About
26
Publications
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Introduction
I am currently an assistant professor at Indiana University's School of Public Health-Bloomington.
My interests include social justice, structural racism, legal epidemiology, tribal public health, law and policy research, health equity, and the Social Determinants of Health.
The populations I work with include Indigenous peoples and Nations, incarcerated populations, and tribal jails.
Current institution
Education
August 2018 - May 2022
August 2012 - May 2015
August 2007 - December 2011
Publications
Publications (26)
This Viewpoint investigates the poor quality of health care provided to Indigenous peoples incarcerated in US tribal jails and proposes solutions to address health disparities and strengthen tribal sovereignty.
Children from diverse ethnic groups are at significantly increased risk for dental caries. In particular, American Indian (AI) children have the highest incidence of detal caries of any ethnic group. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically restricted health care access, including preventive oral health care. Given this context, it is unclear whether or...
Introduction
Integrating primary care services in mental healthcare facilities is an uncommon model of care in the United States that could bring several benefits (e.g., improved access to physical healthcare) for vulnerable populations experiencing mental health conditions, especially those living in underserved regions like rural Arizona.
Aim
Th...
Purpose
Advancing behavioral health and primary care integration is a priority for helping clients overcome the complex health challenges impacting healthcare deserts like those in Arizona, United States of America (USA). This study aimed to explore the perspectives of people with a substance use disorder (SUD) on accessing integrated primary care...
Background:
Despite experiencing many adversities, American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) have demonstrated tremendous resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing upon Indigenous determinants of health (IDOH) and Indigenous Nation-Building.
Objective:
Our multidisciplinary team undertook this study to achieve two aims: 1) to determine the...
BACKGROUND
Despite experiencing many adversities, American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) have demonstrated tremendous resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing upon Indigenous determinants of health (IDOH) and Indigenous Nation-Building.
OBJECTIVE
Our multidisciplinary team undertook this study to achieve two aims: 1) to determine the rol...
Objective:
To investigate sleep quality among individuals incarcerated in a rural county jail, by housing status before incarceration.
Methods:
Using cross-sectional survey methods, 194 individuals incarcerated in jail reported sleep quality prior to and during incarceration on a Likert scale and pre-incarceration housing status (ie, house, apar...
Purpose:
Using a seven-day cycle menu and commissary items at a rural county jail, this study aims to describe provisions of micronutrients known to be associated with mental health disorders and if they meet dietary guidelines.
Design/methodology/approach:
The nutritional content of a seven-day cycle menu and four available commissary food pack...
American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities have experienced a history of systemic racism and still face significant oral health disparities. These disparities extend to the youngest community members in the form of early childhood caries (ECC). Although behavior and biology contribute to ECC, the conditions where people live, grow, and w...
The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating global and national impacts including major loss of life, economic downturns, and ongoing impairments to mental and physical health. Conducting health research has remained a priority and has helped mitigate some of the COVID-19 devastation; however, challenges to research have arisen due to COVID-19 preven...
In the United States, children from diverse ethnic groups and those with low socioeconomic status are at a significantly increased risk for early childhood caries. Despite the efforts focused on decreasing early childhood caries in American Indian (AI) populations, these children have the highest incidence of dental caries of any ethnic group, with...
Co-occurring mental health (MH) problems are common among those with opioid use disorders (OUDs). However, most opioid treatment programs (OTPs) do not provide MH services. We measured the association between state level characteristics (Medicaid expansion status and rurality) and MH/OUD services integration. We used a generalized linear model to e...
Introduction:
Face masks are widely recommended as a COVID-19 prevention strategy. State mask mandates have generally reduced the spread of the disease, but decisions to wear a mask depend on many factors. Recent increases in case rates in rural areas following initial outbreaks in more densely populated areas highlight the need to focus on preven...
Introduction
Adverse childhood experiences are linked to deleterious outcomes in adulthood. Certain populations have been shown to be more vulnerable to adversity in childhood than others. Despite these findings, research in this area lacks an empirical investigation that examines adverse childhood experiences among American Indian and Alaska Nativ...
Background. Substance use among American Indians (AIs) is a critical health issue and accounts for many health problems such as chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, behavioral health conditions, homicide, suicide, and motor vehicle accidents. In 2013, the highest rates of substance use and dependence were seen among AIs when compared to all other popu...
Objective: Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a common chronic disease occurring in children before age 6, with high
prevalence amongst Native American populations. It results in poor health outcomes including chronic pain, tooth loss and
poor nutrition. The objective of this study was to use qualitative formative data to inform the cultural tailoring...
Objectives. To estimate the association between race/ethnicity and drug- and alcohol-related arrest outcomes.Methods. We used multinomial logistic regression and general estimating equations to estimate the association between race/ethnicity and arrest outcomes in 36 073 drug- and alcohol-related arrests obtained from administrative records in a So...
This special issue of Practicing Anthropology presents multi-disciplinary and multisectoral views of a community engaged health disparities project titled “Health Disparities in Jail Populations: Converging Epidemics of Infectious Disease, Chronic Illness, Behavioral Health, and Substance Abuse.” The overall project incorporated traditional anthrop...
As local, participatory research becomes more common, the logistics of conducting such research continues to challenge anthropologists' and other researchers' traditional sense of disconnection from research participants. Using interviews with the researchers involved in a study conducted in a local county jail, we consider major barriers to conduc...
Background:
Each year, 9 million individuals cycle in and out of jails. The under-characterization of incarceration as an exposure poses substantial challenges to understanding how varying levels of exposure to jail may affect health. Thus, we characterized levels of jail incarceration including recidivism, number of incarcerations, total and aver...
Healthcare is a Constitutional right afforded by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. Specifically, Estelle v. Gamble, the seminal case in healthcare in correctional institutions, states that prisoners (incarcerated individuals across the board) are entitled to access to care for diagnosis and treatment, a profess...
The environmental health status of jail populations in the United States constitutes a significant public health threat for prisoners and the general population. The ecology of jails creates a dynamic condition in relation to general population health due to the concentrated potential exposure to infectious diseases, difficult access to treatment f...
