Student Nurse Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment Training Program: Analysis 2016-2019.

Background: Screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) is an evidence-based set of skills and strategies used by health care providers. Data have suggested SBIRT should be used in detecting persons at risk for substance use and be included in every primary care encounter, as many needing substance abuse treatment do not receive it.

Methods: This descriptive study evaluated data for 361 undergraduate student nurses who participated in SBIRT training.

Digital storytelling as critical narrative intervention with adolescent women of Puerto Rican descent.

This article focuses on findings of a two-year pilot research study focused on addressing sexual and reproductive health inequities faced by adolescent women of Puerto Rican descent living on the mainland United States. Working with three groups of young women, in the pilot study we gathered ethnographic data in and around a group-based digital storytelling process to inform the development of a larger intervention. Digital stories are short (1-3 minute), participant produced videos that synthesize still and moving image, a voiceover recording of the participant telling her story, and background music and text to document personal experiences.

Narrative Influences on "Desire to Act in My Community" in Digital Storytelling Workshops for Latina Teens.

Digital storytelling workshops are increasingly being used to capture lived experiences and develop/disseminate health promotion messages for vulnerable and marginalized populations. Thirty female Latina teens of varied sexual/parity status produced digital stories of significant life experiences in a group context and then viewed and evaluated them using the Narrative Quality Assessment Tool. This tool was used to examine participants' experience of emotional engagement and identification with each story as well as a single-item indicator of desire to "do something in my community" related to the story.

Gaps Between Self-Rated Job Importance and Abilities for Community Health Workers in Massachusetts.

Introduction Community health workers (CHWs) serve increasingly active roles in clinical care and population health. To identify priorities for training programs, we developed a training needs assessment (TNA) tool by integrating and distilling core competencies previously identified by various national and state agencies. Methods CHWs were asked to self-rate, using a 4-point scale, the importance to their work and their ability to perform 49 competencies categorized under 10 domains.

Measuring Down: Evaluating Digital Storytelling as a Process for Narrative Health Promotion.

Digital storytelling (DST) engages participants in a group-based process to create and share narrative accounts of life events. We present key evaluation findings of a 2-year, mixed-methods study that focused on effects of participating in the DST process on young Puerto Rican Latina's self-esteem, social support, empowerment, and sexual attitudes and behaviors. Quantitative results did not show significant changes in the expected outcomes.

Digital Storytelling as a Narrative Health Promotion Process: Evaluation of a Pilot Study.

Digital storytelling (DST) engages participants in a group-based process to create and share narrative accounts of life events. The process of individuals telling their own stories has not been well assessed as a mechanism of health behavior change. This study looks at outcomes associated with engaging in the DST process for vulnerable youth.

Evaluation of an Urban Farm-to-Preschool and Families Program.

Over the past 30 years, the rate of childhood obesity has risen dramatically. Despite recent declines in prevalence among preschool-aged children, child obesity is still a significant public health concern. Healthy People 2020 objectives include increasing fruit and vegetable consumption among children over 2 years of age and increasing the number of schools that offer access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Effectiveness of an Electronic Booster Session Delivered to Mandated Students.

College student drinking continues to be a problem in the United States. Students who have violated campus alcohol policy are at particularly high risk for dangerous drinking. While Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) has been found to be an effective strategy in reducing high-risk drinking and associated consequences, questions remain about ways to further reduce risk or sustain changes associated with a face-to face intervention.

Developing leaders: implementation of a peer advising program for a public health sciences undergraduate program.

Peer advising is an integral part of our undergraduate advising system in the Public Health Sciences major at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The program was developed in 2009 to address the advising needs of a rapidly growing major that went from 25 to over 530 majors between 2007 and 2014. Each year, 9-12 top performing upper-level students are chosen through an intensive application process.

Experiencing Violence and Enacting Resilience: The Case Story of a Transgender Youth.

Research about victimization among sexual minority youth has focused on documenting the prevalence and consequences of such experiences. Lacking in the literature is an in-depth exploration of the social context of both risk and resilience in the face of violence. This is especially true for transgender youth who are largely absent from the dominant discourse.

"There's so much at stake": sexual minority youth discuss dating violence.

The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions of dating violence among a sample of sexual minority youth. Focus groups were conducted as part of a larger study that surveyed 109 sexual minority youth between the ages of 18 and 24 years. Participants identified four main themes contributing to dating violence among same-sex couples: homophobia (societal and internalized); negotiating socially prescribed gender roles; assumed female connection; and other relationship issues.

Effectiveness of the Brief Alcohol and Screening Intervention for College Students (BASICS) program with a mandated population.

Objective: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a large-scale intervention designed to reduce alcohol abuse among adjudicated college students.

Participants: Participants were college students mandated to attend a Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention for College Students (BASICS) program and a randomly selected comparison group of high-risk drinkers.

Methods: Data were collected from January 2006 through December 2008.

Mobilizing for change: a case study of a campus and community coalition to reduce high-risk drinking.

Campus and community coalitions include a partnership between campus leaders and community stakeholders and can effectively address the environment that may promote high-risk drinking. Despite evidence suggesting that coalitions may be effective vehicles for producing sustainable changes in college drinking, few campuses work within such a structure. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a campus and community coalition to implement environmental changes and thereby reduce high-risk drinking and associated consequences.