We’re closing out this semester’s season with a conversation about prevention and partnerships. We focus on a discussion between a long-standing collaborative relationship between Penn State and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth government, which targets interventions and prevention work targeted towards youth and families.Our episode covers a wide span of topics, including why prevention and implementation work […]
Episode 21: The Knowledge Mobilization Problem
For this month’s episode, we did something a little different. We spoke to two researchers with two different approaches to tackling the same problem: knowledge mobilization. In essence, the concept of knowledge mobilization focuses on making knowledge, resources or practices that exist in one space and making them accessible to specific audiences. We talked about […]
Episode 20: Chronic Diseases: Underserved Communities, Prevention, and Genetic Factors
This month’s episode tackles a fascinating combination of topics involving the impact of biological and social factors on chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes, and the prevention and treatment efforts for those chronic diseases through state and local government programs. We spoke to Lindsay Fernández-Rhodes, Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health and the Director of Epidemiology […]
Episode 19: Mental Health Screenings for Adolescents in the K-12 School System
This month’s episode discusses mental health screenings for adolescents in the K-12 school system. We spoke to Deepa Sekhar, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics at the College of Medicine, and Executive Director, Penn State PRO Wellness; Perri Rosen, PhD, NCSP, Consulting Psychologist, Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Pennsylvania Dept. of Human […]
Episode 18: The Perfect Storm: College Students, Mental Health, and the Sense of Belonging on Campus
The end of the spring semester marks the release of another episode! This month, we tackled the tough topic of mental health among college students. We talked about how COVID-19 has impacted college students seeking mental health services, the challenges for counselors and administrators working in university mental health centers, policy solutions to the crisis, […]
Episode 17: Digging Deeper into the Juvenile Justice System
We’re back for our third season! Kicking off the 2022 season, we explore the juvenile justice system in Pennsylvania. We spoke to Megan Kurlychek, Professor of Sociology, Criminology and Public Policy and Associate Director of the Criminal Justice Research Center at Penn State, and Rick Steele, Executive Director of the Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission at […]
Episode 16: Debunking the U.S. Census
This month’s episode tackles all things related to the U.S. Census. We discussed the decennial Census, the data products created and released from the U.S. Census Bureau, the current demographic trends and challenges, and measuring hard-to-reach populations. We spoke to Raeven Chandler, Ph.D., Director of the Pennsylvania Population Network (PPN) at the Population Research Institute […]
Episode 15: Innovations in Healthcare: Enhancing Value, Health Equity, and the Social Determinants of Health
In this month’s episode, we tackled innovations in healthcare. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen a focus on various healthcare innovations and technology like artificial intelligence, cloud-enabled solutions, and inpatient telehealth, but other innovations are important, too. Some of these focused on in Pennsylvania include how we can get more value out of […]
Episode 14: Navigating Pennsylvania’s Child Welfare System and Issues of Child Maltreatment
This month marks the beginning of the third season of this podcast! We’re kicking things off by exploring the opportunities and challenges of Pennsylvania’s child welfare system. For the past several years, there has been an ongoing partnership between Penn State researchers and government partners to change the Commonwealth’s county-based child welfare system through legislative […]
Episode 13: The Pandemic Perspective: Examining the Hardship of Unemployment and the Pandemic Labor Market
For this month’s episode, we explore a topic that we have wanted to cover for some time: unemployment and the pandemic labor market. As the nation begins to “reopen” and the economy begins shifting, many states have begun ending pandemic-era unemployment insurance benefits. For many, unemployment insurance was the only thing keeping them afloat following the […]
Episode 12: The Pandemic Perspective: Revealing the Hidden Crisis of Food Insecurity
For this month’s episode, we examined how the pandemic has revealed the “hidden crisis” of food insecurity throughout Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. According to the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, food insecurity is defined as the disruption of food intake or eating patterns because of lack of money or […]
Episode 11: The Pandemic Perspective: The Challenges and Opportunities of the Childcare System
This month, we return to our Pandemic Perspective series and explore the state of the childcare system in Pennsylvania during the pandemic. We discuss the challenges and opportunities to funding, access, and quality for the childcare system. We spoke to Karen Grimm-Thomas, Director of External Relations at the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early […]
Episode 10: Exploring PacMAT, the Pennsylvania Coordinated Medication-Assisted Treatment Program
This month, we are taking a break from our Pandemic Perspective series to examine an existing working relationship between academia and government. Since we talk a lot on this podcast about how the research community and government partners or policymakers can work together more effectively, it made sense for us to dig into an existing […]
Episode 9: The Pandemic Perspective: The Local and State Government’s Response to COVID-19, the 2020 Election, and Everything in Between (Part 2)
This month’s episodes feature everything but the kitchen sink! We’re tackling how government, primarily at the local and state levels, transitioned to remote work, unemployment and the recession, the messaging behind school closings/mask wearing, the 2020 Election, COVID-19 vaccines distribution, and everything in between. As part of our new series, The Pandemic Perspective, we spoke […]
Episode 8: The Pandemic Perspective: The Local and State Government’s Response to COVID-19, the 2020 Election, and Everything in Between (Part 1)
This month’s two part (!) episode features everything but the kitchen sink! We’re tackling how government, primarily at the local and state levels, transitioned to remote work, unemployment and the recession, the messaging behind school closings/mask wearing, the 2020 Election, COVID-19 vaccines distribution, and everything in between. For the second episode of our new series, […]