Enhancing FDA's Reach to Minorities and Under-Represented Groups through Training: Developing Culturally Competent Health Education Materials.

Health communications may not reach intended populations due to cultural and language barriers. These barriers may prohibit consumers from understanding information needed to make informed health decisions. It is important to ensure everyone-especially racial and ethnic minorities and under-served and under-represented populations-has access to information on medical products. One strategy to address this issue is to develop trainings and resources to better understand how cultural competency affects the ability to communicate effectively with racial/ethnic minorities. The FDA's Office of Minority Health & Health Equity developed a 3-module training to (1) increase staff knowledge of the role that cultural competency plays in determining health communication messages and channels and (2) provide tools to assist them in creating culturally-competent strategies and action plans. Offered on 4 occasions, the 4.5-h interactive training, grounded in adult learning and project-based learning theories, and used curricula, case studies, and multimedia to guide the discussion and group work. Participants also completed an action plan to guide their current work. Cultural competency knowledge was assessed pre- and post-training and training satisfaction was assessed post-training. Among the 53 individuals who completed the training, average knowledge increased by 13.6%. The training was a success based on anecdotal and evaluation feedback. The majority of participants indicated that they would refer their colleagues to the training and apply what they learned in their work. Participants felt the training was meaningful, applicable to their work, and provided an opportunity to learn and engage with their peers. Becoming culturally competent is a process that should be supported through ongoing training to help build a strong communications and health educator workforce with expertise in developing culturally competent messages to meet their constituents' needs.

A National Survey of RN-to-BSN Programs: Are They Reaching Rural Students?

BACKGROUND: Increased representation of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN)-prepared nurses improves health and reduces costs. Fewer rural U.S. nurses have BSN degrees compared with the national average. RN-to-BSN programs provide an opportunity to increase the number of BSN-prepared rural nurses. However, the number of these programs targeting rural students is unknown. METHOD: Directors of RN-to-BSN programs were surveyed regarding program characteristics and efforts to target rural learners. Using mail and online return options, the response rate was 31.3%. RESULTS: Only 38% of programs targeted rural RNs for recruitment. Supports for rural student recruitment and retention, including partnerships with community colleges, rural clinical placements, and online offerings, were limited in number and/or scope. CONCLUSION: RN-to-BSN programs with the capacity to recruit and retain rural learners may help increase the number of BSN-prepared rural nurses. Increased collaboration among stakeholders will support rural nurses in continuing their education. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(10):557-565.].

The Value of Social Network Analysis for Evaluating Academic-Community Partnerships and Collaborations for Social Determinants of Health Research.

Objective: Community-based participatory research processes build healthy communities, as well as promote trust and genuine collaborative partnerships between stakeholders. Fostering relationships is essential to promoting these partnerships, which are necessary for collaborative, coordinated, and integrated efforts toward improving health outcomes in the community. The objective of our research was to demonstrate social network analysis as an evaluative tool to assess movement toward positive health outcomes through promoting relationships. Methods: Using the example of the Gulf States Health Policy Center Coalition based at Bayou Clinic in Bayou La Batre, Alabama, we demonstrate the ability of social network analysis (SNA) methods to measure and map the formation of relationships, as well as the level and frequency of these relationships. Data were collected via email using a survey of Gulf States Health Policy Center Coalition members (N=80, 87%) and analyzed using UCInet software for social network analysis in April 2016. Results: In this application of SNA to the community coalition of the Gulf States Health Policy Center, we find that, on average, coalition members doubled their own network within the coalition in a time period of <2 years and were working together more often and more collaboratively than they were before the coalition formed. Conclusions: The increased frequency and level of collaboration among the Coalition network was accompanied by a higher level of collaboration among the coalition members as posited by social network and capital theories. As such, the community engagement fostered through the Coalition has increased and thus, to date, the Gulf States Health Policy Center has been effective in promoting partnerships and collaboration.