Will there be water? Climate change, housing needs, and future water demand in California.

Climate change in California is expected to alter future water availability, impacting water supplies needed to support future housing growth and agriculture demand. In groundwater-dependent regions like California's Central Coast, new land-use related water demand and decreasing recharge is already stressing depleted groundwater basins. We developed a spatially explicit state-and-transition simulation model that integrates climate, land-use change, water demand, and groundwater gain-loss to examine the impact of future climate and land use change on groundwater balance and water demand in five counties along the Central Coast from 2010 to 2060.

Revisiting development strategy under climate uncertainty: case study of Malawi.

This paper analyzes the effectiveness of agriculture-led versus non-agriculture-led development strategies under climate-induced economic uncertainty. Utilizing Malawi as a case study, we introduce the application of Stochastic Dominance (SD) analysis, a tool from decision analysis theory, and compare the two strategies in the context of weather/climate-associated economic uncertainty. Our findings suggest that an agriculture-led development strategy consistently surpasses its non-agriculture-led antagonist in poverty and undernourishment outcomes across almost all possible weather/climate scenarios.

Adapting a Financial Incentives Intervention for Smoking Cessation With Alaska Native Families: Phase 1 Qualitative Research to Inform the Aniqsaaq (To Breathe) Study.

Introduction: Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) peoples in Alaska currently experience a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality from tobacco cigarette use. Financial incentives for smoking cessation are evidence-based, but a family-level incentive structure has not been evaluated. We used a community-based participatory research and qualitative approach to culturally adapt a smoking cessation intervention with ANAI families.

Developing a culturally relevant physical activity guide for Alaska Native Head Start students in rural Alaska: the Study.

Concern was voiced by Elders, teachers, and parents that and playtime activities of the Head Start preschool programme were not aligned with the local Alaska Native culture in their communities. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium partnered with 12 Head Start preschool programmes, administered by Rural Alaska Community Action Program in rural Alaska, to explore with community members Alaska Native value-based solutions to the concerns they raised. Local input was gathered via focus groups, interviews, and surveys.

Alaska Native Parents' Decision-Making About Food, Beverages, and Screen Time for Young Children: Formative Insights From the "Got Neqpiaq?" Project.

With rising childhood obesity rates, ensuring children adopt healthy habits early is imperative. Given the unique context for Alaska Native families living in rural remote communities, who are concurrently experiencing changes in traditional practices, we investigated what impacts parents' decisions as they relate to daily living before revising a preschool curriculum focused on healthy habits. The objective of this study was to explore factors influencing parents' decisions about their children's foods, beverages, and activities.

Neighborhood gentrification, displacement, and severe maternal morbidity in California.

Gentrification, a racialized and profit-driven process in which historically disinvested neighborhoods experience an influx of development that contributes to the improvement of physical amenities, increasing housing costs, and the dispossession and displacement of existing communities, may influence the risk of severe maternal morbidity (SMM). Leveraging a racially diverse population-based sample of all live hospital births in California between 2006 and 2017, we examined associations between neighborhood-level gentrification and SMM. SMM was defined as having one of 21 procedures and diagnoses, as described in the SMM index developed by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Use of a National Clinical Skills Assessment Program Improves the Clinical Competency for Correctional Nurses and Advanced Practice Providers.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons clinical skills training development (CSTD) team accomplished the planning, creation, and execution of a first-ever national clinical skills assessment program (CSAP) for nurses and advanced practice providers (APPs). Clinical skills assessment is a part of nurse and APP credentialing and privileging and must be completed for new hires along with continued biennial recredentialing accreditation standards. A training resource manual, discipline-specific skills checklist, pre-/postprogram written examination, and standard operating procedures were created.

Aniqsaaq (To Breathe): Study protocol to develop and evaluate an Alaska Native family-based financial incentive intervention for smoking cessation.

Background: Alaska Native and American Indian (ANAI) communities in Alaska are disproportionately affected by commercial tobacco use. Financial incentive interventions promote cigarette smoking cessation, but family-level incentives have not been evaluated. We describe the study protocol to adapt and evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of a remotely delivered, family-based financial incentive intervention for cigarette smoking among Alaskan ANAI people.

Elevated colorectal cancer incidence among American Indian/Alaska Native persons in Alaska compared to other populations worldwide.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cancer worldwide; incidence varies greatly by country and racial group. We compared 2018 American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) CRC incidence rates in Alaska to other Tribal, racial, and international population rates. AI/AN persons in Alaska had the highest CRC incidence rate among US Tribal and racial groups (61.

Obesity Prevalence and Dietary Factors Among Preschool-Aged Head Start Children in Remote Alaska Native Communities: Baseline Data from the "" Study.

American Indian and Alaska Native preschool-aged children experience a high prevalence of obesity, yet are under-represented in obesity prevention research. This study examined obesity prevalence and dietary risk factors among Alaska Native preschool-aged children in southwest Alaska. The study used baseline data from "" a culturally centered multilevel intervention focused on Yup'ik Alaska Native children, aged 3-5 years, enrolled in Head Start in 12 communities in southwest Alaska ( = 155).

Exploring the perceived effectiveness and cultural acceptability of COVID-19 relevant social media intervention content among Alaska Native people who Smoke: The CAN Quit study.

