Bethany A. Bell-Ellison

Internet Use and Social Networking Among Middle Aged and Older Adults

In this study, the associations between Internet use and the social networks of adults over 50 years of age were examined. A sample (n = 2284) from the 2004 wave of the Health and Retirement Survey was used. In regression models considering a number of control variables, frequency of contact with friends, frequency of contact with family, and attendance at organizational meetings (not including religious services) were found to have a significant positive association with Internet use for adults over 50. Results add to the body of research that suggests Internet use can strengthen social networks, looking specifically at adults over 50.

Promoting pre-conceptional use of folic acid to Hispanic women: a social marketing approach.

Objective: To develop a culturally appropriate communication initiative in an effort to promote the use of pre-conceptional folic acid among Hispanic women of childbearing age. The materials were designed to communicate information about the risks of neural tube defects and the value of folic acid supplementation before conception. Methods: The initiative was developed using a social marketing approach. A series of focus groups were conducted with Hispanic women, particularly Mexican and Mexican-American women, to gain an understanding of their knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding birth defects and folic acid. Additionally focus groups assessed womens preferences for existing folic acid education materials. Qualitative analysis of coded transcripts revealed key themes which were incorporated into a multi-media initiative. Results: Critical themes of the research highlighted the need to include the role of partners and a sense of family in the promotions aimed at these groups. Another key component was the need to dispel myths which act as barriers to pre-conceptional folic acid use. Other important elements included in the media products were the need for Spanish and English versions, an explanation of neural tube defects, and a reference to the cost of the supplements. Conclusion: The final products of the initiative included Spanish and English versions of a brochure, photo-novella, and radio public service announcement. Pre-testing results showed women understood the message, thought the message was for women like them, and expected to begin taking a folic acid supplement. Results of the overall evaluation of the initiative are on-going.

A message of hope: creation of the Faces of Lung Cancer project for increasing awareness of clinical trials

In 2002, the Thoracic Oncology Advocacy Program at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute was created with a mission to contribute to the prevention and cure of lung cancer by embracing the patient perspective. In an effort to increase awareness of clinical trials (CTs) and to humanize the CT process, members of the advocacy programme were involved in the creation of the Faces of Lung Cancer project. Twelve lung cancer patients who participated in a CT, four caregivers of patients who had been on a trial and four thoracic health care professionals were interviewed and photographed by a professional photographer with prior experience in photo-documentary work. Preliminary results indicate just the process of participating in the Faces of Lung Cancer project and creating the photo essay has had a positive impact on the lives of cancer patients and their caregivers. Formal evaluation of the Faces of Lung Cancer project is underway; however, preliminary results indicate that the project is viewed as successful in terms of conveying a message of hope and increasing awareness. By including visual displays, in conjunction with patient interviews, the photo essay is able to generate and blend powerful information and images that provide a richer, more complete portrayal of the context of a patients experience.

A Theater-as-Education Project Discourages Tobacco and Alcohol Use.

Theater has been used as an educational tool since the Great Depression era, and it is currently considered an effective tool for health promotion and reducing risk-taking behaviors among youth (Sequin & Rancourt, 1996; Starkel, 2001). For example, Emory Universitys EN-ACTE theater company, Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowas Acting Out! Teen Theater Troupe, and Atlantas professional Alliance Theater address a range of contemporary adolescent health issues, including drug and alcohol use, unintended pregnancy, date rape, and HIV infection (Alliance Theater, 2007; Rangus, 2007; Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, 2007). Theater projects are well suited for communicating prevention messages to youth audiences because they can depict real-life settings and characters who can change during the performance in different ways as the story unfolds. Such character portrayals and settings can offer accurate health information, dispel myths, and illustrate important refusal skills and other preventative practices. These qualities may increase the likelihood that audience members will adopt prevention behaviors. Furthermore, because theater productions communicate health messages to many individuals simultaneously, these messages may become topics of future conversations in classrooms as well as outside school among peers and, possibly, parents and siblings at home. Finally, by simulating dialogue, live theater may help alter social norms regarding adolescent risk behaviors (Starkel, 2001). Although theater-as-education may be effective for addressing a wide range of health and risk behaviors, previous programs that have used this strategy have experienced limitations. First, many programs fail to use a theoretical foundation, thereby ignoring principles that can be transferred to teaching and practice settings. Second, theater-as-education projects often lack systematic assessment of their impacts on audience attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, so the effects of these programs are not well documented. Last, many theater-delivered programs fail to employ a community-based process, which limits their contextual validity. This article describes the development and assessment of the theater-as-education component of a prevention marketing campaign that addresses attitudes toward tobacco and alcohol use, the demonstration of refusal skills, and the clarification of norms regarding use of these products among young adolescents. This program addresses the limitations discussed above, and it provides a replicable model for developing a theater-as-education production for schools and communities to follow. Sarasota County Demonstration Project A coalition of professional and lay leaders in Sarasota County, Florida, collaborated with the Florida Prevention Research Center (FPRC) at the University of South Florida to conduct community-specific research on the local determinants of youth tobacco and alcohol use, and to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies to prevent youth from initiating use of these products. This initiative employed a framework known as Community-Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM), a community-directed social change process that applies marketing theories and techniques to the design, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention programs (Bryant, Forthofer, McCormack Brown, Landis, & McDermott, 2000). Using the results of the community-specific determinants research, the coalition developed a prevention marketing plan and multidimensional intervention strategies that became the Believe in All Your Possibilities prevention marketing campaign (Florida Prevention Research Center, 2007). One of the key strategies in the Believe in All Your Possibilities prevention marketing campaign was the creation and delivery of a theater production performed by youth. Local development of theater-as-education Data derived from youth, parents, and key community stakeholders (Figure 1) were the basis for the development and implementation of the local theater production and the overarching community-based prevention marketing campaign, Believe in All Your Possibilities. …