Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons^™

Context And Considerations For The Development Of Community-Informed Health Communication Messaging To Support Equitable Uptake Of Covid-19 Vaccines Among Communities Of Color In Washington, Dc., Deanna Kerrigan, Andrea Mantsios, Tahilin Sanchez Karver, Wendy Davis, Tamara Taggart, Sarah K. Calabrese, Allison Mathews, Sullivan Robinson, Regretta Ruffin, Geri Feaster-Bethea, Lupi Quinteros-Grady, Carmen Galvis, Rosa Reyes, Gabriela Martinez Chio, Mesgana Tesfahun, Ambrose Lane, Shanna Peeks, Kimberly M Henderson, Kimberly M Harris

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. We explored barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccine uptake among African American, Latinx, and African immigrant communities in Washington, DC.

METHODS: A total of 76 individuals participated in qualitative interviews and focus groups, and 208 individuals from communities of color participated in an online crowdsourcing contest.

RESULTS: Findings documented a lack of sufficient, accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines and questions about the science. African American and African immigrant participants spoke about the deeply rooted historical underpinnings to their community's vaccine hesitancy, citing the prior and ongoing mistreatment of people of …

Physical Activity May Mitigate Covid-19 Infections In People With Obesity: A Call To Action., Christina D Economos, William H. Dietz, Kathleen Tullie, James F Sallis

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Social Norms Change And Tobacco Use: A Protocol For A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Interventions., Shaon Lahiri, Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer, William Douglas Evans, Yan Wang, Priyanka Dubey, Bobbi Snowden

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Comorbidities In A Sample Of Adults With Hiv In Puerto Rico: An Exploratory Study., Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz, Edda I Santiago-Rodríguez, Gerardo G Jovet-Toledo, Jorge Santana-Bagur, Yemile Ron-Suarez, Juan C Orengo, Felipe Arbelaez, Homero Monsanto

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Puerto Rico is among the areas with the highest estimated rates of people living with HIV in the United States. Despite the epidemiologic data available, there is limited real-world information that can help understand the comorbidities of people with HIV. In this study, we describe common comorbidities among adults with HIV attending treatment clinics in Puerto Rico.

Methods: An exploratory, retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted at five HIV clinics in Puerto Rico. A random sample of medical records was reviewed. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize patient demographics, morbidity, and clinical characteristics. Multivariate analyses were conducted to explore comorbidities …

Partner Build Grow: Resources To Sustain Partnerships And Advance Prevention Initiatives, Evelyn Frankford, Rachel Sadlon, Olga Acosta Price, Linda Sheriff

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Alignment of programs, practices, and policies by practitioners at the state and local levels can create health-promoting environments for all children. Such alignment, guided by principles of prevention science and public health, can enhance school–community partnerships involved with the mental, emotional, and behavioral well-being and positive development of children and youth. The key to success of such prevention approaches is sustaining the work over time. Partner Build Grow, an online Action Guide, supports sustainability through cross-sector collaborations and systems change to create school– community environments that promote equity. Informed by local and national experts along with field experience and application …

"They Destroy The Reproductive System": Exploring The Belief That Modern Contraceptive Use Causes Infertility, Erica Sedlander, Jeffrey B. Bingenheimer, Mary Thiongo, Peter Gichangi, Rajiv N. Rimal, Mark Edberg, Wolfgang Munar

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Designing A Socio-Normative Intervention To Reduce Anemia In Odisha India: A Formative Research Protocol [Version 1; Referees: 2 Approved], Erica Sedlander, Rajiv N Rimal, Sameera A Talegawkar, Hagere Yilma, Wolfgang Munar

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: More than half of women of reproductive age in India are anemic. Anemia is associated with increased risk of preterm delivery, higher maternal mortality and contributes to fatigue, which affects women’s work productivity. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends daily oral iron and folic acid (IFA) supplements during pregnancy and weekly supplements for women of reproductive age. Government programs and global donors have distributed and promoted IFA supplements in India for over four decades. However, initial intake and compliance remain inadequate.
Objectives: This protocol describes the formative research phase of a larger study, which will test, through a randomized …

