On June 24, 2022, the United States (U.S.) Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which has provided federal protection for safe and legal abortion access and care for 49 years in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. This decision gave states the power to enact some of the most restrictive abortion policies, resulting in 14…

The American Community Survey (ACS), a nationwide study collected continuously every year in every county in the United States, is designed to provide communities with reliable and timely demographic, social, economic, and housing data each year. These ACS estimates are not averages of monthly or annual values, but rather an aggregation of data…

This chapter provides an overview of a community-based approach to documentary photography known as photovoice and describes how Community Health Advisors in Mississippi and Alabama used photovoice to empower themselves and take action by becoming active partners in their individual and in their community's health.

State and local officials who shuttered school buildings to stem the spread of COVID-19 in early 2020 are beginning to plan for the return of students and staff. They will need evidence-based strategies to know how best to create and maintain safe, healthy spaces. To inform their plans, federal health officials have provided guidance on cleaning…

The Science Teaching Excites Medical Interest (STEMI) program is an evolving collaboration of academic health science center-based biomedical clinical and research experts, graduate students in clinical anatomy, and Mississippi K-12 schools that seeks to develop a technologically-enhanced teacher-centered community of health learners. The present…

Fifty-four growers/producers attended four 1-day good agricultural practices (GAP) and good handling practices (GHP) workshops at four locations in Mississippi. Pre- and post workshop survey data indicated that the participants' food safety knowledge increased by 15%. Furthermore, the workshops helped producers develop their own food safety plans.…

Recent media reporting and research suggest that regional comprehensive universities (RCUs) and other postsecondary institutions may play an integral role in the welfare of rural regions, yet empirical research on the regional service of rural postsecondary institutions is limited. The purpose of this study was to examine how a single RCU serves…

Government officials are taking swift public health actions to slow the rapidly spreading COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of March, statewide school closures affected 55.1 million K-12 public school students across the country. While school closures affect all students, students from underserved communities feel this impact even greater. Data on…

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…

Community health education does more than educate communities about health. In the most basic form, community health education seeks to enable citizens to assume responsibility for their own and their community's health through an understanding of their community's health problems and the societal influences that act upon them. Many community…

America has a serious weight problem. Two-thirds of adults and nearly one-fifth of children in the United States are overweight, placing them at greater risk for heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases including cancer and arthritis. Furthermore, obesity and its related health problems are placing a major strain on the U.S. health care…

As influenza activity throughout the United States continues its gradual rise, H1N1 in particular has been the risk-management topic of the season for most colleges and universities. Among the questions being asked: Can one continue operations in the event of a campus closure? What if a faculty member is too sick to teach? What if students refuse…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

Profiles are provided for innovative public health activities that focus on the health of children in day care. All are considered to be models worthy of replication. Profiles depict (1) child care in Arizona; (2) child day care licensing in Connecticut; (3) safeguarding children in day care in Kansas; (4) paired state and local inspection in…

A health promotion program in the Mississippi Delta used an empowerment approach based on community competence factors: participation, commitment, self-other awareness, articulateness, conflict containment, social relations, participatory decision making, and social support. After one year, community competence moved from internal social…