In a recent
publication in the Journal of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Klein Buendel investigators and their
colleagues discuss the economic evaluation of an intervention promoting
adoption of occupational sun protection actions by Colorado public-sector
employers.
The
intervention, Sun Safe Workplaces (SSW), was a two-year randomized field trial
promoting employer adoption of sun safety policy and providing training in
personal sun protection for outdoor workers. The trial included 98 local Colorado government
organizations such as municipalities, counties, and special districts (public
organizations providing water, sanitation, parks and recreation, and fire protection).
SSW intervention costs were organized into two components: “delivery” costs and
“action” costs. Delivery costs were incurred to directly implement and maintain
the SSW intervention and included costs of both project staff and the
participating worksites. Action costs were incurred by the worksites themselves
for implementing the sun protection actions.
The
publication presents the results of the economic evaluation of SSW. A full
description of the methods, measures, results, and conclusion of the research
can also be found in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine publication.
This study
demonstrated the interactions of cost and implementation that explain — and hopefully
guide — the adoption of and investment in occupational sun safety. The SSW
intervention was also successful in extending the adoption of sun protection
actions among intervention worksites at a cost per employee that is comparable
to other worksite health interventions.
This
analysis was funded by a grant from the National Cancer Institute at the
National Institutes of Health (CA134705; Dr. David Buller and Dr. Barbara
Walkosz, Multiple Principal Investigators). The paper’s lead author is Dr. Richard
Meenan from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Oregon. Additional
authors include Dr. David Buller, Dr. Barbara Walkosz, Ms. Mary Buller, Ms.
Rachel Eye, and Ms. Savanna Olivas from Klein Buendel; and Dr. Allan Wallis
from the University of Colorado Denver.
Michael L. Hecht, Ph.D., is the co-president of REAL Prevention LLC. He currently works with Klein Buendel Senior Scientist, Dr. David Buller, on a project entitled, “Feasibility of a Mobile Parent-Based Intervention to Reduce Alcohol Use by High School Seniors.” The Phase II SBIR research project is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA025293; Dr. Michael Hecht, Principal Investigator).
The program aims to provide an efficient, engaging and effective means to enhance parents’ ability to reduce prevalence of alcohol use and consequences, and other substance use. The program, called Parenting Now (PN), is adapted from the evidence-based Parent Handbook and includes a brief, interactive, self-paced, web-based curriculum for parents of non-college bound high-school-aged adolescents. KB will develop the PN program, which was previously tested in a Phase I trial, and it will include core and optional modules in order to target parents based on their communication style. Parents will be able to customize their experience by choosing or clicking through the optional content. Results will help prepare PN for dissemination through D.A.R.E. America’s new high school program as well as REAL Prevention’s other community-based partners, such as 4-H and Planned Parenthood.
In addition to substance abuse prevention research, Dr. Hecht specializes in developing and evaluating culturally grounded, narrative health messages to engage diverse communities. Through his work on an R01 in the 1990s, called “keepin’ it REAL” (kiR), Dr. Hecht co-founded REAL Prevention and has disseminated and implemented the program in all 50 states and 53 other countries. As co-president of REAL Prevention, Dr. Hecht provides training, consulting, support and evaluation services to organizations interested in adopting of kiR or developing new interventions.
Dr. Hecht earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois and is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Pennsylvania State University. He has won numerous awards, including the Gerald R. Philips Award for Distinguished Applied Communication Scholarship, two Distinguished Scholarship Awards for the International and Intercultural Division of the National Communication Association, and the Article of the Year Award for SIETAR. Additionally, Dr. Hecht has served on NIH’s Community-Level Health Promotion Review Group, including being selected as its chair, as well as on numerous editorial boards in communication and other fields.
On September 26, Klein Buendel helped sponsor the 2019 Denver
Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards. The
event was themed “Together for the Ages” and hosted by the Denver
Commission on Aging for Denver Mayor Michael Hancock. Dr. Barbara Walkosz,
KB Senior Scientist, is an appointed member of the Denver Commission on Aging.
