Tess Thompson

Perceived social support change in patients with early stage breast cancer and controls.

OBJECTIVE Variables associated with levels of, and change in, social support were identified in a cohort of early stage breast cancer patients and age-matched controls. METHOD Telephone interviews measuring perceived social support and other demographic and psychosocial variables were conducted at 4 to 6 weeks and 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery (patients) or a normal/benign screening mammogram (controls). We modeled the intercept (starting point) and slope (changing) aspects of social support. RESULTS Participants included 542 controls and 541 patients (77% White, 23% African American; mean age 57.7 years [SD = 10.6]). Most participants reported high social support. Patients reported significantly higher levels of social support at baseline than controls. For patients, social support had a significant negative slope that significantly varied between individuals; the intercept of social support also varied significantly. Predictors of lower social support intercept in patients included not being married/partnered, being White, having lower perceived general health, and having higher negative affect (a latent variable defined by anxiety and depression symptom severity). Patients who were African American (vs. White) or had mastectomy (vs. lumpectomy) had steeper social support declines, and participants with both these characteristics had lower starting points as well as steeper declines. Social support among controls did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS Clinicians might consider psychosocial interventions for patients reporting low social support around the time of diagnosis and surgical treatment, and for patients at risk for steeper declines in support, such as African Americans and women undergoing mastectomy.

The Context of Collecting Family Health History: Examining Definitions of Family and Family Communication about Health among African American Women

Public health initiatives encourage the public to discuss and record family health history information, which can inform prevention and screening for a variety of conditions. Most research on family health history discussion and collection, however, has predominantly involved White participants and has not considered lay definitions of family or family communication patterns about health. This qualitative study of 32 African American women—16 with a history of cancer—analyzed participants’ definitions of family, family communication about health, and collection of family health history information. Family was defined by biological relatedness, social ties, interactions, and proximity. Several participants noted using different definitions of family for different purposes (e.g., biomedical vs. social). Health discussions took place between and within generations and were influenced by structural relationships (e.g., sister) and characteristics of family members (e.g., trustworthiness). Participants described managing tensions between sharing health information and protecting privacy, especially related to generational differences in sharing information, fear of familial conflict or gossip, and denial (sometimes described as refusal to “own” or “claim” a disease). Few participants reported that anyone in their family kept formal family health history records. Results suggest family health history initiatives should address family tensions and communication patterns that affect discussion and collection of family health history information.

Behavioral Economics: “Nudging” Underserved Populations to Be Screened for Cancer

Persistent disparities in cancer screening by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status require innovative prevention tools and techniques. Behavioral economics provides tools to potentially reduce disparities by informing strategies and systems to increase prevention of breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers. With an emphasis on the predictable, but sometimes flawed, mental shortcuts (heuristics) people use to make decisions, behavioral economics offers insights that practitioners can use to enhance evidence-based cancer screening interventions that rely on judgments about the probability of developing and detecting cancer, decisions about competing screening options, and the optimal presentation of complex choices (choice architecture). In the area of judgment, we describe ways practitioners can use the availability and representativeness of heuristics and the tendency toward unrealistic optimism to increase perceptions of risk and highlight benefits of screening. We describe how several behavioral economic principles involved in decision-making can influence screening attitudes, including how framing and context effects can be manipulated to highlight personally salient features of cancer screening tests. Finally, we offer suggestions about ways practitioners can apply principles related to choice architecture to health care systems in which cancer screening takes place. These recommendations include the use of incentives to increase screening, introduction of default options, appropriate feedback throughout the decision-making and behavior completion process, and clear presentation of complex choices, particularly in the context of colorectal cancer screening. We conclude by noting gaps in knowledge and propose future research questions to guide this promising area of research and practice.

Promoting Health by Addressing Basic Needs: Effect of Problem Resolution on Contacting Health Referrals

Members of vulnerable populations have heightened needs for health services. One advantage of integrating health risk assessment and referrals into social service assistance systems such as 2-1-1 is that such systems help callers resolve problems in other areas (e.g., housing). Callers to 2-1-1 in Missouri (N = 1,090) with at least one behavioral risk factor or cancer screening need were randomly assigned to one of three health referral interventions: verbal referrals only, verbal referrals + a tailored mailed reminder, or verbal referrals + telephone health navigator. After 1 month, we assessed whether the nonhealth problems that prompted the 2-1-1 call had been resolved. Logistic regression estimated effects of having the problem resolved on calling a health referral. Callers were predominantly female (85%) and had a high school education or less (61%); nearly half (47%) had incomes under

