Background: Malawi is a malaria-endemic country. A national malaria communication strategy was adopted to disseminate malaria messages with the aim of improving knowledge and adoption of malaria interventions. Objective: To examine the effect of maternal exposure to malaria messages and the medium through which such messages are delivered on…

Growing health inequities have led to calls for population health intervention research that can contribute to improving the health of marginalized populations, but conducting research with these communities can be challenging. When research aims to examine and understand an aspect of health in a population characterized as hard-to-reach or…

The rising prevalence rate of obesity in the United States has accentuated concerns about obesity-related problems as a major public health issue, which has motivated widespread efforts to increase public knowledge and to motivate individuals to change their relevant behaviors. Although health campaign messages commonly include information about…

Background: Place-based efforts offer promise in reducing childhood obesity. Yet, lack of public demand and support may hinder implementation. Aims: This study aimed to assess whether the emphasis on place-based solutions, community-wide strategies, and multisector engagement in the Healthy Schools Healthy Communities (HSHC) initiative would shift…

Successful public health media campaigns promote messages, increase awareness, engage the public, and encourage behavior change. Between 2004 and 2006, the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted a media campaign grounded in social learning theory and the social marketing model to…

Coal ash, a waste product generated from burning coal for energy, is composed of highly respirable particles containing heavy metals, radioactive elements, and polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons. Coal ash is stored in landfills and surface impoundments frequently located near neighborhoods. Fugitive dust from the storage sites exposes neighborhoods,…

Introduction: Coalitions are often composed of member organizations. Member involvement is thought to be associated with coalition success. No instrument currently exists for evaluating organizational member involvement in physical activity coalitions. This study aimed to develop a survey instrument for evaluating organizational member involvement…

Interorganizational collaboration is an essential function of public health agencies. These partnerships form social networks that involve diverse types of partners and varying levels of interaction. Such collaborations are widely accepted and encouraged, yet very little comparative research exists on how public health partnerships develop and…

With the marked increase of the Latino population in the United States during the past 20 years, there has been growing interest in the social, cultural, and structural factors that may impede breast cancer screening among Latino women, especially among those subgroups that have been understudied. Acculturation and fatalism are central cultural…

Community-level policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change strategies may offer an economical and sustainable approach to chronic disease prevention. The rapidly growing number of untested but promising PSE strategies currently underway offers an exciting opportunity to establish practice-based evidence for this approach. This article…

Little is known about dissemination strategies that contribute to health information recognition. This study examined (a) health campaign exposure and awareness (slogan and logo recognition); (b) perceived communication channels; (c) differences between perceptions of researcher-developed and enhancement community health information materials; and…

Past research has observed that certain subgroups (e.g., individuals who are overweight/obese) have inaccurate estimates of survival rates for particular cancers (e.g., colon cancer). However, no study has examined whether the lay public can accurately rank cancer survival rates in comparison with one another (i.e., rank cancers from most deadly…

Objectives: In an effort to reduce HIV transmission among injection drug users (IDUs), New York State deregulated pharmacy syringe sales in 2001 through the Expanded Syringe Access Program by removing the requirement of a prescription. With evidence suggesting pharmacists' ability to expand their public health role, a structural, pharmacy-based…

Social and public health scientists are increasingly interested in applying system dynamics theory to improve understanding and to harness the forces of change within complex, multilevel systems that affect community intervention implementation, effects, and sustainability. Building a system dynamics model based on ethnographic case study has the…

Existing research suggests that religious institutions play a significant role in improving the health of communities, particularly those coping with racial and ethnic discrimination. Using the California Health Interview Survey, this article examines the relationship of self-reported experiences of racial/ethnic discrimination, worship…