By 2030, one in four residents of the city of Denver will be over 60 years of age. The Denver Commission on Aging helps to make Denver the best possible community for older adults through outreach, communication and advocacy, including:
Advocating for their rights and concerns
Empowering older adults through dissemination of information and sharing community resources
Monitoring and recommending legislation and proposed policy changes affecting older adults
The Mayor’s Diversity and
Inclusion Awards is an annual program of the agency for Human Rights
& Community Partnerships (HRCP). HRCP is the umbrella agency for nine
offices and ten commissions that work to create a more just and equitable
Denver. Through advocacy, capacity building, collaboration, community
engagement, and direct services HRCP works to create lasting change for
Denver’s residents. This includes ensuring that people from all corners of
the Denver community community are empowered and supported with the innate
knowledge that diverse perspectives, skills, and resources strengthen the
foundation for lasting solutions.
Inclusivity is the cornerstone of HRCP’s work. They strive
to give voices to the voiceless and to create a world class city where everyone
matters.
Mayor Michael B. Hancock
and the community commissioners honored 10 individuals or organizations with the
2019 Mayor’s Diversity and Inclusion Awards.
Dr. David Buller, Klein Buendel Senior
Scientist and Director of Research, presented recent work by his research team at
the Tenth European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) Conference and
Members’ Meeting in Ghent, Belgium in September. His presentation, “Effects of
an Online Responsible Vendor Training for Recreational Cannabis Stores on Sales
to Pseudo-intoxicated Customers: Need for Increased Deterrence,” was coauthored
by Dr. Gill Woodall, Mr. Andrew Grayson, Ms. Sierra Svendsen, and Ms. Mary
Buller from Klein Buendel; and Dr. Robert Saltz from the Pacific Institute for
Research and Evaluation.
The advent of recreational cannabis in Canada,
Uruguay, and several U.S. states raises the risk of polysubstance-impaired
driving. In alcohol markets, training in responsible sales practices is an
intervention to reduce sales to intoxicated patrons and thus prevent impaired
driving and other harms. Similar training may benefit communities with
recreational cannabis sales.
An online responsible marijuana vendor (RMV) training,
Train To Tend, was developed with input from state regulators and store
personnel. Among its five modules, learning elements taught store personnel to
recognize signs of alcohol impairment and intoxication, refuse sales, and
understand the risks of driving under the influence of cannabis. A sample of 150
recreational cannabis stores in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington State, USA
were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial, half of which were randomly
assigned to use the RMV training. Stores were posttested using a pseudo-intoxicated
patron (PiP) protocol in which confederate buyers feigned obvious signs of
intoxication.
Sales of cannabis to PiPs were refused at only
16 of 144 stores across the three states. There was no difference in refusal
rates between intervention and control stores or between stores that used the
RMV training or not. In 11 visits, store personnel commented on the buyers’
behavior or expressed concern/suspicion about buyers but sold to them anyway.
Training in responsible sales practices alone
did not appear to reduce sales to intoxicated customers. Legal deterrence from
making these sales may be insufficient or nonexistent for store management to
support adherence to this responsible sales practice. Regulatory actions (such
as swift, severe, and certain penalties) may be needed to increase perceived
risk with such sales to achieve
training’s benefits.
This
research was sponsored by a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at
the National Institutes of Health (DA038933; Dr. David Buller, Principal
Investigator). Train To Tend was programmed by the Creative Team at Klein
Buendel.
Dr. David Buller presenting the RMV training program
Three Klein Buendel researchers were part of a
team that gave two presentations at the Tenth European Society for Prevention
Research (EUSPR) Conference and Members’ Meeting in Ghent, Belgium in September.
Dr. David Buller, Dr. W. Gill Woodall, and Ms. Julia Berteletti were part of
the Smart Choices 4 Teens research team led by Dr. Brenda Miller from the
Prevention Research Center at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation
(PIRE).
Smart Choices 4 Teens is an online,
interactive, family-based program for parents and older teens designed to
reduce teen alcohol use and risky sexual behaviors. The program features three
sequential components (parent-teen communication, teen alcohol prevention, and
teen romantic relationships) that parents and teens complete separately before
working together through a discussion activity at the end of each component. A randomized
controlled trial with 411 families found significantly better outcomes for
teens in the experimental condition as compared to controls in terms of
decreased alcohol use and decreased sexual risk behaviors.