Social media platforms have potential for reach and effectiveness to motivate smoking cessation and use of evidence-based cessation treatment, even during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. This study builds on our prior community participatory approach to developing content postings for the CAN Quit Facebook intervention among Alaska Native (AN) people who smoke. With input from a community advisory committee, we selected new content on COVID-19 preventive practices (e.

Impact of a Prenatal Vitamin D Supplementation Program on Vitamin D Deficiency, Rickets and Early Childhood Caries in an Alaska Native Population.

Background: Early childhood rickets increased in Alaska Native children after decreases in vitamin D-rich subsistence diet in childbearing-aged women. We evaluated the impact of routine prenatal vitamin D supplementation initiated in Alaska’s Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in Fall 2016. Methods: We queried electronic health records of prenatal women with 25(OH) vitamin D testing during the period 2015−2019.

Facebook Intervention to Connect Alaska Native People With Resources and Support to Quit Smoking: CAN Quit Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Introduction: There is some evidence that social media interventions can promote smoking cessation. This randomized controlled pilot study is the first to evaluate the feasibility and potential efficacy of a Facebook smoking cessation intervention among Alaska Native (AN) adults.

Aims And Methods: Recruitment and data collection occurred from December 2019 to March 2021.

The Effect of Tobacco Use on the Expression of Placental Transporters in Alaska Native Women.

Prenatal tobacco use among Alaska Native (AN) women has decreased substantially over the past two decades. Previous research suggests that providing AN women with feedback regarding fetal exposure to tobacco may further promote cessation. Transporters in the placenta regulate fetal exposure to nutrients and xenobiotics, including compounds associated with tobacco use.

Testing of a mobile heating facility to sanitize N-95 respirators against an enveloped respiratory virus.

In the spring of 2020, the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) designed and built a sanitizing treatment system to address shortages of filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs). The design criteria included sanitizing large numbers of FFRs, repeatedly achieving FFR fit test requirements, and deactivating enveloped respiratory viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. The outcome was the Mobile Sanitizing Trailer (MST), a 20 by 8-foot modified trailer designed to process up to 1,000 FFRs during a standard heat cycle.

Lessons Learned From Beta-Testing a Facebook Group Prototype to Promote Treatment Use in the "Connecting Alaska Native People to Quit Smoking" (CAN Quit) Study.

Social media provides an effective tool to reach, engage, and connect smokers in cessation efforts. Our team developed a Facebook group, CAN Quit (Connecting Alaska Native People to Quit smoking), to promote use of evidence-based smoking cessation resources for Alaska Native people living in Alaska, which are underused despite their effectiveness. Often separated by geography and climate, Alaska Native people prefer group-based approaches for tobacco cessation that support their culture and values.

Health-related economic benefits of universal access to piped water in Arctic communities: Estimates for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska.

This paper presents estimates of the potential health-related economic benefits of providing universal access to in-home water and sanitation services to households in rural Alaska. In particular, we use data on disease incidence rates, health care costs, and local estimates of the impact of piped water on disease reduction to estimate the potential health-related economic benefits of providing universal access to piped water in the Yukon Kuskokwim (Y.K.

Impact of Assistance Programs on Indigenous Ways of Life in 12 Rural Remote Western Alaska Native Communities: Elder Perspectives Shared in Formative Work for the "Got Neqpiaq?" Project.

For more than 50 years, government programmes in the USA have been in place to help those in need have consistent access to food and education. However, questions have surfaced regarding whether or not these support impact traditional ways, such as cultural activities, food preferences, and overall health, particularly for Indigenous populations. In this paper, we share insights voiced by Alaska Native Elders in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska and their perceptions of regulations, assistance, and the impact government assistance programmes have had on their culture.

Alaska Native Elders' perspectives on dietary patterns in rural, remote communities.

Background: Given the increasing rates of childhood obesity in Alaska Native children and the understanding that the most effective interventions are informed by and reflect the cultural knowledge of the community in which they are implemented, this project sought to gather the wisdom of local Yup'ik and Cup'ik Elders in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska around how to maintain a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

Methods: Perspectives were sought through the use of semi-structured focus groups, which were completed in person in twelve communities. All conversations were recorded, translated, transcribed, and analyzed using a qualitative approach, where key themes were identified.

Dietary fibre to reduce colon cancer risk in Alaska Native people: the Alaska FIRST randomised clinical trial protocol.

Introduction: Diet, shown to impact colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, is a modifiable environmental factor. Fibre foods fermented by gut microbiota produce metabolites that not only provide food for the colonic epithelium but also exert regulatory effects on colonic mucosal inflammation and proliferation. We describe methods used in a double-blinded, randomised, controlled trial with Alaska Native (AN) people to determine if dietary fibre supplementation can substantially reduce CRC risk among people with the highest reported CRC incidence worldwide.

Storekeeper perspectives on improving dietary intake in 12 rural remote western Alaska communities: the "Got Neqpiaq?" project.

Low intake of fruits and vegetables and high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages persists as a public health concern in rural remote Alaska Native (AN) communities. Conducting key informant interviews with 22 storekeepers in 12 communities in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region of Alaska, we explored potential factors impeding or facilitating dietary change towards healthier food choices. We selected these sites as part of a multi-level intervention aimed at introducing more traditional AN subsistence foods, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and decreasing SSB consumption among young children enrolled in Head Start (preschool) programmes (Clinicaltrials.