Repeal of Subminimum Wages and Social Determinants of Health Among People With Disabilities.

Importance: People with disabilities experience pervasive health disparities driven by adverse social determinants of health, such as unemployment. Section 14(c) of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act has been a controversial policy that allows people with disabilities to be paid below the prevailing minimum wage, but its impact on employment remains unknown despite ongoing national debates about its repeal.

Objective: To estimate whether state-level repeal of Section 14(c) was associated with employment-related outcomes for people with cognitive disability.

Continuity of Operations in Newborn Screening: Lessons Learned from Three Incidents.

Three incidents that impacted two US newborn screening (NBS) programs highlight the importance of contingency planning for the continuity of operations (COOP). Other NBS programs may benefit from the experience of these state programs for their own contingency planning efforts. Through after-action reviews conducted post-incident, crucial elements for the successful management of an incident were identified.

Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health.

Importance: Racial disparities in sleep health may mediate the broader health outcomes of structural racism.

Objective: To assess changes in sleep duration in the Black population after officer-involved killings of unarmed Black people, a cardinal manifestation of structural racism.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Two distinct difference-in-differences analyses examined the changes in sleep duration for the US non-Hispanic Black (hereafter, Black) population before vs after exposure to officer-involved killings of unarmed Black people, using data from adult respondents in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS; 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018) and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS; 2013-2019) with data on officer-involved killings from the Mapping Police Violence database.

Operationalizing Equity, Inclusion, and Access in Research Practice at a Large Academic Institution.

Introduction: Healthcare advances are hindered by underrepresentation in prospective research; sociodemographic, data, and measurement infidelity in retrospective research; and a paucity of guidelines surrounding equitable research practices.

Objective: The Joint Research Practices Working Group was created in 2021 to develop and disseminate guidelines for the conduct of inclusive and equitable research.

Methods: Volunteer faculty and staff from two research centers at the University of Pennsylvania initiated a multi-pronged approach to guideline development, including literature searches, center-level feedback, and mutual learning with local experts.

Public Views on Medicaid Work Requirements and Mandatory Premiums in Kentucky.

Importance: Federal and state policymakers continue to pursue work requirements and premiums as conditions of Medicaid participation. Opinion polling should distinguish between general policy preferences and specific views on quotas, penalties, and other elements.

Objective: To identify views of adults in Kentucky regarding the design of Medicaid work requirements and premiums.

Effects Of An Employee COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate At A Long-Term Care Network.

We assessed COVID-19 vaccination and employment status among employees of a long-term care network that announced an employee vaccination mandate on July 29, 2021. The day before the announcement, 1,208 employees were unvaccinated; of these workers, 56.2 percent subsequently were vaccinated, whereas 20.

The effects of cash transfers on adult and child mortality in low- and middle-income countries.

Poverty is an important social determinant of health that is associated with increased risk of death. Cash transfer programmes provide non-contributory monetary transfers to individuals or households, with or without behavioural conditions such as children's school attendance. Over recent decades, cash transfer programmes have emerged as central components of poverty reduction strategies of many governments in low- and middle-income countries.

Access to Oral Fluid-Based Human Immunodeficiency Virus Self-Tests Increases Testing Among Male Partners of Adolescent Girls in Kenya: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: The risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among adolescent girls (AGs) may be reduced if they know the HIV status of their male partners. We assessed the ability of AGs in Siaya County, Kenya, to offer HIV self-tests to their partners to promote partner and couples testing.

Methods: Eligible AGs were 15-19 years old, self-tested HIV-negative, and had a male partner not tested in the past 6 months.

Routine child immunizations in India during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Disruptions in health service delivery and utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic may have caused many children worldwide to not receive vital preventative health services. We investigate the pandemic's effects on routine childhood vaccinations in India, which has the world's largest child immunization program. Using data from the Government of India's health management information system and interrupted time series analyses, we estimate district-level changes in routine child vaccinations during the pandemic relative to typical monthly vaccinations in the pre-pandemic period.

Quasi-experimental evaluation of a financial incentive for first-dose COVID-19 vaccination among adults aged ≥60 years in South Africa.

Introduction: COVID-19 vaccination coverage in South Africa (RSA) remains low despite increased access to vaccines. On 1 November 2021, RSA introduced the Vooma Voucher programme which provided a small guaranteed financial incentive, a Vooma Voucher redeemable at grocery stores, for COVID-19 vaccination among older adults, a population most vulnerable to serious illness, hospitalisation and death. However, the association of financial incentives with vaccination coverage remains unclear.

Adoption of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis among women at high risk of HIV infection in Kenya.