Tobacco Dependence Treatment In The Emergency Department: A Randomized Trial Using The Multiphase Optimization Strategy., Steven L Bernstein, James Dziura, June Weiss, Ted Miller, Katrina A Vickerman, Lauretta E Grau, Michael V Pantalon, Lorien Abroms, Linda M Collins, Benjamin Toll

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background

Tobacco dependence remains the leading preventable cause of death in the developed world. Smokers are disproportionately from lower socioeconomic groups, and may use the hospital emergency department (ED) as an important source of care. A recent clinical trial demonstrated the efficacy of a multicomponent intervention to help smokers quit, but the independent contributions of those components is unknown.

Methods

This is a full-factorial (16-arm) randomized trial in a busy hospital ED of 4 tobacco dependence interventions: brief motivational interviewing, nicotine replacement therapy, referral to a telephone quitline, and a texting program. The trial utilizes the Multiphase Optimization …

Qualitative Evaluation Of The Saleema Campaign To Eliminate Female Genital Mutilation And Cutting In Sudan., Andrea C Johnson, W Douglas Evans, Nicole Barrett, Howida Badri, Tamador Abdalla, Cody Donahue

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C, herein FGM) is a widespread and harmful practice. The Government developed a national campaign in Sudan, called Saleema, to change social norms discouraging FGM. Saleema translates to being "whole", healthy in body and mind, unharmed, intact, pristine, and untouched, in a God-given condition. An interim evaluation was conducted using focus groups among Sudanese adults. The primary aim was to explore perceptions of the Saleema poster exemplars and to assess if the desired themes were being communicated. Secondary aims were to understand more about participants' information sources, values, and suggestions for the campaign broadly. …

Gender-Transformative Bandebereho Couples' Intervention To Promote Male Engagement In Reproductive And Maternal Health And Violence Prevention In Rwanda: Findings From A Randomized Controlled Trial., Kate Doyle, Ruti G Levtov, Gary Barker, Gautam G Bastian, Jeffrey B Bingenheimer, Shamsi Kazimbaya, Anicet Nzabonimpa, Julie Pulerwitz, Felix Sayinzoga, Vandana Sharma, Dominick Shattuck

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Rigorous evidence of the effectiveness of male engagement interventions, particularly on how these interventions impact relationship power dynamics and women's decision-making, remains limited. This study assessed the impact of the Bandebereho gender-transformative couples' intervention on impact on multiple behavioral and health-related outcomes influenced by gender norms and power relations.

METHODS: We conducted a multi-site randomised controlled trial in four Rwandan districts with expectant/current fathers and their partners, who were randomised to the intervention (n = 575 couples) or control group (n = 624 couples). Primary outcomes include women's experience of physical and sexual IPV, women's attendance and men's accompaniment …

Planned Social Network Change And Modern Contraceptive Use In A Rural Ethiopian Community, Mark Edberg, Erica Sedlander, Rajiv Rimal, Jeffrey Bingenheimer, Hina Shaikh, Wolfgang Munar, Lakew Gebretsadik Abebe, Fira Abamecha, Abraham Tamirat Gizaw, Sudhakar Morankar

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Community-Based Distribution Of Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Review Of Evidence And Programme Implications., Justine A Kavle, Megan Landry

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

The present literature review aimed to review the evidence for community-based distribution (CBD) of iron–folic acid (IFA) supplementation as a feasible approach to improve anaemia rates in low- and middle-income countries.

The literature review included peer-reviewed studies and grey literature from PubMed, Cochrane Library, LILAC and Scopus databases.

Low- and middle-income countries.

Non-pregnant women, pregnant women, and girls.

CBD programmes had moderate success with midwives and community health workers (CHW) who counselled on health benefits and compliance with IFA supplementation. CHW were more likely to identify and reach a greater number of women earlier in pregnancy, as women tended to …

Assessing The National Cancer Institute's Smokefreemom Text-Messaging Program For Pregnant Smokers: Pilot Randomized Trial., Lorien C Abroms, Shawn Chiang, Laura Macherelli, Leah Leavitt, Margaret Montgomery

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Automated text messages on mobile phones have been found to be effective for smoking cessation in adult smokers.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to test the acceptability and feasibility of SmokefreeMOM, a national smoking cessation text-messaging program for pregnant smokers.

