Creating More Effective Vape Education Campaigns: Qualitative Feedback from Teens in Nine U.S. States.

Background: Successful media campaigns to reduce teen cigarette smoking indicate a similar approach may work for vaping, though message testing research is necessary to identify effective topics and approaches. Leveraging data from message testing studies across nine U.S. states, we identify promising topics and approaches and explore how the COVID-19 pandemic affected teens' reactions to vape education commercials. Methods: Teens ages 13-18 (N = 337) who vaped or were susceptible nonusers participated in focus groups and interviews (2018-2021) to review 35 creative concepts and commercials for Behind the Haze (BTH), a vaping education campaign. After viewing each video, participants assessed its perceived effectiveness (PE) and discussed their reactions. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of transcripts to identify crosscutting themes and compared PE scores for each video. Results: Key features of effective commercials included detailed facts accompanied by explanatory visuals, metaphors, and empathy. Promising topics included chemicals, physical consequences, and mental health, while addiction and industry deception messages were less impactful. The pandemic drew attention to mental health and immunity messages. Impact of one's vaping on friends emerged as a promising topic. Conclusions: While some tactics from successful cigarette prevention campaigns apply to vaping, others like anti-industry messaging do not. Fact-focused messaging on chemicals, physical consequences, and mental health accompanied by impactful graphics and attention-grabbing twists should be the focus of vape education campaigns. Frequent message testing research such as that conducted to inform BTH is necessary to identify promising and sometimes unexpected messaging approaches for timely and relevant teen vaping education materials.

Empowering the public during the COVID pandemic through interactive social media platform.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals and academic facilities are called to provide leadership in disseminating accurate and timely information through approaches that meet the needs of the public. Graduate students from a university in Taiwan collaborated with experts to provide interactive live broadcasting sessions on the COVID-related topics to the public through the Facebook platform. The broadcasting sessions also trained the students to communicate COVID-related information through succinct and interactive presentations. Twelve broadcasting sessions were conducted twice a week for three weeks in May 2020. Upon completion of the broadcasting sessions, students demonstrated growth in professional confidence, assessment of the public's knowledge gaps and needs, and preparation and delivery of professional live broadcasts. We recommend creating a live broadcast training application through an artificial intelligence (AI) expert system. Multidisciplinary academic-practice collaboration in preparing for the broadcasting and engaging in dialogues with the public is recommended.

Centering Ethnic Studies in Health Education: Lessons From Teaching an Asian American Community Health Course.

Anti-Asian racism and violence dramatically increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, recent studies and reports are showing that the health and well-being of Asian Americans are negatively affected. To address this urgent problem, the field of health education and public health must be equipped with the critical frameworks and concepts to analyze racism and White supremacy and how it affects the health and well-being of Asian Americans. We argue that using an ethnic studies lens in health education can help educators, researchers, and practitioners teach and train health educators to address racism experienced by Asian Americans during COVID-19 in relation to their health. We will discuss the elements of ethnic studies and demonstrate how to use it as a lens in understanding health disparities in the Asian American population influenced and exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

An Informative Discussion for School Nurses on COVID-19 mRNA Vaccine.

School nurses are advocates, caregivers, and teachers. It is the responsibility of school nurses to understand current prevention and treatment options. In understanding how and why coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mRNA vaccines work, school nurses are in a trusted position to explain and advocate vaccination to students and their caregivers. The messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine is a product of the latest scientific and medical technology. A better understanding of how and why this vaccination is effective may prevent vaccination hesitancy and provide reassurance to those choosing to accept vaccination. In December 2020, the National Association of School Nurses publicized its support for vaccination against COVID-19. As the COVID-19 pandemic lingers school nurses will step toward the front line to aid in the abatement of poor public health outcomes that may be severely affecting their schools, students, and caregivers.

Beyond Sociodemographic and COVID-19-Related Factors: The Association Between the Need for Psychological and Information Support from School and Anxiety and Depression.

BACKGROUND In addition to sociodemographic and COVID-19- related factors, the needs of school support, including material, psychological and information support, have seldom been discussed as factors influencing anxiety and depression among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this cross-sectional study, 3351 college students from China were surveyed through questionnaires about their sociodemographic and COVID-19 characteristics, the needs of school support, and their experiences with anxiety and depression. RESULTS Anxiety and depression were reported by 6.88% and 10.50% of students, respectively. Married, higher education, non-medical, and urban students had significantly higher risks of anxiety or depression. Additionally, symptoms such as cough and fever, especially when following a possible contact with suspected individuals, quarantine history of a personal contact, going out 1-3 times a week, not wearing a mask, and spending 2-3 hours browsing COVID-19-related information were significantly associated with the occurrence of anxiety or depression. Those who used methods to regulate their emotional state, used a psychological hotline, and who had visited a psychiatrist showed higher anxiety or depression. Those who used online curricula and books, used preventive methods for COVID-19, and who had real-time information about the epidemic situation of the school showed lower anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS In addition to sociodemographic and COVID-19-related aspects, students' needs for psychological assistance and information from schools were also associated with anxiety and depression among college students.

