Laura Downey
Biographic Data
| ID | 4191792 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Laura Downey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Downey |
| SIGNATURE | DOWNEY L |
| AFFILIATIONS | The George Institute for Global Health |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7604-4518 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 32 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2009 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Gender inequities in the economic burden of anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, migraine, and rheumatoid arthritis in Mexico, 2005–2021
Anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, migraine, and rheumatoid arthritis are common chronic conditions that contribute substantially to disability, recurrent care needs, and productivity losses, yet remain comparatively under-prioritised in health policy. In Mexico, these conditions disproportionately affect women, but their economic burden has not been comprehensively quantified from a gender perspective. To estimate the direct and indirect e…
Overcoming data collection challenges in rural settings by community engagement initiatives: Reflections from the research team
Introduction: Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) are increasingly recognized as vital in addressing research challenges in rural areas, especially concerning environmental health and heat exposure. The socio-culturally diverse rural communities of India face extreme heat, necessitating tailored CEI approaches for effective community involvement. This study examines CEI strategies in heat-health research in rural South India, identifying c…
Ambient PM2.5, residential greenspace, and household healthcare expenditure in Shandong, China
BACKGROUND: Environmental factors such as air pollution and access to greenspace are increasingly recognised as important determinants of population health and healthcare expenditure. This study examined the relationship between ambient PM2.5, urban greenspace, and household healthcare expenditure in China, and assessed how healthcare expenditure was concentrated across these gradients of environmental exposure. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sect…
Expanding access to primary care through an innovative regional model: A theory of change to inform service development and evaluation
Background: This study presents the theory of change underpinning a population-wide health systems project in a regional area in New South Wales, Australia that aims to improve people’s access to the right care at the right place - the project has an emphasis on primary care access for underserved priority populations of young people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and people living in lower socioeconomic geographic areas. Approach…
Shifting change off the paper and into the reality: Patient experience of a regional strategy to expand primary care access
Background: A regional 24/7 free telephonic nursing triage service including centralised bookings into general practice and community pharmacy “North Coast Health Connect” (~20,800 calls since service inception) is assessed from the perspective of service users, drawing on quantitative and qualitative data. Approach: As part of a comprehensive embedded evaluation and quality improvement activity, people who called North Coast Health Connect are s…
Effects of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education Campaign on Campaign Awareness, Message Recall, and Behavior
Obesity is linked to high morbidity and mortality and is particularly prevalent in the southeastern United States. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education (SNAP-Ed), funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides nutrition education and obesity-prevention programs for individuals who qualify for nutrition assistance programs. This evaluation examines the effect of a statewide SNAP-Ed multimedia social marketing campaign in…
Residential greenspace and multiple chronic health conditions in China: A cross-sectional study
Background: Multiple chronic conditions are imposing an increasing health and economic burden on the Chinese health system. While exposure to residential greenness has been shown to provide various health benefits, its relationship with multiple chronic conditions remains largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate this relationship using high-resolution satellite imagery and data from the 6th Health Services Survey (HSS) cohort in Shandon…
Gendered experience of people living with type 2 diabetes in rural and urban Mexico: An ethnographic study
Gender appears to substantially influence experience of living with T2D. Women were more likely to provide family support and less likely to receive it and reported greater financial barriers to care access in comparison to men. Men were more likely to experience stress in relation to their employment as primary providers for their family, and less likely to adhere to prescribed medical management of their condition. These findings should be cons…
Building Excitement for Vaccines in Rural Communities
The Cooperative Extension System (CES) consists of 112 land-grant universities in the United States, including historically Black universities and Tribal colleges. In 2021, CES formed the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE) to increase confidence in and access to adult immunizations. From April 2021 to May 2023, EXCITE conducted 111 immunization education projects involving 76 land-grant universities. EXCITE r…