METHODS: Participants were recruited from prenatal care and randomized to receive SmokefreeMOM (n=55), an automated smoking cessation text-messaging program, or a control text message quitline referral (n=44). Participants were surveyed by phone at baseline and at 1 month and 3 months after enrollment.

RESULTS: Results indicate that the SmokefreeMOM program was highly rated overall and rated more favorably than the …

Towards A Global Policy Against Alcohol Marketing To Youth: Challenges And Recommendations For Research., Alisa Padon, Rajiv N Rimal

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Addressing Barriers To Maternal Nutrition In Low- And Middle-Income Countries: A Review Of The Evidence And Programme Implications., Justine A Kavle, Megan Landry

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Adequate maternal nutrition during the “first 1,000 days” window is critical from conception through the first 6 months of life to improve nutritional status and reduce the risk of poor birth outcomes, such as low birthweight and preterm birth. Unfortunately, many programmes have targeted implementation and monitoring of nutrition interventions to infants and young children, rather than to women during pregnancy or post-partum. A literature review was conducted to identify barriers to food choice and consumption during pregnancy and lactation and to examine how low- and middle-income countries have addressed maternal nutrition in programmes. A literature review of peer-reviewed and …

Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes In Smokers Of Low Socioeconomic Status: Study Protocol For A Randomized Control Trial., Nicolle M Krebs, Sophia I Allen, Susan Veldheer, Diane J Martinez, Kimberly Horn, Craig Livelsberger, Jennifer Modesto, Robin Kuprewicz, Ashley Wilhelm, Shari Hrabovsky, Abid Kazi, Alyse Fazzi, Jason Liao, Junjia Zhu, Emily Wasserman, Samantha M Reilly, Lisa Reinhart, Neil Trushin, Robinn E Moyer, Rebecca Bascom, Jonathan Foulds, John P Richie, Joshua E Muscat

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gave the Food and Drug Administration jurisdiction over the regulation of all tobacco products, including their nicotine content. Under this act, a major strategy to reduce harm from cigarette tobacco is lowering the nicotine content without causing unintended adverse consequences. Initial research on reduced nicotine content (RNC) cigarettes has shown that smokers of these cigarettes gradually decrease their smoking frequency and biomarkers of exposure. The effectiveness of this strategy needs to be demonstrated in different populations whose response to RNC cigarettes might be substantially mediated by personal or environmental factors, such …

The Living The Example Social Media Substance Use Prevention Program: A Pilot Evaluation., William Evans, Elizabeth Andrade, Sandra Goldmeer, Michelle Smith, Jeremy Snider, Gunilla Girardo

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Reproduced with permission of JMIR Publications. JMIR Mental Health

Social Media Use And Access To Digital Technology In Us Young Adults In 2016., Andrea C Villanti, Amanda L Johnson, Vinu Ilakkuvan, Megan A Jacobs, Amanda L Graham, Jessica M Rath

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: In 2015, 90% of US young adults with Internet access used social media. Digital and social media are highly prevalent modalities through which young adults explore identity formation, and by extension, learn and transmit norms about health and risk behaviors during this developmental life stage.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to provide updated estimates of social media use from 2014 to 2016 and correlates of social media use and access to digital technology in data collected from a national sample of US young adults in 2016.

METHODS: Young adult participants aged 18-24 years in Wave 7 (October …

Programming Maternal And Child Overweight And Obesity In The Context Of Undernutrition: Current Evidence And Key Considerations For Low- And Middle-Income Countries., Lindsay M Jaacks, Justine Kavle, Abigail Perry, Albertha Nyaku

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

The goals of the present targeted review on maternal and child overweight and obesity were to: (i) understand the current situation in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with regard to recent trends and context-specific risk factors; and (ii) building off this, identify entry points for leveraging existing undernutrition programmes to address overweight and obesity in LMIC. Trends reveal that overweight and obesity are a growing problem among women and children in LMIC; as in Ghana, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, where the prevalence among urban women is approaching 50 %. Four promising entry points were identified: (i) the …

Social Media And Sexual Behavior Among Adolescents: Is There A Link?, Megan Landry, Monique M. Turner, Amita N. Vyas, Susan Wood

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Adolescent sexual risk taking and its consequences remain a global public health concern. Empirical evidence on the impact that social media has on sexual health behaviors among youth is sparse.