Virtual family town hall: An innovative multi-family telehealth intervention during COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to the U.S. mental healthcare system. Immediate action has been required to transform existing social work practice models to ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential mental health services. This paper describes how clinicians in a residential program, who offered an in-person multi-family education workshop, rapidly pivoted in the context of the pandemic to develop and implement an alternative and unique multi-family intervention model - a virtual family town hall. This innovative telehealth practice model serves as an exemplar of best practices amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as it prioritized health and safety, increased accessibility, and allowed clinicians to effectively respond to family members' heightened informational needs.

Preparing for a School-Located COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic.

School-located vaccination events (SLVE) have a long history in the United States and have successfully contributed to lower morbidity and mortality due to vaccine-preventable diseases. The school is an ideal place to reach children from all cultures, socioeconomic groups, and age-groups and is conveniently situated in communities for ease of accessibility for students, parents, and staff alike. School nurses play an important role in planning for SLVE and are ideally positioned to initiate this process and provide accurate information, dispelling myths about vaccines. Because school nurses are considered a trusted source of health information by the school community, they can provide valuable education on the impact of vaccination on student and staff attendance. Conducting a successful SLVE requires research, planning, and partnerships, and these partnerships are needed both within the school setting and outside this setting, within the community at large. The proliferation of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent vaccine production has caused school nurses to take the lead in preparing for mass vaccination clinics in order to help mitigate this serious public health threat. This manuscript describes the process a group of school nurses used to develop SLVE plans in response to a pandemic.

Supporting survivors of campus dating and sexual violence during COVID-19: A social work perspective.

The issue of dating and sexual violence (DSV) on college campuses has received increased attention nationwide as a criminal justice and public health issue. College and university employed social workers play a critical role in preventing and responding to campus DSV through direct clinical services to students as well as prevention through educational programming and training. COVID-19 has negative implications for DSV student victims, as well as service delivery and accessibility. This paper examines the innovative methods used by university employed social work clinicians and educators to meet evolving mental health care needs and continue violence prevention services during COVID-19.

Key Considerations for Successful Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) Programmes During COVID-19 Pandemic and Other Public Health Emergencies.

Risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) is a key pillar in public health emergency response that ensures accurate health information sharing, adoption of protective behaviours by the affected people, and collaborative participation by all stakeholders, including of the local community structures. The success of RCCE programmes rely on strong partnerships and engagement among affiliated groups; clear programme plans and guidelines; establishment of well-laid down coordination structures; and clear measures for reporting and documentation of programme activities. RCCE activities during public health emergencies must put more emphasis on strengthening local structures and communities to ensure active participation of communities in interrupting disease transmission.

Community engagement in COVID-19 prevention: experiences from Kilimanjaro region, Northern Tanzania.

Prevention of exposure to the COVID-19 virus in the general population is an essential strategy to slow community transmission. This paper shares the experiences and challenges of community engagement in COVID-19 prevention in the Kilimanjaro region, Northern Tanzania implemented by our team from the Institute of Public Health (IPH), Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University College (KCMUCo) in collaboration with the COVID-19 response team in the Moshi Municipality. We conducted an education session with the COVID-19 response team and together brainstormed transmission hotspots and which interventions would be most feasible in their settings. The first hotspot identified was crowded local market spaces. Suggested interventions included targeted and mass public health education through the engagement of market opinion leaders, public announcements, and radio shows. We conducted participatory rural appraisal techniques to enable market vendors and clients to visualize two-meter distances and provided a prototype hand-washing facility that was foot operated. We found mass public health educational campaigns essential to inform and update the public about COVID-19 pandemic and to address rumors and misinformation, which hampers compliance with public health interventions. Coordinated efforts among stakeholders in the country are necessary to develop context-specific prevention and case management strategies following the national and international guidelines. Local ownership of recommended interventions is necessary to ensure compliance.

Entertainment-Education Campaigns and COVID-19: How Three Global Organizations Adapted the Health Communication Strategy for Pandemic Response and Takeaways for the Future.

COVID-19 created a substantial set of challenges for health communication practitioners in the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating entertainment-education (EE) campaigns. EE is a theory and evidence-based communication strategy that employs entertainment media for educational messaging. Here, we briefly review EE campaigns in response to previous health emergencies and present three cases of EE responses to the COVID-19 pandemic from leading global organizations (PCI Media, BBC Media Action, and Sesame Workshop). Responses ranged from adaptation and re-distribution of existing content to creating new content under social-distancing restrictions and utilizing transmedia. These cases demonstrate that EE initiatives responding to future pandemics may be well served by starting with existing infrastructure to quickly build capacity, support, and trust; working with partners to tailor programs to the local context; and continuing to focus on good storytelling while simultaneously considering evolving media formats and theory.