Introduction: In Onondaga County, New York, around half of all births to Black and Hispanic teenage girls are unintended. The Layla's Got You campaign consists of a chatbot and social media campaign designed to increase contraception knowledge among 16- to 25-year-old Black and Hispanic women in Onondaga County. Methods: The campaign was…

Despite the promise of incentive-based chronic disease prevention programs, comprehensive evidence on their accessibility among low-income populations remains limited. We adapted Aday and Andersen's framework to examine accessibility and consumer satisfaction within the Medicaid Incentives for the Prevention of Chronic Disease (MIPCD) cross-site…

Reaching at-risk families with health and development information and connecting them to resources during pregnancy and throughout early infanthood remains a challenge for many health and early learning and development initiatives. This article showcases strategies used by Text4baby--a free mobile health program for pregnant women and mothers--to…

This booklet seeks to clarify teenagers' rights under New York State and federal law to make their own medical decisions. It is designed as an aid to teenagers and the professionals -- social workers, counselors, teachers, and medical providers -- who work with young people. Frequently, professionals can encourage communication between young…

Evidence-based programs (EBPs) are used in many health promotion efforts to ensure that the intended positive behavioral and health outcomes will be achieved. However, because EBPs are developed and tested in research settings, the contextual elements of real world implementation play an important role in their successful delivery in communities.…

Background: Early sex is associated with high-risk behaviors and outcomes, including sexual risk behaviors, forced sex, physical dating violence, and becoming pregnant or impregnating someone. Methods: Using 2005 and 2007 data from the New York City Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 17,220), this study examined the prevalence of early sex among…

While the rates of teen childbearing have declined in the United States, adolescents who become pregnant and decide to bear and rear their babies are often from low-income, highly stressed families and communities. This article will describe the psychosocial problems of pregnant urban teens and how exposure to interpersonal trauma and current…

The "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" ("MMWR") Series is prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data presented by the Notifiable Disease Data Team and 122 Cities Mortality Data Team in the weekly "MMWR" are provisional, based on weekly reports to CDC by state health departments. This…

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are ubiquitous in our environment and a growing body of research indicates that EDCs may adversely affect human development. Fetal development is particularly susceptible to EDC exposure, and prenatal care providers are being asked to educate women about the risks of…

School absenteeism and poor compliance with prenatal appointments are concerns for pregnant teens. The Prenatal Care at School (PAS) program is a new model of prenatal care involving local health care providers and school personnel to reduce the need for students to leave school for prenatal care. The program combines prenatal care and education…

Health care providers can play a key role in influencing clients to initiate and maintain use of the female condom, an underused method for HIV/STI and pregnancy prevention. In 2001-2002, based on semistructured interviews with 78 health care providers from four types of settings in New York City, we found that most providers had seen the female…

Maternity care in Ireland has been described as a "testament to the strength and influence of the medical profession" (Mc Kee 1986: 192). A review of maternity and gynaecology services in the Dublin area in 2004 revealed that "no participant...thought that the maternity services were women centred at the time" (Women's Health…

Context: While food insecurity and obesity have been shown to be positively associated in women, little is known about the direction of the causal relationship between these 2 constructs. Purpose: To clarify the direction of the causal relationship between food insecurity and obesity. Methods: Chi-square and logistic regression analysis of data…

Objectives: This paper examines the effectiveness of the Healthy Families New York (HFNY) home visiting program in promoting parenting competencies and preventing maladaptive parenting behaviors in mothers at risk for child abuse and neglect. Methods: The study used microlevel observational assessments of mother-child interactions in the third…

Background/Context: This article considers the role of Catholic schools, an institution born of the adaptation of previous immigrant waves, in the education of new immigrants and their native-born counterparts. The new immigrants enter a landscape in which education plays a much bigger role than it did for their predecessors and yet faces many…