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Month: April 2022

Evaluation of the ECAD-P Program for Prison Staff

Evaluation of the ECAD-P Program for Prison Staff

There are nearly 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons. Many grow old there and need end-of-life care. Geriatric and end-of-life care in Corrections is not as equitable as care in the free world. The results of a study led by researchers from Penn State University and Klein Buendel were published recently in the International Journal of Prisoner Health. The research team developed and evaluated the technological delivery of geriatric training for prison staff as a novel approach to improve care and reduce disparities among those who are most vulnerable during confinement.

Evaluation of the ECAD-P computer-based learning program occurred at seven sites, including six state prisons and one prison healthcare vendor. A total of 241 staff were recruited and 173 completed posttesting. The outcomes were (a) knowledge acquisition regarding care for aging and dying incarcerated persons, and (b) attitudes, motivations and values for providing geriatric and end-of-life care. Staff improved their knowledge and affective indicators after receiving the training. ECAD-P was determined to be acceptable, feasible, and usable in Corrections.

Correctional settings face increasing pressures to better address the healthcare and management needs of aged, chronically ill, and dying incarcerated persons. ECAD-P may contribute to better preparation of Corrections staff to effectively care for these populations.

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). The authors of this publication are Dr. Valerie Myers, formerly of Klein Buendel; Dr. Susan Loeb and Dr. Erin Kitt-Lewis from the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing at The Pennsylvania State University; and Tiffany Jerrod, formerly of Klein Buendel.

Mothers’ Reactions to a COVID-19 Prevention Facebook Group

Mothers’ Reactions to a COVID-19 Prevention Facebook Group

Social media platforms have been a tool for disseminating recommendations and updates on COVID-19. Christie Idiong from the University of Connecticut presented qualitative findings from the COVID-19 Health Chat program at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Baltimore, MD, April 6-9 2022.

The COVID-19 Health Chat program was a 9-week Facebook-delivered intervention to provide mothers of teenage daughters with messages promoting non-pharmaceutical interventions and vaccines, teaching digital and media literacy, and supporting family communication around COVID-19.

After the intervention, the research team conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 mothers. Mothers were asked: 1) “What did you like the most about being in the Facebook group?”, 2) “What did you like least?”, 3) “What did you think of the information sources used?”, and 4) “How would you compare the quality of the information you received in this Facebook group relative to other sources of information you’ve encountered during the pandemic?”.

Responses to each question were double coded and summarized. When asked what they liked most about the program, the most common response was the reliable information provided, followed by interacting with group members. When asked what they liked least, the most common responses indicated they did not dislike anything about the group, disliked extreme opinions from other mothers, and lacked interest in the information. When asked about sources used in the Facebook feed, the most common responses said sources were credible and helpful, followed by not recalling the sources, and sources being biased. When asked how the information in the group compared to other sources they encountered in the pandemic, most participants responded it was about the same or better quality, followed by not remembering the content. Most participants indicated that information they received was reliable, helpful, and of similar or better quality than what they had previously encountered.

Future research is needed to understand how individuals in the general population determine a source of information is reliable and how prevention communication on other health topics can be disseminated with similar success.

This research is funded by a grant and supplement from the National Cancer Institute (CA192652; Dr. David Buller and Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Multiple Principal Investigators). Authors on this poster presentation include Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Christie Idiong, Joseph Divito, Kaylei Arcangel, and Haley Troy from the University of Connecticut; and Julia Berteletti, Dr. Barbara Walkosz, Dr. Gill Woodall, Alishia Kinsey, and Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel.

Indoor Tanning Policy and the Impact of COVID-19 on Tanning Facilities

Indoor Tanning Policy and the Impact of COVID-19 on Tanning Facilities

Julia Berteletti from Klein Buendel presented findings from a study on U.S. indoor tanning legislation efforts related to reduced indoor tanning by minors at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Baltimore, MD, April 6-9 2022.

Skin cancer is a significant and expensive public health problem, with approximately 5 million Americans treated at a cost of over $8 billion annually. Indoor tanning (IT) is a well-established cause of melanoma and keratinocyte carcinomas.

Julia Berteletti Presenting at SBM

IT is regulated in two main ways: states restricting minor access and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations to minimize harm. Since 2012, 22 states and the District of Columbia adopted IT bans for all minors, ten banned some minors by age, and 12 required parental consent/accompaniment, but six have no law, primarily due to failed legislation. Seven states proposed new legislation in 2021. Additionally, FDA regulations (e.g., protective eyewear, session duration) exist to minimize harm from IT devices.

