Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally

Extension educator showing a group how to cook.CAHNR is uniquely positioned to initiate and support efforts to enhance health and well-being in Connecticut and beyond. The Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally SVIC has a strong, multidiscipline plan that is placing the College among the preeminent colleges in the nation regarding its teaching, research, extension, and service initiatives in human, animal, plant, and environmental health.

This SVIC seeks to identify growth opportunities and explore ways to leverage CAHNR’s expertise in these important fields. The entire spectrum of advancements, from big picture ideas to integral incremental innovations, will be a critical part of this SVIC’s strategy. The SVIC focuses on the following areas:

  • Promote health and prevent disease
  • Build connections at the nexus of human, animal, plant, and environmental health (One Health)
  • Develop and apply digital health technology to optimize health
  • Foster health equity, including food security, using a broad range of approaches, including community engagement
  • Maximize sport and physical performance and improve injury prevention, recovery, and rehabilitation
  • Develop and test personalized lifestyle interventions informed by research.

Examples

Research found that older adults can lower their blood pressure by increasing their daily physical activity by 3,000 steps. This simple lifestyle intervention is as effective as structured exercise and some medications, and more easily accessed by the target population. The goal is for older adults with high blood pressure to take at least 7,000 steps daily.

UConn’s Doctor of Physical Therapy program added mental health components to its educational and treatment programming. All students now receive Mental Health First Aid training. Students and community volunteers also offer events and health checkups on campus. Physical therapists assist patients from the community through the pro bono UConn PT C.A.R.E.S. clinic.

Vaccines continue to proactively protect public health and that of livestock and pets. Researchers are unlocking a decades-long mystery that has prevented the development of a vaccine for walking pneumonia, a respiratory infection that can have serious health impacts on immunocompromised individuals.

Antibiotic resistance is a challenge for humans and animals. Simultaneously, animal proteins are a popular food source, and there is a need for high-quality proteins raised without antibiotics. A CAHNR researcher filed a provisional patent for spraying chicken eggs with commercially available probiotics to promote embryonic and post-hatch growth, eliminating the need for antibiotics.

CAHNR uses digital health methods to provide researchers with previously unseen levels of insight into behaviors that influence health. Dietary tracking, a cornerstone of weight loss interventions, is not necessary for weight loss to occur but increased tracking is associated with greater weight loss.

Food insecurity impacts many in our state, region, and nation. Helping families learn about healthy eating, shopping on a budget, cooking, and physical activity improves knowledge and awareness of healthy choices, and food security indicators. Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) participants in UConn Extension have access to supportive discussions in six-week cohorts where they learn to prepare delicious, low-cost, healthy meals for their families.

In the global health realm, mobile device technologies (mHealth), including apps, are used in HIV prevention efforts for disadvantaged populations. In Southeast Asian countries where sexual behaviors between men are highly stigmatized or criminalized, vulnerable individuals do not seek services through traditional healthcare avenues. CAHNR uses mHealth approaches to scale up HIV prevention approaches and provide much-needed services.