Kids SIPsmartER reduces sugar-sweetened beverages among Appalachian middle-school students and their caregivers: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: High consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) is a global health concern. Additionally, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is disproportionately high among adolescents and adults in rural Appalachia. The primary study objective is to determine the intervention effects of Kids SIPsmartER on students' SSB consumption.

Associations of Body Mass Index with Self-Rated Health and Weight Perceptions Among Rural Appalachian Adolescent Students.

Background: Adolescents with overweight or obesity are at greater risk of having physical and psychosocial consequences. With increased disparities and inadequate literature on prevalence of adolescent weight status in rural Appalachia, there is potential for further complications. Unfortunately, adolescent obesity treatment options are often limited, especially in medically underserved regions.

Understanding and Advancing Organizational Health Literacy Within a Public Health Setting.

Background: Organizational health literacy (OHL) within the public health setting is lacking.

Objective: The aim of this study was to form a health literacy (HL) improvement team consisting of university researchers and Virginia Department of Health (VDH) district directors and staff to assess and improve OHL practices of VDH staff in four medically underserved health districts in southwest Virginia.

Methods: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit guided this mixed-methods needs assessment and improvement plan.

SIPsmartER delivered through rural, local health districts: adoption and implementation outcomes.

Background: SIPsmartER is a 6-month evidenced-based, multi-component behavioral intervention that targets sugar-sweetened beverages among adults. It consists of three in-person group classes, one teach-back call, and 11 automated phone calls. Given SIPsmartER's previously demonstrated effectiveness, understanding its adoption, implementation, and potential for integration within a system that reaches health disparate communities is important to enhance its public health impact.

Participatory development and pilot testing of iChoose: an adaptation of an evidence-based paediatric weight management program for community implementation.

Background: To describe the identification, adaptation, and testing of an evidence-based pediatric weight management program for a health disparate community.

Methods: A community advisory board (CAB) of decision-makers and staff from local health care, public health, and recreation organizations engaged with academic partners to select an evidence-based program (EBP) for local implementation. Three EBPs were identified (Traffic Light, Bright Bodies, Golan and colleagues Home Environmental Model) and each EBP was rated on program characteristics, implementation and adaptation, and adoptability.

One-Year Mixed-Methods Case Study of a Community-Academic Advisory Board Addressing Childhood Obesity.

Objective: Using a community-based participatory research and systems-based approach, the purpose of this community case study is to describe the planning process and first-year experiences of community-academic advisory board (CAB) partners involved with the development of an evidence-based childhood obesity treatment program in a medically underserved region.

Method: Regional community partners ( n = 9; Pittsylvania/Danville Health District, Children's Healthcare Center, Danville Parks & Recreation, and Danville Boys & Girls Club) and academic partners ( n = 9) met monthly to select and adapt an evidence-based childhood obesity program, develop evaluation and recruitment protocols, and plan for program implementation. In the first 3 months, members developed a mixed-methods capacity evaluation, administered at 3 and 11 months following the first CAB meeting.

The Influence of Parental Health Literacy Status on Reach, Attendance, Retention, and Outcomes in a Family-Based Childhood Obesity Treatment Program, Virginia, 2013-2015.

Introduction: Few interventions have evaluated the influence of parent health literacy (HL) status on weight-related child outcomes. This study explores how parent HL affects the reach, attendance, and retention of and outcomes in a 3-month multicomponent family-based program to treat childhood obesity (iChoose).

Methods: This pre-post, quasiexperimental trial occurred in the Dan River Region, a federally designated medically underserved area.

Exploring the etiologic factors and dynamics of prescription drug abuse in southwest virginia.

Background: Prescription drug abuse in Southwest Virginia is a serious problem affecting indi-viduals, families, and communities. The aim of this study was to characterize and understand the extent of the prescription drug abuse problem in Southwest, Virginia as well as the dynamics that surround that abuse. More specifically, the study focused on learning the extent of the problem along with which prescription drugs are typically used prior to entering treatment, reasons for prescription drug and methadone abuse, and the sources for prescription drug use, misuse and abuse.