Recent evidence suggests that more stringent laws (for example, age bans vs. parental consent laws) are associated with less youth IT. Policy enforcement provisions and compliance with policies are also essential components of effective IT policy implementation, but enforcement and compliance are currently variable and inadequate. We are currently coding 102 state IT law documents that were proposed, passed, or failed, and 4 accompanying regulatory documents, using a validated coding tool. Documents are being assessed for regulation stringency, type of ban, warnings provided, operator requirements, and enforcement provisions.

Additionally, results show that beginning in March, 2020, in addition to state-level mandates, there have been additional guidelines and restrictions for IT salons due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  From March 2020 to April 2020, 49 states and the District of Columbia required salons to close to customers and reopened between April 2020 and December 2020 with varying restrictions, such as requiring appointments for services, requiring patrons to wear masks in public areas, and increasing ventilation in salons. Enforcement of these pandemic restrictions is unclear. Restrictions likely resulted in permanent salon closures and lower IT rates in 2020 but it is unknown how IT rates will be affected long-term, especially given the option for home tanning. Additional descriptive results of the policy coding and COVID-19 restrictions will be presented.

These data will help determine whether certain bill characteristics such as stringency or enforcement requirements are associated with law passage or not or bill stringency has increased over time, and the initial impact of the pandemic on IT policies. These findings will have implications for IT behavior and, ultimately, skin cancer incidence.

This research is funded by the National Cancer Institute (CA244370; Dr. Carolyn Heckman, Rutgers University, and Dr. David Buller, Klein Buendel, Multiple Principal Investigators). Authors collaborating on this conference poster include Julia Berteletti and Allyson Montalvo from Klein Buendel; and Anna Mitarotondo from Rutgers University.

COVID-19 Social Media Feed for Mothers and Teen Daughters

COVID-19 Social Media Feed for Mothers and Teen Daughters

Social media is a key channel for information on COVID-19 from government agencies, near-peers, and news media. The Health Chat team developed a social media feed that varied type of information source in posts on social distancing, COVID-19 vaccines, digital and media literacy, and family communication. Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel presented findings from the COVID-19 social media feed at the 43rd Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Baltimore, MD, April 6-9 2022.

A total of 303 mothers with adolescent daughters from a previous study testing a social media campaign on indoor tanning were recruited in January 2021 and enrolled in a randomized single-factor design (government agencies v. near-peer parents v. news media) of a 9-week Facebook feed with four assessments (baseline, 3-week, 6-week, and 9-week follow-ups). The feed contained five posts per week based on social cognitive theory, transportation theory, and diffusion of innovation theory. Mothers reported on social distancing and vaccine intentions for self and daughters.

Using intention-to-treat analyses, mothers’ reports of social distancing by self and daughter declined over the 9-weeks. Daughters’ social distancing declined faster in the near-peer condition but less quickly in the government condition. Vaccine intentions increased over the nine weeks in all experimental condition. Baseline intentions seemed to moderate effect of condition on change in intentions. Mothers with initially high vaccine intentions (relative to moderate intentions) assigned to the government condition reported a less steep increase in intentions over time and had slightly lower intentions to vaccinate at the end of the study. Baseline credibility of the assigned information source predicted increased vaccine intentions. However, in the near-peer condition, mothers who assigned them lower as opposed to higher credibility showed increased vaccine intentions.

Theory-based posts emphasizing information from government agencies may have provided credible counterarguments against local jurisdictions relaxing pandemic restrictions that slowed declines in daughters’ social distancing. The near-peer sources may have been influential with mothers who did not expect them to convey the credible arguments supporting vaccines which they did in the experimental feed, consistent with violations of expectations theory in persuasive communication.

This research is funded by a grant and supplement from the National Cancer Institute (CA192652; Dr. David Buller and Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Multiple Principal Investigators). Authors on this presentation include Dr. Sherry Pagoto and Joseph Divito from the University of Connecticut; Dr. Kim Henry from Colorado State University; and Dr. David Buller, Dr. Barbara Walkosz, Dr. Gill Woodall, Julia Berteletti, and Alishia Kinsey from Klein Buendel.

Dr. David Buller Presenting at SBM