Communication and Social Determinants of Cancer Preventive Behaviors in Adolescents From Low Socio-Economic Backgrounds in India: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Promoting cancer preventive behaviors among adolescents, especially those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, is crucial due to the significant impact of health behaviors in adolescence on disease risk in adulthood. With India witnessing a rise in cancer incidence and mortality, adolescence becomes a pivotal stage for establishing healthy habits, emphasizing the need for early cancer prevention efforts.

Methods: This cross-sectional study used survey data from 2242 adolescents attending public schools of Mumbai, India.

Evidence for Decision-Making: The Importance of Systematic Data Collection as an Essential Component of Responsive Feedback.

The authors discuss the importance of systematic data collection as a central component of the responsive feedback process and highlight several case studies that illustrate continuous learning and improvement.

Using Smart Speaker Technology for Health and Well-being in an Older Adult Population: Pre-Post Feasibility Study.

Background: Although smart speaker technology is poised to help improve the health and well-being of older adults by offering services such as music, medication reminders, and connection to others, more research is needed to determine how older adults from lower socioeconomic position (SEP) accept and use this technology.

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using smart speakers to improve the health and well-being of low-SEP older adults.

Methods: A total of 39 adults aged between 65 and 85 years who lived in a subsidized housing community were recruited to participate in a 3-month study.

Designing Effective eHealth Interventions for Underserved Groups: Five Lessons From a Decade of eHealth Intervention Design and Deployment.

Despite the proliferation of eHealth interventions, such as web portals, for health information dissemination or the use of mobile apps and wearables for health monitoring, research has shown that underserved groups do not benefit proportionately from these eHealth interventions. This is largely because of usability issues and the lack of attention to the broader structural, physical, and psychosocial barriers to technology adoption and use. The objective of this paper is to draw lessons from a decade of experience in designing different user-centered eHealth interventions (eg, web portals and health apps) to inform future work in leveraging technology to address health disparities.

COVID-19 News and Misinformation: Do They Matter for Public Health Prevention?

An infodemic caused by a rampant spread of a mixture of correct and incorrect information in a connected world creates uncertainty about and dismissal of proven public health measures. Two key factors that can influence COVID-19 preventive behaviors are information and self-efficacy. Misinformation (inaccurate or misleading information) can modify people's attitudes and behaviors and deter them from following preventive behaviors.

Toward an Extended Infodemiology Framework: Leveraging Social Media Data and Web Search Queries as Digital Pulse on Cancer Communication.

This study aims to extend the infodemiology framework by postulating that effective use of digital data sources for cancer communication should consider four components: (a) content: key topics that people are concerned with, (b) congruence: how interest in cancer topics differ between public posts (i.e., tweets) and private web searches, (c) context: the influence of the information environment, and (d) information conduits.

Adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures among American adults: the need for consistent and unified messaging.

In the United States, elite and media communications about the risks of, and mitigation strategies for, COVID-19 have been characterized by lack of consensus. In this study, we draw from a nationally representative sample of American adults to examine the associations between exposure to different media and platforms (mainstream, conservative, liberal or social media) and adherence to COVID-19 mitigation measures such as physical distancing and mask use. We also examine the individual and social factors associated with adherence to mitigation measures.

Association of social participation, perception of neighborhood social cohesion, and social media use with happiness: Evidence of trade-off (JCOP-20-277).

Social participation and neighborhood social cohesion are positively associated with health and wellbeing. Given that in-person social interactions have generally dwindled over the past several decades at least in Western countries and social media use has become more common, in this study, we examined whether and how social media use interacts with social participation and neighborhood social cohesion in influencing happiness. Data were gathered from a representative sample of adults in Massachusetts, USA.

The Potential of Smartphone Apps in Informing Protobacco and Antitobacco Messaging Efforts Among Underserved Communities: Longitudinal Observational Study.

Background: People from underserved communities such as those from lower socioeconomic positions or racial and ethnic minority groups are often disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry, through the relatively high levels of tobacco retail outlets (TROs) located in their neighborhood or protobacco marketing and promotional strategies. It is difficult to capture the smoking behaviors of individuals in actual locations as well as the extent of exposure to tobacco promotional efforts. With the high ownership of smartphones in the United States-when used alongside data sources on TRO locations-apps could potentially improve tobacco control efforts.

Association of Social Media Use With Social Well-Being, Positive Mental Health, and Self-Rated Health: Disentangling Routine Use From Emotional Connection to Use.

Most studies addressing social media use as a normal social behavior with positive or negative effects on health-related outcomes have conceptualized and measured social media use and its effects in terms of dose-effect relations. These studies focus on measuring frequency and duration of use, and have seldom considered users' emotional connections to social media use and the effects associated with such connections. By using a scale with two dimensions capturing users' integration of social media use into their social routines and their emotional connection to the sites' use, the present study has brought preliminary evidence that may help map where social media use, as a normal social behavior, may be considered beneficial or harmful.

Leveraging Breadth and Depth: Strategies to Characterize Population Diversity to Address Cancer Disparities in the DF/HCC Catchment Area.

Background: NCI-Designated Cancer Centers provide key cancer research, prevention, and treatment services to members of their catchment area. Characterization of these areas may be complex given the diverse needs of the populations within, particularly those from low socioeconomic position (SEP). The purpose of this paper is to describe the characterization of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC) catchment area through using a two-pronged approach.

The relative persuasiveness of narrative versus non-narrative health messages in public health emergency communication: Evidence from a field experiment.

