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The health education profession has made significant strides in promoting quality assurance for credentialing of health educators through a combination of individual certification and program approval and accreditation mechanisms. Although the profession has widely embraced individual certification, program accreditation has not been uniformly accepted nor implemented. The National Task Force on Accreditation in Health Education was charged to develop a detailed plan for a coordinated accreditation system for undergraduate and graduate programs in health education. One of the goals of the task force was to gather professionwide input into any proposed new system. We conducted two Web-based surveys to assess viewpoints on accreditation and program approval from health education professionals (n = 506) and from faculty and administrators at academic programs in health education (n = 105). Results from the surveys show that the majority of professionals in the field and at academic programs surveyed supported and would participate in a national, coordinated, professionwide accreditation system in health education. Furthermore, the majority of respondents suggested that the accreditation system should be comprehensive, flexible, build on the strengths of existing accreditation systems, and be linked to individual certification. Findings from these surveys, along with other input from the field, will help inform the final recommendations of the task force. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)

Climate change, an urgent public health problem, will increase the morbidity and mortality of older adults. The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown highlighted that older adults are susceptible to the effects of extreme weather events, including heatwaves. Through the lens of the socio-ecological model, we identified influences on persons at risk for heat-related illnesses. We applied the Heat-related Intolerance Screening Tool (HIST) to a case that demonstrates the impact of physical, social, environmental, and societal factors on older people. The hypothetical case provides a context for ambulatory care nurses to explore innovative ways to screen for heat intolerance to mitigate the risk of heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke. Our innovation supports the broad utility of the simple HIST by ambulatory care nurses to identify and prevent heat-related illnesses, thereby reducing emergency room visits and hospital admissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This article examines innovations in the development and advancement of a school of nursing-led climate change center and innovative leadership related to climate change and health in nursing education. Method: The integration of health consequences of climate change in curricula and continuing education is essential to prepare nursing students and nurses for clinical practice. Results: Transformational leadership is a key concept for effective leadership in nursing education to address climate change as the looming public health challenge of the 21st century. Transformational leadership strengthened one nursing program's curricula, dissemination of relevant scholarship, and achievements with public health outreach related to climate change, climate justice, and health. Conclusion: Nursing education leaders can influence nursing practice and improve societal health outcomes related to the health consequences of climate change across all levels of education and continuing education for professional nurses. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(9):528–531.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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-onone 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Quick service restaurant (QSR) television advertisements for children’s meals were compared with adult advertisements from the same companies to assess whether self-regulatory pledges for food advertisements to children had been implemented. Methods: All nationally televised advertisements for the top 25 US QSR restaurants from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2010 were obtained and viewed to identify those advertising meals for children and these advertisements were compared with adult advertisements from the same companies. Content coding included visual and audio assessment of branding, toy premiums, movie tie-ins, and depictions of food. For image size comparisons, the diagonal length of the advertisement was compared with the diagonal length of salient food and drink images. Results: Almost all of the 92 QSR children’s meal advertisements that aired during the study period were attributable to McDonald’s (70%) or Burger King (29%); 79% of 25,000 television placements aired on just four channels (Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, and Nicktoons). Visual branding was more common in children’s advertisements vs. adult advertisements, with food packaging present in 88% vs. 23%, and street view of the QSR restaurant present in 41% vs. 12%. Toy premiums or giveaways were present in 69% vs. 1%, and movie tie-ins present in 55% vs. 14% of children’s vs. adult advertisements. Median food image diagonal length was 20% of the advertisement diagonal for children’s and 45% for adult advertisements. The audio script for children’s advertisements emphasized giveaways and movie tie-ins whereas adult advertisements emphasized food taste, price and portion size. Conclusions: Children’s QSR advertisements emphasized toy giveaways and movie tie-ins rather than food products. Self-regulatory pledges to focus on actual food products instead of toy premiums were not supported by this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fundamental obstacle to successful dissemination and implementation of evidence-based public health programs is the near-total absence of systems and infrastructure for marketing and distribution. We describe the functions of a marketing and distribution system, and we explain how it would help move effective public health programs from research to practice. Then we critically evaluate the 4 dominant strategies now used to promote dissemination and implementation, and we explain how each would be enhanced by marketing and distribution systems. Finally, we make 6 recommendations for building the needed system infrastructure and discuss the responsibility within the public health community for implementation of these recommendations. Without serious investment in such infrastructure, application of proven solutions in public health practice will continue to occur slowly and rarely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the discipline of public health communication. Public health recognizes that health is profoundly affected by the social, political, environmental and behavioral factors which people live. Public health communication embraces this ecological perspective by encouraging multilevel communication strategies and interventions, such as tailored messages at the individual level, targeted messages at the group level, social marketing at the community level, media advocacy at the policy level. In addition public health communication strategies are often combined with other intervention efforts, such as community organization or coalition building, to produce multilevel public health interventions. Public health communication professionals have a responsibility to communicate well with each other. To facilitate the exchange of information and the translation of public health communication research to practice, public health communicators need to become more visible and vocal in their professional organizations. With its transdisciplinary nature, ecological perspective, change orientation, and audience-centered philosophy, public health communication has the potential to make significant contributions to the health of the public.

Abstract: Crowdsourcing is an online, distributed, problem-solving, and production model that uses the collective intelligence of networked communities for specific purposes. Although its use has benefited many sectors of society, it has yet to be fully realized as a method for improving public health. This paper defines the core components of crowdsourcing and proposes a framework for understanding the potential utility of crowdsourcing in the domain of public health. Four discrete crowdsourcing approaches are described (knowledge discovery and management; distributed human intelligence tasking; broadcast search; and peer-vetted creative production types) and a number of potential applications for crowdsourcing for public health science and practice are enumerated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Although considerable research suggests that health-risk factors vary as a function of video-game playing among young people, direct evidence of such linkages among adults is lacking. Purpose: The goal of this study was to distinguish adult video-game players from nonplayers on the basis of personal and environmental factors. It was hypothesized that adults who play video games, compared to nonplayers, would evidence poorer perceptions of their health, greater reliance on Internet-facilitated social support, more extensive media use, and higher BMI. It was further hypothesized that different patterns of linkages between video-game playing and health-risk factors would emerge by gender. Methods: A cross-sectional, Internet-based survey was conducted in 2006 with a sample of adults from the Seattle–Tacoma area (n=562), examining health risks; media use behaviors and perceptions, including those related to video-game playing; and demographics. Statistical analyses conducted in 2008 to compare video-game players and nonplayers included bivariate descriptive statistics, stepwise discriminant analysis, and ANOVA. Results: A total of 45.1% of respondents reported playing video games. Female video-game players reported greater depression (M=1.57) and poorer health status (M=3.90) than female nonplayers (depression, M=1.13; health status, M=3.57). Male video-game players reported higher BMI (M=5.31) and more Internet use time (M=2.55) than male nonplayers (BMI, M=5.19; Internet use, M=2.36). The only determinant common to female and male video-game players was greater reliance on the Internet for social support. Conclusions: A number of determinants distinguished video-game players from nonplayers, and these factors differed substantially between men and women. The data illustrate the need for further research among adults to clarify how to use digital opportunities more effectively to promote health and prevent disease. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: One of public health professionals’ major challenges is to provide the public with messages that are understandable and based on science. Traditionally, public health communication efforts have focused on the science behind the message rather than on how the information should be communicated and whether the message is understood. With more than one third of the U.S. population struggling with low health literacy, ensuring that individuals understand critical health messages is an ethical imperative for public health agencies, organizations, and professionals. This paper explores the ethical implications of public health literacy and the steps the public health community needs to take to promote a society that is public health literate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]