Publications by authors named "Denyelle Kenyon"

Background: Rural communities, like other places in the United States, face a growing need for palliative care. Community health workers (CHWs) are one potential way to expand the ability to provide palliative care. This scoping review explores what is known about CHWs involved in palliative care teams in the United States.

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Background: Exposure to ultraviolet radiation is a leading risk factor for developing all types of skin cancer. In the United States, an estimated 7.8 million young adults engage in indoor tanning.

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Introduction: Tanning bed use is common among young adults in the United States, and it contributes to over 400,000 cases of skin cancer annually. Many college students acknowledge the risk of skin cancer with tanning bed use, but this is not always a deterrent to the behavior. This study assesses the trends regarding tanning bed usage among university students and analyzes the role that primary care providers (PCPs) and dermatologists could play in reducing participation in this risky habit.

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Background: Exposure to UV radiation is one of the biggest risk factors for developing all types of skin cancer. It is estimated that in the United States, 7.8 million young adults engage in indoor tanning.

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Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of death for American Indian women. American Indian women have lower rates of breast cancer screening than other racial groups, and disparities in breast cancer mortality and survival rates persist among them. To address this critical need, a culturally appropriate, accessible, and personalized intervention is necessary to promote breast cancer screening among American Indian women.

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The last decade has witnessed growing calls for the return of individual research results. Prior work in genetic studies has shown that individual, contextual, and cultural factors influence participants' preferences for individual research results. There is a gap in knowledge about participants' views about other types of results, specifically those lacking clinical significance.

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Introduction: In an effort to expand the first- and second-year curriculum surrounding bias, health equity, social determinants of health, and diversity in medicine, a student-led Social Identities Workshop was created to engage SSOM students in activities to 1) introduce definitions of systemic structures and inequities addressed throughout the Clinical Foundations curriculum, 2) encourage discussion rooted in individual experiences, uplifting shared and diverse identities among classmates and peers, and 3) end the week of orientation with an engaging, approachable, and low-stakes activity to get to know classmates better.

Methods: Pre- (n=68) and post-workshop surveys (n=75) were answered by first-year medical students about their knowledge and familiarity about social identities. The post-workshop survey also included questions to reflect on how the workshop content can be applied to interactions with peers and patients, and their satisfaction with the workshop and ideas of how to improve.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection significantly contributes to the burden of cancer in the United States, despite the existence of a highly effective vaccine. While numerous interventions to address vaccination uptake exist, vaccination rates remain low. We conducted a concept mapping exercise to solicit perspectives on barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination from state-level stakeholders in five states in the Midwest and West Coast of the U.

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Introduction: American Indians are burdened with a myriad of health disparities. As South Dakota's largest minority population, increasing medical students' experiences with the healthcare of American Indians can play a significant role in helping to alleviate American Indians' health disparities as these future physicians will be better able to predict, detect, and treat the health care needs of this population.

Methods: Survey data from 103 medical students at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (SSOM) was collected and analyzed.

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Objective: There is a lack of information concerning the impact of COVID-19 on rural populations. This report shares key results from a cross-sectional survey of South Dakota residents' perceptions on the impact and knowledge of COVID-19 during the early phases of the pandemic.

Methods: From March 24 to April 14, 2020, South Dakota residents (n = 4,761) reported on their psychological symptoms, pandemic-related stressful experiences, top concerns regarding the pandemic, attitudes towards COVID-19, and social distancing behaviors, and where residents were getting COVID information and who they trust to provide accurate information.

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Nationally, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination rates fall short of the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80% completion. Although strategies to increase these rates exist, low rates persist. We used concept mapping with state-level stakeholders to better understand barriers and facilitators to HPV vaccination.

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The Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) was created to foster tribal partnerships in the Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota regions to increase capacity for tribal research. Since 2013, through community engagement and technical assistance from CRCAIH's cores and divisions, seven tribal partners have expanded research infrastructure and recognize the benefits of an established tribal research office. This manuscript showcases the unique approaches individual CRCAIH tribal partners have taken to build tribal research infrastructure.

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Social determinants of health and their effects on health outcomes create a complex system, with interaction between social, economic, physical, and biological factors necessitating research take a holistic approach. Transdisciplinary research, one of the three core values of the Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health, seeks to go beyond methods of knowledge production occurring solely within disciplinary boundaries, because real-world societal problems do not adhere to such restrictions. Community involvement is an essential component for successful research partnerships with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.

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In 2012, the National Institutes of Health funded the Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) to work toward two broad goals: 1) to build tribal research infrastructure, and 2) to increase research on social determinants of health in American Indian communities. As the introduction to this special issue of American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research, we highlight results from the Partnership River of Life evaluation tool in order to provide broader context for the other manuscripts presented here. Insights were gained during the Partnership River of Life group discussion and evaluation process of combining the groups' rivers to create one representation of the CRCAIH partnership.

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The Collaborative Research Center for American Indian Health (CRCAIH) is a transdisciplinary, collaborative center focused on building American Indian tribal research infrastructure. Funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities in 2012, it was created as a platform to join tribal communities and researchers in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota to develop research infrastructure and stimulate research in American Indian health. The CRCAIH infrastructure has created a large network of transdisciplinary research partnerships.

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The problem statement for this manuscript is to describe the literature on grant funding for underrepresented investigators, particularly American Indians, and detail the CRCAIH Pilot Grant Program and its success in developing underrepresented researchers (e.g. American Indian, early stage investigators).

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With growing evidence demonstrating the impact of undergraduate research experiences on educational persistence, efforts are currently being made to expand these opportunities within universities and research institutions throughout the United States. Recruiting underrepresented students into these programs has become an increasingly popular method of promoting diversity in science. Given the low matriculation into postsecondary education and completion rates among Native Americans, there is a great need for Native American undergraduate research internships.

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A clear need exists for teen pregnancy prevention programs that are responsive to the specific needs and cultural contexts of Native American communities. Recent data indicates that the birth rate for Native teens is nearly two and a half times the rate for White teens (32.9 versus 13.

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Article Synopsis
  • Most research on undergraduate research experiences looks only at how students feel about them, but this study wanted to see how mentors also play a part in student learning.
  • The study examined 26 students and their 27 mentors over a 10-week summer program, focusing on how mentors' beliefs influenced students' skills and resilience at the end of the program.
  • It found that what mentors believe at the start really affects how well students do, showing that mentors are especially important for American Indian students.
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Objectives American Indian girls have higher teen pregnancy rates than the national rate. Intervention studies that utilize the Theory of Reasoned Action have found that changing attitudes and subjective norms often leads to subsequent change in a variety of health behaviors in young adults. The current study goal is to better understand sexual decision-making among American Indian youth using the Theory of Reasoned Action model and to introduce ways to utilize attitudes and subjective norms to modify risky behaviors.

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This study examined aspects of the sociocultural context in which American Indian (AI) teen pregnancy occurs, focusing specifically on protective factors for Northern Plains AI youth. Principles of community-based participatory research guided the qualitative data collection from 185 community members (focus groups with AI youth, youth parents, and elders; interviews with health care providers and school personnel) from a reservation and an urban community. Results indicated three protective systems impacted the sexual health and behaviors of AI youth: school, family, and enculturation.

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Despite declines over the past few decades, the United States has one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy compared to other industrialized nations. American Indian youth have experienced higher rates of teen pregnancy compared to the overall population for decades. Although it's known that community and cultural adaptation enhance program effectiveness, few teen pregnancy prevention programs have published on recommendations for adapting these programs to address the specific needs of Northern Plains American Indian youth.

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