Oral
Presentation
Dr. Brenda Miller’s presentation focused on the
design of the Smart Choices 4 Teens alcohol prevention component. This module targeted
eleven topics: (1) the decision to drink or not drink, (2) social host laws,
(3) physical effects of alcohol, (4) signs of alcohol poisoning, (5) social
consequences of alcohol, (6) an interactive Blood Alcohol Calculator, (7) myths
about alcohol, (8) creating a safety plan for parties, (9) parental influences,
(10) refusal skills, and (11) defining a drinking problem. The module
incorporated four different activity formats — video narratives, info-gadgets,
interactive activities, and structured discussions. Parents and teens engaged
in the same materials but did so separately, coming together to choose and
discuss hypothetical scenarios that guided the discussion offline. A “nudge”
feature was embedded to allow teens to prompt their parent to finish a module
and move to the end-of-module offline discussion or vice versa. The nudge
feature was used 561 times by 218 users.
Dr. Miller reported that 86% of experimental
families began the intervention and 50% of families completed the teen alcohol prevention
component. The average time needed to complete the alcohol component was 16
minutes. Parents and teens reported learning new lessons and becoming more
comfortable discussing alcohol use together. Barriers to completion included limited
understanding of some content and needing additional instructions.
Poster
Presentation
Dr. David Buller presented a poster, with
analysis led by Dr. W. Gill Woodall, on the effect of teen engagement with Smart Choices 4 Teens. Teens and
parents (411 dyads) completed an online baseline survey prior to being assigned
to either the intervention or control conditions. Follow-up online surveys were
completed 6, 12, and 18 months later. The teen sample was 55% female and 72%
non-Hispanic White. The parent sample was comprised predominately of mothers
(84.7%).
The Smart Choices 4 Teens website tracked
duration of time spent using each of the web-based components. In an analysis
of teens who completed the program in the intervention group (n=142), linear
regressions tested duration of teens’ time in each online component in the
entire program as predictors of teens’ past 30-day alcohol use at the 6-month
follow-up. More time spent by
teens using interactive activities negatively predicted later alcohol use, as
did teens’ time spent viewing videos. Also, teens’ time spent using info-gadget
activities had a negative relationship with alcohol use.
The researchers report that activities with
interactivity, animations, and video content may produce stronger preventive
effects on alcohol use because teens prefer this format over written text in
the info-gadgets, have more involvement with them, and/or find characters
relatable. These reactions may stimulate deep processing of prevention content.
The Smart Choices 4 Teens research was
supported by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (AA020977; Dr. Brenda Miller, PIRE, Principal Investigator). Other
authors on Dr. Miller’s research team included Dr. Hilary Byrnes, Ms. Veronica
Rogers, and Dr. Joel Grube from PIRE; Dr. Beth Bourdeau from the University of
California San Francisco; and Dr. David Buller, Dr. W. Gill Woodall, and Ms.
Julia Berteletti from Klein Buendel. Smart Choices 4 Teens was programmed by
the Creative Team at Klein Buendel.
Ms. Julia Berteletti, Klein Buendel Research Program Manager, is a Co-Investigator on a new research project aimed at teaching adolescent boys, with their parents, skills on regulating their emotions and how to communicate their feelings.
Emotional regulation is the ability to successfully understand and express one’s emotions (1). The large empirical literature links violent behavior and adolescents who lack this ability. Furthermore, numerous studies show that parental involvement is crucial to offsetting dating violence risk (2).
Northeastern University, in collaboration with Klein Buendel, conducted a pilot study which was funded by the National Institute of Justice and titled “Partner Violence Prevention for Middle School Boys: A Dyadic Web-Based Intervention” (2014-MU-CX-4002). The aim of the study was to develop a web-based intervention to reduce the risk of dating violence among middle-school aged males. The engaging web program was used by parents and adolescents together, with both the parent and the child choosing an avatar, playing games together, and being prompted to discuss the content.
Results showed that families generally found the program helpful and useful (3). Adolescents randomized to the STRONG condition were less likely to report dating violence perpetration events and victimization events when compared to the control group (3). Additionally, adolescents in the STRONG condition reported an increase in a number of emotional regulation measures compared to control participants (3).
