Discordance in perceived risk and epidemiological outcomes of prostate cancer among African American men.

As guidelines for prostate cancer screening have changed from an annual screening recommendation starting at age 50 to discussing the benefits and harms of screening with health care providers, it is necessary to examine other types of factors that are important to prostate cancer screening decisions among African American men. Perceived risk of developing cancer has been shown to predict cancer control behaviors and is lower among African Americans. We characterized perceived risk of developing prostate cancer among African American men from November 2009 to 2011 and evaluated the relationship between prostate cancer risk perceptions and sociodemographic characteristics, health care experiences, and knowledge and exposure to health information about cancer.

A comparative effectiveness education trial for lifestyle health behavior change in African Americans.

Obesity and excess weight are significant clinical and public health issues that disproportionately affect African Americans because of physical inactivity and unhealthy eating. We compared the effects of alternate behavioral interventions on obesity-related health behaviors. We conducted a comparative effectiveness education trial in a community-based sample of 530 adult African Americans.

Perceived Efficacy and Control for Neighborhood Change: the Cross-Cutting Role of Collective Efficacy.

Background: The premise of community advocacy is to empower residents by increasing their capacity to address and change neighborhood and structural factors that contribute to adverse health outcomes. An underlying assumption is that community residents will advocate for public policy and other changes. However, limited empirical evidence exists on community residents' perceived ability to advocate for neighborhood change.

Ever and Annual Use of Prostate Cancer Screening in African American Men.

Since prostate cancer continues to disproportionately affect African American men in terms of incidence, morbidity, and mortality, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening plays an important role in early detection, especially when men engage in informed decision making to accept or decline this test. The authors evaluated utilization of PSA testing among African American men based on factors that are important components of making informed decisions. Utilization of PSA testing was evaluated based on whether men had ever had PSA testing and PSA testing during the past year in a community-based sample of African American men ages 50 to 75 ( n = 132).

Neighborhood Satisfaction and Colorectal Cancer Screening in a Community Sample of African Americans.

Social determinants are important to cancer screening among African Americans. To evaluate the association between social determinants (e.g.

Intervention completion rates among African Americans in a randomized effectiveness trial for diet and physical activity changes.

Background: The intervention completion rate is an important metric in behavioral and intervention research; trials with limited intervention completion rates may have reduced internal validity. We examined intervention completion rates among 530 African Americans who had been randomized to an integrated (INT) or disease-specific (DSE) risk education protocol as part of a comparative effectiveness trial from September 2009 to August 2012.

Methods: The interventions were developed by an academic-community partnership using community-based participatory research.

Acceptance of a community-based navigator program for cancer control among urban African Americans.

Patient navigation is now a standard component of cancer care in many oncology facilities, but a fundamental question for navigator programs, especially in medically underserved populations, is whether or not individuals will use this service. In this study, we evaluated acceptance of a community-based navigator program for cancer control and identified factors having significant independent associations with navigation acceptance in an urban sample of African Americans. Participants were African American men and women ages 50-75 who were residents in an urban metropolitan city who were referred for navigation.

Collective efficacy and obesity-related health behaviors in a community sample of African Americans.

The social environment is important to body mass index and obesity. However, it is unknown if perceptions of the social environment are associated with obesity-related behaviors in populations at greatest risk for being overweight or obese. We evaluated the relationship between collective efficacy and diet and physical activity in a community-based sample of African American adults who were residents in an urban area.

Asthma prevalence in Philadelphia: description of two community-based methodologies to assess asthma prevalence in an inner-city population.

Objectives: Local asthma prevalence, especially in high-risk areas, may vary greatly from those estimated by national or regional data and targeted, community-specific approaches may be needed to assess the burden of childhood asthma. The Philadelphia Merck Childhood Asthma Network project sought to understand the local prevalence of asthma in Philadelphia communities and schools of low-income, disadvantaged children utilizing a grassroots approach that would access traditionally hard-to-reach families.

Methods: Two asthma-screening methodologies were implemented using the Brief Pediatric Asthma Screen.

Using a mixed-methods approach to identify health concerns in an African American community.

Objectives: We used qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to identify the health concerns of African American residents in an urban community and analyzed the extent to which there were consistencies across methods in the concerns identified.

Methods: We completed 9 focus groups with 51 residents, 27 key informant interviews, and 201 community health surveys with a random sample of community residents to identify the health issues participants considered of greatest importance. We then compared the issues identified through these methods.

Effects of integrated risk counseling for cancer and cardiovascular disease in African Americans.

Objective: We evaluated a risk counseling intervention designed to enhance understanding about risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease, to improve self-efficacy for diet and physical activity, and to increase intentions to eat healthier and be physically active.

Methods: We conducted a quasi-experimental study developed by academic investigators and community stakeholders to evaluate the effects of integrated risk counseling in a community-based sample of African American adults (n = 101). The intervention provided education about the overlap in risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease and included components from motivational interviewing.

Participation rates and representativeness of African Americans recruited to a health promotion program.

When using community-based participatory methods to develop health promotion programs for specific communities, it is important to determine if participation differs based on sociodemographics and the extent to which program participants are demographically representative of the target community, especially when non-random recruitment methods are used. We evaluated rates of participating in a health promotion program among African American residents in an urban community and determined if program participants were representative of community residents in terms of sociodemographic factors. While participation in the program was modest, participation did not differ based on psychological factors or body mass index.