Core outcome sets for trials of interventions to prevent and to treat multimorbidity in adults in low and middle-income countries: The Cosmos study
INTRODUCTION: The burden of multimorbidity is recognised increasingly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), creating a strong emphasis on the need for effective evidence-based interventions. Core outcome sets (COS) appropriate for the study of multimorbidity in LMICs do not presently exist. These are required to standardise reporting and contribute to a consistent and cohesive evidence-base to inform policy and practice. We describe the de…
Cardiovascular health and economic outcomes under improved air quality in China: A modelling study
INTRODUCTION: China faces the dual challenge of high air pollution and an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to estimate the healthcare costs associated with CVD and the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) under scenarios of improved air quality in China. METHODS: A health prediction model was developed to estimate 10-year CVD-related costs and QALY associated with PM2.5 levels in 2015, as well as two hypothetical improve…
Increasing Uptake of Prescription Drug Take-Back Boxes: Eliciting Preferences and Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Use
This study assesses adults’ perceptions of and predictors of intention to use prescription drug take-back boxes. This mixed methods study utilized focus groups and an online survey to examine factors related to intention to use a prescription drug take-back box. This study was conducted in [State] during the spring and summer of 2018. Themes identified in focus group data included the importance of take-back box location, benefits of take-back bo…
Gender disparities in lost productivity resulting from non-communicable diseases in Mexico, 2005–2021
Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause long-term impacts on health and can substantially affect people's ability to work. Little is known about how such impacts vary by gender, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where productivity losses may affect economic development. This study assessed the long-term productivity loss caused by major NCDs among adult women and men (20-76 years) in Mexico because of premature …
The Shape of Medical Devices Regulation in the United Kingdom? Brexit and Beyond
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Medical Devices Act (MMD Act) 2021 received royal assent on 11 February 2021. In its passage through parliament, as well as in the accompanying Explanatory Notes, the Act was framed by the government as a necessary post-Brexit bill. Yet prior to this, it was widely presumed that existing statutory instruments, enacted in 2019 to address medical devices regulation in anticipation of a ‘No Deal Brexit’, would prov…
Regulatory Futures and Medical Devices: Where Next for Europe and the United Kingdom
The symposium in this issue of Law, Technology and Humans brings together a range of scholars looking at the broad question of where next for medical devices regulation in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). Initially arising out of a workshop held in September 2022,[1] our motivation for the symposium is rooted in the challenges raised by what has been a significant period of change in both the EU and the UK when it comes to med…
Burden of non-communicable diseases and behavioural risk factors in Mexico: Trends and gender observational analysis
Background: There is scarce gender-disaggregated evidence on the burden of disease (BD) worldwide and this is particularly prominent in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study is to compare the BD caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related risk factors by gender in Mexican adults. Methods: We retrieved disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) estimates for diabetes, cancers and neoplasms, chronic cardiovascular dis…
Medical education for African American communities in the rural South: A focus group approach to identify fundamental considerations
PURPOSE: We sought to understand concerns fundamental to planning medical education specific to rural southern African Americans who are virtually nonexistent in American medical schools. METHODS: A diverse multidisciplinary research team conducted this qualitative study with 3 focus groups, including 17 rural medical educators recruited nationwide, 10 African American alumni of a rural medical education pipeline in Alabama, and 5 community and i…
Social Justice in Dance/Movement Therapy: Practice, Research and Education
This book demonstrates the use of dance/movement therapy to directly counteract social injustices and promote healing in international settings
Rural adults’ perceived role of family members in prescription opioid misuse prevention: Implications for family‐based approaches
PURPOSE: This study explored and documented rural adults' perceptions of family roles in prescription opioid misuse prevention and the predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that influence family members from taking those roles. METHODS: Nine focus groups with rural adults (n = 55) were conducted to evoke discussion about family roles in prescription opioid misuse prevention. Transcripts were coded based on common ideas that arose during…
Social Justice in Dance/Movement Therapy: Practice, Research and Education
An Introduction to the Main Types of Economic Evaluations Used for Informing Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in Healthcare: Key Features, Uses, and Limitations
