Journal of health communication
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Health literacy has become a national priority in the United States. Although less is known about the rate, outcomes, and costs associated with health literacy globally relative to the United States, the subject has received increasing attention internationally as well. ⋯ These recommendations seek to ensure clarity, rigor, and transparency as part of a systematic approach to health literacy measurement. Once these steps are taken, the field of health literacy can move forward more effectively.
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Within a health context, men in Western societies are a hard-to-reach population who experience higher rates of chronic disease compared with women. Innovative technology-based interventions that specifically target men are needed; however, little is known about how these should be developed for this group. This study aimed to examine opinions and perceptions regarding the use of Internet and mobile phones to improve physical activity and nutrition behaviors for middle-aged men. ⋯ This pilot study suggests that there are viable avenues to engage middle-aged men in Internet- or in mobile-delivered health interventions. This study also suggests that to be successful, these interventions need to be tailor-made especially for men, with an emphasis on usability and convenience. A wider quantitative study would bring further support to these findings.
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[Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of Health Communication for the following free supplemental resources: a PowerPoint presentation, Communicating Through the Arts: Lessons for Medicine an Public Health, Symposium Proceedings, June 15-21, 2012, and a video, Communicating Through the Arts: Lessons for Medicine and Public Health, 2012 Symposium. The PowerPoint presentation describes the Symposium and includes a gallery of images. The video is a 6-minute documentary featuring guest faculty discussing the Symposium.].
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To examine differences in knowledge, attitudes, and related practices among adopters and nonadopters of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, the researchers conducted 83 in-depth interviews with 18- to 26-year-old women. The study identified knowledge-attitude-practice gaps in the context of the HPV vaccine to explain why diffusion of a preventive innovation (such as the HPV vaccine) requires targeted risk communication strategies in order to increase demand. Salient findings included similarities between vaccinated and unvaccinated women's lack of knowledge and uncertainties about HPV and cervical cancer. ⋯ In contrast, unvaccinated women often cited erroneous beliefs that HPV could be avoided by abstinence, monogamy, and knowledge of their partners' sexual history as reasons that the vaccine was not personally relevant. Unvaccinated women cited interpersonal influences that activated short- and long-term vaccination safety and efficacy concerns. Different levels of fear regarding the HPV vaccine may underlie (a) attitudinal differences between vaccinated and unvaccinated women in perceived vaccination value and (b) attitude-practice gaps.
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Young adults often lack access to confidential, long-lasting, and nonjudgmental interactions with sexual health professionals at brick-and-mortar clinics. To ensure that patients return for their STI test results, post-result counseling, and STI-related information, computer-mediated health intervention programming allows them to receive sexual health information through onsite computers, the Internet, and mobile phone calls and text messages. ⋯ Nearly all students, and female students in South Africa in particular, prefer to receive their STI test results, post-results counseling, and STI-related information by talking face to face with doctors and nurses rather than communicating through computers or mobile phones. Results are clarified in relation to gender, availability of various technologies, and prevalence of HIV in Canada and in South Africa.