Volume 3.3 | May 1, 2019
Southern Illinois University School of Medicine's Population Science and Policy (PSP) is excited to bring you The Pioneer Pulse, a monthly supplement to our larger quarterly newsletter, The Pioneer .
Behavioral Health and Population Health
On May 17, Southern Illinois Healthcare and Southern Illinois University will present the 20th Annual Health Policy Institute . This year’s full-day event, “Beyond Stigma: Developing Workable Behavioral Health Policies” will explore the scope and impact on mental illness on society and aims to help participants comprehend how law, medicine and healthcare providers can collaborate to improve this public health crisis. (Learn more and register for this event in the section below.)

PSP’s work is intrinsically tied to behavioral health. Mental and behavioral health issues directly affect physical health, and yet a schism has historically existed between an individual's clinical care and his or her mental and behavioral well being. PSP is working to bridge the divide between behavioral and physical health, but significant roadblocks still exist between the two. Furthermore, cost, distance and stigma present additional barriers for individuals to receive needed behavioral health services.

A majority of PSP’s projects, both past and present, include a major behavioral health component. For example, PSP has worked within the Decatur Public School district to help create a trauma informed environment, helping teachers and administrators identify signs of childhood trauma and address it appropriately. The Little Leaps project in Hillsboro, IL, aims to improve baby brain development. Our current opioid research is exploring the stigma felt by people who inject drugs and how it may prevent them from getting the services they need.

As an organizer of the 2018 Illinois Rural Health Summit, PSP identified the shortage of mental/behavioral health professionals as one of the major issues negatively affecting health outcomes in rural Illinois. Approximately 94 percent of small and rural hospitals are in designated mental health service shortage areas. While Illinois has a state average of 10.5 psychiatrists per 100,000 people, that number plummets to 1.6 psychiatrists per 100,000 people in rural counties.

In an effort to improve health in the counties we serve, PSP often works to bridge segments of health, education, medicine, politics and others to improve health – and our reach extends beyond clinic walls to the places where people live, work, pray and play. As we collaborate with communities and create interventions for Illinois residents, we will continue to treat behavioral health as an important component to our work.
PSP Spotlight: Nicole Summers
The Department of Population Science and Policy is fortunate to have a multidisciplinary staff to inform projects and research to improve population health. Nicole Summers, MS, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor and her expertise as a psychologist adds an important mental/behavioral health component to many PSP projects.

Learn more about Nicole and her work:

"I received my Ph.D. and M.S. in Experimental Psychology at Saint Louis University with concentrations in child development and research methods. Concurrently, I worked at Pennsylvania State University for six years in the Edna Bennette Pierce Prevention Research Center on national intervention projects to support at-risk youth. There, I learned to interlace community-based participatory research in my projects. My most recent project, Generation Health, collected data across three family generations about attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge surrounding nutrition in Arcola, Illinois. The first phase of this project was funded by the Lumpkin Family Foundation and I am currently working on a grant application to fund the creation of culturally-sensitive educational materials for families based on these findings."
Introducing: 2019 MD/MPH Graduates
The Department of Population Science and Policy wants to congratulate this year's MD/MPH graduates, Emma James and Emily Samson. Learn about their MD/MPH experience below:

Why did you decide to pursue the MD/MPH path?

EMMA: Before medical school I worked in a clinic operated by the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. I really appreciated the community impact the clinic’s providers were able to have by considering not only the best interest of their individual patient but also the public health of the neighborhood and city at large. I wanted to pursue the MPH to give myself the tools to be cognizant of the broader community health in my practice of medicine.

EMILY: All of my work experience prior to medical school involved community health and health education, so the combined degree plan seemed like a natural fit. I always planned on pursuing something in primary care and to pursue work in the public health sector.

How is your “working knowledge” different than your MD classmates?

EMMA: The MPH coursework exposed us to basic concepts in the practice of public health, but I think the real-world application of the material has done the most to improve my working knowledge. The dual degree program gave me the opportunity to be an intern in the Jackson County Department of Public Health as well as work on a project with the Illinois Department of Public Health during my practicum. This exposure to state and local public health professionals has informed my outlook on medicine and the role MDs have in promoting and maintaining the health of our communities. 

EMILY: The combined degree provides you with a base knowledge to approach health issues with a more holistic view. Medical school can bog you down in the basic sciences, so I was grateful to have this background knowledge that helped me step back and look at the big picture. I also really appreciated the knowledge I gained from a course on health behavior theory – it allowed me to empathize more and better understand some of the health behaviors patients struggle with.

What are your plans after graduation?

