Interdisciplinary Student Film Competition - NPHW 2018 by Utsavi Kapadia

In Hofstra University National Public Health week was celebrated during 3^rd-5^th of April. There were plentiful events. The national goal of “Healthy People 2030” was the main theme of the competition. To encourage students about public health there was a competition about making films related to public health topics. The 5th Annual Interdisciplinary Student Competition was sponsored by Hofstra’s Master of Public Health Program, the School of Health Professions and Human Service and the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

All the teams had to create 2-minute videos to increase awareness about important minority health issues on Long Island. All videos were presented to the Nassau County Board of Health and posted on the Nassau County Department of Health website. All Hofstra students of any major were encouraged to participate. Teams were interdisciplinary. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed national health initiatives, strategies, and action plans to inform, enhance, and guide public health efforts across the United States, which was the focus. Topics on which team members had to determine their focus were: 1) skin and sun safety 2) food-borne illnesses 3) mosquito-borne illnesses 4) heat-related illnesses 5) pool safety 6) summer driving 7) fire cracker safety and 8) safe sex. Film structure was designed such that videos should be focused on advocacy, education, or prevention; they can be animated, documentary style or other style; and they should be under 2 minutes. Videos were evaluated based on content and quality. Content criteria was based on use of evidence/data, focus on minority health, focus on under-served communities on Long Island. Quality criteria was focused on appropriate audience targeted, audience engagement, production quality. Faculty members from various academic programs were assigned to teams to offer guidance and feedback. Judging of films was conducted by a professional panel and by the audience. The audience was Hofstra students, faculty, and administrators as well as community members and local high school students. Awards were given in the form of cash prizes to each group member in the top 3 groups. First Place: $200, Second Place: $100, and Third Place: $50.

My team members decided to make video on one of the most important topics nowadays which is food borne illness. We introduced Norovirus to our audience and the diseases it causes. We made our audience aware what mistakes to avoid limiting the spread of food borne illness. Our main objective was to give food safety tips and how to prevent food borne illness. By preventing means how to clean, separate, cook and chill the food. We represented some facts from Nassau County statistics and presented some audio visual to make our point strong and spread the message to the people. We presented the information regarding the programs Bureau of Environment conducts and also educate people.

During the event, there was a screening of all the films in Student center theater. After screening of all the films, both the professional panel of judges and audience decided the best film.

Team that won the third rank in the Interdisciplinary Student Film Competition - Second from left Utsavi Kapadia