Betty Bekemeier
Biographic Data
| ID | 192876 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Betty Bekemeier |
| GIVEN NAMES | Betty |
| FAMILY NAME | Bekemeier |
| SIGNATURE | BEKEMEIER B |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Washington |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9034-2746 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 23 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Public Health Nurse-Community Partnership Outcomes for Climate Justice
Background: Climate change disproportionately harms low-income and racialized communities, deepening structural health inequities. Public health nurses (PHNs) collaborate with community-based organizations (CBOs) to advance climate justice through education, advocacy, and community organizing. While these partnerships are vital to equity-focused environmental work, little is known about their outcomes. Methods: We conducted a secondary qualitativ…
Trends in and Effectiveness of Infographics for Health Communication: A Scoping Review
Health infographics are often used to improve knowledge or change behaviors. However, a systematic understanding of the current landscape and evidence of health infographics is lacking. The objective of this study was to explore trends in health-related infographics research and health infographic effectiveness. We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed publications describing health-related infographic development, using health and computer…
School District Leader Perspectives on Surveying Middle School Youth About Sexual Violence
BACKGROUND: Schools are important contexts for preventing sexual violence (SV) among adolescents. Evaluating whether programming is effective requires surveying youth about SV experiences. However, school communities often have concerns about asking students, particularly those in middle school, about these experiences. This study sought to understand the types of concerns that school district leaders have related to surveying middle school stude…
Individual and organizational factors associated with public health workforce competencies to advance health equity
Little is known about how to develop public health workforce capacity for health equity work. We explored associations of individual and organizational characteristics of local public health departments (LHDs) with competencies essential for advancing health equity. Data included responses of 29,751 staff from 742 LHDs in 48 states to the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, plus LHD characteristics and county demographics. Lo…
Retooling the Workforce for Collaboration: Centering Collective Efficacy in Public Health and Primary Care Leadership Development
Enhanced integration of public health and primary care sectors is necessary to advance population health equity. Integration requires engagement from leaders adept at working collaboratively, yet barriers persist. While leadership development has been a promising means to address interpersonal obstacles, traditional approaches typically focus on teaching discipline-based cognitive skills while underplaying communication, relational, and affective…
Distribution and Specialties of Broadly Versus Narrowly Defined Public Health Nurses Working in Government Settings in the United States, 2022
Objectives. To estimate the size of the US governmental public health nurse (PHN) workforce by setting and specialty, including those working outside of health departments. Methods. We used 2022 data from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, representing 2846 registered nurses (RNs) in almost all states, with weights applied. We examined “setting” and “specialty” of PHNs according to broad and more restricted definitions. Results. Usi…
Enumeration 2024: What We Know and What We Wish We Knew About the Governmental Public Health Workforce in a Covid-19 Recovery Landscape
Objectives. To expand on previous enumerations by assessing the size and composition of the governmental public health workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying workforce trends, occupational distributions, and potential gaps in staffing. Methods. From 2023 to 2024, using 2022 data in the United States, we conducted 3 distinct analyses: (1) estimating the total workforce size, (2) profiling occupation-specific distributions, and…
Improving School Environments for Preventing Sexual Violence Among LGBTQ + Youth
BACKGROUND: Sexual violence (SV) is a serious public health concern, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth report higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This qualitative study aimed to understand LGBTQ+ students' perspectives on how middle and high school environments can better prevent and address SV. METHODS: In partnership with a school-based LGBTQ+ support group in Washington State, w…
Competencies, Training Needs, and Turnover Among Rural Compared With Urban Local Public Health Practitioners: 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey
Objectives. To compare rural versus urban local public health workforce competencies and training needs, COVID-19 impact, and turnover risk. Methods. Using the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey, we examined the association between local public health agency rural versus urban location in the United States (n = 29 751) and individual local public health staff reports of skill proficiencies, training needs, turnover risk, exper…
Associations Between Local Health Department Expenditures on Foundational Capabilities and PHAB Accreditation Standards Scores
Context: Foundational Capabilities (FC) are the public health (PH) infrastructure areas that are essential for local health departments (LHDs) to support a "minimum package" of programs and services that promote population health. Despite being a critical component of LHD programs, FC are chronically underfunded, and studies specific to the relationship between LHD FC expenditures and their performance-the LHDs' ability to provide essential PH pr…
