scholarly journals Does Identification Matter? How Felt-Connectedness among University Students in Kenya and the USA Influences Health Seeking Behaviours

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-83
Author(s):  
Robert Nyaga ◽  
Marifran Mattson
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Social Identity Theory ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Health Data ◽  
Health Interventions ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
Health Choices ◽  
The Usa

Guided by social identity theory (SIT), this study considers how identification influences health seeking behaviours among college  students in Kenya and the USA. The study sought to investigate how felt-connectedness among students influenced the health choices they made and the relevance of identification to health. Data were collected using responsive interviews with 22 students in a large Kenyan university and 21 students at a Midwestern university. The age of the participants from both countries ranged from 20 to 29 years. Data were coded and analysed using thematic analysis. The findings of the study indicate that identification  influenced students’ health seeking behaviours, especially on use of contraceptives, vaccination, choosing a physician, offering advice, eating habits, and in ensuring safety for friends at risk. This study point to the need of health communicators to utilize  identification in health interventions targeting college students.

scholarly journals Feasibility of using a biofeedback device in mindfulness training - a pilot randomized controlled trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brenna Lin ◽  
Christopher Prickett ◽  
Steven Woltering
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Open Science ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Test Procedures ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Biofeedback Device

Abstract Background Stress can negatively impact an individual’s health and well-being and high levels of stress are noted to exist among college students today. While traditional treatment methods are plagued with stigma and transfer problems, newly developed wearable biofeedback devices may offer unexplored possibilities. Although these products are becoming commonplace and inexpensive, scientific evidence of the effectiveness of these products is scarce and their feasibility within research contexts are relatively unexplored. Conversely, companies are not required, and possibly reluctant, to release information on the efficacy of these products against their claims. Thus, in the present pilot, we assess the feasibility of using a real-time respiratory-based biofeedback device in preparation for a larger study. Our main aims were to assess device-adherence and collaboration with the company that develops and sells the device. Method Data were collected from 39 college students who self-identified as experiencing chronic stress at a Southwestern university in the USA. Students were randomized into either a mindfulness-only control group without a biofeedback device (n = 21), or an experimental group with biofeedback device (n = 18). Both groups received mindfulness meditation training. Pre-test and post-test procedures were conducted 2 weeks apart. Further, both participant compliance and company compliance were assessed and collaboration with the company was evaluated. Results Participant device-adherence as well as the company’s collaboration necessary for a full-scale study was determined to be low. This may also have affected our results which showed a strong main effect for time for all outcome variables, suggesting all groups showed improvement in their levels of stress after the intervention period. No group by time effects were identified, however, indicating no added benefit of the biofeedback device. Conclusions Our findings suggest feasibility of future studies requires full collaboration and detailed and agreed upon data sharing procedures with the biofeedback company. The particular device under investigation added no value to the intervention outcomes and it was not feasible to continue a larger-scale study. Further, as the technology sector is innovating faster than it can validate products, we urge for open science collaborations between public and private sectors to properly develop evidence-based regulations that can withstand technological innovation while maintaining product quality, safety, and effectiveness. Trial registration NCT02837016. Registered 19 July 2016.

scholarly journals Characteristics associated with changes in food security status among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Soldavini ◽  
Hazael Andrew ◽  
Maureen Berner
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Food Security Status ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Security Module ◽  
Adult Food

Abstract The prevalence of food insecurity in the USA has increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, past studies have not examined how the food security status of college students has been impacted. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the prevalence of food insecurity; determine the proportion of students experiencing a change in food security status; and identify characteristics associated with changes in food security status from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of college students. We administered a cross-sectional online survey to students from a large public university in the Southeastern USA. The 10-item U.S. Adult Food Security Module was used to assess food security status during the spring 2020 semester both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and students self-reported a variety of individual characteristics. The overall prevalence of food insecurity increased by approximately one-third during the spring 2020 semester from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic. When examining the types of changes in food security status experienced by students, 12% improved, 68% stayed the same, and 20% worsened. A variety of characteristics were associated with an improvement or worsening of food security status category from before to during the pandemic. Similar to what is seen in other reports, we found that the overall proportion of college students in our sample experiencing food insecurity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, some students showed improvements in food security status. Approaches for addressing food insecurity during and beyond the pandemic are needed.

scholarly journals Using Google Trends to Examine the Spatio-Temporal Incidence and Behavioral Patterns of Dengue Disease: A Case Study in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Howell T. Ho ◽  
Thaddeus M. Carvajal ◽  
John Robert Bautista ◽  
Jayson Dale R. Capistrano ◽  
Katherine M. Viacrusis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Cross Correlation ◽  
Google Trends ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Epidemiological Methods ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
Health Seeking Behavior ◽  
Search Queries ◽  
Seeking Behavior

