Population Health Research Brief Series

Launched in February 2019, our Population Health Research Brief Series highlights pressing health topics. Written by the Center’s staff, Graduate Fellows, Faculty Affiliates, and community partners, this series will inform you on happenings in our local community as well as illustrate issues and trends relating to social determinants of population health. Sign up for the Population Health Research Brief Series here.

Syracuse City School District Observational Study

To learn about smoking and drug use near City School grounds, we conducted an observational study with the Syracuse City School District and Transforming Communities Initiative (TCI). Our Lerner Fellows and staff visited 36 Syracuse City Schools and administrative buildings to look for signs of smoking, vaping, and drug use. We are now cleaning and analyzing the results and will write a report of our findings. The aim is to establish new signage to promote cessation and keep the school grounds clean of drug use and paraphernalia.

Health App Survey

To boost participation of our Healthy Monday initiative, we are taking our programs viral through a mobile app. We have developed a survey measuring students’ and employees’ usage of health and wellness apps to improve our Healthy Monday programming that was implemented campus wide. We plan to use the results of the survey to inform our Healthy Monday program development.

Social Wellness Survey

Over the past several months, our team has been identifying community needs surrounding social wellness. In the preliminary stages, we conducted an expansive literature review on social determinants of health. Now, we are developing a comprehensive survey based on validated measures to assess individual’s perceptions of his or her social wellness. We will use the results of the survey to inform the creation of a new Healthy Monday initiative.