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Computer-based multimedia technologies can be used to tailor health messages, but "promotoras" (Spanish-speaking community health workers) rarely use these tools. "Promotoras" delivered health messages about colorectal cancer screening to medically underserved Latinos in South Texas using two small media formats: a "low-tech" format (flipchart and video) and a "high-tech" format consisting of a tailored, interactive computer program delivered on a tablet computer. Using qualitative methods, the authors observed "promotora" training and intervention delivery and conducted interviews with five "promotoras" to compare and contrast program implementation of both formats. The authors discuss the ways each format aided or challenged "promotoras'" intervention delivery. Findings reveal that some aspects of both formats enhanced intervention delivery by tapping into Latino health communication preferences and facilitating interpersonal communication, whereas other aspects hindered intervention delivery. This study contributes to our understanding of how community health workers use low- and high-tech small media formats when delivering health messages to Latinos.

Environmental allergens are major triggers for pediatric asthma. While children's greatest exposure to indoor allergens is in the home, other public places where children spend a large amount of time, such as school and day care centers, may also be sources of significant allergen encounters. The purpose of this article is to describe schoolroom allergen levels from 3 different geographic sites obtained from dust samples collected in the fall and in spring. Environmental dust samples were collected from elementary schools in Birmingham (AL), Detroit (MI), and Houston (TX), from 4 room locations, including the cafeteria, library, upper grades, and lower grades. Samples were assayed for dust mite (Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Dermatophagoides farinae), cat (Felis domesticus), and cockroach (Blatella germanica 2) allergen levels. Allergen levels varied by geographic location and type of schoolroom. Schoolroom settings differed by the type of flooring (hard and carpet), room characteristics and use (food service, library shelves with books, and general classroom with multiple types of materials [individual desks and different types of furniture]), and the average age of the schoolroom dwellers (younger vs. older children). Dust mite, cat, and cockroach allergens were present in all schoolrooms and all sites at varying levels by season and by type of room. Schools may be important sources of direct allergen exposure and reservoirs that could potentially contribute to allergic sensitization and disease exacerbation in children. Further studies are needed to carefully examine the environmental allergen load in schools and its effect on children.

This paper describes and demonstrates the use of the systematic planning process, Intervention Mapping, to adapt an evidence-based public health intervention (EBI). We used a simplified version of Intervention Mapping (IM Adapt) to increase an intervention’s fit with a new setting and population. IM Adapt guides researchers and practitioners in selecting an EBI, making decisions about whether and what to adapt, and executing the adaptation while guarding the EBI’s essential elements (those responsible for effectiveness). We present a case study of a project in which we used IM Adapt to find, adapt, implement, and evaluate an EBI to improve mammography adherence for African American women in a new practice setting in Houston, Texas. IM Adapt includes the following (1) assess needs and organizational capacity; (2) find EBIs; (3) plan adaptations based on fit assessments; (4) make adaptations; (5) plan for implementation; and (6) plan for evaluation of the adapted EBI. The case study shows an example of how public health researchers and practitioners can use the tool to make it easier to find and use EBIs, thus encouraging greater uptake. IM Adapt adds to existing dissemination and adaptation models by providing detailed guidance on how to decide on effective adaptation, while maintaining the essential elements of the EBI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considerable racial and socio-economic disparities exist in breast cancer. In spite of the existence of numerous evidence-based interventions (EBIs) aimed at reducing breast cancer screening barriers among the underserved, there is a lack of uptake or sub-optimal uptake of EBIs in community and clinical settings. This study evaluates a theoretically based, systematically designed implementation strategy to support adoption and implementation of a patient navigation-based intervention, called Peace of Mind Program (PMP), aimed at improving breast cancer screening among underserved women.Methods/design: The PMP will be offered to federally qualified health centers and charity clinics in the Greater Houston area using a non-randomized stepped wedge design. Due to practical constraints of implementing and adopting in the real-world, randomization of start times and blinding will not be used. Any potential confounding or bias will be controlled in the analysis. Outcomes such as appointment adherence, patient referral to diagnostics, time to diagnostic referral, patient referral to treatment, time to treatment referral, and budget impact of the intervention will be assessed. Assessment of constructs from the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR) will be assessed during implementation and at the end of the study (sustainment) from each participating clinic. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics (chi-square tests) and generalized estimating equations (GEE).Discussion: While parallel group randomized controlled trials (RCT) are considered the gold standard for evaluating EBI efficacy, withholding an effective EBI in practice can be both unethical and/or impractical. The stepped wedge design addresses this issue by enabling all clinics to eventually receive the EBI during the study and allowing each clinic to serve as its own control, while maintaining strong internal validity. We expect that the PMP will prove to be a feasible and successful strategy for reducing appointment no-shows in underserved women.Trial Registration: Clinical Trials Registration Number: NCT02296177. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When community health planners select an evidence-based intervention that has been developed and tested in one situation and adapt it for use in a different situation or community, best practice suggests needs assessment and formative research in the new setting. Cancer prevention planners who are interested in adopting and adapting evidence-based approaches need to base their choices on a sound understanding of the health or behavioral risk problem in which they mean to intervene. This requires a balancing act of weighing community information against a broader perspective from the scientific literature and using the combination to identify and adapt an evidence-based intervention program that is likely to be effective in the new setting. This report is a case study of a community and organizational assessment conducted as a foundation for selecting and recommending adaptation of an evidence-based intervention for improving mammography appointment attendance. We used an inductive sequential exploratory mixed-methods design to inform this process. The process provides a model for formative research grounding evidence-based practice for cancer control planners. Future studies that incorporate findings from needs assessment into the adaptation of the selected intervention program may promote the effective dissemination of evidence-based programs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

