Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J C Hersey

Publications and source records attributed to J C Hersey.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

How state counter-industry campaigns help prime perceptions of tobacco industry practices to promote reductions in youth smoking.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the impact of state media campaigns that prominently feature counter-industry messages on youth cigarette smoking, beyond the effects of price, secular trends, tobacco control efforts, and the national truth campaign. METHODS: Rates of youth smoking were compared in three groups of states: (1) those with long funded counter-industry campaigns (California, Florida, and Massachusetts); (2) states with more recently funded counter-industry media campaigns (Indiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, and New Jersey); and (3) other states. An analysis was performed for a series of national telephone surveys of 12-17 year olds between 1999 and 2002, controlling for differences in demographic background, the price of cigarettes, and exposure to the national truth campaign. RESULTS: Between 1999 and 2002, rates of current smoking and established smoking decreased significantly faster in states with established or more newly funded counter-industry campaigns than in other states. State counter-industry campaigns appear to prime, or make more salient, negative perceptions about tobacco industry practices. CONCLUSION: Results highlight the value of continued state counter-industry campaigns.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Integrating evaluation tools to assess nutrition education.

Evaluation is important for accountability, for planning, and for learning how to continuously refine and improve nutrition education with low-income families. The tools described in this special issue are intended to provide a resource to such evaluations. The special issue grew out of a series of USDA working groups to identify evaluation tools for nutrition education with low-income families.* I express my thanks to the many individuals who contributed to this effort.

Education↗
PubMed2001

Measures of food insecurity/security.

ABSTRACT Nutrition education has the potential to play an important role in ensuring food security and improving nutritional status. Therefore, food security is recommended for inclusion in nutrition education evaluation efforts. Considerable progress has been made in developing brief tools that can be used to measure food security at the household level. These tools are reliable in population-based surveys, and some studies have found that measures of food security are associated with nutrient intake. Hence, these tools can be valuable in monitoring, in community needs assessment, and in planning. These tools may also have the potential for use in evaluating nutrition education activities; this potential will be enhanced by research into the capacity of these tools to identify changes within households over time as a result of nutrition education and their sensitivity and reliability in doing so.

Diet↗
PubMed2000

Vaccination practices, policies, and management factors associated with high vaccination coverage levels in Georgia public clinics. Georgia Immunization Program Evaluation Team.

BACKGROUND: Controlling vaccine-preventable diseases by achieving high childhood vaccination coverage levels is a national priority. However, there are few, if any, comprehensive evaluations of state immunization programs in the United States, and little attention has been given to the importance of vaccination clinic management style and staff motivation. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the factors associated with the increase in childhood vaccination coverage levels from 53% in 1988 to 89% in 1994 in Georgia's public health clinics. DESIGN: A 1994 mail survey obtaining information on clinic vaccination policies and practices and management practices. SETTING: All 227 public health clinics in Georgia. PARTICIPANTS: Clinic nurses responsible for vaccination services. OUTCOME MEASURE: The 1994 clinic-specific coverage level for 21- to 23-month-old children for 4 doses of diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and pertussis vaccine, 3 doses of polio vaccine, and 1 dose of a measles-containing vaccine as determined by an independent state assessment of clinic coverage levels. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed that higher coverage levels were significantly (P<.05) associated with smaller clinic size, higher proportions of clientele enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), being a nonurban clinic, and numerous vaccination practices and policies. Multivariable analysis showed that only 8 of greater than 150 factors remained associated with higher coverage levels, including having no waiting time to be seen, having telephone reminder systems, conducting home visits for defaulters, and restricting WIC vouchers when a child was undervaccinated. Motivational factors related to higher coverage included clinic lead nurses receiving an incentive to raise coverage and lead nurses participating in assessments of clinic coverage levels by state immunization staff. CONCLUSIONS: No single factor is responsible for raising vaccination coverage levels. Efforts to improve coverage should include local assessment to provide feedback on performance and identify appropriate local solutions. Coordinating with WIC, conducting recall and reminder activities, motivating clinic staff, and having staff participate in decisions are important in raising vaccination levels.

Ambulatory Care Facilities↗
PubMed1996

Methodologic issues in intervention research--health care.

To better understand the methodological challenges faced by intervention research in health care, workshops reviewed two intervention studies to reduce back injuries among nursing home staff and two studies on the use of precautions to prevent occupational transmission of bloodborne pathogens. These studies adapted rigorous designs to real-world settings and made good use of multiple measures to detect effects and communicate this information to policy makers. The studies grappled with issues about implementation integrity and would benefit from better theory of administrative practices associated with a safety-conscious work environment.

Back Injuries↗
PubMed1994

Use of infection control guidelines by workers in healthcare facilities to prevent occupational transmission of HBV and HIV: results from a national survey.

