Exploring Type 2 Diabetes Self-Management Practices Among African Americans in Rural Counties: A Qualitative Study.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to understand diabetes self-management practices among African American individuals living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in rural communities.

Methods: This qualitative descriptive study, undergirded by the theory of integration, purposively sampled African Americans (N = 34) diagnosed with T2D living in rural communities. Thematic analysis employed both a priori and inductive coding to identify salient themes.

Qualitative Inquiry of African American Female Church Leaders on Facilitators and Barriers of Conducting Adult Health Programs Within African American Churches: A Pilot Study Using a Socioecological Perspective Within the United States.

Despite the success of health programs conducted within African American (AA) churches, research has been limited in understanding the facilitators and barriers of conducting adult health programs in churches led by female AA pastors/leaders. In addition, research has yet to analyze the effect of policy on these church-based health programs. Thus, this pilot study's objective is to use the socio-ecological model (SEM) as a framework to explore female AA pastors' and church leaders' perspectives, in the U.

Exploration of how emotional social support predicts food insecurity among college students.

Food insecurity has broad detrimental impacts on college students, including failing grades, depression, and social disconnection. Social disconnection is concerning as students often use various support resources to manage food insecurity. Racial disparities in food insecurity are well documented in the literature.

Physical Activity and Mental Health Declined during the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Literature Review.

(1) Introduction: Mental health (MH) and physical activity (PA) share a bi-directional relationship, but most studies report MH as the outcome. With diminishing pandemic-related MH, this review examines the impact of diminished MH on PA. (2) Methods: This narrative literature review included 19 empirical studies published since the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 and Higher Education: A Qualitative Study on Academic Experiences of African International Students in the Midwest.

COVID-19 pandemic has harshly impacted university students since the outbreak was declared in March 2020. A population impacted the most was international college students due to limited social networks, restrictive employment opportunities, and travel limitations. Despite the increased vulnerability, there has been limited research on the experiences of African-born international students during the pandemic.

Facilitators and Barriers When Conducting Adult Health Programs Within the African American Church: A Systematic Review.

Despite the success of health programs conducted within African American (AA) churches, research has been limited in understanding facilitators and barriers that exist when conducting adult health programs within AA churches. Thus, the objective of this study was to systematically review the literature to identify these facilitators and barriers. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and studies that met the eligibility criteria were divided based on their focus: disease topic or behavior, health promotion activities, or church readiness.

The Past Is so Present: Understanding COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among African American Adults Using Qualitative Data.

Background: African Americans (AAs) are disproportionately affected by structural and social determinants of health, resulting in greater risks of exposure to and deaths from COVID-19. Structural and social determinants of health feed vaccine hesitancy and worsen health disparities.

Objective: The present study aims to explore vaccine attitudes and intentions among program participants, understand the role of an African American faith-based wellness program in COVID-19 awareness and vaccine uptake, and solicit potential solutions for this deep-rooted public health problem.

Insights into fear: A phenomenological study of Black mothers.

Aim: The aim of the study was to explore the lived experience of stress as described by Black childbearing women.

Design: A phenomenological approach was used.

Methods: Seven mothers who met inclusion criteria participated in both individual and group interviews between August 2018 and August 2019.

Narrative Analysis of Childbearing Experiences During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted health care delivery and services around the world causing rapid changes to maternity care protocols and pregnant women to give birth with tight restrictions and significant uncertainties. There is a gap in evidence about expectant and new mothers' experiences with birthing during the pandemic. We sought to describe and understand pregnant and new mothers' lived experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic using authentic birth stories.

"I Struggle with Breast Cancer and I Struggle with God": Insights from African American Breast Cancer Survivors.

Purpose: Recognizing that spiritual and religious beliefs are personal and vary within communities, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the influence of these beliefs on experiences with breast cancer care and social support among African American Christian breast cancer survivors.

Methods: Forty-seven African American breast cancer survivors participated in focus groups (n = 7) in three northeastern urban cities. We used thematic analyses to identify major themes.

Prevalence and predictors of receipt of weight loss advice among a nationally representative sample of overweight and obese Kenyans.

Background: As Kenya continues to experience rapid development and urbanization, growing evidence shows an increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and overweight and obese citizens.

Objectives: This study sought to explore the extent to which Kenyan overweight and obese participants reported receiving advice from physicians or health care providers to lose weight and to identify demographic characteristics associated with receipt of weight loss advice.

Methods: Descriptive statistics analyzed sociodemographic characteristics and weight loss advice from the 2015 Kenya WHO STEPwise survey (n = 1335).

Ageism in the Fitness and Health Industry: A Review of the Literature.

This review aims to understand how age-related stereotypes against older adults' physical capabilities influence their ability to engage in regular physical activity. The authors wanted to know how people construe ageism in the fitness and health arena, how ageism manifests in this field, and how ageism influences older adults' learning and practicing physical activity. Data was extracted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis.

Knowledge Visualizations to Inform Decision Making for Improving Food Accessibility and Reducing Obesity Rates in the United States.

