Financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant communities in Portland Maine: a qualitative study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic not only disproportionately impacted the health of immigrants in the US, but led to financial disparities as well. However, few studies to date capture the experience of asylum-seeking and refugee populations.

Methods: We analyzed semi-structured interviews conducted in fall 2021 with immigrants (primarily asylum-seekers and refugees from countries in Central and East Africa) and key informants, and conducted focus group discussions in spring 2023 with employees of a non-profit supporting the financial needs of asylum-seekers and refugees in Portland, ME.

Effect of a behavior change and hardware intervention on safe child feces management practices in rural Odisha, India: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.

Background: Poor child feces management contributes to enteropathogen exposure and, consequently, is associated with diarrheal disease and negative impacts on child growth. Despite high latrine coverage, only 37% of Indian households safely dispose of their child's feces into a latrine or have the child use the latrine, with the lowest rate in the state of Odisha at 12%. We evaluated a behavior change and hardware intervention designed to improve caregiver safe disposal of child feces and child latrine use.

Reaching Structurally Vulnerable Populations Using Low-Barrier COVID-19 Testing Clinics Co-Created with Community-Based Organizations.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected people from structurally vulnerable communities. There was a need to improve COVID-19 testing in these communities to reduce viral spread and connect to treatment.

Objective: We created a partnership between an academic medical center and three community-based organizations (CBOs) to offer low-barrier COVID-19 walk-up testing clinics in Portland, Maine.

Contextual and psychosocial factors influencing caregiver safe disposal of child feces and child latrine training in rural Odisha, India.

Child feces are an important source of fecal exposure in household environments. Typically, one of two behaviors is necessary to mitigate this risk: either caregivers dispose of their children's feces into a latrine or children learn how to use a latrine. Although past studies have examined factors associated with these two behaviors collectively (i.