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College of Health
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Professor Megan McClelland contributed to six publications in 2024 on topics related to childhood education, executive function and school readiness.
Megan is the Katherine E. Smith Professor of Healthy Children and Families at Oregon State University, where she also serves as the endowed director of the Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families in the College of Health.
Health promotion and health behavior MPH student Asia Brown (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma) contributed to Ask Your Relative's recent publication, “Ask Your Relative: A Mixed-Method Analysis of the Sexual Health and Healthy Relationship Q&As Submitted by American Indian and Alaska Native Young Adults.” DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-20550-5
Findings from this study may help create additional culturally tailored resources for Native youth.
Mentored by COH instructor Teresa Ashford, Julia Notz, ’24 (then an undergraduate), developed a podcast related to human sexuality called Lets’ Talk About…, which placed second for Multimedia Story of the Year in the Best Podcast category with the Associated Collegiate Press! Julie had taken Teresa’s human sexuality course and reached out to her to serve as her mentor. Julia also presented her project on campus at the Spring Poster Symposium.
Professor Bradley J. Cardinal was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (Sports and Exercise Science [Honoris Causa]) from Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand, during the university’s annual commencement ceremony held October 7-10.
For nearly 25 years, Brad has worked with faculty, staff and students at Kasetsart University. In addition to faculty in Sports and Health Science, he has also worked closely with faculty in Education, Department of Physical Education, as well as other institutions throughout Thailand.
Alexandra Borstad, a clinician with more than 30 years’ experience as a physical therapist, researcher and teacher, recently joined Oregon State University – Cascades as a clinical professor and director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.
Professor Sunil Khanna, director of the Center for Global Health and Robert and Sara Rothschild Endowed Chair, recently offered a daylong workshop in Botswana entitled “Empowering Change: Monitoring and Evaluation for Gender and Youth Equity in Botswana.”
Botswana’s Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture sponsored the workshop, and 79 ministry staff members from across the country participated. The workshop focused on enhancing participants’ knowledge and skills in monitoring and evaluation practices specifically tailored to promote gender and youth equity in low-resource settings in Botswana.
This workshop is important in strengthening the Center for Global Health’s engagement in Botswana and in creating a supportive network of government stakeholders dedicated to advancing gender and youth equity across various sectors in Botswana.
HDFS doctoral student Ines De Pierola was chosen as the student recipient of the Feldman Award for Best Conference Proposal, presented by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Family Policy Section. The award recognizes Ines's proposal, titled "Employer-Provided Paid Family Leave and Material Hardship After Childbirth Among Oregon Mothers."
Professor Brad Cardinal has been recognized for his significant contributions to the field of sport and exercise psychology. A recent article published in Kinesiology Review identified Brad as an eminent researcher in the discipline.
The article also recognized two Oregon State alumni for their achievements: Fuzhong Li and Paul Loprinzi. Congratulations to all three researchers for their dedication to advancing the field.
A $125,000 grant has been awarded to Professor Roberta Riportella and a team of colleagues to train Oregon's traditional health care workers on how to communicate about the importance of adult vaccinations.
The team includes Professor Deborah John, Associate Professor of Practice Robin Maille, Senior Instructor II Katie Ahern and Oralia Mendez, MPH, manager for the Workforce Development and Community Programs in FCH.
The team aims to improve the ability of Oregon’s certified Community Health Workers (CHWs) to deliver vaccination messages to their adult clients. To achieve this goal, they will adapt the evidence-based University of Arkansas course, “How to Talk to Your [Patients] About Vaccinations,” for Oregon’s CHWs working in non-clinical community settings.
The COH Marketing and Communications team has been recognized with a Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Best of District VIII Award for its “extraordinary work” and “creative and innovative ideas” in renaming and rebranding the college in 2023. District VIII comprises colleges and universities in the PNW and Western Canada.
Research Assistant Professor Hyosin (Dawn) Kim, in collaboration with Rutgers University researchers, published a study in The Gerontologist titled "Home Health Care and Place of Death in Medicare Beneficiaries With and Without Dementia."
The research shows that Medicare beneficiaries who used home health care at the end of life were less likely to die in a hospital setting without hospice. Kim found that among those with dementia, home health use beginning earlier than the last year of life was associated with a much lower likelihood of in-hospital death compared to when home health care began closer to the time of death. The findings highlight the potential of early home health care exposure to help Medicare beneficiaries avoid inpatient death without hospice.
The National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, supported this research through grant R01AG066139.
A big thank you to Adriana Harper, administrative assistant to the School of Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences head, and Clinical Associate Professor Heidi Wegis for organizing the school’s tailgate before the homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 19. Their persistent efforts to foster community and connection are appreciated!
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