Co-producing evidence-informed criminal legal re-entry policy with the community: An application of policy codesign
Background: Not attending to local political climate negatively impacts the implementation and sustainability of evidence-informed models of health service. Policy codesign aims to align policy, systems, and community from the ‘ground up’, with structured information gathering, synthesis and creative design methods that incorporate relevant scientific evidence. Aims and objectives: This paper provides an example of policy codesign to develop a ja…
The Diamond Project: A Quality Improvement Model for Adopting Shared Service Delivery in the Washington Vaccines for Children Program
Context: Increasing federal requirements with no change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget creates an unsustainable delivery model between states and their local counterparts for programs like Vaccines for Children (VFC). Project: The Washington State Department of Health collaborated with the Washington Association of Local Public Health Officials to identify how best to improve the quality of the VFC program. Approach: Uti…
Menopausal symptoms and associated factors in women living with HIV in Cambodia
This study investigated the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and associated factors among women living with HIV in Cambodia. Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) assessed the menopausal symptoms, and SPSS Version 20.0 analyzed the data. The three most dominant symptoms, which were also rated the top three "severe" symptoms, were psychological: physical and mental exhaustion (91.5%), irritability (84.1%), and depressive mood (83.6%). The hig…
Relationships Between the Great Recession and Widening Maternal and Child Health Disparities: Findings from Washington and Florida
Using a positive deviance framework to identify Local Health Departments in Communities with exceptional maternal and child health outcomes: A cross sectional study
We empirically identified LHD jurisdictions with better MCH outcomes compared to their peers. Research is needed to assess what factors contributed to these exceptional MCH outcomes and over which LHDs have control. The positive deviance method we used to identify high performing local health jurisdictions in the area of maternal and child health outcomes can assist in better understanding what practices work to improve health outcomes. We found …
Applying Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership Principles to Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks
With real-world relevance and translatability as important goals, applied methodological approaches have arisen along the participatory continuum that value context and empower stakeholders to partner actively with academics throughout the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides the gold standard for equitable, partnered research in traditional communities. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) also have develo…
Focusing “upstream” to Address Maternal and Child Health Inequities: Two Local Health Departments in Washington State Make the Transition
Local Health Department Food Safety and Sanitation Expenditures and Reductions in Enteric Disease, 2000–2010
Objectives. In collaboration with Public Health Practice–Based Research Networks, we investigated relationships between local health department (LHD) food safety and sanitation expenditures and reported enteric disease rates. Methods. We combined annual infection rates for the common notifiable enteric diseases with uniquely detailed, LHD-level food safety and sanitation annual expenditure data obtained from Washington and New York state health d…
Are Local Public Health Department Services Related to Racial Disparities in Mortality
Our study aim was to determine whether local health department (LHD) services were associated with U.S. racial disparities in 1993-to-2005 mortality rates. In a national sample of LHDs, we examined 10 LHD service domains and gaps in Black–White all-cause mortality rates, drawing data from the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ National Profile of Local Health Departments surveys, as well as mortality and other public data f…
A Method for Identifying Positive Deviant Local Health Departments in Maternal and Child Health
Local health departments (LHDs) are under increasing pressure to improve performance with limited resources. While research has found that financial resources may be associated with better health outcomes, there are some LHDs that maintain exceptional performance, even with limited budgets. Our interest was identifying LHDs that positively deviate in MCH outcomes compared to their peers while taking into account local context including geography …
Classifying Local Health Departments on the Basis of the Constellation of Services They Provide
Objectives. We explored service variation among local health departments (LHDs) nationally to allow systematic characterization of LHDs by patterns in the constellation of services they deliver. Methods. We conducted latent class analysis by using categorical variables derived from LHD service data collected in 2008 for the National Profile of Local Health Departments Survey and before service changes resulting from the national financial crisis.…
Local Public Health Systems and the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Objectives. We examined the associations of local public health system organization and local health department resources with county-level sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence rates in large US health jurisdictions. Methods. We linked annual county STD incidence data (2005–2008) to local health department director responses (n = 211) to the 2006 wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Local Public Health Systems, the 2005 national Loc…