The aim of this article is to promote the use of knowledge visualization frameworks in the creation and transfer of complex public health knowledge. The accessibility to healthy food items is an example of complex public health knowledge. The United States Department of Agriculture Food Access Research Atlas (FARA) dataset contains 147 variables for 72,864 census tracts and includes 16 food accessibility variables with binary values (0 or 1).

Understanding Community-based HIV/AIDS Service Organizations: An Invaluable Source of HPV-related Cancer Information for At-risk Populations.

To describe non-clinical HIV service providers (NCHSPs) as surrogate seekers and health information mavens for people living with HIV (PLWH), men who have sex with men (MSM), and other vulnerable populations.In May/June 2016, we recruited 30 NCHSPs from three community-based HIV/AIDS service organizations. NCHSPs completed a 118-item self-administered, paper-and-pencil survey about HPV, cancer, and health communication.

Social determinants of hypertension and type-2 diabetes in Kenya: A latent class analysis of a nationally representative sample.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is among the leading causes of death in Kenya and type II diabetes (T2D) is a growing chronic health concern in the country. However, a gap exists in examining how demographic and social characteristics coalesce to identify individuals at high risk for hypertension and/or T2D in Kenya. The current study examined demographic typologies associated with self-report diagnoses.

Delivering Tobacco Cessation Through Community Health Workers: Curriculum and Training Considerations.

Texas faces unique barriers in health status and risk behaviors such as smoking. To address tobacco use, community health workers (CHWs) are a resource for disseminating education among a population. To promote smoking cessation in Texas, there is a need for the development of a smoking cessation training program for CHWs.

Embracing Causal Complexity in Health Disparities: Metabolic Syndemics and Structural Prevention in Rural Minority Communities.

Chronic discrimination and associated socioeconomic inequalities have shaped the health and well-being of Black Americans. As a consequence of the intersection of these factors with rural deprivation, rural Black Americans live and work in particularly pathogenic environments that generate disproportionate and interacting chronic comorbidities (syndemics) compared to their White and/or urban counterparts. Traditional prevention research has been unable to fully capture the underlying complexity of rural minority health and has generated mostly low-leverage interventions that have failed to reverse adverse metabolic outcomes among rural Black Americans.

Measuring Type 2 diabetes mellitus knowledge and perceptions of risk in middle-class African Americans.

There is a paucity in the literature examining the African American middle-class. Most studies of African Americans and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) have concentrated on lower-SES individuals, or make no distinction between African Americans of varying socio-economic positions. Middle-class African Americans are vulnerable in ways often overlooked by researchers.

Changes in social support over time in a faith-based physical activity intervention.

African-American women report higher levels of chronic conditions and church attendance relative to the overall US population. Therefore, efforts have increased over the past decade to design church-based health promotion programs. The present study compared changes in religiosity, religious social support and general social support across time within a church-based physical activity study.

"As a Community, We Need to be More Health Conscious": Pastors' Perceptions on the Health Status of the Black Church and African-American Communities.

Background: Churches are recognized for their potential capacity to provide health services and interventions to address health disparities in African-Americans (blacks). Since pastors are central community leaders, their support and involvement can influence both implementation and outcomes for church-based health programs. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore pastors' perceptions of congregant health status within the black church.

Until I get off parole … then I can swim in it if I want to: Facilitators of and barriers to drug use among formerly incarcerated Black drug offenders.

Black Americans are overrepresented among those incarcerated for drug-related offenses. Drug use, postincarceration, is associated with high risk of recidivism and overdose deaths. We explored factors influencing drug use among former Black drug offenders.

A Qualitative Inquiry of Lower Extremity Disease Knowledge Among African Americans Living With Type 2 Diabetes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how personal illness representations of type 2 diabetes affected the level of foot care knowledge and self-care strategies among African Americans adults. Thirteen African Americans (ages 32-72 years) participated in individual semistructured qualitative interviews regarding self-care practices and lower extremity disease knowledge related to type 2 diabetes. Using phenomenological methodology, all interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the research team for themes.

Pastoral perceptions of the learning and developing individual exercise skills (L.A.D.I.E.S.) intervention: a qualitative study.

African-American women experience higher rates of obesity compared to other racial/ethnic groups. High levels of reported church attendance among African-Americans have led to the proliferation of faith-based health programs. Pastors can influence success for faith-based programs.

Exploring the Relationship of Religiosity, Religious Support, and Social Support Among African American Women in a Physical Activity Intervention Program.

Religious belief has been linked to a variety of positive mental and physical health outcomes. This exploratory study will address the relationship between religious involvement and social connectedness among African American women. Results from a physical activity intervention research project (N = 465) found that total religious support and social support were significantly negatively correlated with total religiosity, while total general social support was significantly positively correlated with total religious support.

Hemodynamic and arterial stiffness differences between African-Americans and Caucasians after maximal exercise.

African-American (AA) men have higher arterial stiffness and augmentation index (AIx) than Caucasian-American (CA) men. Women have greater age-associated increases in arterial stiffness and AIx than men. This study examined racial and sex differences in arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics at rest and after an acute bout of maximal exercise in young healthy individuals.