COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: A Critical Time Period Analysis.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a devastating, global public health crisis. Public health systems in the United States heavily focused on getting people to adhere to preventive behaviors, and later, to get vaccinated. January through May of 2021 was a critical and volatile time period for COVID-19 cases, deaths, and expanding vaccination programs coinciding with important political and social events which will have a lasting impact on how the public views science, places trust in our government, and views individual rights. Having collected almost 1400 surveys, our goal was to assess vaccine behavior, explore attitudes toward receiving the vaccine, and identify trusted information sources. More than 83% of our survey respondents said they were at least partially vaccinated. Of 246 unvaccinated, 31.3% were somewhat or extremely likely to get vaccinated when available. Their two most common concerns were vaccine effectiveness (41.1%) and safety (40.2%). Significant differences were observed between respondents who were likely to be vaccinated in the future and those who were hesitant on three of five demographic variables. Our data provide unique insight into the history of behavior and motivations related to COVID-19 vaccines-what will be seen as a "wicked problem" for years to come.

Co-Designing a Program to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Midlife Black Women.

Midlife Black women suffer disproportionately from heart disease and stroke in comparison to White women of similar age and demographic. Risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke is largely considered to be modifiable yet CVD prevention and awareness campaigns have been less effective among Black women. Decreased awareness of personal CVD risk is associated with delays in the presentation of women to the emergency room or health care providers for symptoms of myocardial infarction. The Midlife Black Women's Stress and Wellness (B-SWELL) program was designed to increase awareness about CVD risk factors, stress, and healthy lifestyle behaviors among midlife Black women. In partnership with an existing Community Research Advisory Board (C-RAB), materials were developed and culturally adapted for the B-SWELL program. Following successful development of the B-SWELL materials, a trial of the B-SWELL program was conducted with a sample of midlife Black women recruited from the community. The program was co-facilitated by members of the C-RAB. We outline the strategies used to successfully co-create and trial the B-SWELL program materials and reflect on the strengths and challenges associated with the development of a culturally tailored heart disease prevention program using community participatory methods.