Local Public Health Delivery of Maternal Child Health Services: Are Specific Activities Associated with Reductions in Black–White Mortality Disparities
Are local health department expenditures related to racial disparities in mortality
Nurses' Utilization and Perception of the Community/Public Health Nursing Credential
Objectives. I explored the underutilization of the community/public health nursing (C/PHN) credential by examining the individual characteristics of public health nurses, the value these nurses perceive for certification, the barriers they perceive to obtaining or maintaining a C/PHN credential, and their credential status. Methods. I surveyed a national sample of 655 public health nurses regarding this more than 20-year-old credential. I analyze…
Local Public Health Systems and the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Objectives. We examined the associations of local public health system organization and local health department resources with county-level sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence rates in large US health jurisdictions. Methods. We linked annual county STD incidence data (2005–2008) to local health department director responses (n = 211) to the 2006 wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Local Public Health Systems, the 2005 national Loc…
Applying Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership Principles to Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks
With real-world relevance and translatability as important goals, applied methodological approaches have arisen along the participatory continuum that value context and empower stakeholders to partner actively with academics throughout the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides the gold standard for equitable, partnered research in traditional communities. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) also have develo…
Are local health department expenditures related to racial disparities in mortality
Competencies, Training Needs, and Turnover Among Rural Compared With Urban Local Public Health Practitioners: 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey
Objectives. To compare rural versus urban local public health workforce competencies and training needs, COVID-19 impact, and turnover risk. Methods. Using the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey, we examined the association between local public health agency rural versus urban location in the United States (n = 29 751) and individual local public health staff reports of skill proficiencies, training needs, turnover risk, exper…
Local Health Department Food Safety and Sanitation Expenditures and Reductions in Enteric Disease, 2000–2010
Objectives. In collaboration with Public Health Practice–Based Research Networks, we investigated relationships between local health department (LHD) food safety and sanitation expenditures and reported enteric disease rates. Methods. We combined annual infection rates for the common notifiable enteric diseases with uniquely detailed, LHD-level food safety and sanitation annual expenditure data obtained from Washington and New York state health d…
Distribution and Specialties of Broadly Versus Narrowly Defined Public Health Nurses Working in Government Settings in the United States, 2022
Objectives. To estimate the size of the US governmental public health nurse (PHN) workforce by setting and specialty, including those working outside of health departments. Methods. We used 2022 data from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, representing 2846 registered nurses (RNs) in almost all states, with weights applied. We examined “setting” and “specialty” of PHNs according to broad and more restricted definitions. Results. Usi…
Enumeration 2024: What We Know and What We Wish We Knew About the Governmental Public Health Workforce in a Covid-19 Recovery Landscape
Objectives. To expand on previous enumerations by assessing the size and composition of the governmental public health workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying workforce trends, occupational distributions, and potential gaps in staffing. Methods. From 2023 to 2024, using 2022 data in the United States, we conducted 3 distinct analyses: (1) estimating the total workforce size, (2) profiling occupation-specific distributions, and…
Classifying Local Health Departments on the Basis of the Constellation of Services They Provide
Objectives. We explored service variation among local health departments (LHDs) nationally to allow systematic characterization of LHDs by patterns in the constellation of services they deliver. Methods. We conducted latent class analysis by using categorical variables derived from LHD service data collected in 2008 for the National Profile of Local Health Departments Survey and before service changes resulting from the national financial crisis.…
Nurses' Utilization and Perception of the Community/Public Health Nursing Credential
Objectives. I explored the underutilization of the community/public health nursing (C/PHN) credential by examining the individual characteristics of public health nurses, the value these nurses perceive for certification, the barriers they perceive to obtaining or maintaining a C/PHN credential, and their credential status. Methods. I surveyed a national sample of 655 public health nurses regarding this more than 20-year-old credential. I analyze…
Are local health department expenditures related to racial disparities in mortality
Local Public Health Delivery of Maternal Child Health Services: Are Specific Activities Associated with Reductions in Black–White Mortality Disparities
