Publications by authors named "Rachel Purvis"

Objective: We assessed healthcare provider recommendations for COVID-19 vaccination, disparities across sociodemographic factors, and associations with health care coverage, social norms, COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, and Fox News preference.

Methods: We utilized random sample survey data of Arkansas residents (N = 2201) collected in October 2022 to identify adults with a personal provider who make up the analytical sample of this study (n = 1804).

Results: Over a third (37.

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Introduction: The WHO SAGE vaccine hesitancy working group defined vaccine hesitancy as the delay or refusal of vaccination. Questions about individuals who become vaccinated while hesitant, or remain unvaccinated even though they are not hesitant, are unimaginable when starting from this behaviorally related definition of vaccine hesitancy. More critically, behaviorally related definitions limit the possibilities for vaccine hesitancy research to be translatable into clinical and public health practices that can increase vaccination.

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Bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters have been recommended for all Americans 12 years of age and older. However, uptake remains suboptimal with only 17% of the United States (US) population boosted as of May 2023. This is a critical public health challenge for mitigating the ongoing effects of COVID-19 infection.

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Objective: To explore health care providers' perspectives on the successes, challenges, and suggestions for future directions regarding the implementation of CenteringPregnancy for Marshallese women in Arkansas.

Design: A descriptive qualitative design was used as an exploratory method.

Setting/local Problem: This study took place in northwest Arkansas.

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Background: COVID-19 has disproportionately affected Pacific Islander communities, with disparities in the prevalence of infection, serious illness, and death compared to non-Hispanic whites in the US. Marshallese Pacific Islanders face significant COVID-19 disparities.

Design And Methods: This exploratory study aimed to understand Marshallese community attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine to identify and implement culturally relevant strategies to encourage vaccine uptake.

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Introduction: COVID-19 vaccination coverage among children remains low, and many parents report being hesitant to get their children vaccinated. This study explores factors influencing hesitancy and the facilitators that helped hesitant adopter parents choose to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 despite their hesitancy.

Method: We use a qualitative descriptive design with individual interviews (n = 20) to explore COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and facilitators of vaccination among hesitant adopter parents.

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Objective: Investigate relationships between pediatric COVID-19 vaccination and social processes of healthcare provider recommendations and school encouragement to provide insights into social processes that may support pediatric COVID-19 vaccination among hesitant mothers.

Methods: We analyzed survey data from a subsample (n = 509) of vaccine-hesitant mothers to child patients (ages 2 to 17) in regional clinics across Arkansas. Data were collected between September 16th and December 6th, 2022.

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COVID-19 vaccine coverage remains low for US children, especially among those living in rural areas and the Southern/Southeastern US. As of 12 September 2023, the CDC recommended bivalent booster doses for everyone 6 months and older. Emerging research has shown an individual may be vaccine hesitant and also choose to receive a vaccine for themselves or their child(ren); however, little is known regarding how hesitant adopters evaluate COVID-19 booster vaccinations.

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Introduction: One out of four parents reported HPV vaccine hesitancy; however, little is known about HPV vaccine-hesitant parents who vaccinate their children (e.g., hesitant adopters).

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COVID-19 vaccines effectively protect against COVID-19-related hospitalization or death, and 67.1% of the US population is fully vaccinated. However, the disparity in COVID-19 vaccination persists among minority and rural populations who often report greater hesitancy about COVID-19 vaccines.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the barriers, facilitators, and priority needs related to cancer prevention, control, and research in persistent poverty areas.

Methods: We conducted three focus groups with 17 providers and staff of primary care clinics serving persistent poverty areas throughout the state of Arkansas.

Results: We identified multiple barriers, facilitators, and priority needs related to cancer prevention and control at primary care clinics serving persistent poverty areas.

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The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was the third leading cause of death in 2021 in the United States and has led to historic declines in life expectancy for Americans. While vaccination is an effective mitigation strategy for COVID-19, vaccine hesitancy remains a major barrier to individual and population-level protection. An emerging literature on hesitant adopters of COVID-19 vaccines highlights co-occurrence of hesitancy and vaccine uptake as an understudied phenomenon, with the potential to provide insight into factors that lead hesitant individuals to become vaccinated despite their hesitancy.

