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…

In this commentary, we briefly describe our methodology in conducting a remote qualitative investigation with essential workers from southwest Kansas, and then describe some key considerations, challenges, and lessons learned in recruiting and conducting interviews remotely. From August 4, 2020 through August 26, 2020, Centers for Disease Control…

Background: Hookah tobacco is commonly used among young adults, and use is driven in part by widespread misperceptions about risks. Social media use, particularly Instagram, is prominent in this population and exposure to commercial and user-generated content promoting hookah commonly occurs. Aims: This study tested the effects of hookah tobacco…

Recently, multiple health organizations and advocacy groups have pushed for giving an R-rating for movies depicting tobacco imagery. This study examined several predictors of U.S. adults' opinion toward an R-rating policy for movies depicting cigarette smoking. We used data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (2020 cycle), for a…

Nutritional warnings are intended to enable citizens to make informed choice by clearly identifying food products with excessive content of nutrients associated with noncommunicable diseases. The efficacy of this public policy is expected to improve if accompanied by communication campaigns that raise awareness of the existence of nutritional…

Background: The rapid proliferation of electronic health records (EHRs) in clinics has had mixed impact on patient-centered communication, yet few evaluated interventions exist to train practicing providers in communication practices. Aims: We extended the evidence-based Physician Asthma Care Education (PACE) program with EHR-specific…

Background: Communication campaigns offer a viable mechanism to promote suicide prevention and reinforce mental health for U.S. veterans in midlife, a group with a high suicide burden. However, little empirical investigation of this type of messaging has been conducted, with formative campaign research conspicuously missing from the limited…

Emerging pandemics call for unique health communication and education strategies in which public health agencies need to satisfy the public's information needs about possible risks while preventing risk exaggeration and dramatization. As a route to providing a framework for understanding public information behaviors in response to an emerging…

Reproductive health indicators in Nigeria remain among the poorest in the world. Modern contraceptive prevalence rate has remained practically at the same level since 2003. Whereas contraceptive use is higher in urban compared with rural areas, the majority of urban women are not using a modern contraceptive method. Low contraceptive use in the…

Background: It is a priority to develop population-based strategies for reducing barriers to smoking cessation among low-income populations. Harnessing secondary transmission such as interpersonal communication (IC) has helped to reduce tobacco use, but there is a dearth of quasi-experimental research that examines IC and the full spectrum of…

Parents play a fundamental role in teaching their children safe driving skills to reduce risk of motor vehicle crashes, the leading cause of death for teens. "Steering Teens Safe" is a new parent-based intervention that equips parents with communication skills to talk about, demonstrate, and practice safe driving behaviors and skills…

Little is known about dissemination strategies that contribute to health information recognition. This study examined (a) health campaign exposure and awareness (slogan and logo recognition); (b) perceived communication channels; (c) differences between perceptions of researcher-developed and enhancement community health information materials; and…