Programs to Strengthen Parent-Adolescent Communication About Reproductive Health: A Systematic Review.

Context: When caring for an adolescent client, providers of contraceptive services must consider whether and how to encourage parent/guardian-child communication about the adolescent's reproductive health. The objective of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of programs designed to increase parent-child communication about reproductive health. The review was used to inform national recommendations on quality family planning services.

Community Engagement in Family Planning in the U.S.: A Systematic Review.

Context: Community engagement may include activities that involve community members in the design, implementation, and evaluation of services. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence on this kind of community engagement in U.S.

Effects of racial and ethnic group and health literacy on responses to genomic risk information in a medically underserved population.

Objective: Few studies have examined how individuals respond to genomic risk information for common, chronic diseases. This randomized study examined differences in responses by type of genomic information (genetic test/family history) and disease condition (diabetes/heart disease), and by race/ethnicity in a medically underserved population.

Methods: 1,057 English-speaking adults completed a survey containing 1 of 4 vignettes (2-by-2 randomized design).

Building an evidence base to inform interventions for pregnant and parenting adolescents: a call for rigorous evaluation.

Adolescent parents and their children are at increased risk for adverse short- and long-term health and social outcomes. Effective interventions are needed to support these young families. We studied the evidence base and found a dearth of rigorously evaluated programs.

Weight perceptions and perceived risk for diabetes and heart disease among overweight and obese women, Suffolk County, New York, 2008.

Introduction: Many Americans fail to accurately identify themselves as overweight and underestimate their risk for obesity-related diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between weight perceptions and perceived risk for diabetes and heart disease among overweight or obese women.

Methods: We examined survey responses from 397 overweight or obese female health center patients on disease risk perceptions and weight perceptions.

Informational content, literacy demands, and usability of websites offering health-related genetic tests directly to consumers.

Purpose: As direct-to-consumer genetic testing becomes more available, a diverse group of consumers, including those with limited health literacy, may consider testing. In light of concerns raised about direct-to-consumer genetic testing, this study sought to critically examine whether the informational content, literacy demands, and usability of health-related direct-to-consumer websites met existing recommendations.

Methods: A content analysis was performed on 29 health-related direct-to-consumer websites.

Beliefs about heritability of cancer and health information seeking and preventive behaviors.

Background: Individuals' beliefs about cancer heritability could affect their health information seeking and health behaviors.

Methods: Data from 5813 English-speaking adult respondents to the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey were analyzed.

Results: Individuals who believed that knowledge of family history or genes can reduce cancer risk were significantly more likely to have ever looked for cancer information.