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To develop a conceptualization of cultural influence on perceptions of a rural food and physical activity policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) change project to inform public health research and practice. Basic qualitative research design, semistructured phone interviews with community health coalition members. Five rural Southern counties (obesity prevalence > 40%). Thirty-nine community coalition members. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention High Obesity Program. PSE initiatives to increase access to healthy food and physical activity opportunities through a community coalition model. Social norms and cultural influences surrounding community members' food preferences, physical activity behavior, and future hopes for community development. Abductive content analysis. Major categories on food social norms (subcategories: physical health, eating habits, and food preference), race relations, generational factors, physical activity social norms, and hopes for the community (subcategories: increased engagement, health, awareness, cohesion, and inspiration) were discussed in relation to the progress of PSE initiatives. Because of community member perceptions, PSE initiatives became associated with factors beyond food and fitness, such as race relations, generational differences, and community cohesion. A focus on increased youth and church involvement, community values, relationship building, and input from diverse voices can be foundational to culturally-appropriate PSE efforts in rural settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Counseling was the primary mental health service provided by school social workers amid COVID-19 school reopening. • Barriers to service delivery included the virtual format of service delivery and emerging experiences of burnout. • Facilitators to providing mental health services included collaboration with school and community-based partners. • Participants wished schools had offered additional in-person mental health services and more professionals. Child and adolescent mental health needs are at unprecedented rates in the continued wake of COVID-19. While prior research has examined school mental health practice during initial COVID-19 school closures, few studies have examined school mental health practice amid COVID-19 school reopening. This exploratory study investigates school social workers' perceptions of their mental health service and support delivery during COVID-19 school reopening as well as the facilitators and barriers they experienced to delivering these supports. This study also examines school social worker's perceptions of the mental health supports they wished were offered. Fifteen current school social workers in one southeastern state who practiced during the first full school year amid COVID-19 school reopening (2020–2021) participated in virtual interviews. Interview data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis approach. Findings suggest crisis intervention and counseling were primary mental health services provided by school social workers during this time, and barriers to service delivery included the virtual format of service delivery, emerging experiences of burnout, and a lack of mental health providers. Facilitators to providing mental health services included collaboration with school and community-based partners and supervisor support. Participants wished schools had offered additional in-person mental health services and supports and expressed a need for additional school mental health professionals to be hired. Implications are offered for school mental health practice and research with the aim of helping to inform ongoing responses to COVID-19, future crisis response planning, and areas for improvement in current school mental health approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training for nursing students is important. The aim of study is to examine the effectiveness of a simulation-based CPR training program on the knowledge, practices, satisfaction, and self-confidence of nursing students. The study was conducted with a mixed-method design. The quantitative data were obtained by using the "CPR Knowledge Questionnaire," the "Students' Satisfaction and Self-Confidence Scale," and the "CPR Skills Observation Checklist", and the qualitative data were collected by using the "Semistructured Interview Form" in four focus group sessions, each consisting of six participants. The mean pretest CPR knowledge score of the students before the simulation-based CPR training was 5.66 ± 1.97 out of 10.0. The mean posttest CPR knowledge score (8.38 ± 1.30) increased significantly after the simulation (p < 0.001). In addition, the mean posttest CPR skills score was significantly higher than the mean pretest CPR skills score (p < 0.001). Themes from the qualitative data revealed that the students considered the simulation to be an interesting and useful teaching method. These themes were "worries before simulation" and "satisfaction following simulation". Simulation-based CPR training improved the levels of knowledge and skills of nursing students. In addition, after the simulation training, satisfaction and self-confidence scores were found to be high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine church leaders' views on the role of faith-based organizations in promoting healthy eating and physical activity in children. Qualitative research using semi-structured in-depth interviews. South Carolina. Leaders (n = 26) from United Methodist churches (n = 20). Perceptions of health promotion efforts for children in faith-based settings, including primary health concerns, perceived opportunities, partnerships, and the relationship of these efforts to the overall church mission. