Health and Human Services News

Archives for July 2023

Uncovering the truth about masking

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With the rise of wearing face masks during the pandemic and in the aftermath, do you know the effects of wearing a surgical mask? Could it cause any harm?

Dr. Patrick Brooks, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at Missouri State University, made it his mission to find out.

In response to disinformation about the safety of surgical masking during the pandemic, Brooks developed a clinical trial alongside Dr. Jill Layman, associate professor in the School of Anesthesia and Jessica Willis, coordinator of the RStats Institute.

The study, titled Physiologic effects of surgical masking in children versus adults, was recently published in the Global Health section of PeerJ Life and Environment, an open access and peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Read the previous article

Putting a stop to disinformation

One common misconception about the effects of masking is unsafe levels of CO2 buildup. However, Brooks and his team found that CO2 levels, oxygen saturation and vital signs all remained well within the normal range after the subjects donned surgical masks.

The research team made sure to recruit as many people as possible for the study. A total of 119 people – 71 adults and 49 children – participated in the study.

Brooks, who’s also a physician and surgeon, wants to ensure people know the truth about masking and that the supposed dangers are only a myth.

“After all, surgical masks have been worn for over 100 years without any physiologic side effects,” Brooks said.

He hopes the results of this well-researched study will help to convince any skeptics.

“We completed the largest and most complete study assessing the physiologic safety of surgical masking,” Brooks said. “This is also the only study to compare adults’ and children’s physiologic responses to masking.”

This is important because there are a few key differences between the two:

  • Breathing rates: Children generally have higher respiratory rates than adults, which means they may breathe more rapidly.
  • Lung capacity: Children’s lung capacities are smaller than those of adults.
  • Facial proportions: Children’s faces are different from adults in terms of size and shape.

The study was officially registered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical trial and is the first to be evaluated by MSU’s Institutional Review Board.

Learn more about the department of biomedical sciences

Audiology professor elected for American Academy of Audiology board

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Congratulations to Dr. Wafaa Kaf, professor of audiology in the department of communication sciences and disorders at Missouri State University.

Kaf was recently elected to serve as a member-at-large on the 2023-24 Academy Board of Directors for the prestigious American Academy of Audiology (AAA) for a three-year term. Previously, she was appointed to serve as the program chair for the 2022 AAA Conference.

Dr. Wafaa Kaf headshot

Her goal is to advance the audiology profession nationally and internationally through interprofessional collaboration, education, academic service, mentorship and scholarship.

Kaf went through an extensive five-step selection process:

  1. Members of the AAA organization nominated her to submit an application and serve on their board of directors.
  2. After accepting the nomination, she completed a comprehensive application for her vision, objectives and qualities as a leader.
  3. The nomination committee reviewed all submitted applications and made a selection of the final seven nominees to be written on the ballot for election.
  4. Since Kaf was selected to be on the ballot, she also provided a biography and a two-minute recorded speech so voters could get to know her better before the final election.
  5. She was elected alongside two more finalists to serve on the board.

Kaf looks forward to creating real change in the audiology community.

“I’m a hard worker who takes initiative and is eager to take on new challenges,” Kaf said. “I also have a strong desire to serve others, which has been evidenced by my past work in the community.

“Additionally, my cultural background and experience in diversity, equity and inclusion will allow me to help further promote this effort within the audiology community.”

Learn more about the Doctor of Audiology program

Changing lives and communities through speech-language pathology

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Brooke Beilman was no stranger to speech-language pathology.

When Beilman was 16 years old, her grandmother suffered an ischemic stroke that resulted in left side paralysis, cognitive-communication deficits and a complete transformation of Activities of Daily Living (ADLs). She needed assistance with tasks such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of herself.

Because of this, Beilman was exposed to the impact that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) could make on the lives of their patients.

This experience would shape the trajectory of her career and her personal mission in life.

“To be honest, my grandma did not get evidence-based care and that’s actually what made me want to go into speech (language) pathology because I really wanted to be a patient advocate for adults with dysphasia and swallowing disorders,” Beilman said.

“I knew that therapy could be really impactful for people who’d been through similar situations to what she had been through.”

“I wanted to really help patients and families understand what their loved ones are going through and how to support them in a way that’s person-specific.”

Motivated by her grandmother’s struggles with treatment and her own determination to provide person-first, evidence-based care, Beilman knew she wanted to pursue a career in speech-language pathology from a very young age.

Growing up in a family of health care professionals, both her aunt and mother attended Missouri State University at different periods throughout their career. Beilman also received her undergraduate degree from Missouri State.

A personal approach to speech-language pathology education

Brooke Beilman in her scrubs at a clinic.

Though she had several options for graduate speech-language pathology programs, Beilman ultimately decided on Missouri State because of the culture, her history with the university and her mentor/mentee relationship with Jennifer Pratt, clinical associate professor in the department of communication sciences and disorders.

“She had done everything that I aspired to be as a clinician,” Beilman said. “She really took me under her wing as an undergrad.”

While studying for her speech-language pathology master’s, Beilman was able to shape her education to suit her personal interests. “Not every program does that,” Beilman said.

She was able to tailor her externship to her areas of interest.

“Documentation is extremely crucial and that’s a huge strength, I think, of the MSU program,” she said. Beilman shared that she also appreciates the program’s focus on counseling and communication of individualized care plans, an area of practice she is very passionate about.

“MSU does a really good job of making sure that we were equipped to have those types of interactions.”

What can you do as a speech-language pathologist?

Today, Beilman is pursuing a clinical doctorate in speech-language pathology at Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions. She has maintained her relationship with her mentor, Pratt.

“She’s mentoring me in my research as a doctorate student,” Beilman said.

Not only have MSU’s programs impacted the success of her career, but Beilman herself helped guide current students of the speech-language pathology program.

“I’ve been working with the directors at MSU to help support the development of the medical side of the speech-language pathology program at MSU,” Beilman said.

She has even secured externship placements and permanent positions for several students.

Since graduating in 2017, Beilman has led a full career.

Beilman’s doctoral research is focused on studying the gaps in clinical education for head and neck cancer, and developing a program to teach clinicians how to evaluate and treat people for this condition.

“The goal is that my research will show that this program improves clinician confidence,” Beilman said. “It’s basically going to be my gift to the speech pathology community that if you take this, you will feel more confident in your ability to treat these patients.”

In addition to pursuing a doctorate, she is a full-time director of marketing and communications for TIMS Medical, a medical imaging software provider.

“I’ve always used that software in my clinical practice, so (it’s a) big honor to be asked to be the director of this department which is brand new.”

Her part-time work in acute care at a local trauma center helps inform TIMS Medical of software development.

What’s more, Beilman is teaching a dysphagia course through Maryville University in St. Louis, where she is originally from.

“There’s so many different things you can do,” said Beilman, sharing that the field of speech-language pathology is quite vast. “I have friends that specialize in cough. I’ve worked on a concussion team. I’ve looked at the correlations between emotional trauma and cognitive disorders.”

“You can really have many facets in your career, as I’ve already experienced in seven years.”

Explore Speech-Language Pathology at MSU