"I Have Come Because I See You Care About Me": Recruiting Older Black Americans for Genomic Research.

The lack of diversity in genomic studies is a disparity that influences our understanding of human genomic variation and threatens equity in the benefits of precision medicine. Given our current genomic research with Black older adults, we conducted a qualitative study to elucidate participants' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about genomic research and research participation and what factors contribute to their willingness to participate and to gain insights into barriers that researchers may have in recruiting Black Americans. We conducted semistructured interviews (N=16) with previous genomic research participants, and an inductive thematic approach was used to code and interpret the data.

Smart Speaker and ICT Use in Relationship With Social Connectedness During the Pandemic: Loneliness and Social Isolation Found in Older Adults in Low-Income Housing.

Background And Objectives: Social well-being of older adults living in low-income housing was disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We explored low-income residents' experiences of social isolation and loneliness and strategies to remain socially connected during the pandemic.

Research Design And Methods: As part of a larger, 3-phase user-centered design study, we conducted a qualitative study using focus groups to gain insights into social isolation experiences and the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including smart speakers, in social connectedness (N = 25, 76% African American).

Cultivating Relationships as a Community-Based Recruitment Strategy in Transdisciplinary Aging Research: Lessons From an Academic-Community Partnership.

Participation of Black American older adults in community-engaged research remains challenging in health sciences. The objectives of this study were to describe the specific efforts, successes, and challenges in recruiting Black American older adults in research led by the Health and Wellness in Aging Across the Lifespan core, part of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Inclusion, Inquiry, and Innovation (iCubed). We conducted a cross-case analysis of 6 community-engaged research projects using the community-engaged research continuum model.

Predictors of Attitudes toward the Medically Underserved among Occupational and Physical Therapy Students.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how empathic, demographic, and educational factors influence attitudes toward the medically underserved among occupational and physical therapy students.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was administered that included demographic/education questions. Empathy was measured through the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the outcome variable was measured with the Medical Student Attitudes Toward the Underserved (MSATU).

Stakeholder Perspectives on Implementation of Smart Speakers for Aging in Place in Low-Income Senior Housing: A Qualitative Study.

In the current study, a smart speakers-based system (Amazon Echo Dot device, a safety pendant, and facility tailored functionalities) for supporting aging in place was implemented in one low-income senior housing property. We aimed to explore perceived benefits, concerns, and expectations about this system among three stakeholder groups (older adults, housing staff, and technology developers) to identify facilitators of and barriers to system implementation. A qualitative analysis of individual interviews using inductive coding methods was performed to identify emerging themes.

Socioeconomic Effects on Psychosocial Factors Among Low-Income Older Adults.

Objectives: Older adults have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The primary goal of this study is to determine the socioeconomic effects on psychosocial factors among low-income independent-living older adults, in an urban setting, during the COVID-pandemic.

Methods: Participants were recruited through Virginia Commonwealth University's Richmond Health and Wellness Program.

COVID in Context: The Lived Experience of Richmond's Low-Income Older Adults.

Taking a phenomenological approach, this qualitative study describes the lived experiences of low-income older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. A socio-ecological model was used to organize the five identified themes describing the lived experience: socio-economic context, Black Lives Matter and the politics of race, COVID and polarized views of COVID, interpersonal context (social connections), and individual context (feelings, beliefs, and behaviors). Study findings illustrate the intersectionality of contextual influences on the experience of low-income older adults.

Attitudes and Perceptions Toward Voice-Operated Smart Speakers Among Low-Income Senior Housing Residents: Comparison of Pre- and Post-Installation Surveys.

Smart speakers have the potential to support independent living and wellness among low-income senior housing (LISH) residents. The aim of this study was to examine and compare LISH residents' attitudes and perceptions toward smart speakers at two time points: before and after technology use ( = 47). A descriptive survey was administered to ask questions about hedonic motivation, perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, perceived usefulness of some potential or existing smart speaker features, cost, and privacy.

Bringing Transdisciplinary Aging Research From Theory to Practice.

There is a growing emphasis to use a transdisciplinary team approach to accelerate innovations in science to solve complex conditions associated with aging. However, the optimal organizational structure and process for how to accomplish transdisciplinary team science is unclear. In this forum, we illustrate our team's experience using transdisciplinary approaches to solve challenging and persistent problems for older adults living in urban communities.

Conducting a Community "Street Survey" to Inform an Obesity Intervention: The WE Project.

Using a community-based participatory research approach, a citywide survey was conducted to explore perceptions of obesity and interventions to reduce obesity within an African American urban community. More than 1300 surveys were collected within 3 months; 92.9% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that obesity was an important health issue in the community and the majority indicated that family-based interventions were the preferred pathway for improving physical activity (86.

A case study in rapid adaptation of interprofessional education and remote visits during COVID-19.

