Journal of Community Health

AIMS: Evaluate the social determinants of health (SDOH) associated with suicidality among female Service Members and Veterans (SMV) in Arizona. METHODS: Used data from a statewide Arizona Veteran Survey (n = 1,134) to analyze SDOH associated with suicidality (any self-report of suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or calling a crisis line). Response data were cross-tabulated and analyzed for statistical significance using a chi-square test with a p-value of p < 0...

Community-based health events provide an opportunity to increase knowledge, awareness, and screening for acute and chronic diseases among individuals living in a socioeconomically diverse community. Because there are limited reports of such events, here we describe our ten-year experience of annual men's health fairs. This retrospective study of the Michigan Institute of Urology Foundation evaluated Men's Health Events held in Detroit, Michigan, from 2012 to 2021. Over 10 years, 11,129 men were screened and > 100,000 screenings were performed...

BACKGROUND: In California, all four-year public colleges have adopted 100% smoke-/tobacco-free policies (TFP) whereas community colleges (CCs), particularly rural CCs, are less likely to have tobacco-free environments. This raises concerns about health equity, particularly because smoking prevalence is higher in rural areas compared to urban. We examined policy adoption barriers and facilitators for rural California CCs with the aim of providing lessons learned to support TFP adoption by rural CCs and improve conditions for student health and well-being...

To evaluate the Advancing Community Health and Individual leadership through a noVel Educational (ACHIEVE) program uniting Chicago high school and undergraduate students (scholars) and community organizations to empower youth to meaningfully impact communities while enhancing organizational capacity. Between 2020 and 2022, the ACHIEVE program engaged cohorts of youth in classroom-based learning and community-based projects targeting health and education disparities. Pre and post-program surveys were administered to scholars to assess knowledge about disparities, skills, and self-efficacy...

Despite increased risk of morbidity and mortality among older adults due to preventable infectious diseases such as influenza, shingles, pneumonia, and COVID-19, many forego receiving some, if not all, of these vaccinations. This study examines vaccination motivators and deterrents for undervaccinated older adults in North Dakota (ND). Adults aged 65+ in ND were mailed a survey (n = 901) with questions gauging vaccination behaviors and perceptions, with 132 of these indicating not receiving certain vaccinations...

The objective of this analysis was to evaluate and compare the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on routine and annual influenza vaccination in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Routine and annual influenza vaccination uptake and coverage between 2017 and 2021 was collected from each state's immunization information system (IIS) by age group and stratified by provider and vaccine type. Data from 2017 to 2019 were averaged to obtain a pre-pandemic baseline and compared to 2020 and 2021 data. Percent changes were calculated to evaluate differences in uptake and coverage...

Firearm carriage and possession predicts youth firearm violence victimization and perpetration. This study describes self-reported factors associated with firearm access, carriage, and possession among justice-involved youth. We conducted an exploratory, mixed-methods study. Participants were recruited from May 2022 to February 2023 from the Juvenile Justice Collaborative, a diversion program for justice-involved youth. We used online anonymous surveys to investigate exposures related to firearm access, carriage, and possession...

Community health promotion offers a potential solution to persistent healthcare challenges, with community health workers playing a pivotal role. The Community Training Institute for Health Disparities (CTIHD) implemented a problem-solving curriculum in Community Health Promotion, integrating a competency-based learning model through two courses: Introduction to Community Health Promotion and Design of an Action Plan for the Promotion of Community Health. Each course comprised ten three-hour sessions, featuring pre/post-tests, evaluations, and a cognitive debriefing...

The purpose of this study was to explore Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) as a moderator between sleep duration/irregularity and overweight/obesity in U.S. adolescents. Using the National Survey of Children's Health 2017-2018 cross-sectional dataset, we included adolescents with available sleep and Body Mass Index (BMI) data. In a sample of 24,100 adolescents (mean age = 13.56 years, 49.35% female; 51% White), parents reported adolescent's sleep duration/irregularity, and number of ACEs...

In Taiwan, hesitancy regarding COVID-19 vaccination centered more on the choice of vaccine brand than on the decision to vaccinate. However, there is limited research exploring the factors influencing COVID-19 vaccine brand preferences from a sociopolitical perspective. Thus, we aimed to examine how Taiwanese national identity and trust in government influence vaccination status and vaccine brand choice, using longitudinal data from 2020, 2021, and 2023. This study utilized data from the Taiwan Panel Study of Family Dynamics 2020 survey, and combined it with data from two self-administered surveys conducted in 2021 and 2023...