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and coded using a constant comparative method. Five themes emerged related to (1) multiple concerns about health issues facing children; (2) existing church structures influencing health behaviors; (3) potential partnerships to address children's health; (4) importance of role models; and (5) the need for a tailored approach. Church leaders viewed childhood health behaviors as an important area of concern for the church and identified links between physical and spiritual health. They identified multiple existing and potential organizational and community structures as important in improving healthy eating and physical activity. Faith-based organizations can play an important role in developing and delivering health programming for children but desired assistance through partnerships with subject matter experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective To determine preferred policies and programs to prevent obesity and diabetes as identified by parents and caregivers of 3- to 5-year-old Latino children. Design Constructs from the Social Ecological Model were used to develop 10 focus group and key informant interview questions. Setting Community venues and schools in St Paul, MN. Participants A total of 64 parents and caregivers and 20 key informants provided comments. Intervention(s) Community-based participatory research methods were used to gather opinions regarding appropriate and preferred methods to prevent obesity and diabetes among Latino youth. Native Spanish-speaking investigators who were members of the community conducted 7 focus groups (60–90 minutes each) and 20 key informant interviews. Main Outcome Measures Themes and subthemes of preferences based on participant comments. Analysis Transcript-based, long-table qualitative analysis. Results Five themes were identified: (1) cultural beliefs and practices are inconsistent with obesity prevention; (2) cost and convenience; (3) positive parenting practices; (4) we want to learn more about being healthy; and (5) gardens, parks, gyms, and school meals. At least 1 theme fell within each of the Social Ecological Model domains. Conclusions and Implications Our results suggest that parents of young Hispanic children prefer that obesity and diabetes prevention programs address multiple levels of influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-overdose outreach has emerged in the United States as an increasingly common response to non-fatal overdose. This qualitative study investigates the implementation of such programs through public health-public safety partnerships in Massachusetts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with post-overdose outreach team members, overdose survivors, and family members who received outreach. Interview transcripts were inductively analyzed to identify emergent themes and subsequently organized within the framework of Ecological Systems Theory. Forty-nine interviews were conducted, including 15 police officers (80% male, 100% non-Hispanic White); 23 public health partners (48% male, 87% non-Hispanic White); 8 overdose survivors who received outreach services and 3 parents of survivors who received services (collectively 27% male, 64% non-Hispanic White). Implementation factors identified across all levels (macrosystem, exosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem) of Ecological Systems Theory included key program facilitators, such as access to police data and funding (macro), interagency collaboration (exo), shared recognition of community needs (exo), supportive relationships among team members (meso), and program champions (micro). Common barriers included inherent contradictions between policing and public health mandates (macro), poor local treatment and service capacity (exo), divergent staff views of program goals (exo), overdose survivors' prior negative experiences with law enforcement (meso), difficulty locating overdose survivors (meso), and police officers' lack of qualifications or training in providing psycho-social services (micro). Most post-overdose outreach programs in this study were dependent on funding and data-sharing partnerships, which police agencies largely controlled. Yet, police participation, especially during outreach visits presented numerous challenges for engaging overdose survivors and establishing non-coercive linkages with evidence-based services, which may undermine the public health goals of these programs. These findings should inform state and federal efforts to expand the role of law enforcement in behavioral health initiatives. • Post-overdose outreach is an emerging overdose response strategy. • Outreach teams describe police data as necessary for operating outreach programs. • Programs face complex challenges when police officers join outreach teams. • Police officers face practical, ethical contradictions that may undermine public health goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has become an increasingly common approach to research involving people who use(d) drugs (PWUD), who are often employed as peer researchers on these projects. This paper seeks to understand the impact of CBPR on PWUD, particularly those living in heavily researched and stigmatized neighbourhoods where CBPR projects are often located. This study draws on 14 in-depth interviews with PWUD who had previous experience as both peer researchers and research participants in CBPR projects conducted between July 2010 and February 2011. The study employed a CBPR approach in its study design, recruitment, interviewing, and analysis. Our analysis indicates that participants were supportive of CBPR in principle and described the ways in which it helped contest stigmatizing assumptions and researcher bias. Participants also reported positive personal gains from participation in CBPR projects. However, many participants had negative experiences with CBPR projects, especially when CBPR principles were implemented in a superficial or incomplete manner. Participants emphasized the importance of inclusiveness and active deconstruction of hierarchy between researchers and community members to successful CBPR among drug using populations. CBPR has been widely adopted as a research approach within marginalized communities but has often been implemented inconsistently. Still, CBPR can empower communities