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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Text 4 Health: Addressing Consumer Health Information Needs Via Text Reference Service, Van M. Ta Park
Text 4 Health: Addressing Consumer Health Information Needs Via Text Reference Service, Van M. Ta Park
Faculty Publications
This study seeks to provide empirical evidence about how health-related questions are answered in text reference service in order to further the understanding of how to best use texting as a reference service venue to fulfill people’s health information needs. Two hundred health reference transactions from My Info Quest, the first nation-wide collaborative text reference service, were analyzed identify the types of questions, length of transactions, question-answering behavior, and information sources used in the transactions. Findings indicate that texting-based health reference transactions are usually brief, and cover a wide variety of topics. The most popular questions are those seeking general …
Preparing Public Librarians For Consumer Health Information Service: A Nation-Wide Study, L. Luo, Van M. Ta Park
Preparing Public Librarians For Consumer Health Information Service: A Nation-Wide Study, L. Luo, Van M. Ta Park
Faculty Publications
A nationwide survey study was conducted to gain understanding as to how to prepare public librarians for consumer health information service. Findings indicate that the popular health information needs encountered by public librarians cover a wide variety of topics, including the human body, a medical/health condition, a disease, a medical concept, and fitness/diet/nutrition. The top two challenges faced by public librarians when providing consumer health information service are difficulty in interpreting patrons' questions and lack of knowledge about available and trusted/appropriate medical/health information sources. Public librarians wish to receive training on a number of topics that could help address the …
Smoking Abstinence-Related Expectancies Among American Indians, African Americans, And Women: Potential Mechanisms Of Disparities In Cigarette Use, P. S. Hendricks, J. L. Westmaas, Van M. Ta Park, C. B. Thorne, S. B. Wood, M. R. Baker, M. R. Lawler, M. Webb Hooper, K. L. Delucchi, S. M. Hall
Smoking Abstinence-Related Expectancies Among American Indians, African Americans, And Women: Potential Mechanisms Of Disparities In Cigarette Use, P. S. Hendricks, J. L. Westmaas, Van M. Ta Park, C. B. Thorne, S. B. Wood, M. R. Baker, M. R. Lawler, M. Webb Hooper, K. L. Delucchi, S. M. Hall
Faculty Publications
Research has documented tobacco-related health disparities by race and gender. Prior research, however, has not examined expectancies about the smoking cessation process (i.e., abstinence-related expectancies) as potential contributors to tobacco-related disparities in special populations. This cross-sectional study compared abstinence-related expectancies between American Indian (n = 87), African American (n = 151), and White (n = 185) smokers, and between women (n = 231) and men (n = 270) smokers. Abstinence-related expectancies also were examined as mediators of race and gender relationships with motivation to quit and abstinence self efficacy. Results indicated that American Indians and African Americans were less likely …
Prevalence, Patterns, And Correlates Of Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mental Disorders In The U.S.: Variations By Race/Ethnicity, A. Mericle, Van M. Ta Park, P. Holck, A. Arria
Prevalence, Patterns, And Correlates Of Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mental Disorders In The U.S.: Variations By Race/Ethnicity, A. Mericle, Van M. Ta Park, P. Holck, A. Arria
Faculty Publications
This study examines racial/ethnic differences in the prevalence, patterns, and correlates of co-occurring substance use and mental disorders (COD) among Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians using data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Studies.
