Medicare Part D beneficiaries' self-reported barriers to switching plans and making plan comparisons at all.

In the United States, individuals with disabilities and those aged ≥65 can supplement their Medicare with so-called stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Beneficiaries can switch their stand-alone prescription drug plans annually, but most do not. Indirect evidence has raised concerns that non-switchers do not even make plan comparisons (labeled "inattention"), but direct evidence is scarce.

Communicating Probabilities of Cervical Cancer Screening Results with Icon Arrays or Tree Diagrams: A Longitudinal Experiment.

Simple graphical displays such as icon arrays and tree diagrams have been proposed for communicating health risks and supporting informed decisions. The UK's National Health Service (NHS) uses tree diagrams to communicate the chances of different cervical cancer screening results, but their effectiveness has not been compared to icon arrays. We conducted a well-powered longitudinal experiment involving 3,100 UK women eligible for cervical screening (25-64 years) to examine the effectiveness of icon arrays to communicate possible cervical screening results, relative to the UK NHS's tree diagram and to a numerical-only format.

Self-reported anticipated harm from drinking water across 141 countries.

Perceptions of drinking water safety shape numerous health-related behaviors and attitudes, including water use and valuation, but they are not typically measured. We therefore characterize self-reported anticipated harm from drinking water in 141 countries using nationally representative survey data from the World Risk Poll (n = 148,585 individuals) and identify national- and individual-level predictors. We find that more than half (52.

Vaccination invitations sent by warm and competent medical professionals disclosing risks and benefits increase trust and booking intention and reduce inequalities between ethnic groups.

Objective: We aim to identify vaccination invitations that foster trust and improve vaccination uptake overall, especially among ethnic minority groups who are more at risk from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and less likely to be vaccinated.

Method: In a preregistered 4 × 4 mixed-design experiment, we manipulated how much risk-benefit information the message included within-subjects and the message source between-subjects ( = 4,038 U.K.

Food and Nutrition Insecurity: Experiences That Differ for Some and Independently Predict Diet-Related Disease, Los Angeles County, 2022.

Background: National surveillance shows that food insecurity affects ∼1 in 10 Americans each year. Recently, experts have advocated for surveillance of nutrition insecurity alongside food insecurity. Nutrition security refers to the nutritional adequacy of accessible food and factors that impact one's ability to meet food preferences.

Younger Americans are less politically polarized than older Americans about climate policies (but not about other policy domains).

Political polarization of Americans' support for climate policies often impedes the adoption of new, urgently needed climate solutions. However, recent polls suggest that younger conservatives favor adopting pro-climate policies to a greater degree than older conservatives, resulting in less political polarization among younger Americans relative to older Americans. To better understand these patterns, we analyzed Americans' support for various climate policies from 1982-2020, across 16 waves of historical, nationally representative survey data from the American National Election Studies (total N = 29,467).

Socio-ecological factors linked with changes in adults' dietary intake in Los Angeles County during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic.

Objective: Comprehensive studies examining longitudinal predictors of dietary change during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic are lacking. Based on an ecological framework, this study used longitudinal data to test if individual, social and environmental factors predicted change in dietary intake during the peak of the coronavirus 2019 pandemic in Los Angeles County and examined interactions among the multilevel predictors.

Design: We analysed two survey waves (e.

Understanding food insecurity in Los Angeles County during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath: A qualitative interview study.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought increases in food insecurity in Los Angeles (L.A.) County, defined as lacking household access to adequate food because of limited money or other resources.

New insights into grocery store visits among east Los Angeles residents using mobility data.

In this study, we employed spatially aggregated population mobility data, generated from mobile phone locations in 2021, to investigate patterns of grocery store visits among residents east and northeast of Downtown Los Angeles, in which 60% of the census tracts had previously been designated as "food deserts". Further, we examined whether the store visits varied with neighborhood sociodemographics and grocery store accessibility. We found that residents averaged 0.

A social science research agenda to accelerate public engagement in climate change adaptation.

Recent studies find that people in high-income countries now think of climate change impacts, such as flooding or periods of high temperature, as being of immediate relevance and concern. Individuals and households can take adaptation actions to help limit the severity of harm caused when climate impacts occur, for example, they could make adjustments to their homes such as installing flood gates or sun shades, or they could adapt their behavior such as staying indoors during the hottest part of the day. However, so far adaptation is not yet happening at the speed or scale needed to adequately prepare for the climate impacts already being experienced or those projected for the coming decades.

Beyond High-Income Countries: Low Numeracy Is Associated with Older Adult Age around the World.

Background: Numeracy, or the ability to understand and use numbers, has been associated with obtaining better health and financial outcomes. Studies in high-income countries suggest that low numeracy is associated with older age-perhaps especially among individuals with lower education. Here, we examined whether findings generalize to the rest of the world.

