The Evaluation of IDEAL-REACH Program to Improve Nutrition among Asian American Community Members in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.

Asian Americans' food purchasing, cooking, and eating patterns are not well understood. Greater insight into these behaviors is urgently needed to guide public health interventions of dietary behaviors in this population. The present study aims to examine the effects of a community-level intervention on food purchasing and preparation, nutrition knowledge, and health awareness in Asian Americans.

Evaluation of a Healthy Chinese Take-Out Sodium-Reduction Initiative in Philadelphia Low-Income Communities and Neighborhoods.

Objectives: Sodium reduction in restaurant foods is important because 77% of sodium in the United States is consumed by eating prepared and restaurant foods. We evaluated a sodium-reduction intervention, Healthy Chinese Take-Out Initiative, among Chinese take-out restaurants in low-income neighborhoods in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our objectives were to (1) analyze changes in the sodium content of food samples and (2) collect data on changes in chefs' and owners' knowledge about the health risks of sodium overconsumption, perceptions of the need for sodium reduction, self-efficacy for lowering sodium use, and perceptions of training needs for sodium-reduction strategies.

Hepatitis B screening among Chinese Americans: a structural equation modeling analysis.

Background: Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) disproportionately affects new immigrants from endemic regions such as China. Untreated infections increase health risks for liver diseases including cancer. Yet most of those infected are unaware of their disease limiting prevention and early treatment options.

Social influences on Cigarette Smoking Among Mainland Chinese and Chinese Americans: A Comparative Study.

The purpose of this cross-national study was to determine the leading social influences on smoking among Chinese Americans and mainland Chinese adults with the aim of improving prevention and intervention strategies to reduce smoking rates. A comparative cross-sectional design was used and a stratified-cluster sampling technique was employed in identifying the study sample. An 80-item questionnaire was administered in Chinese to 1222 participants, 812 in China and 410 in the U.

Pathways of Breast Cancer Screening Among Chinese American Women.

Objective: The purpose of this community-based study was to develop a structural equation model for factors contributing to breast cancer screening among Chinese American women.

Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 440 Chinese American women aged 40 years and older. The initial step involved use of confirmatory factor analysis, which included the following variables: access/satisfaction with health care, enabling, predisposing, and cultural and health belief factors.

Pathways of cervical cancer screening among Chinese women.

Background: The purpose of this community-based study was to develop a structural equation model for factors contributing to cervical cancer screening among Chinese American women.

Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 573 Chinese American women aged 18 years and older. The initial step involved use of confirmatory factor analysis, that included the following variables: access to and satisfaction with health care, and enabling and predisposing cultural and health beliefs.

The sociocultural health behavioral model and disparities in colorectal cancer screening among Chinese Americans.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to validate a Sociocultural Health Behavior Model using a structural equation analysis to determine the direction and magnitude of the interdependence of model components in relation to health behavior associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening among Chinese Americans.

Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 311 Chinese American men and women age 50 and older. The initial step involved use of confirmatory factor analysis which included the following variables: access/satisfaction with health care, enabling, predisposing, cultural, and health belief factors.

Factors Associated with Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Cambodians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese Living in the United States.

The purpose of this community-based participatory study was to identify factors associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening compliance and non-compliance among Cambodians, Vietnamese, Koreans and Chinese men and women 50 years and older living in the United States. A cross-sectional design was used in the study. The completed sample included 815 Asian Americans which included Cambodians (N=215), Vietnamese (N=195), Koreans (N=94) and Chinese (N=311).

Health seeking behavioral analysis associated with breast cancer screening among Asian American women.

Objective: The purpose of this community-based study was to apply a Sociocultural Health Behavior Model to determine the association of factors proposed in the model with breast cancer screening behaviors among Asian American women.

Methods: A cross-sectional design included a sample of 682 Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese women aged 40 years and older. The frequency distribution analysis and Chi-square analysis were used for the initial screening of the following variables: sociodemographic, cultural, enabling, environmental, and social support.

Prostate cancer screening among chinese american men: a structural model.

Objective: To test the Sociocultural Health Behavior Model in relation to the health behavior of prostate cancer (PCa) screening among Chinese American men.

Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model analyses were conducted among Chinese American men.

Results: The path analysis supported the components of the sociocultural model and indicated a positive and significant relationship between PCa screening and the enabling factors; between cultural factors and predisposing, enabling, and access/satisfaction with health care factors; and between enabling factors and access/satisfaction with health care.

Factors associated with cervical cancer screening compliance and noncompliance among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian women.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with cervical cancer screening compliance and noncompliance among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian women aged 18 years and older.

Methods: A cross-sectional design was used. The sample consisted of 1049 women aged 18 or older, of whom 37.

Cancer screening behaviors and barriers in Asian Americans.

Objectives: To determine differences in screening for routine physical exam and cancers among Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Cambodian Americans.

Methods: The sample consisted of 2011 participants. Chi square was used to identify relationships between demographic/acculturation factors and screenings.