Patients’ Reports About Medical Doctors’ Inquiries On Their Mental Health: Do Generational Status, Ethnicity And Mental Health/Substance Use Disorders Matter?, Van M. Ta Park, P. Holck, T. Chen, N. Zane
Patients’ Reports About Medical Doctors’ Inquiries On Their Mental Health: Do Generational Status, Ethnicity And Mental Health/Substance Use Disorders Matter?, Van M. Ta Park, P. Holck, T. Chen, N. Zane
Faculty Publications
Immigrants are less likely than others to use mental health (MH) services. Physicians' limited time often precludes inquiry about MH. This study investigated the influence of generational status, ethnicity, and mental/substance use disorders on physicians' inquiries about Asian American (AA) MH. Data from the National Latino and Asian American Study were analyzed (n=1,853). The outcome was past year physician's inquiry regarding MH. Results revealed that AA with U.S.-born parents had significantly greater odds compared to AA born outside the U.S. to report that their doctors inquired about their MH (OR=218, 95% CI: 1.28, 3.73). Past year mental/substance use disorder increased …
Racial Differences In The Association Between Partner Abuse And Barriers To Prenatal Health Care Among Asian And Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander Women, Van M. Ta Park, D. Hayes
Racial Differences In The Association Between Partner Abuse And Barriers To Prenatal Health Care Among Asian And Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander Women, Van M. Ta Park, D. Hayes
Faculty Publications
Objectives Prenatal health care (PNC) is associated with positive maternal and infant health outcomes. There is limited knowledge regarding Native Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) and Asian women’s access to PNC especially among those with partner abuse (PA) experience. The objectives of this paper were to (1) describe and examine factors associated with PNC access barriers among mothers, by race; and, (2) determine the association between PA and PNC access, by race. Methods We analyzed 2004–2007 data from Hawai‘i’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (n = 7,158). The outcome is ≥1 experience with a PNC access barrier. PA is experience with …
Trends In Alcohol Use Among Hawai‘I Adolescents, Van M. Ta Park, D. S. Kittinger, L. A. Pham, R. J. Williams, L. N. Eller, C. R. Nigg
Trends In Alcohol Use Among Hawai‘I Adolescents, Van M. Ta Park, D. S. Kittinger, L. A. Pham, R. J. Williams, L. N. Eller, C. R. Nigg
Faculty Publications
It is important to review trends in youth alcohol use over time in order to effectively tailor prevention programs to address those trends. This article reviews data on alcohol use behaviors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey in Hawai‘i from 1993 to 2007. Five alcohol use indicators were examined and stratified by grade level, from 9th grade through 12th grade. Significant drops in nearly all indicators are seen among 9th through 11th graders, but not among 12th graders. This suggests that Hawai‘i youth are responding well to anti-alcohol messaging as young teens, but a …
Disparities In Self-Reported Postpartum Depression Among Asian, Hawaiian, And Pacific Islander Women In Hawai‘I: Pregnancy, Risk, Assessment, And Monitoring System (Prams), 2004-2007, D. K. Hayes, Van M. Ta Park, E. Hurwitz, K. M. Mitchell-Box, L. J. Fuddy
Disparities In Self-Reported Postpartum Depression Among Asian, Hawaiian, And Pacific Islander Women In Hawai‘I: Pregnancy, Risk, Assessment, And Monitoring System (Prams), 2004-2007, D. K. Hayes, Van M. Ta Park, E. Hurwitz, K. M. Mitchell-Box, L. J. Fuddy
Faculty Publications
Postpartum depression affects 10–20% of women and causes significant morbidity and mortality among mothers, children, families, and society, but little is known about postpartum depression among the individual Asian and Pacific Islander racial/ethnic groups. This study sought to identify the prevalence of postpartum depression among common Asian and Pacific Islander racial/ethnic groups. Data from the Hawaii Pregnancy Risk Assessment and Monitoring System (PRAMS), a population-based surveillance system on maternal behaviors and experiences before, during, and after the birth of a live infant, were analyzed from 2004 through 2007 and included 7,154 women. Questions on mood and interest in activities since …
Disparities In Use Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse Services By Asian And Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander Women, Van M. Ta Park, H. S. Juon, A. C. Gielen, D. Steinwachs, A. Duggan
Disparities In Use Of Mental Health And Substance Abuse Services By Asian And Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander Women, Van M. Ta Park, H. S. Juon, A. C. Gielen, D. Steinwachs, A. Duggan
Faculty Publications
The purpose of this study was to determine if disparities exist in lifetime utilization of mental health/substance abuse services among Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) and white mothers. The study sample was comprised of mothers assessed to be at-risk (n = 491) and not at-risk (n = 218) for child maltreatment in the Hawaii Healthy Start Program study. Multiple logistic regression models were used to test the effects of predisposing, need, and enabling factors on utilization of services. Results revealed that, among mothers with depressive symptoms, compared with whites, Asians and NHOPI were significantly less likely to have received …
Evaluated Community Fire Safety Interventions In The United States: A Review Of Current Literature, Van M. Ta Park, S. Frattaroli, G. Bergen, A. C. Gielen
Evaluated Community Fire Safety Interventions In The United States: A Review Of Current Literature, Van M. Ta Park, S. Frattaroli, G. Bergen, A. C. Gielen
Faculty Publications
The purpose of the study was to assess the state of fire prevention research, provide an updated synthesis of evaluated fire prevention programs, and discuss the role of fire fighters and data systems in prevention efforts. The review included all evaluations of U.S. based fire prevention interventions published between January 1998 and September 2004 and any earlier articles about U.S. fire prevention interventions not included in two prior review articles. We retrieved information from each identified study including evaluation findings, involvement of fire service personnel and use of existing data systems. We identified twelve articles: seven reported on smoke alarm …