Welcome to Lisa Watts Natkin

Lisa Watts Natkin, PhD is the IBH-PC project's new Post-Doctoral Research Fellow coordinating the collection, analysis, and management of qualitative data. She will help plan and conduct site visits and interviews, review project documents, code qualitative data, conduct thematic analyses, and support manuscript preparation. Recently, Lisa completed her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Vermont (UVM). Her dissertation research explored student learning and teaching practices related to UVM’s new sustainability general education requirement. Findings are published in a peer-reviewed article. During her master’s degree, she helped to evaluate a program designed to motivate Brookfield Zoo members to participate in conservation behavior. The Teton Science Schools hired her to evaluate the effectiveness of their graduate program. During her doctoral program, Lisa evaluated the Sustainability Faculty Fellows (SFF) program, which seeks to develop a learning community among a multidisciplinary faculty cohort. Evaluation findings were published in two peer-reviewed journal articles. For the past two years, Lisa has been an evaluator working with Evergreen Evaluation & Consulting, Inc.  She supported several U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Program grant funded programs. She assisted clients with instrumentation development, conducting interviews, collecting data, analyzing data, and writing reports. Lisa lives in Hinesburg with her husband, 3-year-old son, and dog.  

We are really excited to have her on the team!

- Ben Littenberg

New article on the built environment and obesity in Vermont

This just out from the GeoMed group at UVM:

Troy AR, Bonnell LN, Littenberg B. Relationship Between the Built Environment and Body Mass Index in a Rural Context: A Cross-Sectional Study from Vermont. Cureus 2018; 10:e3040.  doi:10.7759/cureus.3040 https://www.cureus.com/articles/11841

Objective 
To evaluate the association between a marker of urban development (commercial building density) and body mass index (BMI) in a predominantly rural context.
Methods 
A cross-sectional analysis of two geocoded datasets from Vermont. The first includes subjects from the Vermont Diabetes Information System (VDIS), an extensively attributed dataset of adult diabetics (n = 610); the second was the complete driver's license records for Vermont (n = 401,367). The dependent variable was BMI, measured objectively for the VDIS data and self-reported for the driver's license data. The explanatory variable was commercial buildings per hectare within 250 m of the home address used as a proxy for walkability. We regressed BMI against density in both datasets, controlling for age and gender; a separate regression was run for the VDIS data, controlling for a number of additional confounders related to health, activity, diet, and income.
Results 
All models demonstrated a significant positive relationship between BMI and commercial building density. For the three VDIS data models, coefficients of density were +0.75, +0.79, and +0.90, all of which indicate an approximate ¾ kg/m2 increase in BMI for each additional commercial facility per hectare (p < 0.01). For the driver’s license data, the coefficient was +0.16, which also indicates an increase in BMI with increasing density (p < 0.01).
Discussion 
We found that BMI displays a positive association with commercial building density in Vermont, which is inconsistent with previous findings. The difference may be due to the unique rural focus of this study. Other characteristics of rural life may be associated with lower incidence of obesity and should be studied further. https://www.cureus.com/articles/11841

Special thanks to Levi Bonnell, MPH (PhD candidate) for finalizing this manuscript.

Levi Bonnell on Geographic Information Systems in Public Health

PhD candidate Levi Bonnell, MPH, just had an editorial published in Practice Update about using data from insurance claims and the American Community Survey (ACS) data to identify census tracts with poor glycemic control.  Congratulations, Levi!

You can see the piece here.

- Ben Littenberg

Fwd: SAVE THE DATE - MEPS-HC Data Users' Workshop - September 12, 2018

You are subscribed to the Mailing List for the MEPS Periodic Digest for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). SAVE THE DATE AHRQ will be conducting a one-day hands-on MEPS-HC Data Users' Workshop in Rockville, MD, on September 12, 2018. This workshop will consist of lectures designed to provide a general overview of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/ along with lectures on MEPS-HC survey design, health care utilization, expenditures, medical conditions; and statistical issues and challenges researchers face while analyzing MEPS-HC data. There will also be time allotted for the hands-on experience to participants. The participants will apply the knowledge gained from the morning lectures and work with programmers and analysts on MEPS data in the afternoon. They will learn how to identify and assemble variables to build a data file to answer their research questions. Sample SAS as well as STATA exercises will be demonstrated. Participants are asked to bring their own laptops with their choice of software preloaded on it. We will provide the digital version of the exercises (SAS & STATA) and slides to the attendees. During the Hands-on session, participants will have an opportunity to talk to programmers individually for answering their specific research questions and there will be time allotted for open discussion. The workshop is offered free of charge. A full program description, registration form, and logistical information will be available by the end of July on the Workshops & Events page of the MEPS Web site at: http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/about_meps/workshops_events.jsp. For any other questions, please e-mail workshopinfo@ahrq.hhs.gov.   The day after the MEPS workshop, on September 13, AHRQ will offer a one-day workshop on the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP).  Registration for the HCUP workshop will open in late July.  Information will be available on the HCUP Workshops & Webinars page.   Participants may register for both the MEPS and HCUP workshops if they wish.  For questions about the HCUP workshop, please email hcup@ahrq.gov.

Fwd: Student/Resident/Fellow Works-in-Progress Poster Call for Papers | Submission Deadline: July 31

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Student, Resident, Fellow Call for Papers The 2018 NAPCRG Annual Meeting Student/Resident/Fellow  Works-in-Progress Poster Call for Papers submission deadline is July 31. Students, residents, and fellows are invited to submit a poster for the 2018 NAPCRG Annual Meeting to be held November 9-13 in Chicago, Illinois. Proposals on any topic relating to primary care research are welcome from researchers throughout North America and the world. The submission deadline is July 31 (midnight, EDT).  Questions about the 2018 NAPCRG Annual Meeting? Contact Priscilla Noland at pnoland@napcrg.org.