Health educators' perceptions of ethics in professional preparation and practice.

This commentary reflects health educators' views concerning perceptions of the need for increased awareness of the Code of Ethics for the Health Education Profession, improvement in professionals' ability to engage in ethical reflection, and the need for incorporation of ethical considerations into health education practice.

Ethics and patient-provider communication.

Effective health educator-client communication processes are a prerequisite to the acquisition and appropriate application of new knowledge, to discussions that focus on treatment risks and options, and to the mediation of (a) optimal self-management practices, (b) adherence to health recommendations, (c) client satisfaction, (d) autonomous, responsible decision making, and (e) provision of supportive and helpful advice. But is there room for improvement? To provide more uniform high-quality communications to all citizens and to support the practice principles embedded in the Health Education Code of Ethics, this article outlines results of the related literature, the authors' research, and a specific post hoc analysis of a national sample that strongly suggests that much more needs to be done to ensure health providers effectively communicate health promotion messages without bias in at least five related communication domains.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Chinese hepatitis B screening and vaccination.

Objective: To measure the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Hepatitis B (HBV) screening and vaccination in the Chinese American population.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 Chinese in New York City. Participants were recruited from Chinese community-based organizations.

Health department faculty perceptions about ethics in professional preparation.

The purpose of this article is to report the key preliminary findings of a survey conducted among university faculty serving health education and health promotion programs. Few distinct courses in ethics are offered in graduate health education programs and even fewer are offered at the undergraduate level. Most programs address ethics throughout several courses in the program.

Knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of hepatitis B screening and vaccination and liver cancer risks among Vietnamese Americans.

Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is a serious health problem among Asian Americans. Vietnamese Americans are disproportionately affected by liver cancer compared with other racial and ethnic groups. Vietnamese males have the highest incidence of liver cancer of any racial group; incidence of liver cancer among Vietnamese males is 11 times higher than among White males.

Risk perceptions and barriers to Hepatitis B screening and vaccination among Vietnamese immigrants.

Hepatitis B (HBV) infection plays a primary role in the development of liver cancer, contributing to nearly 80% of liver cancer cases. Vietnamese males have the highest incidence of liver cancer of any ethnic group, and HBV infection is a serious and prevalent health problem among Vietnamese immigrants. Guided by the Health Belief Model framework, the purpose of the present study was to assess levels of perceived risk, severity, barriers and benefits, and cues to action in HBV screening and vaccination in relation to actual screening and vaccination behavior in a sample of Vietnamese adults.

Asian Tobacco Education and Cancer Awareness Research Special Population Network. A model for reducing Asian American cancer health disparities.

Asian Americans are the fastest growing and the second largest foreign-born ethnic group in the United States. Cancer is a leading cause of death among Asian Americans. The Asian Tobacco Education and Cancer Awareness Research (ATECAR) Special Population Network, Center for Asian Health, aimed to reduce or eliminate cancer health disparities in these diverse, underserved populations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York.

Evaluation of the energize your life! Social marketing campaign pilot study to increase fruit intake among community college students.

In this study, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of the Energize Your Life! social-marketing campaign pilot study to improve knowledge, attitudes, and fruit intake among community college students. The authors used a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental, pre- and posttest design. They randomly selected community college students (N = 1,367) and exposed the intervention campus to fruit fairs to distribute fresh fruit, 100% fruit juice, and fruit smoothie samples and information about fruit to students.

Tobacco dependence, risk perceptions and self-efficacy among Korean American smokers.

Psychosocial variables related to smoking cessation may differ among ethnic groups. This research focuses on Korean Americans, a group that receives little attention in smoking cessation research, yet has an elevated smoking rate when compared with that of the general US population. This article reports our findings on tobacco dependence, risk perceptions and self-efficacy and examines potential associations between these psychosocial variables and key demographic variables.

Improving our application of the health education code of ethics.

The Health Education Code of Ethics was designed to provide a framework of shared values within which health education might be practiced. However, an informal survey conducted on a limited sample in November 2004 indicated that ethics and how to apply the code are topics not readily taught formally within all health education programs. There is, however, an expressed interest among health educators in understanding the code and its application.

Transforming a Master of Public Health program to address public health practice needs.

The future of the constantly changing public health profession is tied to the development of practice skills through competency-based training. In this article, we describe a program change in the Master of Public Health program at East Stroudsburg University in northeastern Pennsylvania. The first goal of the program transition was to ensure that all program elements included the relevant vision, values, mission, goals, and objectives.

Knowledge, attitudes and behavior regarding secondhand smoke among Asian Americans.

Background: This study seeks to measure exposure to secondhand smoke and to evaluate potential differences in knowledge, attitudes, and tolerance of secondhand smoke among subgroups of Asian Americans in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1374 Asian Americans, which included Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, and Cambodians. The sample was selected by using a stratified-cluster proportional sampling technique.