In 2017, Kenya became one of the first African countries to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in its national HIV prevention plan. We sought to characterize factors associated with PrEP uptake and persistence among a cohort of women at risk of HIV infection during the early stages of PrEP scale-up in Kenya. HIV-negative women ≥18 years with ≥2 sexual partners in the past 4 weeks were recruited as part of an ongoing cluster randomized trial of an HIV self-testing intervention.

Trends in Transactional Sex Among Women at Risk for HIV in Rural Kenya During the First Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic.

This cohort study examines trends in economic outcomes and behaviors associated with HIV transmission among women at risk in rural Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States.

The decline of manufacturing employment is frequently invoked as a key cause of worsening U.S. population health trends, including rising mortality due to "deaths of despair.

Effect of Nudges on Downloads of COVID-19 Exposure Notification Apps: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

This randomized clinical trial examines the effect of digital contact tracing using smartphone app nudges to increase downloads of Pennsylvania’s COVID Alert PA app.

The effect of providing women sustained access to HIV self-tests on male partner testing, couples testing, and HIV incidence in Kenya: a cluster-randomised trial.

Background: HIV self-testing can overcome barriers to HIV testing, but its potential as an HIV prevention strategy for women in sub-Saharan Africa has not been assessed. We examined whether sustained provision of self-tests to women promotes testing among sexual partners and reduces HIV incidence.

Methods: We conducted a pair-matched cluster-randomised trial in 66 community clusters in Siaya County, Kenya.

Personalized Cancer Medicine in the Media: Sensationalism or Realistic Reporting?

Background: Given that media coverage can shape healthcare expectations, it is essential that we understand how the media frames "personalized medicine" (PM) in oncology, and whether information about unproven technologies is widely disseminated.

Methods: We conducted a content analysis of 396 news reports related to cancer and PM published between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2011. Two coders independently coded all the reports using a pre-defined framework.

Health and Economic Outcomes Associated With COVID-19 in Women at High Risk of HIV Infection in Rural Kenya.

Importance: COVID-19 lockdowns may affect economic and health outcomes, but evidence from low- and middle-income countries remains limited.

Objective: To assess the economic security, food security, health, and sexual behavior of women at high risk of HIV infection in rural Kenya during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This survey study of women enrolled in a randomized trial in a rural county in Kenya combined results from phone interviews, conducted while social distancing measures were in effect between May 13 and June 29, 2020, with longitudinal, in-person surveys administered between September 1, 2019, and March 25, 2020.

Brief Report: Financial Incentives and Real-Time Adherence Monitoring to Promote Daily Adherence to HIV Treatment and Viral Suppression Among People Living With HIV: A Pilot Study.

Background: Interventions to promote medication adherence and viral suppression are needed among HIV-positive individuals. We aimed to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of daily financial incentives linked to real-time adherence monitoring among treatment-experienced individuals.

Methods: At an HIV clinic in Philadelphia, we conducted a pilot randomized trial among treatment-experienced HIV-positive adults with unsuppressed viral loads (>400 copies/mL).

The design of a randomized controlled trial to evaluate multi-dimensional effects of a section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver with community engagement requirements.

Section 1115 demonstration waivers provide a mechanism for states to implement changes to their Medicaid programs. While such waivers are mandated to include evaluations of their impact, randomization - the gold standard for assessing causality - has not typically been a consideration. In a critical departure, the Commonwealth of Kentucky opted to pursue a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) for their controversial 2018 Medicaid Demonstration waiver, which included work requirements as a condition for the subset of beneficiaries deemed able-bodied to maintain eligibility for benefits.

Male partner testing and sexual behaviour following provision of multiple HIV self-tests to Kenyan women at higher risk of HIV infection in a cluster randomized trial.

Introduction: Without significant increases in uptake of HIV testing among men, it will be difficult to reduce HIV incidence to disease elimination levels. Secondary distribution of HIV self-tests by women to their male partners is a promising approach for increasing male testing that is being implemented in several countries. Here, we examine male partner and couples testing outcomes and sexual decision making associated with this approach in a cluster randomized trial.

The Importance of Engaging Children in Research Decision-Making: A Preliminary Mixed-Methods Study.

Studies demonstrate deficiencies in parents' and children's comprehension of research and lack of child engagement in research decision-making. We conducted a cross-sectional and interview-based study of 31 parent-child dyads to describe decision-making preferences, experiences, and comprehension of parents and children participating in research. Parents and children reported that parents played a greater role in decisions about research participation than either parents or children preferred.

Association Between State Policies Using Medicaid Exclusions to Sanction Noncompliance With Welfare Work Requirements and Medicaid Participation Among Low-Income Adults.

This cohort study examines the association of implementation of Medicaid sanctions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program with Medicaid coverage rates among low-income adults.