Misti Crane

Health care providers have significant opportunities to prevent gun-related suicides – both in the exam room and as advocates for policy change, according to a trio of researchers from The Ohio State University College of Public Health. 

In an article published online today (May 11, 2020) in the Annals of Family Medicine, the researchers point to a troubling 23 percent increase in the firearm suicide rate from 2005 to 2017 and encourage a robust response from individual physicians and from the associations to which they belong. 

The Ohio State University College of Public Health faculty and students have been critical to Ohio’s response to COVID-19, quickly working to offer their expertise in disease modeling and other essential areas since the crisis began to unfold in the United States in late winter.

In a time when many of us feel increasingly disconnected out of public health necessity, an effort led by the College of Public Health is bringing together those in need with those most able to offer assistance.

COVID Connect, a project to unite health departments and other organizations with professional volunteers willing to share their expertise, already has begun to serve as a lifeline during an unprecedented time in modern history.

Ohio State University’s College of Public Health will bring Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan of Columbia University to Columbus on March 5 to discuss their research – and newly published book Sexual Citizens – examining the social roots of campus sexual assault. 

Greg Moody of The Ohio State University John Glenn College of Public Affairs will kick off the first-of-its-kind Center for HOPES speaker series on Feb. 3 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in Page Hall. The four-speaker series is focused on how social determinants such as housing, poverty and race contribute to our well-being. 

Moody, executive-in-residence at the Glenn College, will talk about the role of social determinants in promoting health – specifically how government and community leaders are addressing these contributors to poor health.

Bans and other policies restricting e-cigarette sales could do more public harm than good, according to a group of public-health, tobacco-policy and ethics experts.

In a piece published online today (Dec. 12, 2019) in the journal Science, the authors, including three public health deans, caution that blanket policies developed in a rush to address two different concerns come with dangerous downsides – most notably the risk of taking away a powerful tool to help smokers quit.

The out-of-pocket financial burden for insured working Americans is substantial and growing – especially when it comes to out-of-network, non-emergency hospital care, a new study has found.

Researchers at The Ohio State University analyzed claims from more than 22 million enrollees in private insurance plans and found that out-of-pocket costs for non-emergency out-of-network hospital care nearly doubled in five years.

With around 100 public health professionals in attendance, the Polaris-area conference supported by the Ohio Department of Health is focused on quality improvement and innovation – work that will positively transform the way public health agencies do their work.

Students, alumni and faculty shared research on topics including how sleep could contribute to suicide risk, how hospitals can better prevent Legionella and how messages encouraging smokers to stop might be reframed to emphasize the positive sides of quitting.

Among the highlights:

Preventing HIV in sex workers is a powerful tool in lowering the worldwide burden of the disease, and a new study could help ensure that high-risk women take advantage of medical safeguards.

Researchers studying HIV in Malawi knew that the drug PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) could prevent infections among female sex workers and their sex partners, but they wanted to know how best to get them the medication and encourage them to use it. So they asked the women themselves.