Shaping Tomorrow's Health: BSE Highlights from the 2023 OPHA Annual Conference

The Oklahoma Public Health Association Annual Conference was held September 24-25, 2023 at the Embassy Suites in downtown Oklahoma City. The purpose of the OPHA is to assist in protecting and promoting public health; to provide for scientific advancement with the enlightenment of its members through the interchange of information, ideas, and experiences; and to advance the public health program in the State of Oklahoma.

OPHA members from across the state attended the first in-person conference meeting since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, participating in educational panels, oral and poster presentations by experts and students, and committee meetings. Ph.D. students Pawan Acharya, Jessee Beetch, and Anne Kapka of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Department in the Hudson College of Public Health presented posters at the conference.

Pawan Acharya presented a poster regarding a study in collaboration between Hudson College of Public Health and OU Medical Center. This research, focusing on trauma patients who received massive blood transfusions in 2021-2022 at OU's level I trauma center, the only level I trauma center in Oklahoma state, revealed that those with penetrating injuries receiving whole blood transfusions had a 47% lower mortality risk compared to those given blood components in a 1:1:1 ratio. This suggests the potential life-saving benefits of whole blood transfusion for specific trauma scenarios.

Jessee Beetch presented a poster on COVID-19-related outcomes over time in Oklahoma County. Researchers from the Hudson College of Public Health and Oklahoma City-County Health Department wanted to know if vulnerable populations in the most populous county in the state consistently experienced poor outcomes over the pandemic. Jessee and the other researchers found that health disparities persisted by age and race/ethnicity across variant-dominant periods of the pandemic prompting the need for consistent prevention strategies in each population segment. They also found that previous COVID-19 peaks did not confer protection against subsequent peaks caused by new variants of COVID-19.

Anne Kapka presented a poster on the experiences of unpaid Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) caregivers surveyed by the Oklahoma Healthy Brain Initiative Coalition. The unpaid ADRD caregiving experience was most commonly reported as overwhelming/frustrating/hard, followed by lacking necessary resources. The most commonly requested resource was mental health support, both for the caregiver and the ADRD patient. The results indicate a need for expansion of community resources including long-term care options, respite care, legal and financial assistance, and caregiver education classes.