Ecological risk and protective factors for food insufficiency in Los Angeles County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic increased food insufficiency: a severe form of food insecurity. Drawing on an ecological framework, we aimed to understand factors that contributed to changes in food insufficiency from April to December 2020, in a large urban population hard hit by the pandemic.

Design: We conducted internet surveys every 2 weeks in April-December 2020, including a subset of items from the Food Insecurity Experience Scale.

Food Insecurity Is Under-reported in Surveys That Ask About the Past Year.

Introduction: Food insecurity affects one in ten Americans in a typical year; recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data show that this food insecurity rate was stable from 2019 to 2021.

Age differences in social decision-making preferences and perceived ability.

Decision-making often occurs in a social context but is typically studied as if it were an individualistic process. In the present study, we investigated the relationships between age, perceived decision-making ability, and self-rated health with preferences for social decision-making, or making decisions with others. Adults ( = 1,075; ages 18-93) from an U.

Age differences in psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: March 2020 - June 2021.

In March 2020, COVID-19 brought illness, lockdowns, and economic turmoil worldwide. Studies from March-April 2020 reported increased psychological distress, especially among younger (vs. older) adults.

Public Concern about Water Safety, Weather, and Climate: Insights from the World Risk Poll.

Water safety refers to the quality of one's drinking water and whether it lacks dangerous contaminants. Limited access to safe water is projected to impact approximately 5 billion people worldwide by 2050. Climate change and worsening severe weather events pose increasing threats to global water safety.

The Role of Confidence and Knowledge in Intentions to (Not) Seek Care for Hypertension: Evidence From a National Survey.

Background: Hypertension (high blood pressure) is a modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, patients may lack confidence in their understanding of what constitutes normal/healthy blood pressure, potentially affecting intentions to seek necessary care. The American Heart Association defines normal/healthy blood pressure as <120/80 mm Hg, with a 130/80 mm Hg threshold for hypertension diagnosis.

Effect of COVID-19 vaccine allocation strategies on vaccination refusal: A national survey.

Currently, one of the most pressing public health challenges is encouraging people to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Due to limited supplies, some people have had to wait for the COVID-19 vaccine. Consumer research has suggested that people who are overlooked in initial distribution of desired goods may no longer be interested.

Associations of Eating Identities With Self-Reported Dietary Behaviors and Body Mass Index.

Objective: To inform dietary interventions, it is important to understand antecedents of recommended (henceforth: healthy) dietary behaviors, beyond dietary beliefs and self-efficacy. We used the validated "Eating Identity Type Inventory" to assess the extent to which participants identified as healthy eaters, meat eaters, emotional eaters or picky eaters. We examined correlations between participants' race/ethnicity and other socio-demographic characteristics and affinity with these eating identities, how affinity with these eating identities correlated with self-reports of dietary beliefs, self-efficacy, dietary behaviors and Body Mass Index (BMI), and how well affinity with these eating identities predicted self-reported dietary behaviors and BMI, as compared to self-reported dietary beliefs and self-efficacy.

How are patient-related characteristics associated with shared decision-making about treatment? A scoping review of quantitative studies.

Objectives: To identify what patient-related characteristics have been reported to be associated with the occurrence of shared decision-making (SDM) about treatment.

Design: Scoping review.

Eligibility Criteria: Peer-reviewed articles in English or Dutch reporting on associations between patient-related characteristics and the occurrence of SDM for actual treatment decisions.

Perceived Social Norms Guide Health Care Decisions for Oneself and Others: A Cross-Sectional Experiment in a US Online Panel.

Background: Global aging has increased the reliance on surrogates to make health care decisions for others. We investigated the differences between making health care decisions and predicting health care decisions, self-other differences for made and predicted health care decisions, and the roles of perceived social norms, emotional closeness, empathy, age, and gender.

Methods: Participants ( = 2037) from a nationally representative US panel were randomly assigned to make or to predict a health care decision.

COVID-19 Information Sources and Health Behaviors During Pregnancy: Results From a Prenatal App-Embedded Survey.

Background: Pregnancy is a time of heightened COVID-19 risk. Pregnant individuals' choice of specific protective health behaviors during pregnancy may be affected by information sources.

Objective: This study examined the association between COVID-19 information sources and engagement in protective health behaviors among a pregnant population in a large academic medical system.

Low numeracy is associated with poor financial well-being around the world.

Numeracy refers to the ability to use numbers, including converting percentages (e.g., 10%) into absolute frequencies (e.

Private Well Testing in Peri-Urban African-American Communities Lacking Access to Regulated Municipal Drinking Water: A Mental Models Approach to Risk Communication.

Majority African-American neighborhoods on the edges of North Carolina municipalities are less likely than white peri-urban neighborhoods to be served by a community system regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These households rely on unregulated private wells, which are at much higher risk of contamination than neighboring community water supplies. Yet, risk awareness of consuming well water is low, and no prior research has tested risk communication interventions for these communities.