Context: Presented to MPH class as a group
Date: December 16, 2021
Jasmine Naranjo, Ateeqa Ijaz, Colin Fergunson, and I presented our research on increased uptake of public health measures among k-12 during a pandemic at state level in the US. Our research was influenced by the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic. We identified health behaviors in the K-12 school population that needed improvement. One major behavioral change was encouraging increased health literacy. Another was to increase proper ventilation in schools as COVID-19 is spread through the air. The third change was to apply strategies and policies to close gaps of health disparities. We also identified non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) that would help prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. These efforts layered together would provide maximum effectiveness. These NPIs usually are the first measures of prevention and mitigation for novel diseases as pharmaceutical interventions are being developed. With the layered used of NPIs, pharmaceutical interventions are another line of defense that is only as effective as the public’s uptake of each type of intervention.