Objective: The study aimed to examine the relationship between social media and the change in sexual risk over time and whether parental monitoring moderates this relationship.

Methods: This study comprised a sample of 555 Latino youth aged 13-19 years from Maryland, United States completing baseline and follow-up surveys. Mixed-effects linear regression was used to examine the relationship between social media and the change in sexual risk over time and …

A Qualitative Analysis Of Smokers’ Perceptions About Lung Cancer Screening, Lindsay Gressard, Amy Degroff, Thomas B. Richards, Stephanie Melillo, Julia Kish-Doto, Christina L. Heminger, Elizabeth Rohan, Kristine Allen

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background

In 2013, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) began recommending lung cancer screening for high risk smokers aged 55–80 years using low-dose computed tomography (CT) scan. In light of these updated recommendations, there is a need to understand smokers’ knowledge of and experiences with lung cancer screening in order to inform the design of patient education and tobacco cessation programs. The purpose of this study is to describe results of a qualitative study examining smokers’ perceptions around lung cancer screening tests.

Methods

In 2009, prior to the release of the updated USPSTF recommendations, we conducted 12 120-min, gender-specific …

Hiv-Care Access Among People With Incarceration Experience In St. Petersburg, Russia, Monica S. Ruiz, Robert Heimer, Olga Levina, N. Badosova, V. Rassokhin, A. Belyakov, N. Belyakov

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Little is known about the clinical care experiences of HIV-infected persons in St. Petersburg who have experience with incarceration. To address this question, we conducted a capture-recapture study to identify individuals who had been diagnosed with HIV infection while incarcerated and who subsequently presented for medical care in St. Petersburg, Russia following release from prison.

Methods: We matched 292 HIV-positive prisoners tested by the prison system in 2010 to the medical records at the St. Petersburg AIDS Center in the following 4 years.

Results: The data analysis shows that as many as half of HIV+ prisoners fail to seek …

Adelante Ambassadors: Using Digital Media To Facilitate Community Engagement And Risk-Prevention For Latino Youth, Nicole Barrett, Ricardo Villalba, Elizabeth L. Andrade, Alison Beltran, W. Douglas Evans

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Digital and social media are now widely used to promote engagement in health programs and improve health behaviors across a variety of age groups and domains. However, limited research exists on applying culturally relevant, new media interventions specific to Latino immigrant youth. This paper describes the pilot Adelante Youth Ambassador program for Latino immigrant youth, which used digital media and community-based participatory research to build positive youth development (PYD) assets as a prevention mechanism to reduce co-occurring health risks of substance use, sexual risk, and interpersonal violence. We worked collaboratively with adolescents to create video content as a conduit for …

Design And Feasibility Of A Text Messaging Intervention To Prevent Indoor Tanning Among Young Adult Women: A Pilot Study, William Douglas Evans, Darren Mays

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Background: Although skin cancer is largely preventable, it affects nearly 1 of 5 US adults. There is a need for research on how to optimally design persuasive public health indoor tanning prevention messages.

Objective: The objective of our study was to examine whether framed messages on indoor tanning behavioral intentions delivered through short message service (SMS) text messaging would produce (1) positive responses to the messages, including message receptivity and emotional response; (2) indoor tanning efficacy beliefs, including response efficacy and self-efficacy; and (3) indoor tanning risk beliefs.

