Opioid overdose prevention training needs: Findings from emergency medical services providers in Baltimore County, Maryland.

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers are on the frontlines of the opioid response. This study explored the EMS training needs in Baltimore County, Maryland. An online survey conducted between January-June 2021 assessed knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and self-efficacy to use opioid overdose prevention strategies; burnout, compassion fatigue, stress, and wellness; and training needs among EMS providers (N = 256).

Changes in Mental Health, Emotional Distress, and Substance Use Affecting Women Experiencing Violence and Their Service Providers during COVID-19 in a U.S. Southern State.

Research conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed many unintended consequences of mandated safety precautions, including increased perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV), increases in substance use, and worsening mental health conditions. We conducted a repeated, cross-sectional survey of survivors of IPV, a longitudinal survey of service providers working in an IPV shelter, and interviews with both. We conducted surveys at the beginning of the pandemic and nearly half a year later to assess mental health and, for clients, substance use.

Perceived Behavioral Control as a Key to Integrative Medicine.

The purpose of the present study was to identify the factors that are the strongest predictors of intentions and use of integrative medicine approaches in clinical practice. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior was used to guide our examination of these questions. Health care professionals exposed to a Veterans Health Administration program (N = 288) who completed survey instruments prior to and immediately after the program and 3 months later were the participants for this study.

Integration of Health Coaching Concepts and Skills into Clinical Practice Among VHA Providers: A Qualitative Study.

Background: Although studies of health coaching for behavior change in chronic disease prevention and management are increasing, to date no studies have reported on what concepts and skills providers integrate into their clinical practice following participation in health coaching courses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to assess Veterans Health Administration (VHA) providers' perceptions of the individual-level and system-level changes they observed after participating with colleagues in a 6-day Whole Health Coaching course held in 8 VHA medical centers nationwide.

Methods: Data for this study were from the follow-up survey conducted with participants 2 to 3 months after completing the training.

Impact of a Clinical Educational Effort in Driving Transformation in Health Care.

Background And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess whether a 2.5 day clinical education course focused on integrative medicine (IM), complementary health (CH), and patient-centered care strategies delivered to staff at Veteran Health Administration (VHA) facilities resulted in changes in attitudes, self-efficacy, preparedness, intentions, and self-reported use of IM strategies. The study also assessed whether there were differential impacts by participant characteristics.

Evaluation of a Health Coaching Course for Providers and Staff in Veterans Health Affairs Medical Facilities.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a health coaching (HC) course for providers and staff in Veterans Health Affairs medical facilities resulted in increased attitudes toward, intentions to use, and actual use of HC.

Methods: A Whole Health Coaching Course was developed and implemented in national sites in 2014. A pre-post intervention group only design was used to assess changes in HC outcomes, including use of HC skills.

The impact of Thai family matters on parent-adolescent sexual risk communication attitudes and behaviors.

This article reports on a combined family-based substance abuse and HIV-prevention intervention targeting families with 13-14-year-old children in Bangkok, Thailand. Families (n = 340) were randomly and proportionally selected from 7 districts in Bangkok with half randomly assigned to an experimental or control condition. Families in the intervention condition were exposed to 5 interactive booklets about adolescent substance use and risky sexual behavior.

Intergenerational transmission of religious beliefs and practices and the reduction of adolescent delinquency in urban Thailand.

This study examines the intergenerational transmission of family religion as measured by parent's and adolescent's beliefs and practices in Buddhism, and its relation to delinquent behaviors among early adolescents in Thailand. The data set is from the Thai Family Matters Project 2007, a representative sample of 420 pairs of parents and teens in Bangkok. A structural equation model is employed for the analysis.

Impact of school-based HIV prevention program in post-conflict Liberia.

This paper presents findings of a feasibility study to adapt and evaluate the impact of an evidence-based HIV prevention intervention on sexual risk behaviors of in-school 6th grade youth in post-conflict Liberia (n = 812). The study used an attention-matched, group randomized controlled trial. Four matched pairs of elementary/middle schools in Monrovia, Liberia, were randomly assigned to either an adapted eight-module HIV prevention or a general health curriculum.

Reducing sexual risk taking behaviors among adolescents who engage in transactional sex in post-conflict Liberia.

Transactional sex (TS) has been correlated with HIV/STD infection, pregnancy, early marriage, and sexual violence in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Few Western-based HIV prevention programs adapted for SSA have examined intervention impacts for this group. This article examines whether an HIV prevention intervention, delivered to sixth-grade students in Liberia (age range 14-17) and found to increase condom use and other mediators for the larger sample, significantly impacted sexual behaviors and mediators for those who engaged in TS.

Parent-teen communication about sex in urban Thai families.

This study describes sexual communication among Thai parents and their teens and identifies variables related to communication about sex in urban Thai families. Data were derived from 420 families whose teenage children ages 13-14 years were randomly selected using the probability proportional to size technique. Interviews were conducted with 1 parent and 1 teenage child in each family.

Successful implementation of Thai Family Matters: strategies and implications.

This article discusses the successful process used to assess the feasibility of implementing the Family Matters program in Bangkok, Thailand. This is important work since adopting and adapting evidence-based programs is a strategy currently endorsed by leading prevention funding sources, particularly in the United States. The original Family Matters consists of four booklets designed to increase parental communication with their adolescent children in order to delay onset of or decrease alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use.

HIV/STD risk behaviors among in-school adolescents in post-conflict Liberia.

We conducted a randomized trial to address the health needs of in-school adolescents in Liberia, where we analyzed data from a behavioral survey administered to 820 students from eight urban schools. Our findings suggest that adolescents are at significant risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): 36% of respondents were sexually experienced, 34% of those had first sex at ages 14 or younger, 66% of first sexual encounters were unprotected, and 16% were described as "forced." Also, females were more likely to have older boyfriends (Pearson's chi square = 19.

Neighborhood perceptions and parent outcomes in family based prevention programs for Thai adolescents: the role of program engagement.

Due to concerns over Thai adolescent risky behaviors, effective prevention strategies are needed. Determining the role neighborhood context plays in program engagement and outcomes may inform these strategies. This study includes 170 mother-adolescent pairs (M = 13.

Transactional sex among youths in post-conflict Liberia.

This paper presents findings on sexual risk behaviours of Liberian youths based on five focus-group discussions conducted with 6th and 7th graders (n = 36) attending an elementary/middle school in Monrovia, Liberia. The purpose of the focus-group discussions was to gain an understanding of the sexual behaviours of in-school Liberian adolescents. The focus-group discussions were part of a larger study to adapt an evidence-based HIV-prevention intervention-Making Proud Choices!-for in-school youths.

Spirituality within the family and the prevention of health risk behavior among adolescents in Bangkok, Thailand.

This study investigates the influences of a family's spiritual beliefs and practices on substance use and sexual risk behaviors among young adolescents 13-14 years old in Bangkok, Thailand. Independent predictor variables are the parents' and teens' spiritual beliefs and practices in Buddhism and parental monitoring behaviors. The study uses data from the 2007 Baseline Survey of the Thai Family Matters Project, which adapted a U.