Background: Vaccination policy has grown increasingly polarised, and concerns about vaccination practices are often articulated jointly with fears over declining trust in scientific expertise and the demise of evidence-based policy. This has led to a discursive deadlock in which evidence comes to denote something that is crafted and monopolised by…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in March 2020, districts across the nation have faced the difficult task of reopening schools safely and keeping them open as community infection rates have risen and fallen. It is useful to learn from the efforts of counties and districts that have been able to reopen schools--and keep them open safely--using…

Objectives: Determine whether a specific numeracy skill cut-point(s) reflects an empirical threshold in the context of preventive health service utilization, and identify associations between numeracy and preventive health services utilization among middle-aged and older adults in the United States. Methods: A nationally representative sample (n =…

Objective: To examine the perceptions among faculty and health professional students regarding mandatory vaccination policies on a health sciences campus. Participants: A total of 296 faculty and 244 students completed surveys during Fall 2015. Methods: The online survey administered to individuals who received the influenza vaccine during the…

School nurses work in a unique environment with key opportunities to address parental concerns and questions regarding their child's health. A common concern for parents during school enrollment is childhood vaccination safety and efficacy. As public health leaders, school nurses are well respected among parents, therefore school nurses are in a…

The National Strategy for the COVID-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness provides a roadmap to guide America out of the worst public health crisis in a century. It outlines an actionable plan across the federal government to address the COVID-19 pandemic, including twelve initial executive actions issued by President Biden on his first two days…

Physical health is a key component of early childhood development and school readiness. By keeping children healthy and decreasing the chances of disease outbreaks, immunizations help early childhood programs create a safe environment for children. While overall vaccination rates are high nationally for most vaccines routinely recommended for…

Adult influenza vaccination rates remain suboptimal, particularly among African Americans. Social norms may influence vaccination behavior, but little research has focused on influenza vaccine and almost no research has focused on racially-specific norms. This mixed methods investigation utilizes qualitative interviews and focus groups (n = 118)…

Although Korean American women have a higher risk of developing cervical cancer, currently there are limited culturally relevant intervention strategies for improving primary prevention of cervical cancer by promoting HPV vaccination in this population. This study reports the development of a cross-cultural, cross-generational storytelling HPV…

Objective: On the occasion of the American College Health Association's (ACHA) 100th anniversary, this article seeks to explore the second fifty years of its organizational history, as well as many of the key historical moments in the field of American college health. Materials and methods: This article examines ACHA's second fifty years,…

Objective: To describe the array of sexual health care services provided at US colleges and universities. Participants: During 2014-2015, 885 colleges were surveyed about their provision of sexual health services. Methods: 55% of colleges responded. Data were weighted and stratified by minority-serving institutions (MSIs), 2-year and 4-year…

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends routine human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization for 11- to 12-year-old adolescents. In 2008, Louisiana required the school boards to distribute HPV vaccine information to parents or guardian of students in Grades 6 to 12. This article investigates the impact of this policy on HPV…

Background: Influenza is a major cause of seasonal viral respiratory illness among school-aged children. Accordingly, the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) coordinates >800 school-based influenza immunization clinics before each influenza season. We quantified the relationship between student influenza vaccination in Arkansas public schools…

During the 2012-2013 school year, only 66% of students at a Northern Indiana High School were in compliance with school immunization requirements. We report here successful implementation of evidence-based, time, and cost-effective methods aimed at increasing school immunization compliance. A three-stage strategy initiated by the school nurse was…

ABSTRACTObjective: Complete and accurate documentation of immunization records and surveillance of disease transmission are critical to the public health response to outbreaks of communicable disease in institutions of higher education (IHEs). This study aims to describe immunization documentation practices and disease surveillance capacity among…