Usefulness of a Health Education and Promotion Book Club to Teach About Race and Social Justice

Emphasizing the value of utilizing both facts and stories to teach and learn about health, race, and social justice, this reflection makes a case for using The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Well: What We Need to Talk About When We Talk About Health to create a dialogue with undergraduate health education students. The unique combination of facts and stories that the two books provide sparked conversations from which both my students and I were grateful to learn.

Understanding the landscape and propagation of COVID-19 misinformation and its correction on Sina Weibo

The prevalence of health misinformation on social media could significantly influence individuals’ health behaviors. To examine the prevalent topics, propagation, and correction of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) misinformation, automated content analyses were conducted for posts on Sina Weibo, which is China’s largest microblogging site. In total, 177,816 posts related to COVID-19 misinformation during the COVID-19 outbreak in China were analyzed. The structural topic modeling identified 23 valid topics regarding COVID-19 misinformation and its correction, which were further categorized into three general themes. Sentiment analysis was conducted to generate positive and negative sentiment scores for each post. The zero-inflated Poisson model indicated that only the negative sentiment was a significant predictor of the number of comments (β = 0.003, p < 0.001) but not reposts. Furthermore, users are more prone to repost and comment on information regarding prevention/treatment (e.g., traditional Chinese medicine preventing COVID) as well as potential threats of COVID-19 (e.g., COVID-19 was defined as an epidemic by World Health Organization). Health education and promotion implications are discussed.

Impact of conspiracy beliefs on Covid-19 fear and health protective behavior: a case of university students

PurposeThis study investigated the impact of conspiracy beliefs on fear of Covid-19 and health protective behavior of university students in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey using an online questionnaire was conducted at three universities in Punjab (e.g. two public sectors and one private sector) with permission from concerned authorities for data collection. A total of 374 responses were received that were analyzed by applying both descriptive and inferential statistics.FindingsThe results indicated the prevalence of conspiracy beliefs and fear of Covid-19 among university students of two public sector universities and one private sector university. Furthermore, the conspiracy beliefs of university students predicted their fear of Covid-19. However, conspiracy beliefs did not predict the health protective behavior of university students.Research limitations/implicationsThese results had serious implications for public health in Pakistan demonstrating the critical need for health education and promotion as individual preparedness along with system preparedness is essential to combat Covid-19 pandemic and infodemic. These results are useful for policymakers, healthcare professionals, university administration and library staff for making evidence-based decisions toward health education and promotion related to the Covid-19 pandemic.Originality/valueIt is hoped that the present study would make an invaluable contribution to existing research on promotional health in general and the role of conspiracy beliefs in putting public health at risk in particular as limited studies have been published so far.

Developing a Departmental Accreditation Model for Primary Healthcare in Iran

Background: Recently, the healthcare systems have turned towards cost-effective services such as primary healthcare (PHC) due to the increasing costs of health services. Objectives: This study aimed to develop a departmental accreditation model for primary healthcare in Iran. Methods: Initially, primary standards were obtained by making use of available scientific documents in service delivery units in the realm of primary healthcare in Iran as well as by obtaining feedback from their specialists. Then, all primary standards were entered into Delphi questionnaire and evaluated on a 9 point Likert scale by 15 - 20 experts based on two criteria of significance and feasibility. Finally, the final standards were specified based on the qualitative points obtained from the experts. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 18. Results: The final model obtained had 231 standards and 3065 measures in the twelve defined units. The total mean score was 8.38 and 7.65 for the sum of model measures in two criteria of significance and feasibility, respectively. The twelve standard domains were developed for accreditation of service provider units, including specialized realms of communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, population and family health, mental-social health and addition, teenage, youth, and school health, disaster management, environmental health, occupational health, oral health, healthy nutrition, health education, and promotion, as well as medication and laboratory. Conclusions: Given that the developed model encompasses all PHC domains, its implementing will result in continuous enhancement in the quality and safety of PHC in Iran.

Community Coalition Action Theory: Introducing an Interventional Application to Confronting Covid-19

It’s less possible to promote health behaviors without theory-based studies and it’s better to use health education and promotion theories for more effective health education and promotion interventions. Theories are able to change the behavior of individuals at the personal, interpersonal, organizational, social, and policymaking levels. Organizations play an important role in the daily life of people, and any changes in these organizations can affect people's health. The Community Coalition Action Theory (CCAT) is a form of theories for the change across organizations. A community coalition is a structured arrangement where all members can work together on a common goal and objective. The current article focuses on applications of the CCAT to provide a framework for the development of activities and interventions related to confronting Covid-19. Forming a coalition is very significant and can increase the effectiveness of interventional programs. CCAT is one of the best practices that can be achieved through joint activities of multiple organizations that lead to improved health behaviors

An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Parents’ Views on a School Oral Health Program

Introduction: School-based oral health programs enhance the oral health knowledge, practices and attitudes of children by employing oral health education, promotion, prevention, treatment and/or referral services to reduce the prevalence of oral diseases among school children. Periodic evaluation of School Oral Health Programs is essential to assess the impact of the program, its effectiveness, acceptability and to promote quality improvement. Objective: To explore the parents’ views on Asnani (My Teeth) School Oral Health Program. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, exploratory, cross sectional study was conducted among parents of children in public primary schools of Qatar, who had participated in Asnani (My Teeth) School Oral Health Program. Primary data on parents’ views, experiences, opinions and suggestions towards Asnani School Oral Health Program was obtained utilizing open-ended questionnaires. Thematic analysis was employed for the organization of the rich descriptive data, while deriving at themes which convey the explicit and implicit interpretation of the data collected. Results: Qualitative responses from 359 parents revealed five principal themes i.e. Perceived value, Reinforcement of Oral Health Education and Promotion, Frequent dental check-ups, Continuity of care and Additional school-based activities. Conclusion: Perceptions of parents regarding the Asnani School Oral Health Program disclosed in this study provide valuable insights about their acceptability of this school based oral health program. The results are also encouraging as the parents realize the importance of oral health for their children and recommended need for reinforcement of the oral health education and promotion.

Exploring Predictors of eHealth Literacy Among Older Adults: Findings From the 2020 CALSPEAKS Survey

With the Internet continuously being used as a means of providing health education and promotion to the public, consumers are increasingly going online to gather pertinent health information. However, disparities exist with regards to consumers’ ability in finding, evaluating, and applying online health information (collectively referred to as eHealth literacy). Identifying these disparities may elucidate which segments of the population would benefit from targeted eHealth literacy interventions and ways to adapt online health promotion materials. This study uses data from the 2020 CALSPEAKS survey to identify disparities in eHealth literacy among older adults aged 65+ residing in California, USA ( N = 237). eHealth literacy is self-assessed using the previously validated 8-item eHEALS questionnaire. Ordinary least squares regression analyses are performed on individual eHEALS items and on a summed eHealth literacy score, with demographic and technology use-related characteristics as predictors. Results show that the strongest and most consistent predictors of eHealth literacy include education, frequency of Internet use, and breadth of Internet activities regularly performed. Findings suggest that those seeking to increase eHealth literacy specifically among older Californians may benefit from tailoring their interventions and online health promotion materials towards those with less education and those with less Internet experience.