Methods: We conducted a pilot study of indoor tanning prevention messages delivered …

Schools Of Public Health In Low And Middle-Income Countries: An Imperative Investment For Improving The Health Of Populations?, Fauziah Rabbani, Leah Shipton, Franklin White, Iman Nuwayhid, Leslie London, Abdul Ghaffar, Bui Thi Thu Ha, Göran Tomson, Rajiv Rimal, Anwar Islam, Amirhossein Takian, Samuel Wong, Shehla Zaidi, Kausar Khan, Rozina Karmaliani, Imran Naeem Abbasi, Farhat Abbas

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Public health has multicultural origins. By the close of the nineteenth century, Schools of Public Health (SPHs) began to emerge in western countries in response to major contemporary public health challenges. The Flexner Report (1910) emphasized the centrality of preventive medicine, sanitation, and public health measures in health professional education. The Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care (PHC) in 1978 was a critical milestone, especially for low and middle-income countries (LMICs), conceptualizing a close working relationship between PHC and public health measures. The Commission on Social Determinants of Health (2005-2008) strengthened the case for SPHs in LMICs as …

Outpatient Antibiotic Prescribing Among United States Nurse Practitioners And Physician Assistants., Guillermo V Sanchez, Adam L Hersh, Daniel J Shapiro, James F. Cawley, Lauri A Hicks

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

We examined US nurse practitioner (NP) and physician assistant (PA) outpatient antibiotic prescribing. Antibiotics were more frequently prescribed during visits involving NP/PA visits compared with physician-only visits, including overall visits (17% vs 12%, P < .0001) and acute respiratory infection visits (61% vs 54%, P < .001). Antibiotic stewardship interventions should target NPs and PAs.

Quantifying Syringe Exchange Program Operational Space In The District Of Columbia., Sean T. Allen, Monica Ruiz, Jeff Jones

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Syringe exchange programs (SEPs) are effective structural interventions for HIV prevention among persons who inject drugs. In 2000, a buffer zone policy (the 1000 Foot Rule) was implemented in Washington, DC, that prohibited SEP operations within 1000 feet of schools. We examined changes in the amount of legal SEP operational space over time. We used data pertaining to school operations and their approximate physical property boundaries to quantify the impact of the 1000 Foot Rule on legal SEP operational space from its implementation in 2000-2013. Adherence to the 1000 Foot Rule reduced SEP operational space by more than 50 % …

Using Capture-Recapture Methods To Estimate The Population Of People Who Inject Drugs In Washington, Dc, Monica S. Ruiz, Allison O'Rourke, Sean T. Allen

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

No current estimates exist for the size of the population of people who inject drugs (PWID) in the District of Columbia (DC). The WHO/UNAIDS Guidelines on Estimating the Size of Populations Most at Risk to HIV was used as the methodological framework to estimate the DC PWID population. The capture phase recruited harm reduction agency clients; the recapture phase recruited community-based PWID. The 951 participants were predominantly Black (83.9 %), male (69.8 %), and 40+ years of age (68.2 %). Approximately 50.3 % reported injecting drugs in the past 30 days. We estimate approximately 8829 (95 % CI 4899 and …

Assessing Syringe Exchange Program Access Among Persons Who Inject Drugs (Pwid) In The District Of Columbia, Sean T. Allen, Monica S. Ruiz, Jeff Jones

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

Prior research has explored spatial access to syringe exchange programs (SEPs) among persons who inject drugs (PWID), but these studies have been based on limited data from short periods of time. No research has explored changes in spatial access to SEPs among PWID longitudinally. The purpose of this research is to examine spatial access to SEPs among PWID who accessed services at a SEP in Washington, District of Columbia (DC), from 1996 to 2010. The geometric point distance estimation technique was used to calculate the mean walking distance PWID traveled from the centroid point of their zip code of home …

Computerized Tailored Interventions To Enhance Prevention And Screening For Hepatitis C Virus Among People Who Inject Drugs: Protocol For A Randomized Pilot Study., Ryan P Westergaard, Shawnika J. Hull, Alana Merkow, Laura K Stephens, Karli R Hochstatter, Heidi K Olson-Streed, Lisa M Baker, Timothy M Hess

Prevention and Community Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a growing problem among people who inject drugs. Strategies to reduce disease transmission (eg, syringe exchange programs) and facilitate HCV screening and linkage are available but are under-utilized in many communities affected by injection drug use. Novel approaches to increasing the use of these strategies are needed.

OBJECTIVE: The goals of this project are to (1) develop and pilot test a computerized tailored intervention for increasing HCV screening and decreasing risky drug use behavior among people who inject drugs and (2) determine the feasibility of disseminating such an intervention using peer-based referrals in …