Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community最新文献

The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) measures general life stress and the Impact of Events Scale (IES) measures retrospective stress from a specific event; both have been validated across various audiences and settings. However, neither measure stress during an evolving public health crisis. The aim was to refine the PSS to measure stress during an event (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic) and examine its psychometric properties within a 4-year Hispanic-Serving Institution in the Bronx, NY. Three items from the IES were added to and one PSS item was removed from the PSS-10, creating a new PSS-12. Cronbach's α for the scale was 0.902 for faculty and 0.903 for students, indicating high internal consistency. Factor analyses also supported calculation of two subtotals similarly across groups. The PSS-12 is a valid instrument to measure perceived stress during a public health crisis, particularly among populations that already experience community health disparities.

Crisis communication is most effective when it takes into consideration the emotional reactions of those involved. Messages pertaining to pandemic illness such as COVID-19 should thus include the most effective types of words, given the goal of crisis management. This study investigated hypothesized word categories (e.g., reward/risk, focus on present versus past) related to superordinate categories of positive and negative emotional tone in COVID-19 fact sheets from each of the fifty states in the U.S. The relation of six word types to the superordinate categories and a health outcome variable (the rate of deaths per positive virus cases) was also tested. Results indicated that each of the six word types mapped on to either the positive or negative emotion word category. Furthermore, messages that included more reward and uncertainty words were associated with lower deaths per positive virus cases. Implications for future pandemic crisis messages are discussed.

Patients with COVID-19 may present with neurological manifestations, lack of oxygenation, or clotting disorders such as ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes. This has been observed in even young patients with mild symptoms. The aim of this study was to explore current online news coverage of acute stroke associated with COVID-19 in the four-month period from April 2020 to July 2020, a time during which the US found itself in the center of the pandemic. The relevant Google News stories were reviewed for content. The analysis indicated that 118 online news reports covered the topic to varying degrees, including data from reputable sources, references to the neurological symptoms, and to the incidence of stroke in young patients. It is important that health professionals be aware of this risk and convey to the public the possibility of stroke due to COVID-19 so as to increase the probability of early diagnosis and optimal outcomes.

The uncertain and unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic is anxiety-provoking and some people are seeking information about this anxiety online. The purpose of this study was to assess the readability levels of online articles related to anxiety and COVID-19. The first 50 English language URLs to appear in a Google search in July 2020 were assessed for readability using Readable.io. A five-measure panel consisting of the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL), Gunning Fog Index, Coleman-Liau Index (CLI), the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Grade Level, and Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease (FRE) was used, and grade level scores were recoded as easy, average, and difficult readability. Websites were grouped as commercial vs. noncommercial sources bases on the URL. Of the 50 articles evaluated, the majority were found to be written at a difficult (>10th grade) reading level with four of the five measures employed which is well above the 7-8th grade reading level abilities of most Americans. Given the importance of access to mental health information during the pandemic, it is crucial that the resources available to the general public are written at a reading level that is comprehensible to ensure they are understood.

Opioid related drug overdose deaths are a leading cause of death and injury in the United States. While research demonstrates that where people live has a major impact on drug use and abuse, most work looks at social dynamics at the county level or under the rubric of the urban/rural divide. Only recently, scholarship has become attuned to the post-industrialized areas located on the fringes of urban cores. Data presented in here are from field research conducted in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a small river town located east of Pittsburgh. Once a thriving industrial city, it is now deteriorated and has documented high levels of overdose experience. Preliminary results suggest that McKeesport residents, even before the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), practice social and physical distancing as a way of life; data indicate how the pandemic potentially exacerbates the risk of accidental opioid overdose among a population defined by both geographic and social isolation.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, speech-language pathology telepractice was used by a small percentage of consumers. The 2020 pandemic necessitated the transition of most services to an online format. This article reports on a brief, electronic survey that was completed by 145 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) during the early months (June 2020) of the pandemic. Results showed that the majority of SLPs will continue using a telepractice model into 2021 and beyond, as more than half of SLPs rated the quality as similar to services delivered in-person. The absence of earlier preparation, access to and hindrances with technology, and client factors were the main elements influencing telepractice success for SLPs. However, telepractice was rated as an efficient means of consultation, evaluation, and intervention and survey results revealed that 53.84% of SLPs plan on maintaining this modality at a higher than pre-pandemic level.

The injustice of gentrification is often reduced to residential displacement and the loss of affordable housing. Yet, in addition to physical displacement of residents, gentrification also displaces community histories, social ties, and spaces of cultural gathering and civic action. The Neighborhood Story Project is a participatory action research intervention designed to engage residents of gentrifying neighborhoods in addressing more than the material effects of gentrification. This multi-case study of three Neighborhood Story Projects finds that participants experienced gains in (1) place knowledge and attachments, (2) social relationships, and (3) self and collective efficacy. Findings from this multi-case study suggest a broad practice model for group-level interventions to advance justice in gentrifying neighborhoods.

Promoting the well-being of immigrants and refugees is a critical social justice issue for many communities in the United States. The current study investigated how coping strategies and social support promote the well-being of immigrants and refugees. Participants were foreign-born individuals (N = 90) in a Midwestern state. The effects of coping strategies (i.e. forward- and trauma-focus coping, instrumental and emotional support seeking) and social support (i.e. personal and community support) on three levels of well-being (i.e. physical, psychological, and relationship) were examined using multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) and a path analysis. Results showed main effects of forward-focus coping and support seeking on wellbeing. Additionally, community support significantly predicted different coping strategies. Discussion focuses on the roles of coping and social support, as well as the study's implications for the roles of communities in promoting the well-being of immigrants and refugees.

Prospera, a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCTs) program in Mexico, provides recipients with cash contingent on three nodes of civic engagement: health, nutrition and education. This article examines the educational component of Prospera in La Gloria, in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. I utilize gender and culture of migration theories to explore the role gender plays in the educational, employment and migration outcomes of 31 high school students, and a smaller sample that pursued post-secondary education, six years after participating in the Prospera program. My findings raise questions about the ability of Prospera to ameliorate social inequalities, foster gender equity, and economic mobility among indigenous recipient households.

Recovery homes currently provide a supportive, cohesive setting following addiction treatment to thousands of individuals who often have the least resources and consequently a high risk of relapse. Such homes are particularly important regarding reducing inequality, particularly for those with substance use disorders exiting inpatient treatment or jail/prison, and many of these individuals have experienced homelessness and high rates of psychiatric co-morbidity. Yet, the success of these houses and their residents is likely related to the ability of the residents to obtain employment. This study geocoded data from 52 Oxford House recovery homes throughout Illinois. Data indicated that Oxford Houses in Illinois were often located in areas with the highest unemployment activity in the state. Placing homes in communities with higher job opportunities and employment rates could increase employment for individual residents and, subsequently, reduce inequality by increasing their odds of long term abstinence.