Economic evidence is increasingly being used for informing health policies. However, the underlining principles of health economic analyses are not always fully understood by non-health economists, and inappropriate types of analyses, as well as inconsistent methodologies, may be being used for informing health policy decisions. In addition, there is a lack of open access information and methodological guidance targeted to public health professio…
The potential health and revenue effects of a tax on sugar sweetened beverages in Zambia
The global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been rising. A key risk factor for NCDs is obesity, which has been partly linked to consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). A tax on SSBs is an attractive control measure to curb the rising trend in NCDs, as it has the potential to reduce consumption of SSBs. However, studies on the potential effects of SSB taxes have been concentrated in high-income countries with limited studies…
Priority-setting, the Indian way
Strengthening health technology assessment systems in the global south: A comparative analysis of the HTA journeys of China, India and South Africa
BACKGROUND: Resource allocation in health is universally challenging, but especially so in resource-constrained contexts in the Global South. Pursuing a strategy of evidence-based decision-making and using tools such as Health Technology Assessment (HTA), can help address issues relating to both affordability and equity when allocating resources. Three BRICS and Global South countries, China, India and South Africa have committed to strengthening…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: The role of the Cooperative Extension Service in the initiative
Cooperative Extension Services (CES) played a critical role in the Turning the Tide on Poverty (Tide) project in the southern US. In an effort to explore how CES professionals perceived their role in the initiative, data were collected from CES leaders and agents. Focus groups were held at the beginning (N = 11) and conclusion (N = 12) of the first year with Extension leadership to discuss their thoughts on CES’ role in civic engagement activitie…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: Documenting impacts through Ripple Effect Mapping
As practitioners expand their efforts to promote civic engagement and action through the use of dialog, one of the nagging concerns is how to effectively and successfully measure and document the outcomes associated with these local activities. The organic nature of citizen-led initiatives makes this a particularly challenging area in which to guage results. One promising method, Ripple Effect Mapping (REM), is an effective, easy-to-use, and cost…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: The role of the Cooperative Extension Service in the initiative
Cooperative Extension Services (CES) played a critical role in the Turning the Tide on Poverty (Tide) project in the southern US. In an effort to explore how CES professionals perceived their role in the initiative, data were collected from CES leaders and agents. Focus groups were held at the beginning (N = 11) and conclusion (N = 12) of the first year with Extension leadership to discuss their thoughts on CES’ role in civic engagement activitie…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: Community champions as critical elements of success in economically distressed communities
Turning the Tide on Poverty is designed in part to expand the number of new voices in community dialogs and to spur those individuals to become leaders in their communities. In this article, we explore the degree to which the success of the Tide project is linked to the emergence or presence of a local champion. We defined a champion as a catalyst or sparkplug and then examined the extant literature and our data to determine the qualities of a ch…
Dialogue to Deliberation: Expanding the Empowerment Education Model
The theoretical underpinnings of the EEM could be expanded to include dialogue and deliberation in participatory efforts
Capacity Building for Health Through Community-Based Participatory Nutrition Intervention Research in Rural Communities
Since its inception, capacity building has been a stated goal of the Delta Nutrition Intervention Research Initiative, a tri-state collaboration in the Lower Mississippi Delta to address high rates of chronic disease. Textual analysis of project documents identifies and describes strategies carried out to foster capacity building. Strategies to build community capacity include fostering participation, cultivating leadership opportunities, trainin…
Undergraduate Rural Medical Education Program Development: Focus Group Consultation With the NRHA Rural Medical Educators Group
CONTEXT: Over a decade ago, leaders in rural medical education established the Rural Medical Educators (RME) Group, an interest group within the National Rural Health Association, to support faculty in rural medical education programs. This group has convened an annual RME conclave since 2006. In 2008, this conclave convened 15 national leaders in rural medical education at The University of Alabama. METHODS: In preparation for the conclave, pote…
Farmers’ Concerns: A Qualitative Assessment to Plan Rural Medical Education
