Search

Background: The complexity of the childhood obesity epidemic requires the application of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in a manner that can transcend multiple communities of stakeholders, including youth, the broader community, and the community of health care providers. Aim: To (a) describe participatory processes for engaging youth within context of CBPR and broader community, (b) share youth-engaged research findings related to the use of digital communication and implications for adolescent obesity intervention research, and (c) describe and discuss lessons learned from participatory approaches. Method: CBPR principles and qualitative methods were synergistically applied in a predominantly African American part of the city that experiences major obesity-related issues. A Youth Research Advisory Board was developed to deeply engage youth in research that was integrated with other community-based efforts, including an academic-community partnership, a city-wide obesity coalition, and a primary care practice research network. Volunteers from the youth board were trained to apply qualitative methods, including facilitating focus group interviews and analyzing and interpreting data with the goal of informing a primary care provider-based obesity reduction intervention. Results: The primary results of these efforts were the development of critical insights about adolescent use of digital communication and the potential importance of messaging, mobile and computer apps, gaming, wearable technology, and rapid changes in youth communication and use of digital technology in developing adolescent nutrition and physical activity health promotion. Conclusions: The youth led work helped identify key elements for a digital communication intervention that was sensitive and responsive to urban youth. Many valuable lessons were also learned from 3 years of partnerships and collaborations, providing important insights on applying CBPR with minority youth populations.

For over six decades, the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) has been a leading professional organization for the field of health education (HE). This historical research extends the work of Cissell and Bloom by investigating the recent history of SOPHE. The aims of this historical study were to (1) identify key SOPHE and HE events from 2000 to 2015, (2) describe key contributions of SOPHE to the HE field during this time period, and (3) identify potential future directions for SOPHE. Johnson and Christensen's five steps for historical research were followed to conduct an eDelphi study and one-on-one interviews. During the three-round eDelphi study, SOPHE officers (n = 16) and senior staff (n = 5), who served between 2000 and 2015, identified significant SOPHE's leaders and rated the importance of SOPHE's recent events. Key leaders (n = 25) participated in semistructured interviews to describe their involvement in SOPHE, specific SOPHE activities, and future directions for SOPHE. Brief, structured intercept interviews were also conducted with student (n = 10) and professional SOPHE members (n = 11). Data collected during the eDelphi study were analyzed to determine central tendency statistics and percent agreement on each event evaluated in the second- and third-round surveys. Qualitative interview data were analyzed with NVivo using thematic analysis. Data from the eDelphi study revealed 29 SOPHE and 17 HE events that occurred between 2000 and 2015 as being "important" or "very important." Results from the thematic analysis revealed several themes in three areas: SOPHE accomplishments, benefits of SOPHE membership, and possible future directions for SOPHE to explore.

Objective: Innovations in health information technology (HIT) provide opportunities to reduce health care spending, improve quality of care, and improve health outcomes for older adults. However, concerns relating to older adults' limited access and use of HIT, including use of the Internet for health information, fuel the digital health divide debate. This study evaluated the potential digital health divide in relation to characteristic and belief differences between older adult users and nonusers of online health information sources. Methods: A cross-sectional survey design was conducted using a random sample of older adults. A total of 225 older adults (age range = 50-92 years, M = 68.9 years, SD = 10.4) participated in the study. Results: Seventy-six percent of all respondents had Internet access. Users and nonusers of online health information differed significantly on age (M = 66.29 vs. M = 71.13), education, and previous experience with the health care system. Users and nonusers of online health information also differed significantly on Internet and technology access, however, a large percentage of nonusers had Internet access (56.3%), desktop computers (55.9%), and laptop computers or netbooks (43.2%). Users of online health information had higher mean scores on the Computer Self-Efficacy Measure than nonusers, t(159) = -7.29, p < 0.0001. Conclusion: This study found significant differences between older adult users and nonusers of online health information. Findings suggest strategies for reducing this divide and implications for health education programs to promote HIT use among older adults.

Health education researchers have continued to explore creative new ways to leverage the Internet and diverse new media applications to increase the efficacy of their interventions. The number of new media and health education studies continues to grow, as does the number of manuscripts related to new media that are submitted to "Health Education & Behavior." In this issue, five articles were selected to be published together as a "theme section" on the topic of New Media for Health Education. These articles explore many of the most popular new media channels available for health education research and practice today, including smartphone apps, mobile-based text messages, web-based tailored messages, and video games. Together, these articles provide a state-of-the-art snapshot of health education and new media in 2013. These articles are: (1) "Apps of Steel: Are Exercise Apps Providing Consumers with Realistic Expectations? A Content Analysis of Exercise Apps for Presence of Behavior Change Theory," Cowan et al. (2013)); (2) "Design, Development, and Formative Evaluation of a Smartphone Application for Recording and Monitoring Physical Activity Levels: The 10,000 Steps 'iStepLog'," Kirwan, Duncan, Vandelanotte, and Mummery (2013); (3) "User Preferences for a Text Message-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention," Bock, Heron, Jennings, Magee, and Morrow (2013); (4) "Can a Website-Delivered Computer-Tailored Physical Activity Intervention be Acceptable, Usable, and Effective for Older People?" Ammann, Vandelanotte, de Vries, and Mummery (2013); and (5) "Using Active Video Games for Physical Activity Promotion: A Systematic Review of the Current State of Research," Peng, Crouse, and Lin (2013). In sum, the first three articles demonstrate the growing emphasis on mobile phone--based health interventions (also known as mHealth) through the use of apps and SMS, whereas the last two articles focus on the significant,but not yet realized promise, of web-based tailored interventions and video games for health promotion. (Contains 1 figure.)