Caroline Helsen, MPH
Featured Work: MPH Thesis
In 2021, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory that includes whole-of-society recommendations to protect youth mental health. This thesis examines whether news media organizations follow Surgeon General recommendations while covering stories on mental health and collective trauma, including weather-related disasters, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and mass shootings.
Yale_MPH_Thesis_CarolineHelsen_NewsMediaAndMentalHealth.pptxAdditional Work
NAMI National Blog Post
Published in May of 2023, this National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) blog post features four lessons learned as a family member of a loved one with a mental illness. Read and share.
Rapid Community Needs Assessment
Prepared for a local health department, this field report summarizes COVID-19 vaccine perceptions and needs among parents of children aged 11 and younger. Read and share.
About
Caroline is a 2023 Master of Public Health graduate from the Yale School of Public Health, Social and Behavioral Sciences department. She earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Miami in 2013 and, prior to attending Yale, spent eight years working in the non-profit sector in marketing and community engagement. Her work centered around building a highly skilled and diverse workforce in healthcare and other growing industries by transforming high school education in underserved communities. This experience contributes to her interest in social determinants of children's health including the built environment, education, economic opportunity, housing, healthcare access, and more.
Formative work during her MPH program includes:
conducting policy research and focus groups for a labor union to inform recommendations for the electrification and weatherization of home-based childcare facilities;
interning at UNICEF's Maternal Newborn Adolescent Health Unit;
conducting a rapid needs assessment for a local health department regarding COVID-19 vaccine uptake for children less than 12 years old;
teaching a graduate-level discussion section for a course on health equity;
interning at the Office of Policy and Planning within HRSA's Maternal Child Health Bureau
As a co-leader of educational programs at the National Alliance on Mental Illness in New Hampshire and a family member of a loved one with a severe and persistent mental illness, Caroline is committed to ensuring public health policies, mass media, and programs are informed by lived experiences.
