Kathleen O'Connor Duffany

• PhD
• Managing Director at Yale University

Background Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is key for maternal-child food and nutrition security. In the United States, fruit and vegetable consumption is lower among low-income families. Produce prescription programs (PRx) provide monetary benefits to low-income individuals to buy fresh produce or directly provide the produce itself to impro...

Background Produce prescription programs have strong potential to improve food security, fruit and vegetable consumption, and health across the life course. Understanding clients’ experiences and satisfaction with produce prescription programs is critical for evaluating the person-centeredness and quality of these programs. The objectives of this s...

Background: Social determinants of health (SDoH) significantly impact hypertension (HTN) control, yet are not addressed as part of the medical model. We used a team-based approach, integrating remote blood pressure monitoring (RBPM), pharmacists, and community health workers (CHWs) to address HTN among patients with persistently uncontrolled HTN re...

Background: The Community Research Fellows (CRF) program seeks to mobilize New Haven residents with lower incomes or from communities of color who are educated and equipped to engage as equal partners in health research at Yale University. The training program combines curriculum-based information with 'on-the-ground' experience with Yale research...

Introduction Policymakers, health practitioners, and other key partners are increasingly focused on ensuring that clients of food assistance programs have positive experiences, a key aspect of high-quality programming. The objectives of this review are to describe the experiences of clients participating in food assistance programs in the United St...

The association between neighborhood-built environment and body mass index (BMI) is well-characterized, whereas fewer studies have explored the mechanisms underlying the relationship between neighborhood social environment and obesogenic behaviors. Using data from a random sample of 16,820 residents ≥18 years from all 169 Connecticut towns and seve...

Background. Food insecurity, affecting approximately 10% of the U.S. population, with up to 40% or higher in some communities, is associated with higher rates of chronic conditions and inversely associated with diet quality. Nutrition interventions implemented at food pantries are an effective strategy to increase healthy food choices and improve h...

Food insecurity is widespread in the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the need for food assistance and created opportunities for collaboration among historically-siloed organizations. Research has demonstrated the importance of coalition building and community organizing in Policy, Systems, and Environmental (PSE) change and its pot...

Breastfeeding has health benefits for both infants and mothers, yet Black mothers and infants are less likely to receive these benefits. Despite research showing no difference in breastfeeding intentions by race or ethnicity, inequities in breastfeeding rates persist, suggesting that Black mothers face unique barriers to meeting their breastfeeding...

Objectives Little is known about how to promote high-quality, person-centered breastfeeding care for women of color. We sought to understand breastfeeding care experiences among Latina women to inform the co-design of quality improvement interventions. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews with 21 Latina women with low incomes in Connecticut ab...

The objective of this study was to examine academic delays for children born large for gestational age (LGA) and assess effect modification by maternal obesity and diabetes and then to characterize risks for LGA for those with a mediating condition. Cohort data were obtained from the New York City Longitudinal Study of Early Development, linking bi...

Introduction: Healthier school environments can benefit students, and school wellness policies may result in meaningful enhancements. Schools participating in federal child nutrition programs must implement wellness policies as mandated by law. The primary study objective is to assess effectiveness of implementing school-based nutrition and physic...

Approximately 34% of residents from New Haven’s six lowest-income neighborhoods are food insecure, significantly higher than the rest of Connecticut and country (both approximately 12%). To understand the availability, accessibility, and utility of emergency food programs, we conducted 34 semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 food insecure...

Perceptions of neighborhood safety shape the well-being of individuals and communities, affecting neighborhood walkability, associated physical activity behaviors, and health conditions. However, less is known about the factors that determine perceptions of safety. One factor that may affect perceptions of neighborhood safety is the length of time...

We have described self-reported exposure to gun violence in an urban community of color to inform the movement toward a public health approach to gun violence prevention. The Community Alliance for Research and Engagement at Yale School of Public Health conducted community health needs assessments to document chronic disease prevalence and risk, in...

Objective: To assess the risk for neurodevelopmental delays for children of mothers who were obese (≥200 pounds) prior to pregnancy, and to characterize delays associated with maternal obesity among children referred to and found eligible to receive Early Intervention Program services. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study (N = 541,...

Objective: To investigate the effect of race, body mass index (BMI), and weight gain on blood pressure in pregnancy and postpartum. Study design: Secondary analysis of pregnant women aged 14 to 25 who received prenatal care at a university-affiliated public clinic in New Haven, Connecticut and delivered singleton term infants (n = 418). Longitud...

This chapter is organized into two parts. Part I shows how healthcare systems - set up in a period when infectious diseases were dominant - have locked in a focus on treating acute-care episodes. It further demonstrates how global health has come to focus a narrow set of low-cost, magic-bullet solutions, based on historical successes in eradicating...

Community Interventions for Health (CIH) is a 3 year pilot study focusing on testing chronic disease prevention activities in developing country settings. CIH uses structural interventions and community mobilization, supported by health education and social marketing/media. The activities of CIH are pervasive throughout defined community settings u...

Novel efforts and accompanying tools are needed to tackle the global burden of chronic disease. This paper presents an approach to describe the environments in which people live, work, and play. Community Health Environment Scan Survey (CHESS) is an empirical assessment tool that measures the availability and accessibility, of healthy lifestyle opt...

As elementary and secondary school-level testing programs begin administering tests on computers, several issues related to the validity of using test scores provided by computer-based tests to make decisions about student and school performance must be examined. In this paper, we describe how efforts to examine the validity of computer-based test...

As access to computer-based technology in schools and classrooms increases, greater emphasis has been placed on preparing teachers to use technology for instructional purposes. Survey data collected from 2,894 teachers in 22 Massachusetts districts were analyzed to examine the extent to which technology is used in and out of the classroom for instr...