found that a higher number of tobacco retailers in a Virginia county is associated with a higher prevalence of adult smoking in that county. The analysis done by the interdisciplinary research team found that the higher number of smokers in a county is largely explained by social determinants of health, including socioeconomic status, environmental factors, risk conditions or behaviors, and population health, more than the amount of tobacco retailers.

“Tobacco retailers are more prevalent in areas where the population has low income and a lower quality of physical and mental health, responding to the higher demand of tobacco products in these areas. A higher supply in turn promotes greater demand. This is a dynamic enforcing feedback loop that policies and regulations need to intervene. Also, it’s not only the store selling tobacco that is attracting more smokers, but other aspects of life that are leading people to smoke,” said Xue, who was the principal investigator. “Thus, efforts to reduce tobacco use and consequent negative health effects should explore the impact of improving regional social determinants of health.”

This is the first study that identified the spatial relationship between tobacco retail outlets and smoking prevalence in Virginia and revealed the importance of social determinants in tobacco control.

“This study helps disentangle the complicated relationship between tobacco retailers and adults who smoke and provides actionable evidence to local, state, and federal regulators for effective tobacco prevention and control,” said Xue. “Reducing the number of tobacco retailers might not be sufficient. Policy or program intervention may wish to focus on the social factors, such as reducing the rate of violent crime or addressing issues related to mental distress and physical inactivity.”

Digging deeper into the social determinants of health, the study found that mental distress and physical inactivity are the most important determinants of smoking at the population level. Additionally, results showed that risky environmental conditions related to low income, such as food insecurity and violent crime, were closely associated with county-level smoking prevalence.

The study, “The association between tobacco retailer outlet density and prevalence of cigarette smoking in Virginia” was funded by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth and published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research in August 2022.

The research team included three other researchers associated with Mason: Shuo-yu Lin, a Health Administration and Policy doctoral student; Weiyu Zhou, a doctoral student in the Department of Statistics; Ruixin Yang, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science, as well as J. Randy Koch from the Department of Psychology and the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products and Andrew J. Barnes from the Department of Health Behavior and Policy, both at Virginia Commonwealth University.

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Social Determinants of Health

Tobacco Prevention

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