OBJECTIVE: Develop national estimates of compliance with infection control guidelines by workers in healthcare facilities to prevent occupational transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus. DESIGN: A national survey of 3,094 workers in hospitals. SETTINGS: United States ambulatory care hospitals with emergency rooms. RESULTS: While the sampled hospitals had policies that incorporated the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) infection control guidelines, only 55% of patient care staff, 56% of physicians, and 30% of housekeeping staff reported receiving at least one of the shots recommended in the HBV vaccination series. About one half of patient care staff reported that they recapped used needles at least sometimes after giving injections and after drawing blood. Only 43% of patient care staff "always" wore gloves to draw blood. While most patient care staff "always" changed gloves between patients, only 61% reported that they "always" washed their hands after taking off their gloves. One half of patient care staff reported a percutaneous exposure to a patient's blood, and one quarter reported a percutaneous exposure in the past year. The most common cause of these exposures was recapping used needles. CONCLUSIONS: Efforts to reduce exposures to bloodborne pathogens will involve compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration bloodborne pathogens standard and the CDC's infection control guidelines, continued education and training, and emphasis on engineering controls where applicable.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1987

Health behavior models compared.

This study compares the health belief, Fishbein/Ajzen, and PRECEDE models to predict changes in smoking, exercise, and consumption of sweet and fried foods over an eight-month interval. Data were collected from a panel of 326 adults in two large cities of the western United States. The PRECEDE model accounted for more variance in behavior than both the Fishbein/Ajzen and health belief models, but it required far more questions. Fishbein/Ajzen and PRECEDE provide a limited theoretical basis for selecting specific types of beliefs or predisposing factors without turning to the health belief model, making the health belief model complementary to either Fishbein/Ajzen or PRECEDE.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Getting messages on the air: findings from the 1982 Alcohol Abuse Prevention Campaign.

A necessary step in an effective public education campaign is obtaining sufficient broadcast time to reach substantial numbers of a target audience. By this criterion, the 1982 Alcohol Abuse Prevention Campaign was very successful. Between February and December 1982, 17,409 alcohol-related public service announcements (PSAs) were broadcast in 75 major media markets around the country. Campaign messages reached target audiences with sufficient frequency to have had likely effects on attitudes and behavior. Key elements in the success of the effort were producing high quality broadcast materials, providing technical assistance to aid state and local groups in the message dissemination process, and providing for state and local control over the timing and release of materials.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Promoting social support: the impact of California's "Friends Can Be Good Medicine" campaign.

Increasing recognition of the importance of social support for health has not been accompanied by commensurate increases in knowledge about how to strengthen natural support networks on a large scale. This study evaluated the impact of California's innovative "Friends Can Be Good Medicine" public education campaign in promoting social support. Campaign impact was assessed with pre-, post-, and long-term follow-up interviews with a panel sample of 340 adults in the six county Fresno media market area. Comparisons of exposed and unexposed individuals found that the campaign appeared to have measurable impact on knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions, and support enhancing behavior. Follow-up interviews indicated that these gains maintained themselves over the course of a year. The campaign was most effective when it utilized multiple channels of communication. In Fresno City, where there was the most intensive combination of community activities and media exposure, respondents indicating substantial likelihood of engaging in support enhancing behavior increased from 42% to 59% compared to smaller gains in areas which relied primarily on community implementation, and no gains in areas where exposure to the campaign was limited to mass media. The campaign appeared particularly effective with people who had experienced the death of someone close to them during the past year, and within that group, gains were largest among respondents below average in initial levels of social support.

Attitude to Health↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Practicing preventive medicine: a national survey of general preventive medicine residency graduates--United States, 1991.

We conducted a national survey of all physicians who graduated from preventive medicine residency (PMR) programs between 1979 and 1989. We mailed a self-administered questionnaire to all PMR graduates of the 43 U.S. programs in General Preventive Medicine and Public Health, requesting information on their current professional activities. Out of 1,070 PMR graduates, 797 (75%) responded to the survey. Overall, graduates were distinguished from other physicians by both work setting and work activities. PMR graduates worked predominantly in institutional settings: in federal or state health agencies, academia, or hospitals/clinics. In addition to maintaining their involvement in clinical medicine, PMR graduates were heavily involved in epidemiologic research and program management. This unique blend of organizational skills, expertise in population-based research, and clinical experience makes PMR graduates an increasingly important human resource as health care reform increases the population of patients being cared for in a managed care setting.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Board certification among preventive medicine residency graduates: characteristics, advantages, and barriers.

In 1991, a mail survey was conducted of graduates (1979-1989) of general preventive medicine/public health (GPM/PH) residency programs to obtain information about the graduates' demographic characteristics, training, and present professional work. Specifically, we evaluated the survey data for percentage of graduates with board certification, advantages of board certification, and barriers to board certification in preventive medicine (PM). The survey response rate was 74% (797 of 1,070 graduates). Only 45% of the respondents were board certified in PM as of 1991. The percentage of respondents board certified in PM was highest among military PM residency graduates and lowest among those from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) PM residency. Reasons for not taking the board examination included the perception of limited benefit of board certification in current employment or professional endeavors, previous board certification in a clinical specialty, lack of a master of public health (MPH) degree, high cost and time commitment for the examination, and uncertainty about examination admission requirements. PM residency graduates with board certification in PM were more likely to be involved in public health and preventive medicine programs, devoted more time to administration and management, and earned more income than those PM residency graduates without PM board certification. Increasing the percentage of residency graduates who pursue PM board certification will require increasing the advantages of certification for practice, encouraging all residents to identify themselves as practicing the specialty of PM, and addressing the unique concerns of physicians who train both in PM and in a purely or primarily clinical specialty.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