EMMA: I am starting my Ob/Gyn residency here at SIU. I plan to continue to build my skillset by pursuing public health research opportunities in the field of Ob/Gyn and continuing my community involvement as a board member at the local Mini O’Beirne crisis nursery.

EMILY: I will be heading to the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) to begin my family medicine residency! I am in a special “underserved track” where my continuity clinic will be at a rural community health center with a large Spanish-speaking population. After residency I may pursue a fellowship, specifically in global health. 

What would you say to someone considering the MD/MPH path?

EMMA: I would encourage any future MD to pursue a joint degree program. There will likely be big changes in American healthcare over the course of our careers, and the MPH joint degree helped me develop advocacy and research skills that allow me to feel I have a role in effecting change.

EMILY: Do it! The combined degree is a huge asset to anyone in the medical field. Whether your interest is health policy, program planning, or epidemiologic research, a public health degree can provide you with a wide breadth of knowledge to support your future career. It allows you to not only serve your individual patients better but the surrounding community as a whole.
20th Annual Health Policy Institute
SIU School of Law , School of Medicine and Southern Illinois Healthcare are proud to sponsor the 20 th Annual Health Policy Institute (HPI) on May 17, 2019. This full-day event, which is presented live in Carbondale with interactive simulcasts in Chicago and Springfield, includes presentations from national experts about regulatory and public policy issues in healthcare.

This year’s Health Policy Institute will focus on behavioral health. As the prevalence of mental health conditions are on the rise and suicide is the 10 th leading cause of death in the United States, nearly 45 million adults in America currently struggle with mental illness. Children and adolescents are also experiencing a growing number of behavioral health issues. Speakers will focus on mental health needs of prisoners, mental health disparities among minority populations and women, PTSD and veterans, professional burnout for physicians and attorneys, and mental illness and firearm regulation.

We invite interested individuals to learn more and register to attend the event in Springfield, Carbondale or Chicago.
Trauma Informed Partnership
The Trauma Informed Partnership of Macon County was recently selected as a featured presenter in Toronto, Canada at the annual conference of the  American Educational Research Association (AERA). The work and research of the partnership, titled  Community Supported Innovation Incubators: A Study of Two Elementary Schools Creating Trauma Informed Learning Environments , initially earned acceptance at this prestigious world-wide conference. The 85-page r esearch paper was then advanced and achieved selection out of over 12,000 research projects to be included in the AERA Presidential Cross-cutting Session.
 
The work of this research project and the Trauma Informed Partnership speaks to the successful collaboration of schools and educators: the Macon/Piatt Regional Office of Education , Illinois Education Association , SIU School of Medicine Department of Population Science and Policy , The Community Foundation of Macon County and The Education Coalition of Macon County . The issues within the research highlight the challenges of building not only a trauma informed school but also the need for community support networks around the schools. The project was funded through a successful grant application presented by Decatur Public Schools to the Illinois State Board of Education.

T rauma Informed Partnership members, including former PSP faculty member Jeanne Koehler, recently discussed this huge honor and the Partnership's work on Now Decatur's Byers & Co. radio show.

Conference Connections
PSP's presentations, posters, lectures and panel discussions are an essential aspect of sharing our work within academic and healthcare communities. Attending conferences allows us to make valuable connections with others in the field and learn best practices to better inform our interventions as we work to close disparities and improve population health.

May highlights include:

  • PSP Administrative Director Heather Whetsell and PSP Chair Sameer Vohra are displaying two posters at the National Rural Health Association’s 42nd Annual Conference in Atlanta on May 9: “Building Healthy Futures: A Community Health Collaborative” and “Innovating Illinois Rural Health – Philanthropy and Partnerships.”

  • PSP Post-Doctoral Fellow Anne Scheer is presenting her findings on rural children’s perspectives on nutrition and fitness and the culture and meaning of food at the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry on May 15 in Champaign, Illinois.

  • PSP Research Assistant Professor Nicole Summers is presenting “A Person-Oriented Approach to Rural Youth Risky Behavior: An Analysis of Ethnicity and Gender” at the Society for Prevention Research’s 27th Annual Meeting: Prevention Science in a Big Data World on May 28 in San Francisco.

  • PSP Health Policy Specialist Kimberly Palermo will present “The Illinois Rural Health Summit: Convening Rural Stakeholders to Create a Rural Health Policy Blueprint” at the Network for Social Work Management’s 30th Annual Management Conference on May 29 in Chicago.
Population Science and Policy faculty and staff are routinely invited to speak at local, statewide and national events. If you are interested in learning more about our Department or would like to have a member of the Department attend or speak at your local event, please contact us a t psp@siumed.edu .
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