The new Project STRONG R01 study will be conducted in a larger randomized controlled trial titled “Project STRONG: A Web-Based Dating Violence Prevention Program for Parents and Middle School Boys”. The web-based program will be translated and developed in Spanish and will be tested for its ability to reduce the risk of dating violence among both English- and Spanish-speaking middle-school aged males. Again, parents and their sons will complete the program together.
The research is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health (HD097126; Dr. Chris Houck and Dr. Christine Rizzo, Principal Investigators). Ms. Berteletti will be collaborating with Dr. Chris Houck of Rhode Island Hospital and Dr. Christine Rizzo of Brown University.
References
1. Houck CD, Hadley W, Barker D, Brown LK, Hancock E, Almy B. An emotion regulation intervention to reduce risk behaviors among at-risk early adolescents. Prev Sci. 2016;17(1):71-82. doi: 10.1007/s11121-015-0597-0 2. Lundgren R, Amin A. Addressing intimate partner violence and sexual violence among adolescents: emerging evidence of effectiveness. J Adolesc Health. 2015;56(1 Suppl):S42-S50. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2014.08.012 3. National Criminal Justice Reference Service; Rizzo CJ, Houck C. Summary Report: Partner Violence Prevention for Middle-School Boys: A Dyadic Web-Based Intervention Study (Project STRONG). Available at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/252517.pdf. Published January 2019. Accessed August 21, 2019.
The Grow, Eat, Thrive School Gardening Curriculum is Now Free
September is National Childhood Obesity Month because increasing awareness about how to prevent overweight and obesity children is a public health priority. To help with the effort, Klein Buendel is making its Grow, Eat, Thrive elementary school curriculum available to teachers for free online. Grow, Eat, Thrive pairs nutrition and physical activity education with container gardening for children in grades Kindergarten through 5. It teaches students about the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and engaging in daily exercise for overall good health.
Grow, Eat,
Thrive can stand alone or complement a teacher’s existing lesson plans. While completing
lessons, students plant their own container or outdoor garden, care for it, and
harvest what they have grown. This hands-on approach provides students with a
sense of where fresh produce comes from, an appreciation for healthy foods and
daily activity, and a connection to making healthy life choices. The lessons
are age and grade level appropriate, and relate to a variety of content standards
for easy implementation.
The evidence-based
curriculum was created and tested by Klein Buendel with students at six
Colorado elementary schools and was found to increase knowledge of a healthy
diet in all grades. In younger grades, the curriculum improved attitudes toward
a healthy diet and increased intake of healthier foods.
“As obesity rates
continue to rise, education that addresses nutrition and physical activity in
elementary schools is essential,” said Ms. Mary Buller, one of the curriculum
collaborators from Klein Buendel. “Grow, Eat, Thrive helps makes that education
easy and fun for everyone.”
Grow, Eat, Thrive was created with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA 2005-33610-16469; Ms. Lee Stiffler-Myer, Principal Investigator). To access the free lesson plans, visit the Grow, Eat, Thrive website.
Using Panel Vendors to Recruit Research Participants
It has become more common to recruit research study participants through online panel vendors, such as GfK or Qualtrics. In a publication made available recently in PubMed Central from Evaluation and the Health Professions, Dr. Meme Wang-Schweig from the Prevention Research Center at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE) and her coauthors (including Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel), report on the use of panel vendors for recruiting research participants into a randomized controlled trial. The research study was testing an online, family-based alcohol prevention program for parents and older teens, called Smart Choices 4 Teens.
Panel vendors are hired to recruit and match potential research participants to a target population for data collection. Most panel vendors use non-probability sampling which does not involve random selection. People opt in to participate. The vendors advertise for panelists using website banner ads, emails, direct mail, etc. Panelists are paid but may also enjoy contributing their opinions to a research study. Panel vendors can recruit a potential research sample quickly.