Context: Limited research suggests that translational approaches are needed to decrease the distance, physical and cultural, between farmers and health care. Purpose: This study seeks to identify special concerns of farmers in Alabama and explore the need for a medical education program tailored to prepare physicians to address those concerns. Methods: We conducted 2 focus groups with 20 farmers from diverse communities, backgrounds, and farming …
Examining Social Connections as a Link Between Religious Participation and Well-being Among Older Adults
Social connections provided through religious participation are associated with subjective well-being in older populations. This study investigated how much of this association can be explained by other social connections, and whether these associations vary by age. A cross-sectional random-sample telephone survey was completed by 1,025 individuals over 55 years of age. The contribution of religious participation was examined using hierarchical m…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: The role of the Cooperative Extension Service in the initiative
Cooperative Extension Services (CES) played a critical role in the Turning the Tide on Poverty (Tide) project in the southern US. In an effort to explore how CES professionals perceived their role in the initiative, data were collected from CES leaders and agents. Focus groups were held at the beginning (N = 11) and conclusion (N = 12) of the first year with Extension leadership to discuss their thoughts on CES’ role in civic engagement activitie…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: Documenting impacts through Ripple Effect Mapping
As practitioners expand their efforts to promote civic engagement and action through the use of dialog, one of the nagging concerns is how to effectively and successfully measure and document the outcomes associated with these local activities. The organic nature of citizen-led initiatives makes this a particularly challenging area in which to guage results. One promising method, Ripple Effect Mapping (REM), is an effective, easy-to-use, and cost…
Turning the Tide on Poverty: Community champions as critical elements of success in economically distressed communities
Turning the Tide on Poverty is designed in part to expand the number of new voices in community dialogs and to spur those individuals to become leaders in their communities. In this article, we explore the degree to which the success of the Tide project is linked to the emergence or presence of a local champion. We defined a champion as a catalyst or sparkplug and then examined the extant literature and our data to determine the qualities of a ch…
Priority-setting, the Indian way
Strengthening health technology assessment systems in the global south: A comparative analysis of the HTA journeys of China, India and South Africa
BACKGROUND: Resource allocation in health is universally challenging, but especially so in resource-constrained contexts in the Global South. Pursuing a strategy of evidence-based decision-making and using tools such as Health Technology Assessment (HTA), can help address issues relating to both affordability and equity when allocating resources. Three BRICS and Global South countries, China, India and South Africa have committed to strengthening…
The potential health and revenue effects of a tax on sugar sweetened beverages in Zambia
The global burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been rising. A key risk factor for NCDs is obesity, which has been partly linked to consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). A tax on SSBs is an attractive control measure to curb the rising trend in NCDs, as it has the potential to reduce consumption of SSBs. However, studies on the potential effects of SSB taxes have been concentrated in high-income countries with limited studies…
An Introduction to the Main Types of Economic Evaluations Used for Informing Priority Setting and Resource Allocation in Healthcare: Key Features, Uses, and Limitations
Economic evidence is increasingly being used for informing health policies. However, the underlining principles of health economic analyses are not always fully understood by non-health economists, and inappropriate types of analyses, as well as inconsistent methodologies, may be being used for informing health policy decisions. In addition, there is a lack of open access information and methodological guidance targeted to public health professio…
Social Justice in Dance/Movement Therapy: Practice, Research and Education
This book demonstrates the use of dance/movement therapy to directly counteract social injustices and promote healing in international settings
Rural adults’ perceived role of family members in prescription opioid misuse prevention: Implications for family‐based approaches
PURPOSE: This study explored and documented rural adults' perceptions of family roles in prescription opioid misuse prevention and the predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors that influence family members from taking those roles. METHODS: Nine focus groups with rural adults (n = 55) were conducted to evoke discussion about family roles in prescription opioid misuse prevention. Transcripts were coded based on common ideas that arose during…
Social Justice in Dance/Movement Therapy: Practice, Research and Education
The Shape of Medical Devices Regulation in the United Kingdom? Brexit and Beyond
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Medical Devices Act (MMD Act) 2021 received royal assent on 11 February 2021. In its passage through parliament, as well as in the accompanying Explanatory Notes, the Act was framed by the government as a necessary post-Brexit bill. Yet prior to this, it was widely presumed that existing statutory instruments, enacted in 2019 to address medical devices regulation in anticipation of a ‘No Deal Brexit’, would prov…