to contest forms of social stigma that are often reproduced through academic research on marginalized communities. Our findings describe how the benefits of CBPR are maximized when CBPR principles are consistently applied and when community-based researchers are supported in ways that reduce power hierarchies. This suggests a need for capacity building within affected communities to develop independent support, training, and grievance processes for peer researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: With the decline of public trust in corporate America, organizations must consider ways to improve their relationships with key publics. One of the best strategies to build trust is through engaging in transparent communication (). The increase in the popularity of social media has brought both challenges and opportunities for organizational transparency. This study used multiple methods to explore whether public relations professionals believe they are using social media to communicate transparently, to investigate how social media can be used to improve transparency along with its benefits and challenges, and to identify how transparency is used in social media campaigns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

When used appropriately, congregate care placements can provide children in foster care with the structure and treatment services they need. However, children are often placed in congregate care when their needs can be met in family settings, a practice that contradicts the child welfare mandate to place children in the least restrictive environment possible. In 2000, a class action lawsuit filed against the State of Tennessee highlighted that the state routinely placed children in congregate care settings contrary to their best interests. Since then, the state''s Department of Children''s Services (DCS) has been extremely successful in reducing its use of congregate care. This paper presents major findings from a qualitative research study that explored how DCS accomplished this critical system change. Fifty-one Tennessee child welfare stakeholders were interviewed using an open ended protocol. DCS administrative data, performance monitoring data, and official policy documents were also analyzed to provide context for the interviewees'' comments. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed three main change agents that helped set the stage for deinstitutionalization, as well as three types of systemwide reforms that were undertaken to ensure a successful reduction in congregate care use. Implications for jurisdictions embarking on similar reforms are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of low-income youth participation in a summer sport-based positive youth development (PYD) program on individual, parent, family, and community level outcomes. Specific mechanisms that contribute to program outcomes also were explored. Ten parents of youth participating in a summer sport-based PYD program were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Parents identified key outcomes at the individual, parent, family and community level, such as youth biopsychosocial development and positive changes in affect, parents'' peace of mind due to child involvement, improved family interactions, youth involvement in prosocial activities, and community interaction/support. Key mechanisms contributing to these outcomes point to the importance of program characteristics such as the qualities and roles of counselors, incorporation of lessons for sport and life, opportunities for peer/family interactions, program structure, and the provision of resources. Findings provide qualitative evidence of the value of sport-based PYD summer programs, as well as point to important mechanisms that may guide program design in this emergent field of practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A content analysis of 413 reports of interviews conducted with 418 journalists from 1991 to 2004 grounded in agenda-setting, framing and agenda-building theories found that journalists giving higher estimates of practitioners’ influence on the news reported having better relationships with practitioners. On average, journalists estimated that 44% of the content of news media in the United States is influenced by practitioners. Journalists who were interviewed in 2002–2004 valued public relations more, but expressed love–hate sentiments as much as those interviewed in 1991–1996. Journalists who had worked 18–45 years reported improving relationships with practitioners more often than journalists with 8 or fewer years of experience. Journalists believed good relationships with practitioners are important, but hold practitioners responsible for them. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Colombian public relations professionals face an environment shaped by a government-declared war against guerrillas, paramilitaries, and drug traffickers. Practitioners explained the implications of this conflict-laden environment for the practice of public relations during 10 in-depth, highly structured interviews. Findings include how regionalism has marked the evolution and practice in Colombia, the need for organizational representatives to keep a low profile because of security concerns, encroachment on the profession by other disciplines, and lack of trust in institutions due to the country's critical situation, demanding nation-building campaigns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study applied the concept of Cheong-the fundamental foundation for Korean relationships to analyze the relationship between journalists and PR practitioners in Korea. Research drew on in-depth interviews with 10 pairs of journalists and practitioners. Most respondents said they felt Cheong through common encounters and that Cheong provided a positive force for their interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the Drink Free Days (DFD) campaign run by Public Health England and the industry funded alcohol education charity, Drinkaware, in eight English regions in 2018–2019. More specifically, it