Publications by authors named "M Teresa Vilaro"

Linguistic accommodation refers to the process of adjusting one's language, speech, or communication style to match or adapt to that of others in a social interaction. It is known to be vital to effective health communication. Despite this evidence, there is little scientific guidance on how to design linguistically adapted health behavior interventions for diverse English-speaking populations.

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Objective: This study aimed to identify communication strategies that virtual humans (VHs) discussing clinical trials can use to foster positive relationships with older women to better deliver research education.

Methods: A template thematic analysis and matrix analysis of 10 interviews and 3 focus groups with 37 older women identifying as White non-Hispanic, Black, or Hispanic/Latinx were conducted.

Results: VHs can foster positive relationships with older women during clinical trial education by communicating social support.

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Interventions are needed to increase low HPV vaccination rates within rural areas in the United States, particularly in the state of Florida, which has the seventh highest number of HPV-related cancers. Florida also ranks low compared to other states in terms of HPV vaccination. Rural-residing parents may benefit from two evidence-based strategies to increase vaccination rates: reminder messages informing and prompting vaccination appointments and mobile clinics to reduce transportation barriers.

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Background: Nearly half of all cancer deaths are preventable through modification or avoidance of key risk factors. As such, there is a growing urgency to identify effective, low-resource, and scalable technologies that support clinical care and patient self-management of health behaviors.

Purpose: Informed by theories of cognitive load and user-centered design approaches, we develop a culturally tailored, multicomponent digital intervention to engage rural adults between 50-73 years old with their personalized nutrition risk factors for colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention.

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