Regulatory Futures and Medical Devices: Where Next for Europe and the United Kingdom
The symposium in this issue of Law, Technology and Humans brings together a range of scholars looking at the broad question of where next for medical devices regulation in the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). Initially arising out of a workshop held in September 2022,[1] our motivation for the symposium is rooted in the challenges raised by what has been a significant period of change in both the EU and the UK when it comes to med…
Burden of non-communicable diseases and behavioural risk factors in Mexico: Trends and gender observational analysis
Background: There is scarce gender-disaggregated evidence on the burden of disease (BD) worldwide and this is particularly prominent in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study is to compare the BD caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and related risk factors by gender in Mexican adults. Methods: We retrieved disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) estimates for diabetes, cancers and neoplasms, chronic cardiovascular dis…
Medical education for African American communities in the rural South: A focus group approach to identify fundamental considerations
PURPOSE: We sought to understand concerns fundamental to planning medical education specific to rural southern African Americans who are virtually nonexistent in American medical schools. METHODS: A diverse multidisciplinary research team conducted this qualitative study with 3 focus groups, including 17 rural medical educators recruited nationwide, 10 African American alumni of a rural medical education pipeline in Alabama, and 5 community and i…
Core outcome sets for trials of interventions to prevent and to treat multimorbidity in adults in low and middle-income countries: The Cosmos study
INTRODUCTION: The burden of multimorbidity is recognised increasingly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), creating a strong emphasis on the need for effective evidence-based interventions. Core outcome sets (COS) appropriate for the study of multimorbidity in LMICs do not presently exist. These are required to standardise reporting and contribute to a consistent and cohesive evidence-base to inform policy and practice. We describe the de…
Cardiovascular health and economic outcomes under improved air quality in China: A modelling study
INTRODUCTION: China faces the dual challenge of high air pollution and an increasing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We aimed to estimate the healthcare costs associated with CVD and the quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) under scenarios of improved air quality in China. METHODS: A health prediction model was developed to estimate 10-year CVD-related costs and QALY associated with PM2.5 levels in 2015, as well as two hypothetical improve…
Increasing Uptake of Prescription Drug Take-Back Boxes: Eliciting Preferences and Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Use
This study assesses adults’ perceptions of and predictors of intention to use prescription drug take-back boxes. This mixed methods study utilized focus groups and an online survey to examine factors related to intention to use a prescription drug take-back box. This study was conducted in [State] during the spring and summer of 2018. Themes identified in focus group data included the importance of take-back box location, benefits of take-back bo…
Gender disparities in lost productivity resulting from non-communicable diseases in Mexico, 2005–2021
Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) cause long-term impacts on health and can substantially affect people's ability to work. Little is known about how such impacts vary by gender, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where productivity losses may affect economic development. This study assessed the long-term productivity loss caused by major NCDs among adult women and men (20-76 years) in Mexico because of premature …
Effects of a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education Campaign on Campaign Awareness, Message Recall, and Behavior
Obesity is linked to high morbidity and mortality and is particularly prevalent in the southeastern United States. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program–Education (SNAP-Ed), funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides nutrition education and obesity-prevention programs for individuals who qualify for nutrition assistance programs. This evaluation examines the effect of a statewide SNAP-Ed multimedia social marketing campaign in…
Residential greenspace and multiple chronic health conditions in China: A cross-sectional study
Background: Multiple chronic conditions are imposing an increasing health and economic burden on the Chinese health system. While exposure to residential greenness has been shown to provide various health benefits, its relationship with multiple chronic conditions remains largely unexplored. This study aims to investigate this relationship using high-resolution satellite imagery and data from the 6th Health Services Survey (HSS) cohort in Shandon…
Medicine (18 works) · Political science (12 works) · Economic growth (10 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Economics (9 works) · Environmental health (9 works) · Business (8 works) · Health care (8 works) · Nursing (8 works) · Psychology (8 works)