Using written narratives in public health practice: A creative writing perspective

10,000. The most common service requests were for utility assistance (35%), home/family problems (23%), and rent/mortgage assistance (12%). At follow-up, 38% of callers reported that all problems prompting their 2-1-1 call had been resolved, and 24% reported calling a health referral. Resolving all problems prompting the 2-1-1 call was associated with a higher odds of contacting a health referral (odds ratio = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [1.02, 2.05]) compared to people whose problems were not resolved. Multifaceted interventions that help meet non–health-related needs and provide support in reaching health-related goals may promote health in vulnerable populations.

Basic needs, stress and the effects of tailored health communication in vulnerable populations

Narratives have become an increasingly common health communication tool in recent years. Vivid, engaging writing can help audiences identify with storytellers and understand health messages, but few public health practitioners are trained to create such stories. A transdisciplinary perspective, informed by both creative writing advice and evidence-based public health practices, can help public health professionals use stories more effectively in their work. This article provides techniques for creating written narratives that communicate health information for chronic disease prevention. We guide public health professionals through the process of soliciting, writing, and revising such stories, and we discuss challenges and potential solutions.

Social Anxiety and Friendship Quality over Time

This study examined whether unmet basic needs (food, housing, personal and neighborhood safety, money for necessities) and perceived stress affect recall of and response to a tailored print intervention one month later. Participants (N = 372) were adults who had called 2-1-1 Missouri between June 2010 and June 2012. A series of path analyses using Mplus were conducted to explore the relationships among basic needs, perceived stress, number of health referrals received in a tailored intervention, recalling the intervention and contacting a health referral. Participants were mainly women (85%) and African-American (59%) with a mean age of 42.2 years (SD = 13.3; range 19-86); 41% had annual household income <

Getting Help from 2-1-1: A Statewide Study of Referral Outcomes

10 000. Unmet basic needs were positively associated with increased levels of perceived stress, which, in turn, were negatively associated with recalling the intervention and calling any of the health referrals provided. Tailored printed interventions may be less effective in populations with acute unmet basic needs. More broadly, the effectiveness of minimal contact behavioral interventions might be enhanced by simultaneous efforts to address unmet basic needs.

What would help low-income families?: Results from a North American survey of 2-1-1 helpline professionals:

Abstract High social anxiety in adults is associated with self-report of impaired friendship quality, but not necessarily with impairment reported by friends. Further, prospective prediction of social anxiety and friendship quality over time has not been tested among adults. We therefore examined friendship quality and social anxiety prospectively in 126 young adults (67 primary participants and 59 friends, aged 17–22 years); the primary participants were screened to be extreme groups to increase power and relevance to clinical samples (i.e., they were recruited based on having very high or very low social interaction anxiety). The prospective relationships between friendship quality and social anxiety were then tested using an Actor–Partner Interdependence Model. Friendship quality prospectively predicted social anxiety over time within each individual in the friendship, such that higher friendship quality at Time 1 predicted lower social anxiety approximately 6 months later at Time 2. Social anxiety did not predict friendship quality. Although the results support the view that social anxiety and friendship quality have an important causal relationship, the results run counter to the assumption that high social anxiety causes poor friendship quality. Interventions to increase friendship quality merit further consideration.

Chronic Health Conditions and Children in Foster Care: Determining Demographic and Placement-Related Correlates

ABSTRACT The 2-1-1 information and referral helpline connects economically vulnerable Americans with needed health and social services in their communities. This longitudinal study followed a random sample of 2-1-1 callers in Missouri (n = 1,235) to determine the results of the referrals they received. One month after calling 2-1-1, most remembered receiving (93%), tried contacting (91%), and reached (82%) at least one referral they received. Far fewer (36%) received assistance from the referral, ranging from 17% for housing assistance to 67% for food assistance. Callers receiving assistance were much more likely than those not receiving assistance to report at the one-month follow-up that their problem had been resolved (OR = 3.0, 95% CI = 2.2, 4.1), although this was less true among callers with multiple unmet basic needs. Findings explain how 2-1-1 helps callers resolve problems but also helps them identify missed opportunities in the current system. Future research could elucidate how 2-1-1 callers resolve problems; it could also find ways to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged 2-1-1 callers.