Little is known about how low-income residents of urban communities engage their knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and resources to mitigate the health impacts of wildfire smoke and other forms of air pollution. We interviewed 40 adults in Los Angeles, California, to explore their threat assessments of days of poor air quality, adaptation resources and behaviors, and the impacts of air pollution and wildfire smoke on physical and mental health. Participants resided in census tracts that were disproportionately burdened by air pollution and socioeconomic vulnerability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
September 2022
Little is known of how low-income residents of urban heat islands engage their knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and resources to mitigate the health impacts of heat waves. In this qualitative study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 adults in two such neighborhoods in Los Angeles California to explore their adaptation resources and behaviors, the impacts of heat waves on physical and mental health, and threat assessments of future heat waves. Eighty percent of participants received advanced warning of heat waves from television news and social media.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: California has the largest American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population in the United States and faces several commercial tobacco related disparities. This study assessed current interest, readiness, and knowledge regarding commercial tobacco control policies in California Tribal communities.: A community readiness assessment was conducted in California Tribal communities to understand commercial tobacco policies that included: Tobacco 21 (California State, and now federal, law restricting commercial tobacco sales to age 21 and over), tobacco tax, smoke-free worksites on Tribal lands, smoke-free households, and smoke-free indoor and outdoor areas in multi-unit housing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
September 2021
The impact of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic on the mental health of millions worldwide has been well documented, but its impact on prevention and treatment of mental and behavioral health conditions is less clear. The COVID-19 pandemic also created numerous challenges and opportunities to implement health care policies and programs under conditions that are fundamentally different from what has been considered to be usual care. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on implementation of evidence-based policy and practice by State Mental Health Authorities (SMHA) for prevention and treatment of mental health problems in children and adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: The potential adverse health effects of PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter<2.5 μm) and vapor samples from three communities that neighbor railyards, Commerce (CM), Long Beach (LB), and San Bernardino (SB), were assessed by determination of chemical reactivities attributed to the induction of oxidative stress by air pollutants.
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