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Findings from the field of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) suggest that some of the most pressing public health problems facing communities today may begin much earlier than previously understood. In particular, this body of work provides evidence that social, physical, chemical, environmental, and behavioral influences in early life play a significant role in establishing vulnerabilities for chronic disease later in life. Further, because this work points to the importance of adverse environmental exposures that cluster in population groups, it suggests that existing opportunities to intervene at a population level may need to refocus their efforts "upstream" to sufficiently combat the fundamental causes of disease. To translate these findings into improved public health, however, the distance between scientific discovery and population application will need to be bridged by conversations across a breadth of disciplines and social roles. And importantly, those involved will likely begin without a shared vocabulary or conceptual starting point. The purpose of this paper is to support and inform the translation of DOHaD findings from the bench to population-level health promotion and disease prevention, by: (1) discussing the unique communication challenges inherent to translation of DOHaD for broad audiences, (2) introducing the First-hit/Second-hit Framework with an epidemiologic planning matrix as a model for conceptualizing and structuring communication around DOHaD, and (3) discussing the ways in which patterns of communicating DOHaD findings can expand the range of solutions considered and encourage discussion of population-level solutions in relation to one another, rather than in isolation.

This study explored how migration-related socio-cultural and environmental factors interact to render immigrant Latino men residing in rural Oregon at increased risk for HIV/STI. More specifically, the paper describes the socio-demographic characteristics and sexual risk profile of immigrant Latino men and characterises the physical and socio-cultural contexts in which they reside. In-depth interviews were conducted with 49 men who newly immigrated to the USA and had recently engaged in sexual intercourse with women. Content analysis indicated that job instability and seasonal/industry restrictions resulted in frequent changes in employment and living situations, and one-third of respondents reported having no one to turn to when in need. Over two-fifths had ever had sex with a sex worker, with almost a quarter reporting sex with a sex worker in the past three months. In addition, over half of the men reported that they never, or inconsistently, used condoms. Although respect for wives/girlfriends was valued, loneliness, sexual experimentation and inherent sexual needs were cited as reasons that men have sex outside their primary relationships. Our data support the convergence of risky environments and migration-driven factors in exacerbating STI prevalence and the HIV epidemic among Latino immigrant men residing in the Northwest.

The California Wellness Foundation's Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) was a 70 million dollars, 10-year effort to reduce violence among California youth. The Policy and Public Education Program of the initiative advanced two broad policy goals: (1) limiting the availability of handguns to youth, (2) increasing the state's investment in youth resources. Roughly 110 communities passed more than 300 ordinances to limit gun availability or promote gun safety. In addition, California legislators passed 24 statewide gun laws. Funding for youth programs increased to more that 368 million dollars in 2002-03, from about 100 million dollars in 1996-97. Using a framework adapted from the social movements and political communications literature the importance of four key elements was apparent in the VPI: articulating clear policy goals, strategic issue framing, capitalizing on political opportunity, and effectively mobilizing resources. The impact of new gun policies, increased funding for youth programs, and a diverse network of policy professionals and issue advocates interested in social change to decrease violence remain to be fully understood.

Growing concern over failure to detect early stage breast cancer has led communities across the United States to participate in the Breast Cancer Awareness Month program. This program mobilizes local public and private institutions, particularly the media, to reach a large audience each October with information on salutary behaviors, including screening, and on resources that can assist newly motivated audiences to adopt the behaviors. Although the scholarly literature includes no assessments of the effect of the program on the actual detection of early stage breast tumors, similar programs targeting other illnesses (e.g., AIDS) are quickly emerging. We attempt such an assessment by applying time-series designs to 92 quarters (beginning January, 1975) of data obtained from cancer registries in the Atlanta and Detroit metropolitan areas as well as in the San Francisco Bay Area. We find that the detection of in situ and local breast tumors increased in all three communities during the quarters that included Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We conclude that community mobilization may have its intended benefit but suggest that community organizers not ignore unintended costs including the emotional and physical sequelae of false positives.

Once viewed primarily as a criminal justice problem, violence and its prevention are now often claimed by public health professionals as being within their purview. The author reviewed 282 articles published in public health and medical journals from 1985 through 1995 that discussed violence as a public health problem. She found that while authors tended to identify social and structural causes for violence, they suggested interventions that targeted individuals' attitudes or behaviors and improved public health practice. Her study illuminates the tension between public health professionals' vision of the social precursors of violence and their attempts to apply a traditional set of remedies. In targeting individuals to rid the nation of violence, the public health community is deemphasizing societal causes.