Local Public Health Systems and the Incidence of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Objectives. We examined the associations of local public health system organization and local health department resources with county-level sexually transmitted disease (STD) incidence rates in large US health jurisdictions. Methods. We linked annual county STD incidence data (2005–2008) to local health department director responses (n = 211) to the 2006 wave of the National Longitudinal Study of Local Public Health Systems, the 2005 national Loc…
Are Local Public Health Department Services Related to Racial Disparities in Mortality
Our study aim was to determine whether local health department (LHD) services were associated with U.S. racial disparities in 1993-to-2005 mortality rates. In a national sample of LHDs, we examined 10 LHD service domains and gaps in Black–White all-cause mortality rates, drawing data from the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ National Profile of Local Health Departments surveys, as well as mortality and other public data f…
A Method for Identifying Positive Deviant Local Health Departments in Maternal and Child Health
Local health departments (LHDs) are under increasing pressure to improve performance with limited resources. While research has found that financial resources may be associated with better health outcomes, there are some LHDs that maintain exceptional performance, even with limited budgets. Our interest was identifying LHDs that positively deviate in MCH outcomes compared to their peers while taking into account local context including geography …
Classifying Local Health Departments on the Basis of the Constellation of Services They Provide
Objectives. We explored service variation among local health departments (LHDs) nationally to allow systematic characterization of LHDs by patterns in the constellation of services they deliver. Methods. We conducted latent class analysis by using categorical variables derived from LHD service data collected in 2008 for the National Profile of Local Health Departments Survey and before service changes resulting from the national financial crisis.…
Focusing “upstream” to Address Maternal and Child Health Inequities: Two Local Health Departments in Washington State Make the Transition
Local Health Department Food Safety and Sanitation Expenditures and Reductions in Enteric Disease, 2000–2010
Objectives. In collaboration with Public Health Practice–Based Research Networks, we investigated relationships between local health department (LHD) food safety and sanitation expenditures and reported enteric disease rates. Methods. We combined annual infection rates for the common notifiable enteric diseases with uniquely detailed, LHD-level food safety and sanitation annual expenditure data obtained from Washington and New York state health d…
Using a positive deviance framework to identify Local Health Departments in Communities with exceptional maternal and child health outcomes: A cross sectional study
We empirically identified LHD jurisdictions with better MCH outcomes compared to their peers. Research is needed to assess what factors contributed to these exceptional MCH outcomes and over which LHDs have control. The positive deviance method we used to identify high performing local health jurisdictions in the area of maternal and child health outcomes can assist in better understanding what practices work to improve health outcomes. We found …
Applying Community-Based Participatory Research Partnership Principles to Public Health Practice-Based Research Networks
With real-world relevance and translatability as important goals, applied methodological approaches have arisen along the participatory continuum that value context and empower stakeholders to partner actively with academics throughout the research process. Community-based participatory research (CBPR) provides the gold standard for equitable, partnered research in traditional communities. Practice-based research networks (PBRNs) also have develo…
The Diamond Project: A Quality Improvement Model for Adopting Shared Service Delivery in the Washington Vaccines for Children Program
Context: Increasing federal requirements with no change in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention budget creates an unsustainable delivery model between states and their local counterparts for programs like Vaccines for Children (VFC). Project: The Washington State Department of Health collaborated with the Washington Association of Local Public Health Officials to identify how best to improve the quality of the VFC program. Approach: Uti…
Menopausal symptoms and associated factors in women living with HIV in Cambodia
This study investigated the prevalence and severity of menopausal symptoms and associated factors among women living with HIV in Cambodia. Menopause Rating Scale (MRS) assessed the menopausal symptoms, and SPSS Version 20.0 analyzed the data. The three most dominant symptoms, which were also rated the top three "severe" symptoms, were psychological: physical and mental exhaustion (91.5%), irritability (84.1%), and depressive mood (83.6%). The hig…
Relationships Between the Great Recession and Widening Maternal and Child Health Disparities: Findings from Washington and Florida
Associations Between Local Health Department Expenditures on Foundational Capabilities and PHAB Accreditation Standards Scores
Context: Foundational Capabilities (FC) are the public health (PH) infrastructure areas that are essential for local health departments (LHDs) to support a "minimum package" of programs and services that promote population health. Despite being a critical component of LHD programs, FC are chronically underfunded, and studies specific to the relationship between LHD FC expenditures and their performance-the LHDs' ability to provide essential PH pr…