OBJECTIVE. Our goal was to teach emergency department (ED) physicians how to use standardized criteria for diagnosing and classifying asthma severity and to describe the patterns of pediatric ED utilization of these criteria for classification of both acute and chronic severity. METHOD. A health care provider education module was developed and implemented in 4 participating EDs in southeast Texas to educate ED physicians and health care providers on the diagnosis and acute and chronic severity classification of pediatric asthma patients. We undertook both retrospective (medical chart extraction) and prospective surveillance over a 2-year period of all children presenting to 1 of 4 EDs with acute asthma. Demographic characteristics, classification of severity, health care resource utilization, and primary physician contact information were collected. RESULTS. The health care provider educational intervention was provided for 84 different physicians. A subset of 16 physicians was randomly tested preintervention and postintervention. Mean mock-scenario scores at 2 weeks showed an improvement of 55.6%, which was sustained at retesting at 6 months. Over the 2-year period, 6222 individual pediatric ED encounters were entered into the surveillance database. The median age of presentation was 5 years. More than 32% of the patients in the study were uninsured. The majority of the patients in each category had asthma of mild severity: mild intermittent chronic (58.7%) and mild acute (53.9%). CONCLUSIONS. Physicians who completed a health care provider education module learned to effectively diagnose asthma and recognize standardized acute and chronic severity classifications. The majority of children with asthma who presented to the Texas Emergency Department Asthma Surveillance project's participating EDs were classified as having mild acute severity and mild intermittent chronic disease. Almost one third of these patients did not have health insurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: We assessed the short-term effects of a community-based intervention for Hispanic men to encourage informed decision making (IDM) about prostate cancer screening with prostate specific antigen (PSA). Methods: All senior social and housing centers in El Paso, TX were randomized to intervention, a group-based Spanish language educational program facilitated by promotores (12 centers; 161 men) [I's], or to control, promotores-facilitated diabetes video and discussion (13 centers; 160 men) [C's]. Results: Participants had low levels of schooling and baseline knowledge; 44% reported previous PSA testing. At post-test, the I's made large knowledge gains, increased their understanding that experts disagree about testing, shifted toward more active decision making roles, were more likely to believe that it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of screening and to anticipate potential screening outcomes in making a decision, and were less likely to consider the screening decision easy. The I's did not change in their screening intention or the belief that choosing not to be screened could be a responsible choice. Conclusions: A community-based intervention to support IDM for prostate cancer screening can increase knowledge and may promote more active involvement in decision making about prostate cancer screening. Such an approach can increase knowledge and may promote more active involvement in decision making about prostate cancer screening. Practice implications: It is feasible to develop and implement a community-based intervention program to promote IDM for prostate cancer screening. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: Goal-setting is an approach to collaborative chronic care that involves clinicians and patients working together to set goals and to initiate and maintain specific self-care behaviors. Using patients' own perspectives, this study describes how goals for the self-management of hypertension are developed and whether or not they conform to the characteristics of effective goal-setting., Methods: Qualitative methodology was used to explore the process of setting self-management goals for hypertensive patients. Thirty patients participated in semi-structured interviews that ascertained the detail and specificity of self-care goals, timing and quality of feedback for setting and monitoring goals and the role of family members and caregivers in setting goals., Results: Patients understood the risks associated with hypertension, had intentions to control their disease, reported conducting at least one self-care task and set informal goals for themselves; however, these goals lacked the characteristics needed to initiate and maintain behavior change., Conclusion: Patient goal-setting is underdeveloped and poorly supported in chronic hypertension care. Future studies need to examine ways to support effective goal-setting., Practice Implications: As part of chronic hypertension care, health care providers should incorporate time and support for dedicated goal-setting to improve the effectiveness of self-management behaviors.

This article describes the development of the Cultivando La Salud program, an intervention to increase breast and cervical cancer screening for Hispanic farmworker women. Processes and findings of intervention mapping (IM), a planning process for development of theory and evidence-informed program are discussed. The six IM steps are presented: needs assessment, preparation of planning matrices, election of theoretic methods and practical strategies, program design, implementation planning, and evaluation. The article also describes how qualitative and quantitative findings informed intervention development. IM helped ensure that theory and evidence guided (a) the identification of behavioral and environmental factors related to a target health problem and (b) the selection of the most appropriate methods and strategies to address the identified determinants. IM also guided the development of program materials and implementation by lay health workers. Also reported are findings of the pilot study and effectiveness trial.

