COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2020. Prior to the wide dissemination of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, individual prevention behaviors, such as wearing face masks, have been the primary non-pharmaceutical interventions to reduce infections. We surveyed 404 North Carolina residents recruited through Amazon MTurk in July…

Type 2 diabetes is a growing concern among young adults, including college students, due to rates of unhealthy lifestyle behaviors and limited disease awareness. Despite the risk, few studies have examined the effectiveness of targeted educational interventions among this population. To determine whether a pharmacy student-led educational session…

We assessed human papillomavirus (HPV) prevention practices and HPV literacy of pediatricians, family physicians and medical students in North Carolina. An online survey was distributed to physicians in 2018, and paper surveys were collected among medical students in 2019. Surveys measured HPV literacy, HPV prevention practices and HPV prevention…

Objective: Identify factors associated with PrEP awareness, willingness, and future prevention modalities among undergraduate college students. Participants: Undergraduates (N=701) were recruited from a private university, a public research university, and a private historically Black college and university for an online survey. Methods: Upon…

Objective: Colleges have implemented policies to limit tobacco use on-campus; however, the off-campus environment is often overlooked in tobacco control efforts. We assessed availability, marketing, and promotion of cigarettes, snus, and traditional smokeless tobacco (SLT) in a sample of communities surrounding 11 college campuses in North…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess social networks among Black women and beauty salons to see whether these could be leveraged to increase the awareness, knowledge and uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in this population. Design: Qualitative descriptive design. Setting: Beauty salons in counties in North Carolina, USA, with…

Objective: To examine associations between two body image constructs (body appreciation and body satisfaction) and five health behaviors (diet, physical activity, weight management, tobacco exposure, and alcohol intake) associated with risk for chronic disease, controlling for self-esteem. Participants: Three hundred and forty-four college…

Background: Mobile health platforms can facilitate social support and address HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) stigma but pose challenges for intervention design and participant engagement. Giddens's structuration theory, that individuals are shaped by--and shape--their communities through rules and resources that give them power to operate…

Engaging youth from racial and ethnic minority communities as leaders for change is a potential strategy to mobilize support for addressing childhood obesity, but there are limited curricula designed to help youth understand the complex influences on obesity. Our aim was to develop and pilot test a systems science curriculum to elicit rural…

The use of websites and GPS-based mobile applications ("apps") designed for social and sexual networking has been associated with increased HIV risk; however, little is known about Latino sexual minorities' and transgender persons' use of these websites and apps and the risk profiles of those who use them compared with those who do not.…

Asthma is the leading chronic health condition among children in the United States and a major cause of childhood disability. It also disproportionately affects low-income and racial and ethnic minorities. Although a wide range of interventions have been implemented to improve asthma-related outcomes among socioeconomically disadvantaged and…

Aging and its effects on a person's quality of life are a growing health concern and burden for many Americans. Recently, studies have shown that adopting certain healthy behaviors may help maintain and or prevent age-related health issues such as cognitive decline. However, many people are unaware of these newfound facts. Furthermore, there is…

In 2003, the state of North Carolina (NC) implemented a multi-component initiative focused on teenage tobacco use prevention and cessation. One component of this initiative is "Tobacco.Reality.Unfiltered." ("TRU"), a tobacco prevention media campaign, aimed at NC youth aged 11-17 years. This research evaluates the first 5 years…

Text messaging services are becoming an increasingly popular way to provide sexual health information to teens, but little is known about who uses such services. This study assessed whether teens at a greater risk for negative sexual health outcomes use a sexual health text message service. A text message service that connects teens with sexual…

Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Southern states of the USA, where rates among youth are higher than in the rest of the nation. This paper reports on findings from a pilot study of an HIV prevention intervention that uses interactive theatre to educate young people about sexual health. The…