Co-producing evidence-informed criminal legal re-entry policy with the community: An application of policy codesign
Background: Not attending to local political climate negatively impacts the implementation and sustainability of evidence-informed models of health service. Policy codesign aims to align policy, systems, and community from the ‘ground up’, with structured information gathering, synthesis and creative design methods that incorporate relevant scientific evidence. Aims and objectives: This paper provides an example of policy codesign to develop a ja…
Competencies, Training Needs, and Turnover Among Rural Compared With Urban Local Public Health Practitioners: 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey
Objectives. To compare rural versus urban local public health workforce competencies and training needs, COVID-19 impact, and turnover risk. Methods. Using the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey, we examined the association between local public health agency rural versus urban location in the United States (n = 29 751) and individual local public health staff reports of skill proficiencies, training needs, turnover risk, exper…
Improving School Environments for Preventing Sexual Violence Among LGBTQ + Youth
BACKGROUND: Sexual violence (SV) is a serious public health concern, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) youth report higher rates than their heterosexual and cisgender peers. This qualitative study aimed to understand LGBTQ+ students' perspectives on how middle and high school environments can better prevent and address SV. METHODS: In partnership with a school-based LGBTQ+ support group in Washington State, w…
Trends in and Effectiveness of Infographics for Health Communication: A Scoping Review
Health infographics are often used to improve knowledge or change behaviors. However, a systematic understanding of the current landscape and evidence of health infographics is lacking. The objective of this study was to explore trends in health-related infographics research and health infographic effectiveness. We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed publications describing health-related infographic development, using health and computer…
School District Leader Perspectives on Surveying Middle School Youth About Sexual Violence
BACKGROUND: Schools are important contexts for preventing sexual violence (SV) among adolescents. Evaluating whether programming is effective requires surveying youth about SV experiences. However, school communities often have concerns about asking students, particularly those in middle school, about these experiences. This study sought to understand the types of concerns that school district leaders have related to surveying middle school stude…
Individual and organizational factors associated with public health workforce competencies to advance health equity
Little is known about how to develop public health workforce capacity for health equity work. We explored associations of individual and organizational characteristics of local public health departments (LHDs) with competencies essential for advancing health equity. Data included responses of 29,751 staff from 742 LHDs in 48 states to the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey, plus LHD characteristics and county demographics. Lo…
Retooling the Workforce for Collaboration: Centering Collective Efficacy in Public Health and Primary Care Leadership Development
Enhanced integration of public health and primary care sectors is necessary to advance population health equity. Integration requires engagement from leaders adept at working collaboratively, yet barriers persist. While leadership development has been a promising means to address interpersonal obstacles, traditional approaches typically focus on teaching discipline-based cognitive skills while underplaying communication, relational, and affective…
Distribution and Specialties of Broadly Versus Narrowly Defined Public Health Nurses Working in Government Settings in the United States, 2022
Objectives. To estimate the size of the US governmental public health nurse (PHN) workforce by setting and specialty, including those working outside of health departments. Methods. We used 2022 data from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, representing 2846 registered nurses (RNs) in almost all states, with weights applied. We examined “setting” and “specialty” of PHNs according to broad and more restricted definitions. Results. Usi…
Enumeration 2024: What We Know and What We Wish We Knew About the Governmental Public Health Workforce in a Covid-19 Recovery Landscape
Objectives. To expand on previous enumerations by assessing the size and composition of the governmental public health workforce in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying workforce trends, occupational distributions, and potential gaps in staffing. Methods. From 2023 to 2024, using 2022 data in the United States, we conducted 3 distinct analyses: (1) estimating the total workforce size, (2) profiling occupation-specific distributions, and…
Public Health Nurse-Community Partnership Outcomes for Climate Justice
Background: Climate change disproportionately harms low-income and racialized communities, deepening structural health inequities. Public health nurses (PHNs) collaborate with community-based organizations (CBOs) to advance climate justice through education, advocacy, and community organizing. While these partnerships are vital to equity-focused environmental work, little is known about their outcomes. Methods: We conducted a secondary qualitativ…
Medicine (20 works) · Public health (18 works) · Public Health Policies and Education (18 works) · Nursing (15 works) · Environmental health (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations (8 works) · Psychology (8 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Gerontology (6 works)