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Month: June 2020

Effects of an Online Responsible Vendor Training for Recreational Marijuana Stores

Effects of an Online Responsible Vendor Training for Recreational Marijuana Stores

The Train To Tend® responsible marijuana vendor (RMV) training research team recently published results from online RMV training on responsible sales for recreational marijuana store personnel as an abstract for the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The Train To Tend research team is led by Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel who would have presented the findings at the 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Francisco, had the conference been held as planned.

Recreational marijuana regulations have been designed, in part, to ensure that cannabis products are sold only to adults over the age of 21 who provide state-approved identification (ID). The Train to Tend online RMV training was developed with input from state regulators and recreational marijuana store personnel to train store staff. The training consists of five modules with interactive learning elements that cover state laws, ID checking, health effects of marijuana, driving under the influence, refusal of sales to intoxicated customers, and store processes, such as product labeling and tracking.

A sample of 175 recreational marijuana stores in Colorado and Washington were selected for a randomized controlled trial with sales to pseudo-underage customers. Of the 175 stores, 75 were assigned to the control condition (usual and customary training) and the remaining 100 were given the online RMV training. At baseline, sales of marijuana to pseudo-underage buyers were refused at 93% of 349 visits to stores across the two states. After adjusting for store characteristics, there was no difference in change in refusal rates between treatment groups from baseline, to a 3-month posttest, or a 9-month posttest. For the intervention stores, training uptake was not related to refusal rate and nearly all recreational cannabis stores refused sales to young patrons who failed to produce appropriate ID.

This research was funded by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (DA038933; Dr. David Buller, Principal Investigator). Co-authors include Dr. Robert Saltz from the Prevention Research Center at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation; Dr. Gary Cutter from the University of Alabama, Birmingham; and Dr. Gill Woodall, Andrew Grayson, Mary Buller, Sierra Svendsen, and Lucia Liu from Klein Buendel.

Mothers’ Support for Laws Restricting Indoor Tanning by Minors

Mothers’ Support for Laws Restricting Indoor Tanning by Minors

The Health Chat research team published some findings related to indoor tanning from their Facebook-delivered cancer risk reduction intervention and randomized trial with mothers and teen daughters as an abstract in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The research team would have presented the work at the 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Francisco, had the conference been held as planned.

Indoor tanning is associated with increased risk for melanoma, especially in young women. Several states restrict indoor tanning by minors or require parental permission. The authors of this abstract hypothesize that mothers’ awareness of state laws related to indoor tanning by youth may reduce their permissiveness for daughters to use tanning facilities.

A total of 777 mothers (and their daughters) from 34 states that do not ban indoor tanning participated in the trial. Less than 20% of mothers (and fewer daughters) accurately reported whether their state has an age restriction or parental permission requirement for minors to indoor tan. More than 50% of the mothers supported banning indoor tanning by minors. However, the mothers reported varying levels of advocacy that they would be willing to demonstrate related to enacting state-level policy to restrict indoor tanning by minors (e.g., sign a petition, contact an elected representative, testify to a state legislative committee). 

The authors conclude that: “Efforts to inform mothers and daughters may be needed to create a norm against indoor tanning, to prevent moms from permitting indoor tanning by daughters, and to build support for further restrictions on minors’ access.”

This research is funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (CA192652; Dr. David Buller, Klein Buendel, and Dr. Sherry Pagoto, University of Connecticut, Multiple Principal Investigators). Co-authors include Dr. Katie Baker, Dr. Joel Hillhouse, and Jessica Bibeau from East Tennessee State University; Dr. Kim Henry from Colorado State University; and Dr. Barbara Walkosz and Julia Berteletti from Klein Buendel.

E-Training to Enhance the Care of Aged and Dying Prisoners

E-Training to Enhance the Care of Aged and Dying Prisoners

The health care needs of aged, chronically ill, and dying inmates in correctional settings face growing demands. The Enhancing Care for the Aged and Dying in Prisons (ECAD-P) research team published insights from a geriatric care learning program for corrections staff as an abstract for the Annals of Behavioral Medicine. The ECAD-P research team is led by Dr. Susan Loeb from Penn State University and Dr. Valerie Myers from Klein Buendel. They would have presented the work at the 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Francisco, had the conference been held as planned.

The number of older inmates in the United States continues to grow and best practices for managing geriatric issues and end-of-life (EOL) care have not been adapted for use in corrections settings. In response, ECAD-P team has developed a computer-based learning program for corrections staff comprised of six modules that address EOL and geriatric care concerns in prisons.

After conducting two rounds of usability testing at two prisons in different states, the ECAD-P program entered full-scale testing at seven state prisons. A total of 241 individuals consented to participate and 173 individuals completed all training modules and posttests. Outcomes revealed that the ECAD-P training program was acceptable, feasible, and usable in the corrections staff setting. The research team also found that corrections staff improved their knowledge of geriatric and EOL care of inmates overall after completing the training.

This research was funded by a Small Business Technology Transfer grant to Klein Buendel from the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health (AG049570; Dr. Susan Loeb and Dr. Valerie Myers, Multiple Principal Investigators). Collaborators and co-authors on this abstract also include Dr. Erin Kitt-Lewis from Penn State University; Dr. Rachel Wion from the Indiana University School of Nursing (formerly Penn State University); Julie Murphy from the King’s College Nursing Program; and Tiffany Jerrod, formerly of Klein Buendel.

Health Misinformation in Participant Comments in a Facebook-Delivered Cancer Risk Reduction Intervention

Health Misinformation in Participant Comments in a Facebook-Delivered Cancer Risk Reduction Intervention

Little is known about how how participants in a health intervention share health misinformation via social media platforms. The Health Chat research team published insights from their Facebook-delivered cancer risk reduction intervention and randomized trial with mothers and teen daughters as an abstract for the Society of Behavioral Medicine (SBM). The lead author, Kelsey Arroyo, from the University of Connecticut, would have presented the work at the 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in San Francisco, had the conference been held as planned.

For this study, the researchers examined 175 comments made to 42 randomly-selected Facebook posts on different health topics such as substance use, indoor tanning, vaccines, mental health by study participants. The Facebook groups were moderated by health professionals. The participant comments were coded as sharing an opinion, a personal experience, an intention, or information. Comments were analyzed for whether misinformation was conveyed. According to the authors, “misinformation was defined as a fact, belief, opinion, or action that is not supported by scientific evidence.”

Analysis showed that more than three-quarters of comments shared a personal experience. Overall, less than one-fifth of the comments conveyed misinformation, and more than half of the misinformation was conveyed in comments that shared a personal experience.

This research is funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute (CA192652; Dr. David Buller, Klein Buendel, and Dr. Sherry Pagoto, University of Connecticut, Multiple Principal Investigators). Collaborators and co-authors on the SBM abstract include Kelsey Arroyo, Jared Goetz, and Dr. Molly Waring from the University of Connecticut; Dr. Katie Baker and Dr. Joel Hillhouse from East Tennessee State University; Dr. Kim Henry from Colorado State University; Dr. Jerod Stapleton formerly from the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; and Julia Berteletti and Dr. Barbara Walkosz from Klein Buendel.