Adverse Childhood Experiences
Researchers Involved: Linda D. Cameron, Ph.D., Marisela Yepez, and Undergraduate Research Assistants
Community Organization(s) Involved: ACE Overcomers
Project: The project led by Dr. Cameron evaluates psychosocial and health outcomes of an intervention designed to improve emotion regulation skills in adults suffering from Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Adults enrolled in the community-based, 12-week ACE Overcomers program are invited to participate in the study and complete surveys designed to track immediate and long-term changes in their emotion regulation skills, mental and physical health, and quality of life. In addition,trained research assistants attend the 12-week intervention to evaluate the program’s integrity. A publication of an initial study in this series of evaluations can be found here. Linda Cameron and Marisela Yepez are members of the Adverse Childhood Experiences Informed Network of Care of Merced County (ACEsINC) Leadership Committee.
Funding Source: The research project is made possible by funding from First Five of Merced County.
Percieved Benefits and Risks of Cannabis and Tobacco Use
Researchers Involved: Linda D. Cameron, Ph.D., Sara Fleszar, Marisela Yepez, Rosa D.Manzo, Ph.D., Paul Brown, Ph.D.
Community Organization(s) Involved: Camarena Health Promotores de Sauld
Project:
Marijuana use during pregnancy has doubled from 2002 to 20171, with higher prevalence among young, socioeconomically disadvantaged, and ethnic minority populations. The use of marijuana during pregnancy is expected to rise due to the increasing perceptions of its safety and its potential to provide relief for nausea, pain, depression.
This study led by Dr. Cameron surveyed 401 San Joaquin Valley adults to understand common beliefs and misperceptions about the safety and health risks of marijuana use during pregnancy. Trained TRC undergraduate research assistants and Promotores conducted recruitment and data collection for this project. Researchers are utilizing these data to guide health communications and guidelines aimed at ensuring informed choices of marijuana use during pregnancy. Our research partners at Camerena Health will assist in the dissemination of health communication and guidelines throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
Policy Brief: Policy Briefs of the research can be found here.
Funding Source: The project is made possible by funding from the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) successful grant application for $3.8 million.
Evaluation of reporting of Pesticide related Illness by Healthcare Providers
Researchers Involved: Rosa D. Manzo, Ph.D., Nimrat Sandhu, Marisela Yepez, Savneet Kaur, Marie Lujan, Norma Guzman
Community Organization(s) Involved: California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)
Project: California laws and regulations require physicians and other licensed health care professionals to report any known or suspected cases of pesticide-related illness or injury to the Local County Health Officer within 24 hours. Dr. Manzo is leading an exploratory study to evaluate pesticide-illness reporting by health care providers in high pesticide use areas like the San Joaquin Valley. The research aims to understand the various barriers and facilitators in the process of reporting pesticide-related illness. Researchers will carry out the first phase of this project comprising of surveying physicians and other licensed health care professional in the region. This information will be used to design a protocol to develop meaningful recommendations to improve the recognition and reporting of pesticide-related illness in the San Joaquin Valley.
Funding Source: The project is made possible by funding from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) .
Smoking Preferences
Researchers Involved: Paul Brown, Ph.D., Linda D. Cameron, Ph.D., Rudiel Fabian Sanchez, Gilda Zarate-Gonzalez, Sara Fleszar, Marisela Yepez, Imrinder Toor, Denise Venegas
Community Organization(s) Involved: Camerena Health Promotores de Salud
Project: The use of flavored nicotine products has become increasingly popular, many counties and cities in rural areas are considering bans of the sale of flavored nicotine products. In this study led by Dr. Brown, rural residents in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and residents of urban locations are surveyed to understand preferences and attitudes toward flavored products. These data will be used to examine potential economic implications of bans on flavored nicotine products. TRC research assistants have conducted the first phase of data collection of in person surveys and the Promotores Researchers have completed phase two of data collection via remote and virtual recruitment and data collection in the SJV. Phase three data includes an additional 500 online surveys from rural and urban area residents to compare attitudes and preferences between people who live in urban and rural areas with and without current bans.
Funding Source: This project is made possible by funding from the Nicotine and Cannabis Policy Center’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP).
Virtual Community-Engaged Approach to Training Medical Students in Response to COVID-19 Restrictions
Researchers Involved: Rosa D. Manzo, Ph.D., Marisela Yepez, Bayan Preciado,
Community Organization(s) Involved: Camarena Health Promotores de Salud
Project: In the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinical rotations and direct in-person patient experience became deemed unessential for first-year medical students. Trained in diabetes management, Promotores de Salud, Community Health Workers, planned and led a virtual diabetes management home visit program. Researchers paired trained Promotoras with San Joaquin Valley (SJV) PRIME Medical Students participating in the ASPIRE Summer Fellowship program to assist Promotores in virtual home diabetes managment patient visits. Promotores de Salud provided coaching to medical students on patient interaction, community wide resources and collaborated with the students to develop health education and promotion materials for dissemination in communities beyond the diabetes management curriculum. This pilot community-based training program aimed to gain preliminary findings on the efficacy in pairing medical students with Promotoras to deliver care to improve community health. The study gathered preliminary findings integrating early exposure to community-based learning in medical education.
Funding Source: The project is made possible by funding from the San Joaquin Valley PRIME Medical Education Program.
Promotoras Community-Engaged Medical Education Asthma Intervention
Researchers Involved: Rosa D. Manzo, Ph.D., Francisco (Frank) Ortiz, Marisela Yepez, Denise Venegas Laureano, Micaela Sandoval
Community Organization(s) Involved: Camerena Health Promotores de Salud
Project: The project seeks to expand on the community-engaged medical education model to address patient barriers and institutional needs for successful asthma management home visitation programs. During the summer, the project pairs San Joaquin Valley (SJV) PRIME Medical Students participating in the ASPIRE Summer Fellowship with trained Promotoras to deliver virtual asthma management home visits to community members. Promotors will plan and lead the asthma management interventiosn with community members. Promotores will use a snowballing technique to recruit asthma patients at Camarena Health clincs and community centers. The project will evaluate the community-based training of medical students to engage with communities beyond the biomedical diagnosis. Promotoras will administer pre-test and post-test surveys to assess participant asthma knowledge before and after education program and examine behavioral changes. The study lead by Dr. Manzo, will be used to examine the potential impact of integrating medical students to community-based programs.
Funding Source: The project is made possible by funding from Genentech Corporate Giving Health Equity Innovation Fund.