examines uses, and usefulness, of the campaign to the alcohol producers which fund Drinkaware. It draws on 36 semi-structured interviews with policy actors and a framing analysis of industry social media accounts and news coverage of the campaign. Industry-associated bodies such as Drinkaware have been identified as key components of alcohol industry strategies to influence policy and shape the regulatory contexts in which they operate in three ways. First, funding such bodies forms part of corporate social responsibility programmes which allow companies to position themselves as legitimate policy actors and 'part of the solution' to alcohol related harms. Second, reliance on industry funding incentivises governments to co-operate with industry actors and provides leverage in policy debates. Third, their programmes absorb policy bandwidth and deflect from more effective, evidence based interventions (e.g. on pricing and advertising) which affect industry sales and profits. This is particularly effective if the perception of independence from the industry is created. The analysis presented below suggests that the DFD was not used explicitly by the industry actors for public relations purposes. However, it was useful to their broader strategic aims. It reinforced the position of Drinkaware as a key policy actor and promoted the particular, industry-favoured understanding of alcohol harms and their solutions which it promotes. This is in keeping with the previous insights from international research literature on corporate political activity in health harming industries which finds that policy influence is often subtle, indirect and designed to embed organisations within the policy architecture. It suggests that government agencies should proceed with great caution in entering into such partnerships with industry associated bodies. • The DFD campaign was not promoted by alcohol industry actors. • The partnership between Drinkaware and PHE was useful in indirect ways. • It legitimises Drinkaware and reinforced its key position in UK alcohol policy. • It promotes an industry-favourable policy framing. • The campaign benefits industry regardless of whether there is industry influence over Drinkaware. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this article is to offer journalists’ assessment of their relationships with public relations professionals in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain). We analyzed quantitative interviews (questionnaires) and in-depth interviews conducted with 68 Catalan journalists regarding their relationship with public relations practitioners and investigated their assessments of public relations subsidies and contact preferences. An explanatory view is offered. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Using semi-structured, qualitative interviews with practitioners, this study explored an organizational approach to media relations. Interviewees provided insight as to how organizations and their media relations practitioners integrated principles of excellent public relations and principles of relationship management with principles of traditional practitioner–journalist relationships. Results indicated that the practice of media relations can be viewed as a theory-based organizational commitment at the meso-level, and not merely as an atheoretical practitioner skill at the micro-level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• The study sought to understand how youth associations become settings for youth engagement. • Malaysian youth policy acts as a shared belief system for youth associations. • Association leaders engage through social capital and voice in decision-making. • Organizational engagement occurs when members experience safety and growth. • Community engagement results from social capital, support from adults and personal growth. Youth organizations often face challenges in reaching their potential as places of empowerment and engagement for youth development. While evidence-based practices of how organizations foster youth engagement exist, there are few replicable models or conceptual frameworks that cross-cut these different practices. The purpose of this multi-level, mixed methods study was to gain insight into how youth associations become empowering settings for youth engagement. Grounded in the theoretical perspective of empowered community settings, we sought to explore the links between national youth policy, the creation of empowering settings and youth engagement. Our focus was on Malaysia and its national network of youth associations. In Phase 1 of the study, thematic analysis of major policy documents revealed that Malaysian youth policy creates a shared belief system for the country's youth associations according to three core themes: empowerment is intertwined with community capacity building; safety and inclusivity are paramount; and members are expected to be both teachers and learners as 'partners in development'. In Phase 2, in-depth interviews with youth association leaders (N = 22; M age = 28; 68% male) highlighted the importance of a relational environment that includes opportunities to build social capital with adults and peers. The associations' opportunity role structure further allows youth leaders to exercise voice in making decisions that mold the associations' programs and allow the leaders to pass on knowledge and skills to younger members. In Phase 3, building on the findings from the first two study phases, a survey of regular association members (N = 262) indicated that safety and opportunities for personal growth predicted organizational engagement. For community engagement, as members moved outside of the confines of the organization and participated in community work, opportunities for personal growth remained central to engagement with social capital and adult support taking on additional importance. The study provides an initial conceptualization of best practices that link national policy and organizational leadership to participant engagement in youth associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]