Dr. Wang-Schweig’s paper endeavors to answer two methodological questions: (1) how well do panel vendors provide a sample of families to participate in a trial who meet specific inclusion criteria, and (2) how well do panel vendors provide a sample of families to participate in a trial who reflect the make-up of the general population? Using the Smart Choice 4 Teens project’s experience as a real-world example, the authors describe the process of working with panel vendors, the sample’s match to the intended target population, and the additional screening they employed to ensure the quality of the sample. Several recommendations are made for other research teams looking to use panel vendors to recruit study participants.
Smart Choice 4 Teens was supported by a grant from the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA020977; Dr. Brenda Miller, PIRE, Principal
Investigator). Dr. Wang-Schweig’s coauthors for this publication included Dr.
Brenda Miller, Dr. Hilary Byrnes, Dr. Beth Bourdeau, and Ms. Veronica Rogers
from PIRE; and Dr. David Buller from Klein Buendel.
The Importance of Managers’ Awareness of Sun Protection Policy
Improving occupational sun protection is a priority in the United States, as The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent Skin Cancer highlights. Klein Buendel and its collaborators responded to the call by launching a randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a workplace sun protection program for outdoor workers. The program, Sun Safe Workplaces, was implemented with 98 public employers in Colorado, a state with high ultraviolet radiation due to its high elevation and sunny climate. The intervention promoted the adoption or strengthening of sun safety policy and the implementation of employee sun protection training. A two-year follow-up study also was completed with 68 of the 98 public sector employers.
In a recent publication in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, Dr. Barbara Walkosz, Klein Buendel Senior Scientist, and her coauthors reported results related to the hypothesis that senior managers’ awareness of sun protection policy in the workplace would predict increased sun safety practices by employers and employees who work outdoors.
A full description of the methods (questionnaires and on-site observations), results, conclusions, and limitations of the research can be found in the American Journal of Industrial Medicinepublication. In general, more sun safety messages, manager-employee communication, sun safety practices, and sun protection equipment (sunscreen, hats, etc. ) were evident when senior managers were more aware of their organization’s sun protection policy.
Overall, the authors found that occupational sun protection programs can be more effective on the “front line” (with people who work outdoors) when the “back office” (senior management) is aware of and can, therefore, support and encourage their organization’s sun safety policies and practices.
This analysis was funded by a grant from the National Cancer
Institute at the National Institutes of Health (CA134705; Dr. David Buller and
Dr. Barbara Walkosz, Principal Investigators). Dr. Walkosz’s coauthors on this
paper included Dr. David Buller, Ms. Mary Buller, and Ms. Xia (Lucia) Liu from
Klein Buendel, and Dr. Allan Wallis from the University of Colorado Denver.
Klein Buendel has licensed its online responsible vendor training program for recreational marijuana stores, Train To Tend®, to Avid Will LLC for sales and marketing. Senior Scientists, Dr. David Buller and Dr. W. Gill Woodall, and their collaborators created Train To Tend to provide retail staff with knowledge and skills to sell recreational marijuana responsibly in an effort to keep their communities safe. Avid Will LLC will make Train to Tend available immediately to retail recreational marijuana stores in Colorado. State-specific versions for Oregon, Washington State, Massachusetts, and California will be launched this year, as well.
In 2017 and
2018, Train To Tend was tested using a random sample of state-licensed
recreational marijuana stores (n=225) in Colorado, Oregon, and Washington
State. One hundred twenty-five stores were randomly selected to receive the
Train To Tend training while the remaining stores received the usual and
customary training in their state. Post-training surveys were administered to
Train To Tend trainees to gauge their perceptions of self-efficacy toward responsible
vending practices, as well as their ratings of usability for Train To Tend.
The training
improved trainees’ ability to check IDs, and their confidence in using their
state’s inventory tracking system and identifying intoxicated customers. Trainees
rated the training as user-friendly and thought that the information and skills
learned in the training would help keep their communities safe. In a recent
review, Danielle, an Instructional Designer for Native Roots, a Colorado retail
chain, said “Train To Tend has been effective and engaging for our employees,
and we are thankful for the Train To Tend team and their online responsible vendor
program.”
The
development and evaluation of Train to Tend was funded by a grant from the
National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health (DA038933;
Dr. David Buller, Principal Investigator). Additional scientific collaborators
include Dr. W. Gill Woodall from Klein Buendel and Dr. Robert Saltz from the
Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation in California.
