Multi-level, place-based interventions have proven effective at promoting a range of health behaviors, including tobacco control and discouraging the uptake of tobacco products. This paper describes the implementation and impact of a 3-year, multi-level tobacco prevention and control program at a community-college minority-serving institution…

Youth suicide and related behaviors continue to be a significant public health concern in the USA. Multiple approaches across settings, including schools, are required to address this multi-faceted public health concern. The Texas Suicide Safer Schools Report recommended that districts post suicide prevention information on their websites as one…

Background: This study describes a method for harmonizing data collected with different tools to compute a rating of compliance with national recommendations for school physical activity (PA) and nutrition environments. Methods: We reviewed questionnaire items from 84 elementary schools that participated in the Childhood Obesity Research…

Objective: Despite declining cigarette smoking rates in the US, there is a continued need for tobacco prevention education campaigns to reach young adults. Recognizing the need for improved tobacco control messaging, the University of Texas (UT) System engaged The University of Texas at Austin Center for Health Communication to develop a brand and…

Background: Workplace wellness programs have been widely implemented to promote employee health outcomes and reduce health costs. However, little is known about how designs of wellness programs matter for best promoting positive employee health outcomes. Purpose: This research aims to identify the most effective designs of workplace wellness…

Background: Through the Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration study, we implemented and evaluated a system-oriented model of primary and secondary prevention approaches to mitigate obesity among low-income Texas children aged 2 to 12 years. Primary prevention included implementing the Coordinated Approach To Child Health Early Childhood…

This phenomenological study investigated the perceptions of elementary principals regarding the need for a school-based student obesity prevention at eight, rural elementary schools in North Central Texas. Face to face interviews were the primary method of data collection from the eight participants. Findings indicated that school-based obesity…

Despite the promise of incentive-based chronic disease prevention programs, comprehensive evidence on their accessibility among low-income populations remains limited. We adapted Aday and Andersen's framework to examine accessibility and consumer satisfaction within the Medicaid Incentives for the Prevention of Chronic Disease (MIPCD) cross-site…

Background: Although use of Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) is increasingly prevalent among young adults, little is known about predictors of ENDS initiation among this population. Aims: We examined the roles of the social environment (i.e., peer ENDS use and household ENDS use), normative beliefs (i.e., social acceptability of ENDS…

Through reinforcement of policies and nutrition standards linked to the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), school environments play an important role in preventing childhood obesity. The NSLP includes mandated nutrition standards that specify recommended servings of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, dairy and protein, as well as limits on…

Introduction: Group-randomized trials (GRTs) are one of the most rigorous methods for evaluating the effectiveness of group-based health risk prevention programs. Efficiently designing GRTs with a sample size that is sufficient for meeting the trial's power and precision goals while not wasting resources exceeding them requires estimates of the…

The goal of this paper was to determine the effectiveness of the HIP HOP for HIV Awareness intervention, an innovative model utilising an exchange of an HIV test for a hip hop concert ticket, in a metropolitan city among African American youth and young adults. A subset of intervention participants participated in standardised testing, sex…

Recent campus crises have highlighted that campus administrators will be judged by three things: What the campus was doing before the crisis, its immediate response during the crisis, and the follow-up after the crisis. Born out of the call by Virginia Tech's Zenobia Hikes for urgent action to stem the tide of societal violence, and the NASPA…

The primary purpose of this mixed-methods study was two-fold: first, to assess diabetes knowledge, attitudes, disease management and self efficacy among a sample of Mexican American (MA) and Mexican-Native (MN) adults living in North Texas; and second, to determine factors which promote or deter diabetes prevention and management using…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that there are 76 million cases of foodborne disease annually. Foodborne disease is usually associated with beef, poultry, and seafood. However, there is an increasing number of foodborne disease cases related to fresh produce. Consumers may not associate fresh produce with foodborne disease…