Strategies for Effective Public Health Communication in a Complex Information Environment.

Development and amplification of effective, culturally resonant, trustworthy, and evidence-based public health communication are urgently needed. Research evidence, theory, and practical experience from within and beyond the interdisciplinary field of health communication are well-positioned to help public health authorities, researchers, and advocates navigate the complex societal challenges that influence health and well-being in global contexts. This review offers a broad overview of the field, considers what constitutes "effectiveness" versus "effects" in public health communication, and describes core concepts of public health communication as a process rather than a product.

Using Zoom Annotate to Facilitate Online Focus Groups in Veterinary Medicine Education Research.

Focus groups allow researchers to collect data from multiple participants on a set of questions while simultaneously observing participant interactions during sessions. Traditionally, researchers conduct focus groups in person, though online focus groups have been increasingly used as technologies have improved. The pandemic increased the need for researchers to innovate online focus group practices.

Accurate and inaccurate beliefs about cancer risk factors among Spanish-preferring adults in the United States.

Objective: To characterize inaccurate and accurate beliefs about cancer risk factors held among Spanish-preferring adults in the United States.

Methods: From a national probability panel, we surveyed 196 Hispanic adults who prefer completing questionnaires in Spanish. We also used data from a representative sample of 1200 adults in the US to compare belief acceptance.

"Don't touch your face"---Effectiveness of a health communication intervention on reducing face-touching behaviors.

Background: Given the risk of infection through face-touching behaviors, investigators have called for more research into the development of interventions to reduce the frequency of face-touching. The current study aims to test the effectiveness of messages on reducing face-touching behaviors.

Methods: Nine different messages that highlighted the risk of face-touching were developed.

Associations between news coverage, social media discussions, and search trends about celebrity deaths, screening, and other colorectal cancer-related events.

Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States. CRC-related events may increase media coverage and public attention, boosting awareness and prevention. This study examined associations between several types of CRC events (including unplanned celebrity cancer deaths and planned events like national CRC awareness months, celebrity screening behavior, and screening guideline changes) and news coverage, Twitter discussions, and Google search trends about CRC and CRC screening.

Using narratives to correct politically charged health misinformation and address affective belief echoes.

Background: In May 2020, news outlets reported misinformation about the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) related to COVID-19. Correcting misinformation about outbreaks and politics is particularly challenging. Affective belief echoes continue to influence audiences even after successful correction.

SCALE-UP II: protocol for a pragmatic randomised trial examining population health management interventions to increase the uptake of at-home COVID-19 testing in community health centres.

Introduction: SCALE-UP II aims to investigate the effectiveness of population health management interventions using text messaging (TM), chatbots and patient navigation (PN) in increasing the uptake of at-home COVID-19 testing among patients in historically marginalised communities, specifically, those receiving care at community health centres (CHCs).

Methods And Analysis: The trial is a multisite, randomised pragmatic clinical trial. Eligible patients are >18 years old with a primary care visit in the last 3 years at one of the participating CHCs.

Political Party Collective Norms, Perceived Norms, and Mask Wearing Behavior: A Test of the Theory of Normative Social Behavior.

The theory of normative social behavior (TNSB) postulates that people are influenced by others' behaviors, which they observe from messages and experience. In addition to focusing on perceived (i.e.

Global prevalence and content of information about alcohol use as a cancer risk factor on Twitter.

Objectives: Alcohol use is a major risk factor for several forms of cancer, though many people have limited knowledge of this link. Public health communicators and cancer advocates desire to increase awareness of this link with the long-term goal of reducing cancer burden. The current study is the first to examine the prevalence and content of information about alcohol use as a cancer risk on social media internationally.

Multi-Institutional Analysis of Cancer Patient Exposure, Perceptions, and Trust in Information Sources Regarding Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

Purpose: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use during cancer treatment is controversial. We aim to evaluate contemporary CAM use, patient perceptions and attitudes, and trust in various sources of information regarding CAM.

Methods: A multi-institutional questionnaire was distributed to patients receiving cancer treatment.

Temporal frames, temporal focus, and behavioral expectations: The persuasive impact of near and distant threats.

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) photography and photoaging visuals make hidden sun damage visible to the naked eye, granting the potential to create messages that vary in temporal dimensionality. As UV photos depict immediate skin damage, the photo communicated that exposure in sun causes invisible damage to the young truck driver (near temporal frame) and visible damage (e.g.

Short Severe Energy Restriction with Refueling Reduces Body Mass without Altering Training-Associated Performance Improvement.

Purpose: We investigated short-term (9 d) exposure to low energy availability (LEA) in elite endurance athletes during a block of intensified training on self-reported well-being, body composition, and performance.