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated a public health workforce shortage and national strategies have called for the development of clear occupational pathways for students to enter the public health workforce and meaningful public health careers. In response to the immediate need for public health workers during the pandemic, several universities and academic hospitals rapidly mobilized students and employees and partnered with local or state health departments. However, many of those partnerships were based on short-term volunteer effort to support critical COVID-19 public health efforts...

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are pivotal in delivering healthcare services to underserved populations in the United States. While the number of FQHCs and FQHC look-alikes has been increasing, intensifying competition, limited research has examined the cost implications associated with this growing competition among FQHCs. This study aims to fill the research gap by analyzing the relationship between the level of competition among FQHCs and the cost of care per patient. Understanding this relationship is crucial for managers and policymakers in deriving informed decisions related to the expansion of FQHCs...

Uptake of the COVID19 vaccinations has been generally disappointing in the United States. Efforts to overcome vaccine hesitancy could be more effective if public health messaging on the topic emphasized more personal stories rather than statistics on risk reduction.

Less than two-thirds of US adolescents are up-to-date with HPV vaccination. While mothers engaged in preventive care are more likely to seek preventive care for their children, current studies on associations between maternal cervical cancer screening (CCS) and adolescent HPV vaccination are needed. We assessed associations between maternal preventive service utilization and adolescent HPV vaccination using electronic health record data from a healthcare system in Washington State. We included adolescents (11-17 years) and their mothers with ≥ 1 primary care visit between 2018 and 2020...

Children from diverse ethnic groups are at significantly increased risk for dental caries. In particular, American Indian (AI) children have the highest incidence of detal caries of any ethnic group. The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically restricted health care access, including preventive oral health care. Given this context, it is unclear whether or not preventive oral health care for AI children has resumed since lockdown. To address this question, we surveyed adult AI caregivers (N = 152) of children aged 0-5 years, assessing recent (12-month) and pre-COVID (for caregivers of children aged 3-5 years) preventive oral and medical health services...

This study is the first to report the results of a scan of the official webpages of all public and private colleges and universities in the state of Oregon, including but not limited to student health services webpages and student handbooks, to identify available services, policies, and educational information on HPV vaccination. The purpose is to describe vaccination services (with a focus on the HPV vaccine), prevention efforts, and institutional policies on vaccination on college and university websites in Oregon...

This study investigated community empowerment as a means of addressing food insecurity amongst underserved neighborhoods by increasing available and affordable food choices through Clementine Collective stands in Staten Island, New York (Richmond County), one of the 5 Boroughs of New York City. Given the growing complexity of food insecurity, inclusive and equitable action must be taken that incorporates the voices, perspectives and needs of those most impacted. Through methods of community engagement and empowerment, the Clementine Collective collaborates with local community residents to introduce sustainable solutions that address food insecurity...

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mental health disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 20.6% among United States (US) adults. Multiple US surveys have shown a consistently higher burden of mental health struggles among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and questioning (LGBTQ+) adults compared to non-LGBTQ+ adults. However, it is not known whether diagnosis and treatment for those adults who do report symptoms of MDD differ based on sexual orientation. We test for differences in prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of MDD in sexual minorities using appropriate multivariable logistic regression using the New York City Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NYC HANES)...

International studies and the World Health Organization call for collaboration between media and mental health professionals to reduce the risk of imitative suicidal behaviour after suicide reporting - known as the Werther effect - and encourage individuals at risk to seek help. This study explores Portuguese psychiatrists' perceptions of the practices of journalists, their interaction with those professionals, and their perspectives on the national suicide coverage through an anonymous online questionnaire and ten semi-structured interviews...

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health institutions, particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), were frequently attacked by politicians. Popular trust in these institutions declined, particularly among self-identified Republicans. Therefore, the effectiveness of public health institutions as vaccination messengers might have been weakened in the post-COVID-19 period. We conducted a survey experiment examining the effectiveness of messaging from the CDC in shaping people's attitudes toward mandatory MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccination for schoolchildren...