I'm Britney Chen
My Long Covid Project
Public Health Enthusiast
Motivation
Her biggest motivation in life is to protect the pubilc’s health so that individuals can live healthier and happier lives. She hopes to achieve this through research that describes risk factors and identifies individuals most at risk for these illnesses.
Goals
At SAC, Britney wishes to distribute a global questionnaire to assess individuals’ knowledge, perception, and awareness of Long COVID to understand how this differentiates among different demographics. She also wishes to help educate the public on Long COVID through a series of social media posts.
More about her: As a dedicated scholar, she joined Eta Sigma Gamma’s (ESG) National Public Health Honorary Society in her third year, where she was awarded the Academic Excellence Award at the Spring 2023 induction ceremony. Currently, she serves on ESG’s executive board as the Financial Officer, Fundraising Chair, and Secretary. She works closely with faculty to organize events such as fundraisers with restaurants, Public Health gear sales, the annual Public Health symposium, and member ceremonies. Additionally, Britney is a voting member of CSUF’s Student Health Advisory Committee. She collaborates with the Student Wellness Center through this organization to ensure that services and programs reflect CSUF student needs. Britney also serves as a Research Assistant to Dr. Yuko Okado’s Behavioral Health Promotion Lab, which aims to bring a virtual medium of mentorship to CSUF students to increase underserved students’ retention in STEM-related majors. She also works with Dr. Yuko Okado on another research initiative to understand student experiences with the coronavirus. After completing her undergraduate degree with a concentration in Global Health, she plans to attend further schooling for an MPH in Epidemiology.
LONG COVID INFOGRAPHICS
While the COVID-19 Pandemic hit the world by storm in the last few years, long cOVID remains submerged and largely misunderstood by the public.
Therefore, i sought to launch a educational campaign aimed at spreading awareness of the illness.
01.
An infographic created as a basic introduction to Long COVID’s symptoms, risk factors, etc.
02.
An infographic created to document the financial struggles of Long COVID patients and direct public attention to social support opportunities.
03.
An infographic created to describe the relation between mental health and Long COVID, while also providing hotline resources to those in need.
04.
An infographic created to educate at home care providers on how to support individuals with Long COVID.
05.
An infographic created to discuss the need to end stigmatization against the illness.
Research Project
I also am conducting a global research project with four other researchers that is currently a work in progress!
PRIMARY AIM
To understand the demographic disparities in Long COVID knowledge, perceptions, and awareness among adults aged 18 to 35.
BACKGROUND
Long COVID is a condition where symptoms of COVID-19 continue after recovering from the initial infection. According to the World Health Organization, symptoms should last at least two months without explanation. Some symptoms include brain fog, chronic fatigue, and post-exertional malaise.
PURPOSE
Past studies have shown a lack of awareness of Long COVID among healthcare providers and students. Thus, we were interested to see how that is reflected in the general public and how it differentiates among demographics.
IMPORTANCE
Disparities in awareness have been documented through various literature. Understanding where disparities in knowledge and perceptions of Long COVID exist among communities is pertinent to increasing patient and physician awareness of the disease.