Multilevel communication to improve well-being during a pandemic.

Unlabelled: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing crises and introduced new stressors for various populations. We suggest that a multilevel ecological perspective, one that researchers and practitioners have used to address some of public health's most intransigent challenges, will be necessary to address emotional distress and mental health problems resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple levels of influence (individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy) each contribute (individually and in combination) to population health and individual well-being.

Strategies to address anaemia among pregnant and lactating women in India: a formative research study.

Objective: Over half of pregnant women in India are affected by anaemia, which can lead to premature birth, low birth weight and maternal and child mortality. Using formative research, we aimed to understand social and cultural factors around iron and folic acid (IFA) supplement provision and adherence to identify potential strategies for improving adherence and behaviours to prevent and treat anaemia among pregnant and lactating Indian women.

Design: In-depth interviews and focus group discussions with women and key informant interviews with health officials and workers.

Developing and Testing the Detén El Zika Campaign in Puerto Rico.

Responding to an emerging health threat often requires rapid deployment of behavior change communication. Health communication best practices include developing and testing draft messages and materials to ensure that they resonate with and inspire priority groups to act. However, when faced with an emergency health threat, the timeline for these activities can be compressed from months to weeks.

Communicating Risk Information in Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Television Ads: A Content Analysis.

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) television ads for prescription drugs are required to disclose the product's major risks in the audio or audio and visual parts of the presentation (sometimes referred to as the "major statement"). The objective of this content analysis was to determine how the major statement of risks is presented in DTC television ads, including what risk information is presented, how easy or difficult it is to understand the risk information, and the audio and visual characteristics of the major statement. We identified 68 DTC television ads for branded prescription drugs, which included a unique major statement and that aired between July 2012 and August 2014.

Virtual Versus In-Person Focus Groups: Comparison of Costs, Recruitment, and Participant Logistics.

Background: Virtual focus groups-such as online chat and video groups-are increasingly promoted as qualitative research tools. Theoretically, virtual groups offer several advantages, including lower cost, faster recruitment, greater geographic diversity, enrollment of hard-to-reach populations, and reduced participant burden. However, no study has compared virtual and in-person focus groups on these metrics.

In their own words: A qualitative study of the psychosocial concerns of posttreatment and long-term lung cancer survivors.

Although lung cancer is the deadliest type of cancer, survival rates are improving. To address the dearth of literature about the concerns of lung cancer survivors, the authors conducted 21 in-depth interviews with lung cancer survivors that focused on experiences during diagnosis, treatment, and long-term survivorship. Emergent themes included feeling blamed for having caused their cancer, being stigmatized as throwaways, and long-term survivors' experiencing surprise that they are still alive, given poor overall survival rates.

Training for teamwork through simulations.

simulations allow healthcare teams to practice teamwork and communication as well as clinical management skills in a team's usual work setting with typically available resources and equipment. The purpose of this video is to demonstrate how to plan and conduct simulation training sessions, with particular emphasis on how such training can be used to improve communication and teamwork. The video features an simulation conducted at a labour and delivery unit in response to postpartum hemorrhage.

Bundling of STDs and HIV in Prevention Messages.

Purpose –: This study aims to explore peoples cognitive perceptions of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to inform decisions on message development with regard to message bundling, with limited research on the concept of bundling-related prevention messages and no studies that consider the bundling of HIV and other STD prevention messages.

Design/methodology/approach –: Individual and small-group interviews were conducted with 158 African American men and women to explore perceptions of STDs and communication preferences. Open-ended questions and a pile-sort exercise were used to elicit individuals' judgments on similarities of 12 STDs, including HIV.

Promoting sexual health equity in the United States: implications from exploratory research with African-American adults.

In an effort to inform communication efforts to promote sexual health equity in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought to explore African-Americans' perceptions of the sexually transmitted disease (STD) problem in their communities, reactions to racially comparative STD data and opinions about dissemination of such information. Semi-structured triads and individual interviews were conducted with African-American adults (N = 158) in the Southeastern and Midwestern United States. Most participants believed that STDs are a problem in their communities but were unaware of the extent to which STDs disproportionately affect African Americans.

Storm-Related Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: An Investigation of Target Audience Knowledge and Risk Behaviors.

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisonings in the United States consistently occur when residents improperly use portable gasoline-powered generators and other tools following severe storms and power outages. However, protective behaviors-such as installing CO alarms and placing generators more than 20 feet away from indoor structures-can prevent these poisonings. This study identified knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs that lead consumers to adopt risk and protective behaviors for storm-related CO poisoning and post-storm generator use.

Risk and protective behaviours for residential carbon monoxide poisoning.

Background: Unintentional, non-fire-related carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a leading cause of poisoning death and injury in the USA. Residential poisonings caused by faulty furnaces are the most common type of CO exposure. However, these poisonings are largely preventable with annual furnace inspections and CO alarm installation.

Socio-cultural factors that foster use and abuse of alcohol among a sample of enlisted personnel at four Navy and Marine Corps installations.

Rates of heavy drinking are consistently higher among U.S. military personnel than among civilians, particularly among young male personnel.

Translating medical evidence to promote informed health care decisions.

Objective: To examine the effects of a community-based intervention on decisions about prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening using multiple measures of informed decision making (IDM).

Data Sources/study Setting: Nonequivalent control group time series design collecting primary data in late 2004 and 2005.

Study Design: We developed a multimodal intervention designed to convey the medical uncertainty about the benefits of PSA screening and early treatment and the limited predictive ability of both the PSA test and pathological specimens collected from prostate biopsy.

Communication message strategies for increasing knowledge about prostate cancer screening.

Background: This community-based intervention study examined the effects of 2 different message strategies for presenting information about the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test.

Methods: A quasi-experimental longitudinal design with 2 intervention and 1 control group.

Results: Knowledge increased significantly among participants who received either version of the intervention message and remained elevated at 12 months.

Promoting prostate-specific antigen informed decision-making. Evaluating two community-level interventions.

Background: Most medical associations recommend that patients make informed decisions about whether to be screened for prostate cancer with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. Studies assessing how to promote PSA informed decision-making (IDM) have been conducted almost exclusively in healthcare settings; there is a need for similar research in community settings.

Methods: This paper describes the results of a 5-year study (2002--2007) in which two community-level interventions were developed, implemented, and evaluated in matched upper- and lower-SES comparison communities in Greensboro and Wilmington, North Carolina.

Stimulant use and sexual risk behaviors for HIV in rural North Carolina.

Context: While literature exists on sexual risks for HIV among rural populations, the specific role of stimulants in increasing these risks has primarily been studied in the context of a single drug and/or racial group.

Purpose: This study explores the use of multiple stimulants and sexual risk behaviors among individuals of different races and sexual identities in rural North Carolina.

Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 41 individuals in 3 rural North Carolina counties between June 2004 and December 2005.