ABSTRACTS
Volume 13, Number 7
October 2008
Vol. 13, Number 7: Contents | Editorial | Abstracts
Effects of Program Exposure and Engagement With Tailored Prevention Communication on Sun Protection by Young Adolescents
Kim D. Reynolds a; David B. Buller b; Amy L. Yaroch c; Julie Maloy b; Cristy R. Geno d; Gary R. Cutter e
a Claremont Graduate University, Claremont, California, USA
b Klein Buendel, Inc., Golden, Colorado, USA
c National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
d Kaiser Permanente of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
e University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Few family-based interventions to increase sun safe behavior among adolescents have been evaluated. The present study tested an intervention that included tailored and nontailored print communications delivered by mail to adolescents (age 11 to 15) and their parents who were also participating in an evaluation of an in-school intervention. The use of sunscreen, protective clothing, and avoidance of the sun were promoted, and family communication and environmental change strategies were fostered. Adolescents and their parents were pretested in May of 2002 and posttested from August to October. Adolescents (N = 599) were stratified on experimental condition in the in-school study (in-school intervention vs control) and randomly were assigned from within strata to receive (N = 288) or not receive (N = 311) the summer intervention materials. No statistically significant effects were found for adolescents between the randomized experimental conditions. Parents' had increased knowledge (F = 5.52, p < .05) and propensity to have their child wear sunglasses (F = 4.07, p < .05). Greater program exposure/engagement led to enhanced sun protection behavior (e.g., fewer sunburns) and psychosocial factors among adolescents and parents. Greater exposure/engagement led to improvements in family interaction and home environment (e.g., shade audit completed). Future research is needed on exposure/engagement with family-based health messaging and on family-based sun safety programs for adolescents.
Perceptions of Health Care Provider Communication Activity Among American Cancer Survivors and Adults Without Cancer Histories: An Analysis of the 2003 Health Information Trends Survey (HINTS) Data
Haean Ok a; Ray Marks b; John P. Allegrante c
a Mokwon University, Daejeon City, South Korea
b City University of New York, New York, USA
c Columbia University, New York, New York, USA
Provider communication is an important determinant of health outcomes. We examined the frequency with which five important communication activities were perceived by cancer survivors and adults without a history of cancer to have been performed by their primary care providers. We analyzed data on more than 5,000 adults drawn from the 2003 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a public dataset of the National Cancer Institute. We analyzed the responses to a question that asked how frequently the respondent's primary care provider had performed the following communication activities in the past 12 months: (1) listening carefully, (2) explaining things, (3) showing respect, (4) spending enough time, and (5) involving the patient in joint decision making. In addition, we compared responses among demographic subgroups. Results showed that regardless of health status or demographic characteristics, the 2003 HINTS respondents reported less than optimal rates of their providers “always” listening carefully, explaining things, showing respect, spending enough time, and involving them in joint decision making. Being Hispanic and having no usual provider or health insurance were associated with a significantly lower frequency of reporting that providers “always” performed the five communication activities (p < .05).
Myths and Attitudes that Sustain Smoking in China
Shaojun Ma a; Mai-Anh Hoang b; Jonathan M. Samet b; Junfang Wang a; Cuizhu Mei c; Xuefang Xu c; Frances A. Stillman b
a Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
b Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
c School of Public Health, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
China is a particularly critical country for global tobacco control. It has the world's largest number of smokers and is a prize target for the multinational tobacco companies. This article presents results from 80 focus groups and 30 in-depth interviews on the salient myths and misconceptions concerning active and passive smoking for the purpose of developing appropriate tobacco control policies and intervention strategies to reduce tobacco consumption and secondhand smoke exposure. All participants resided in three counties in Jiangxi, Henan, and Sichuan provinces and were from hospitals, schools, and rural and urban communities. The myths and misconceptions included the identification of smoking as a symbol of personal freedom, the importance of tobacco in social and cultural interactions, the ability to control the health effects of smoking through “reasonable” and “measured” use, and the importance of tobacco to the economy. These myths were found in nonsmokers and smokers alike, in both rural and urban areas, and across the key professional groups. For China to curb its current smoking epidemic, tobacco control efforts will have to persuasively address and counter prevailing misconceptions and social norms surrounding smoking. This article discusses the implications of misconceptions and prosmoking attitudes for tobacco control efforts in China.
Interrupting a Narrative Transportation Experience: Program Placement Effects on Responses to Antismoking Advertising
Sarah Durkin a; Melanie Wakefield a
a Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, The Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
It is thought that “transportation”—absorption into the narrative flow of a story—may play a role in influencing resistance to persuasion. We hypothesized that advertising that disrupts the experience of narrative transportation may be adversely appraised by audiences. This study aimed to explore the influence of two types of television programs: narratives (dramas, comedies, and soap operas) versus nonnarratives (light entertainment, sports, documentaries, and news), on smokers' reactions to antismoking advertisements. In preexposure interviews, daily smokers (n = 779) were asked to watch a particular television program they usually watched. Postexposure interviews were conducted within 3 days of exposure. Results indicated that placing an antismoking ad within a program in which the viewer is focused on the narrative flow of a story may lead to reduced immediate cognitive and emotional impact of the ad and reduced intentions to quit, especially among those for whom the ad is most relevant, such as those preparing to quit smoking. Placing antismoking advertising in light entertainment, sports, documentaries, and news programs may make scarce public health dollars go further.
Reproductive Health Information for Young Women in Kazakhstan: Disparities in Access by Channel
Cynthia Buckley a; Jennifer Barrett b; Kristen Adkins a
a Department of Sociology, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas, USA
b Department of Sociology, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, USA
This study explores young women's reliance on reproductive and sexual health information channels, examining the relationship between information sources and reproductive health knowledge. Utilizing 1995 and 1999 Kazakhstan Demographic and Health Surveys, we investigate access to reproductive health knowledge among young women (ages 15-24) during a key period in the development of wide-scale reproductive health programs in Kazakhstan. Despite reproductive health campaigns throughout the 1990s, we find consistently high proportions of young women without family planning information access. Among young women with access to information, few received information from channels most strongly linked to knowledge and behavioral changes (family and medical professionals). Mass media sources and peer information networks remained the most often utilized channels. Urban residence, non-Kazakh ethnicity, older age (20-24), and higher education significantly increased the odds of accessing family planning information among young Kazakhstani women, and these same factors were especially important in terms of the relative odds of accessing medical and parental channels. While overall contraceptive knowledge and prevalence rose in Kazakhstan during the 1990s, we find knowledge varied by the information channel accessed. Findings also indicate that young women, regardless of marital status, possessed consistently low levels of reproductive health knowledge at the decade's end.
Health-Related On-Line Forums: What's the Big Attraction?
Martin Tanis a
a VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
This study investigates what motivates people to make use of health-related online forums, and how people feel that using these forums helps them in coping with their situation. Results are based on an online questionnaire (N = 189) among users of a variety of health forums. Findings show an overall positive effect of using forums on the degree to which people are better able to cope with the situation they are facing, both socially and with their condition. This especially holds for people who find forums a convenient tool for inclusion or gathering information. A negative effect on coping, however, is found for people who primarily use forums for discussion. The study also shows that features that often are mentioned in literature on computer-mediated communication (i.e., the anonymity it affords, its text-based character, and the possibility it offers for network expansion) are recognized but appreciated differently by users. Users who feel stigmatized especially appreciate the anonymity of online forums, while people who are restricted in their mobility appreciate the possibilities for network expansion.
Book Review
A Review of: “Groopman, J. (2007). How Doctors Think.”
New York: Houghton Mifflin.
Author: J. David Johnson
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