Background: The ultimate test of an educational intervention is the sustainability of the effect after the intervention ceases., Methods: The TLL Temple Foundation Stroke Project was a quasi-experimental study aimed at increasing Food and Drug Administration-approved acute stroke therapy in a nonurban community in east Texas. During the intensive community and professional intervention (phase 2), significantly more patients with acute stroke received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) compared with the preintervention period (phase 1). In the comparison community, no change was noted. We present the results of tPA treatment in the 6 months after the intervention ended (phase 3)., Results: Two hundred thirty-eight patients had a validated stroke during phase 3. Among patients who experienced an ischemic stroke, 11.2% in the intervention group received intravenous tPA compared with 2.2% in phase 1 (P =.007). In the comparison group, 1.4% received intravenous tPA in phase 3 compared with 0.7% in phase 1 (P>.99). Among eligible candidates for treatment, 69.2% were treated in phase 3 in the intervention community compared with 13.6% in phase 1 (P =.002). In the comparison group, 20.0% were treated in phase 3 compared with 6.7% in phase 1 (P =.45). There was 1 protocol violation among the 9 patients treated in the intervention community in phase 3., Conclusions: There was a sustained benefit of the intervention in increasing tPA treatments in the intervention community even after cessation of the educational effort. Treatments in the control community remained few through all 3 phases of the study. A carefully planned multilevel intervention can improve community stroke treatments even in a nonurban community.

As part of the Partners in School Asthma Management Program, environmental data were collected from 385 rooms in 60 elementary schools in southeast Texas, using an Environmental Observation Checklist and a Q-TRAK Indoor Air Quality Monitor. Dust samples for allergen analysis were collected from floors, carpets, and area rugs in 80 classrooms in a subset of 20 schools. CO2 levels > 1,000 ppm were found in 86% of rooms; 69% had indoor humidity above recommended levels. Der p I dust mite allergen levels > 2,000 ng/g were present in 20% of rooms, but only 2.5% of rooms had Der f I mite allergen levels exceeding recommended tolerances. Detectable levels of cockroach allergen (Bla g II) were found in all schools (median 5.5 ng/g), with 10% of rooms over the recommended threshold. Almost two-thirds of classrooms had mold spore counts > 10,000 col/g (median, 14,400 col/g; range, 2,000-52,000 col/g).

Background and Purpose: Only a small minority of acute stroke patients receive approved acute stroke therapy. We performed a community and professional behavioral intervention project to increase the proportion of stroke patients treated with approved acute stroke therapy., Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental design. Intervention and comparison communities were compared at baseline and during educational intervention. The communities were based in 5 nonurban East Texas counties. The multilevel intervention worked with hospitals and community physicians while changing the stroke identification skills, outcome expectations, and social norms of community residents. The primary goal was to increase the proportion of patients treated with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rTPA) from 1% to 6% of all cerebrovascular events in the intervention community., Results: We prospectively evaluated 1733 patients and validated 1189 cerebrovascular events. Intravenous rTPA treatment increased from 1.38% to 5.75% among all cerebrovascular event patients in the intervention community (P=0.01) compared with a change from 0.49% to 0.55% in the comparison community (P=1.00). Among the ischemic stroke patients, an increase from 2.21% to 8.65% was noted in the intervention community (P=0.02). The comparison group did not appreciably change (0.71% to 0.86%, P=1.00). Of eligible intravenous rTPA candidates, treatment increased in the intervention community from 14% to 52% (P=0.003) and was unchanged in the comparison community (7% to 6%, P=1.00)., Conclusions: An aggressive, multilevel stroke educational intervention program can increase delivery of acute stroke therapy. This may have important public health implications for reducing disability on a national level.

Background and Purpose: Activating emergency medical services (EMS) is the most important factor in reducing delay times to hospital arrival for stroke patients. Determining who calls 911 for stroke would allow more efficient targeting of public health initiatives., Methods: The T.L.L. Temple Foundation Stroke Project is an acute stroke surveillance and intervention project in nonurban East Texas. Prospective case ascertainment allowed chart abstraction and structured interviews for all hospitalized stroke patients to determine if EMS was activated, and if so, by whom., Results: Of 429 validated strokes, 38.0% activated EMS by calling 911. Logistic regression analysis comparing those who called 911 with those who did not activate EMS found that individuals who were employed were 81% less likely to have EMS activated (OR 0.19, 95% CI 0.04 to 0.63). Of the 163 cases in which 911 was called, the person activating EMS was: self (patient), 4.3%; family member of significant other, 60. 1%; paid caregiver, 18.4%; and coworker or other, 12.9%. Significant associations between the variables age group (P=0.02), insurance status (P=0.007), and living alone (P=0.05) with who called 911 was found on chi(2) analysis., Conclusions: Educational efforts directed at patients themselves at risk for stroke may be of low yield. To increase the use of time dependent acute stroke therapy, interventions may wish to concentrate on family, caregivers, and coworkers of high-risk patients. Large employers may be good targets to increase utilization of EMS services for acute stroke.