Dengue is a major public health concern and an economic burden in the Philippines. Despite the country’s improved dengue surveillance, it still suffers from various setbacks and needs to be complemented with alternative approaches. Previous studies have demonstrated the potential of Internet-based surveillance such as Google Dengue Trends (GDT) in supplementing current epidemiological methods for predicting future dengue outbreaks and patterns. With this, our study has two objectives: (1) assess the temporal relationship of weekly GDT and dengue incidence in Metropolitan Manila from 2009–2014; and (2) examine the health-seeking behavior based on dengue-related search queries of the population. The study collated the population statistics and reported dengue cases in Metropolitan Manila from respective government agencies to calculate the dengue incidence (DI) on a weekly basis for the entire region and annually per city. Data processing of GDT and dengue incidence was performed by conducting an ‘adjustment’ and scaling procedures, respectively, and further analyzed for correlation and cross-correlation analyses using Pearson’s correlation. The relative search volume of the term ‘dengue’ and top dengue-related search queries in Metropolitan Manila were obtained and organized from the Google Trends platform. Afterwards, a thematic analysis was employed, and word clouds were generated to examine the health behavior of the population. Results showed that weekly temporal GDT pattern are closely similar to the weekly DI pattern in Metropolitan Manila. Further analysis showed that GDT has a moderate and positive association with DI when adjusted or scaled, respectively. Cross-correlation analysis revealed a delayed effect where GDT leads DI by 1–2 weeks. Thematic analysis of dengue-related search queries indicated 5 categories namely; (a) dengue, (b) sign and symptoms of dengue, (c) treatment and prevention, (d) mosquito, and (e) other diseases. The majority of the search queries were classified in ‘signs and symptoms’ which indicate the health-seeking behavior of the population towards the disease. Therefore, GDT can be utilized to complement traditional disease surveillance methods combined with other factors that could potentially identify dengue hotspots and help in public health decisions.

scholarly journals College Students’ Perceptions of Worry and Parent Beliefs: Associations with Behaviors to Prevent Sun Exposure

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Yockey ◽  
Laura A. Nabors ◽  
Oladunni Oluwoye ◽  
Kristen Welker ◽  
Angelica M. Hardee
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Protective Clothing ◽  
Sun Exposure ◽  
Sun Protection ◽  
Parental Beliefs ◽  
Parent Beliefs ◽  
Prevention Messages ◽  
Midwestern University ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Impact

More research is needed to understand how attitudes impact behaviors that afford sun protection. The current study examined the impact of students’ perceptions of parental beliefs about sun exposure and its influence on their practiced sun protection behaviors and worry about sun exposure. Participants were college students (N=462) at a large Midwestern university. They completed a survey to examine their perceptions of risks and messages about sun exposure and sun exposure behaviors. Results indicated that gender and students’ perceptions of parental beliefs about sun exposure were related to sun protection behaviors and their own worry over sun exposure. Specifically, males showed lower levels of sun protection behaviors, with the exception of wearing a hat with a brim, and lower levels of worry about sun exposure compared to females. Roughly a third of our sample had a family history of skin cancer, and this variable was related to worry about sun exposure and parental beliefs. Prevention messages and interventions to reduce sun risk for college students should address risks of sun exposure as well as educating young adults about the importance of wearing sunscreen, protective clothing, and hats to improve sun protection.

ELDER ABUSE

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-498
Author(s):  
Frank Glendenning
Keyword(s):  
Elder Abuse ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Biological Research ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health Seeking ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Personal Library ◽  
Public Health Epidemiology

L. B. Cebik, Glenn C. Graber and Frank H. Marsh (eds) Advances in Bioethics: Volume 1: Violence, Neglect and the Elderly. JAI Press Inc., Greenwich, Conn. 1996, 240 pp. £62.50 Hbk ISBN 0-7623-0096-5.This book appears to be the first volume of a series, although it is not clear what additional volumes will follow. The price alone suggests that it is aimed at academic libraries, although serious researchers into elder mistreatment may decide that it is a necessary addition to a personal library as a book of reference.The Preface explains the origin of this series on Advances in Bioethics: ‘The magnitude of violence in the United States has become an increasingly grim reality for many Americans’. Walker and Maltby (1997), in their presentation of European research on ageing, recently drew attention to the sense of fear of walking out at night that older people have in all the member states of the European Union. The same appears to be true in the USA as well. The preface catalogues figures for 1992: 207,000 rapes, over 20,000 murders and 690,000 robberies. This has led the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to focus attention on violence and health, seeking to understand violence-related behaviour and its consequences. In 1993, the NIH set up the Panel of NIH Research on Antisocial, Aggressive and Violence-related Behaviours and their Consequences. The Panel included experts on ethics, criminal justice, medicine, behavioural and biological research, public health, epidemiology, anthropology, nursing, sociology, psychology and psychiatry. The Panel's purpose was to ‘evaluate the NIH research portfolio in terms of its relevance, adequacy and responsiveness to social and ethical concerns.’ It has been necessary to give this background in order that the book may be seen in context.

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