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Introduction/objectives: New variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 will continue to develop and spread globally. The Omicron variant identified in November 2021 has many lineages. Variants spread quickly and can infect previously vaccinated individuals, prompting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to update vaccination recommendations.

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A qualitative formative approach was used to explore food pantry clients' needs, preferences, and recommendations regarding food received from food pantries. Fifty adult clients of six Arkansas food pantries were interviewed in English, Spanish, or Marshallese. Data analysis used the constant comparative qualitative methodology.

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Background: Marshallese and Hispanic communities in the United States have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Identifying strategies to reach late vaccine adopters is critical for ongoing and future vaccination efforts. We utilized a community-engaged approach that leveraged an existing community-based participatory research collaborative of an academic healthcare organization and Marshallese and Hispanic faith-based organizations (FBO) to host vaccination events.

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Pacific Islander communities experience significant maternal and infant health disparities including high maternal and infant mortality. Contraception and reproductive life planning prevent approximately one-third of pregnancy-related deaths and neonatal deaths. We report the results of formative research devoted to understanding Marshallese mothers' as well as their maternal healthcare providers' practices and influences related to contraceptive use and reproductive life planning.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how rural women cancer survivors experience and manage financial toxicity.

Methods: A qualitative descriptive design was used to explore experiences of financial toxicity among rural women who received cancer treatment. We conducted qualitative interviews with 36 socioeconomically diverse rural women cancer survivors.

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Background: The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) has a high rate of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). To address the high rate of T2DM, we tested a culturally adapted family model of diabetes self-management education and support (F-DSMES). We report the results of the 12-month post-intervention data collection and describe the lessons learned from the delivery of the F-DSMES intervention.

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The COVID-19 pandemic radically and rapidly altered Americans' daily life as they navigated quarantines, school closings, job insecurity, and disrupted social activities. The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women who have reported higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression related to the pandemic compared to men. The study explored how the COVID-19 pandemic affected daily stressors of women.

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Background: Hispanic communities in the United States have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and death. Vaccination against COVID-19 is critical for controlling the pandemic; however, higher levels of vaccine hesitancy and reduced vaccine uptake constrain efforts to mitigate the pandemic and could perpetuate disparities. The aim of this study was to understand barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination through the lived experiences of Hispanic persons living in Arkansas.

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Vaccination is a strategy for mitigating the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) at both the individual and population levels. Vaccine hesitancy is identified as a significant threat to global health by the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccine hesitancy has been theorized as a continuum encompassing a range of attitudes, beliefs, emotional orientations, ideologies, and health-seeking behaviors.

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Background: Culturally-appropriate family models of diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) using community health workers (CHWs) have been shown to help address barriers to improving type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) self-management for racial/ethnic minority communities; however, there is limited DSMES research among Marshallese and other Pacific Islanders. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we engaged community stakeholders to co-design a study to implement a culturally adapted family model DSMES (F-DSMES) intervention in faith-based organizations (FBOs) (i.e.

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Increasing COVID-19 vaccine uptake is crucial to managing the endemic. In this qualitative study, we examine factors influencing the decision-making process of COVID-19 hesitant adopters - those who reported some level of hesitancy and are vaccinated. Using interviews with 49 participants, we documented multiple factors influencing the decision-making process to get the COVID-19 vaccine among a racially and ethnically diverse sample of hesitant adopters in the US.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the health care system, resulting in decreased health care utilization. During the pandemic, some patients chose to postpone clinic visits or avoid them altogether while health care providers concurrently scaled back their services. As a result, health care has shifted to a greater reliance on telehealth and virtual care.

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Background: Pacific Islanders in the United States have lower initiation rates and shorter duration of exclusive breastfeeding compared to other racial/ethnic groups.

Research Aim: To describe infant feeding beliefs and experiences of Marshallese living in the United States.

Methods: We used a prospective and cross-sectional exploratory, descriptive qualitative design with Marshallese participants ( = 36) residing in the United States between July 2019 and July 2020.

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