Background: Religious institutions play a crucial role in health promotion and hold significant influence in the public health field. Aim: The aim of this review is to examine outcomes of health-promoting interventions involving the use of mosques as the intervention venue, its role in promoting health behavior change, and the role of theory in…

Objective: Health behavior research suggests that perceived social norms impact health decisions. This study aimed to (a) examine reasons for vaccine hesitancy among a sample of college students compared to a clinical sample (b) examine the accuracy of perceptions of others' receptivity and intention to seek out the COVID-19 vaccine, and (c)…

Background: Adolescence coincides with the adoption of health behaviors that schools are not necessarily equipped to properly address. Collaboration between schools and external health services such as public health could fill gaps in addressing student health. Methods: The current study uses student- and school-level survey data from 59…

This study conducted a content analysis of 639 news articles about e-cigarettes in China from 2004-2019 to examine longitudinal changes in media frames and media tones about e-cigarettes in Chinese newspapers. Results indicated that policy frame was the most frequently used frame, followed by human impact frame, information frame, and uncertainty…

Mass media campaigns are an effective population-level intervention for preventing tobacco use. However, little evidence exists for whether these campaigns similarly influence demographic subgroups. This study examined the effects of the truth® campaign to reduce tobacco use among demographic subgroups. We used data from a national, continuous,…

Background: Following the spread of COVID-19, the Rhode Island Department of Health delivered its first virtual World Diabetes Day (RIWDD) event. Evaluations exploring advantages and disadvantages of delivering public health events virtually are generally lacking. Purpose: The aims of the present paper were to evaluate the reach, feasibility, and…

Objective: Participating in an escape room is not just an entertainment but can also be a form of education. Because of this, the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH), Project Firstline (PFL) created an escape room interactive training tool and skills-building exercise to encourage the identification and use of key infection control principles…

Recently, multiple health organizations and advocacy groups have pushed for giving an R-rating for movies depicting tobacco imagery. This study examined several predictors of U.S. adults' opinion toward an R-rating policy for movies depicting cigarette smoking. We used data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (2020 cycle), for a…

Given the COVID-19 pandemic's disproportionate impact on Hispanic individuals in the United States, research examining modifiable psychosocial correlates of COVID-19 preventive behaviors in this population is warranted. Prior research highlights health literacy and health consciousness as integral for the establishment of health-promoting…

Over the past year, educators have developed curricula teaching about the COVID-19 pandemic (Reed 2020; Royce 2020; Sadler et al. 2020). Many of these curricula feature computer simulations of epidemic dynamics (Kelter 2020; Sadler et al. 2020). Because an epidemic pattern is an emergent property of interacting human behaviors, it is crucial for…

Understanding the lifestyle changes that authorities have requested or required in response to COVID-19 requires some biological knowledge. Therefore, articulations of intended biology learning at the school level will need to be evaluated, to see if they continue to be fit for purpose in light of the pandemic. This article proposes two principles…

The general science of infection prevention and control can be applied to and adapted for a variety of settings, including kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12). Strategies can be implemented in the classroom and whole school environment to prevent a wide array of illnesses caused by both bacteria and viruses. This science brief presents findings…

Coronavirus disease 2019 exacerbated health inequities in Bronx Communities. This study explored vaccine hesitancy among a random sample of faculty and students from Hebert Lehman College. Findings suggest faculty are largely vaccinated (87%), while 59% of students are unvaccinated. Significant gaps in information were found related to safety and…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been characterized by misinformation, politicization of public health, and extreme differences in risk assessment. In two studies, we sought to understand factors that contribute to differences in people's understanding of the virus and associated risks. We found that conservative participants reported higher levels of…

Social media platforms are home to large volumes of ambiguous hashtag-based claims about the health, modified-risk, and cessation benefits of electronic cigarette products (e.g., #Vapingsavedmylife). The objective of this study was to qualitatively explore how young adults interpret these hashtags on the popular platform Instagram. Specifically,…