Methods: Twenty-three highly trained race walkers undertook an ~3-wk research-embedded training camp during which they undertook baseline testing and 6 d of high energy/carbohydrate (HCHO) availability (40 kcal·kg FFM -1 ·d -1 ) before being allocated to 9 d continuation of this diet ( n = 10 M, 2 F) or a significant decrease in energy availability to 15 kcal·kg FFM -1 ·d -1 (LEA: n = 10 M, 1 F). A real-world 10,000-m race walking event was undertaken before (baseline) and after (adaptation) these phases, with races being preceded by standardized carbohydrate fueling (8 g·kg body mass [BM] -1 for 24 h and 2 g·kg BM -1 prerace meal).

Using ChatGPT to evaluate cancer myths and misconceptions: artificial intelligence and cancer information.

Data about the quality of cancer information that chatbots and other artificial intelligence systems provide are limited. Here, we evaluate the accuracy of cancer information on ChatGPT compared with the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) answers by using the questions on the "Common Cancer Myths and Misconceptions" web page. The NCI's answers and ChatGPT answers to each question were blinded, and then evaluated for accuracy (accurate: yes vs no).

Framing COVID-19 Preprint Research as Uncertain: A Mixed-Method Study of Public Reactions.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, journalists were encouraged to convey uncertainty surrounding preliminary scientific evidence, including mentioning when research is unpublished or unverified by peer review. To understand how public audiences interpret this information, we conducted a mixed method study with U.S.

International medical tourism of US cancer patients for alternative cancer treatments: Financial, demographic, and clinical profiles of online crowdfunding campaigns.

Background: Previous research has found that individuals may travel outside their home countries in pursuit of alternative cancer therapies (ACT). The goal of this study is to compare individuals in the United States who propose plans for travel abroad for ACT, compared with individuals who seek ACT domestically.

Methods: Clinical and treatment data were extracted from campaign descriptions of 615 GoFundMe® campaigns fundraising for individuals in the United States seeking ACT between 2011 and 2019.

For Flux Sake: Isotopic Tracer Methods of Monitoring Human Carbohydrate Metabolism During Exercise.

Isotopic tracers can reveal insights into the temporal nature of metabolism and track the fate of ingested substrates. A common use of tracers is to assess aspects of human carbohydrate metabolism during exercise under various established models. The dilution model is used alongside intravenous infusion of tracers to assess carbohydrate appearance and disappearance rates in the circulation, which can be further delineated into exogenous and endogenous sources.

Missing the Bigger Picture: The Need for More Research on Visual Health Misinformation.

Research shows that health misinformation is widespread online and poses a potentially significant threat to public health. Visual misinformation has been largely overlooked, a notable gap given the unique features and ubiquity of visual content. In this essay, we (a) provide a working definition of visual misinformation, (b) summarize the main categories of visual misinformation, (c) offer examples of the functions visuals can serve within misinformation content, and (d) outline priorities for advancing research on visual misinformation.

Search Term Identification Methods for Computational Health Communication: Word Embedding and Network Approach for Health Content on YouTube.

Background: Common methods for extracting content in health communication research typically involve using a set of well-established queries, often names of medical procedures or diseases, that are often technical or rarely used in the public discussion of health topics. Although these methods produce high recall (ie, retrieve highly relevant content), they tend to overlook health messages that feature colloquial language and layperson vocabularies on social media. Given how such messages could contain misinformation or obscure content that circumvents official medical concepts, correctly identifying (and analyzing) them is crucial to the study of user-generated health content on social media platforms.

Short-Term Very High Carbohydrate Diet and Gut-Training Have Minor Effects on Gastrointestinal Status and Performance in Highly Trained Endurance Athletes.

We implemented a multi-pronged strategy (MAX) involving chronic (2 weeks high carbohydrate [CHO] diet + gut-training) and acute (CHO loading + 90 g·h−1 CHO during exercise) strategies to promote endogenous and exogenous CHO availability, compared with strategies reflecting lower ranges of current guidelines (CON) in two groups of athletes. Nineteen elite male race walkers (MAX: 9; CON:10) undertook a 26 km race-walking session before and after the respective interventions to investigate gastrointestinal function (absorption capacity), integrity (epithelial injury), and symptoms (GIS). We observed considerable individual variability in responses, resulting in a statistically significant (p < 0.

Science communication challenges about antimicrobial resistance in animal agriculture: insights from stakeholders.

Background: Communicating about antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) requires technical knowledge, consideration of audience values and appropriate identification of communication strategies for multiple audiences. Within the context of animal agriculture, communicating about AMR represents an important and complex endeavour for veterinarians, governmental agencies, producers and the industry to convey policy and practice information regarding the use of antimicrobials in food animals.

Objectives: To assess the science communication challenges related to AMR by identifying the motivations, goals and struggles of animal agriculture stakeholders when communicating about AMR and AMS.

Psychosocial correlates of face-touching mitigation behaviors in public and private.

This study investigates psychosocial factors that influence people's face-touching mitigation behaviors. A nationwide survey was conducted online, and the results showed that perceived risk severity of touching face, and barriers and self-efficacy of not touching face were stable predictors. COVID-19 was related to a higher likelihood of mitigation behavior in public spaces.