Previous studies indicated that narrative health messages are more effective than non-narrative messages in influencing health outcomes. However, this body of evidence does not account for differences in health domain, and little is known about the effectiveness of this message execution strategy during public health emergencies. In this study, we examined the relative effectiveness of the two formats in influencing knowledge and perceived response efficacy related to prevention of pandemic influenza, and determined whether effects of message format vary across population sub-groups.

Cancer Risk-Promoting Information: The Communication Environment of Young Adults.

Young adulthood represents a time of myriad transitions, which leave young adults (YAs) more susceptible to the influences of cancer risk-promoting information. The tobacco, alcohol, indoor tanning, and food and beverage industries engage in aggressive marketing strategies through both traditional and social media to target this age group to consume their products, which have known links to cancer. Despite this barrage of messaging, detailed data are lacking on the communication behaviors of subgroups of this diverse age group, particularly those from low SES.

Facing a Health Threat in a Complex Information Environment: A National Representative Survey Examining American Adults' Behavioral Responses to the 2009/2010 A(H1N1) Pandemic.

Background: Recent A(H1N1) studies suggest that intrapersonal and interpersonal factors may exert influence on people's preventive behaviors for avoiding the flu during pandemics.

Aims: Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) and vaccinations play key roles in containing disease transmission during a pandemic. We examined how intrapersonal and interpersonal factors influenced adoption of NPIs and vaccine uptake during the A(H1N1) pandemic of 2009.

Cigarette graphic health warning labels and information avoidance among individuals from low socioeconomic position in the U.S.

Purpose: Although graphic health warning labels (GHWs) on cigarette packs have influenced cessation behaviors in other countries, no U.S. studies have explored the impact of avoidance of GHW content among individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP).

Graphic health warnings as activators of social networks: A field experiment among individuals of low socioeconomic position.

Rationale: Graphic health warnings (GHWs) on cigarette packages present an important tobacco control opportunity, particularly for vulnerable populations suffering a disproportionate tobacco burden. One mechanism by which GHWs may influence smoking outcomes is by prompting interpersonal discussions within health discussion networks (the set of personal contacts with whom an individual discusses health issues).

Objective: The study examined the association between GHW-prompted conversations within health discussion networks and key tobacco-related outcomes, with attention to valence and content of the discussions.

Much Ventured, Much Gained: Community-Engaged Data Collection by Adolescents and Young Adults.

Background: Community-engaged data collection offers an important opportunity to build community capacity to harness the power of data and create social change.

Objectives: To share lessons learned from engaging 16 adolescents and young adults from a partner community to collect data for a public opinion survey as part of a broader community-based participatory research (CBPR) project.

Methods: We conducted an analysis of archival documents, process data, and an assessment of survey assistants' experiences.

Beyond access: barriers to internet health information seeking among the urban poor.

Objective: Communication inequalities deepen health disparities even when internet access is achieved. The goal of this study is to understand how a range of barriers may inhibit individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP) from engaging with online health information even when it is freely available.

Materials And Methods: Detailed data were collected from 118 low-SEP individuals from a randomized controlled trial providing internet access.

Tuning in and catching on? Examining the relationship between pandemic communication and awareness and knowledge of MERS in the USA.

Background: Large-scale influenza outbreaks over the last decade, such as SARS and H1N1, have brought to global attention the importance of emergency risk communication and prompted the international community to develop communication responses. Since pandemic outbreaks are relatively infrequent, there is a dearth of evidence addressing the following questions: (i) Have the resources invested in strategic and routine communication for past pandemic outbreaks yielded public health preparedness benefits? (ii) Have past efforts sensitized people to pay attention to new pandemic threats? The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) that was followed closely by major media outlets in the USA provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between exposure to public communication about epidemics and public awareness and knowledge about new risks.

Methods: In December, 2013, we surveyed a nationally representative sample of 627 American adults and examined the associations between people's awareness to prior pandemics and their awareness of and knowledge about MERS.

Entertainment or Health? Exploring the Internet Usage Patterns of the Urban Poor: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Important gaps remain in our knowledge of how individuals from low socioeconomic position (SEP) use the Internet for resources and in understanding the full range of activities they perform online. Although self-report data indicate that low SEP individuals use the Internet less than high SEP people for health information and for other beneficial capital-enhancing activities, these results may not provide an accurate overall view of online use.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the ways in which low SEP individuals use the Internet, including for entertainment, social networking, and capital-enhancing functions, and how they are associated with health information seeking.

Media use and communication inequalities in a public health emergency: a case study of 2009-2010 pandemic influenza A virus subtype H1N1.

Objectives: Studies have shown that differences among individuals and social groups in accessing and using information on health and specific threats have an impact on their knowledge and behaviors. These differences, characterized as communication inequalities, may hamper the strength of a society's response to a public health emergency. Such inequalities not only make vulnerable populations subject to a disproportionate burden of adversity, but also compromise the public health system's efforts to prevent and respond to pandemic influenza outbreaks.

Internet use, browsing, and the urban poor: implications for cancer control.

Background: Despite the growing penetration of the Internet, little is known about the usage and browsing patterns of those in poverty. We report on a randomized controlled trial that sheds light on the Internet use and browsing patterns among the urban poor.

Methods: The data come from 312 participants in Boston, Massachusetts, from Click to Connect, a study that examined the impact of an intervention that provided computers, Internet, and training to people from lower socioeconomic position (SEP).