The Richmond Health and Wellness Program (RHWP) is an innovative interprofessional care coordination program that seeks to support the health and wellness of independent-living older adults and educate future practitioners. Since 2012, RHWP has provided community-based interprofessional training to students at Virginia Commonwealth University. The sudden suspension of clinical and community-based training due to the COVID-19 pandemic created the need to transform the traditional ways students received clinical education and support the vulnerable communities served by RHWP.

A "Behind-the-Scenes" Look at Interprofessional Care Coordination: How Person-Centered Care in Safety-Net Health System Complex Care Clinics Produce Better Outcomes.

Introduction: While the effectiveness of team-based care and wrap-around services for high utilizers is clear, how complex care clinics deliver effective, person-centered care to these vulnerable populations is not well understood. This paper describes how interactions among interprofessional team members enabled individualized, rapid responses to the complex needs of vulnerable patients at the Virginia Commonwealth University Health System's Complex Care Clinic.

Methods: Researchers attended twenty weekly care coordination meetings, audio-recorded the proceedings, and wrote brief observational field notes.

Opportunities for Occupational Therapy on a Primary Care Team.

Importance: Leaders in the occupational therapy profession have called for occupational therapy's inclusion in primary care, but little is known about the occupational needs of patients in this setting.

Objective: To explore the need for and potential role of occupational therapy in a team-based primary care clinic.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study using a convenience sample of clinicians and patients.

Understanding the influences and impact of patient-clinician communication in cancer care.

Background: Patient-clinician communication is thought to be central to care outcomes, but when and how communication affects patient outcomes is not well understood.

Objective: We propose a conceptual model and classification framework upon which the empirical evidence base for the impact of patient-clinician communication can be summarized and further built.

Design: We use the proposed model and framework to summarize findings from two recent systematic reviews, one evaluating the use of shared decision making (SDM) on cancer care outcomes and the other evaluating the role of physician recommendation in cancer screening use.

A single molecule assay for measuring site-specific DNA cleavage.

Sequence-specific DNA cleavage is a key step in a number of genomic transactions. Here, we report a single-molecule technique that allows the simultaneous measurement of hundreds of DNAs, thereby collecting significant statistics in a single experiment. Microbeads are tethered with single DNA molecules in a microfluidic channel.

A phase I study of the antimetabolite (E)-2'-fluoromethylene-2'-deoxycytidine (MDL 101,731) administered as a twice-weekly infusion.

Purpose: (E)-2'-fluoromethylene-2'-deoxycytidine is a novel antimetabolite. Preclinical tests have shown antiproliferative activity in various human tumor xenograft models and have also indicated that efficacy is greatest with frequent dosing schedules. We conducted a phase I trial of MDL 101,731 infusion in humans with advanced cancer to determine the maximum tolerated dose and the dose-limiting toxicities of this drug when administered on a twice-weekly schedule.

Rapid imaging of infections with a monoclonal antibody fragment (LeukoScan).

The diagnostic accuracy for imaging infection with a technetium-99m-labeled antigranulocyte Fab' fragment (LeukoScan) was prospectively examined in a multicenter study. Scintigraphy was performed in 53 patients at 1 to 6 hours and at 24 hours after injection of the labeled antibody fragment. Thirty-nine sites of infection were detected and confirmed by histologic study, cytologic study, other imaging procedures, or by followup.

Severe group A streptococcal infections associated with a toxic shock-like syndrome and scarlet fever toxin A.

There is concern that group A streptococci, which have caused less serious infections in developed countries in recent decades, may be acquiring greater virulence. We describe 20 patients from the Rocky Mountain region who had group A streptococcal infections from 1986 to 1988 that were remarkable for the severity of local tissue destruction and life-threatening systemic toxicity. Among the 20 patients (median age, 36), necrotizing fasciitis with or without myositis was the most common soft-tissue infection (55 percent).

Serum thyroglobulin after mantle irradiation for Hodgkin's disease.

Thyroid function and serum thyroglobulin levels were studied in 66 subjects whose Hodgkin's disease had been previously treated by cervical, mediastinal and axillary lymph node (mantle) irradiation. Three patients were already undergoing treatment for thyroid disorders (one for primary hypothyroidism, two for Graves' disease) and a fourth was found to have euthyroid Graves' disease. 36 (Group I) of the remaining 62 patients had normal free thyroxine indices, normal basal thyrotrophin (TSH) levels and normal TSH response to thyrotrophin releasing factor (TRH).

A comparison of serum thyroglobulin measurements and whole body 131I scanning in the management of treated differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Serum thyroglobulin levels were measured by a sensitive radioimmunoassay in 76 patients whose differentiated thyroid carcinoma had been treated by surgery with or without subsequent administration of radioactive iodine (131I). Examination of the results of 105 concomitant whole body 131I scan results and serum thyroglobulin levels showed a high degree (83.8%) of concordance between these two techniques.