New technologies for real-time adherence monitoring hold the potential to enhance antiretroviral therapy adherence interventions by providing objective information about daily medication-taking behavior. To realize this potential, we need to understand how to integrate real-time adherence feedback into existing best practices to promote antiretroviral therapy adherence at the point of care. Using in-depth interviews with 30 HIV-infected patients and 29 HIV care clinicians, our primary aims were to understand patients' and clinicians' perceptions of anticipated benefits and preferred uses of objective feedback to enhance conversations about adherence and to identify concerns about the impact of objective monitoring on patient-clinician relationships and communication. Both patients and clinicians suggested that identifying patterns of nonadherence with real-time feedback could (a) facilitate collaborative adherence problem-solving, (b) motivate patient adherence, and (c) reinforce the importance of optimal adherence. Some clinicians worried that delivery of real-time feedback could imply mistrust of patient-reported adherence and suggested careful framing of monitoring results. A few patients and clinicians were concerned that negative reactions to monitoring could discourage retention in care and reduce adherence motivation. These results indicate the potential of real-time feedback to enhance existing evidence-based adherence interventions targeting the key adherence precursors of adherence information, motivation, and behavioral skills. Guidance for the delivery of real-time adherence feedback should focus on both optimizing adherence and mitigating negative perceptions of adherence monitoring.
Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is changing the burden of disease across Latin America. In this formative, qualitative study, we explored experiences of T2D diagnosis and management among adults in rural Dominican Republic. We conducted 28 in-depth interviews (12 men, 16 women) and used inductive analysis to explore the emotional burden of T2D and identify coping strategies. We found that stress relating to T2D began at diagnosis and persisted throughout management. Stress was produced by concerns about healthy food and medication access, fears about illness-induced injury, and the cyclical process of experiencing stress. Participants identified diabetes care and free medication services as external stress-reducers. Internally, participants’ mitigated stress by not thinking about diabetes (“ no dar mente”). Our study highlights the importance of a contextualized understanding of diabetes-related stress and the need for individual, clinic, and community-level interventions to reduce stressors and improve health outcomes among adults with T2D.
Background. It is challenging for junior public health investigators who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) to secure funding for projects and research. We used a narrative inquiry approach to understand and present the funding cascade from the perspectives of female, junior BIPOC researchers and provide funders with actionable recommendations to advance their antiracist goals. Approach. We applied a Critical Race Theory (CRT) framework to guide our narrative inquiry approach. The participants were the four co-authors and we each drafted individual narratives around our experience with the funding cascade and subsequently the five stages of narrative analysis. Results. We created a visual representation of key activities for funders and applicants organized by our perceived magnitude of inequities in a journey map, an interpreter table that describes common phrases and barriers encountered, and a composite counternarrative presented as a group text message conversation, elevating common themes including feeling pressured to have our research agendas conform to funders’ interests and receiving limited key information and support in the funding process. Discussion. We discussed how our findings represented manifestations of White supremacy characteristics like power hoarding and paternalism. Implications for practice. We offered specific antidotes for funding organizations to make their processes more antiracist and invited leaders of public health funding organizations to join us to further identify antidotes and share lessons learned in Fall 2023.
Abstract Toddler milk is an ultra-processed beverage consisting primarily of powdered milk, caloric sweeteners, and vegetable oil. Pediatric health authorities do not support the use of toddler milk, and emerging evidence suggests that toddler-milk marketing practices may mislead consumers. However, studies have not synthesized the extent of toddler-milk marketing practices or how these practices affect parents’ decisions about whether to serve toddler milk. We aimed to summarize the literature about toddler milk to identify what is known about: (1) parents’ toddler-milk purchasing and feeding behaviors, (2) toddler-milk marketing, and (3) how marketing practices influence parents’ beliefs and perceptions about toddler milk. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR), we systematically searched 8 databases (PubMed, APA PsycINFO, Scopus, Cochrane Central, Embase, CINAHL, Communication & Mass Media Complete, and Business Source Premier). We identified 45 articles about toddler milk. Studies were conducted in 25 countries across 6 continents. Five types of findings emerged: (1) consumption and feeding behaviors, (2) demographic correlates of toddler-milk purchasing and consumption, (3) misperceptions and beliefs, (4) increased sales, and (5) increased marketing and responses to marketing. The included articles suggested that toddler-milk sales are growing rapidly worldwide. Findings also revealed that toddler-milk packages (eg, labels, branding) resemble infant formula packages and that toddler-milk marketing practices may indirectly advertise infant formula. Purchasing, serving, and consumption of toddler milk were higher in Black and Hispanic populations than in non-Hispanic White populations, and parents with higher educational attainment and income were more likely to offer toddler milk to their children. Findings suggest a need for policies to prevent cross-marketing of toddler milk and infant formula, reduce provision of toddler milk to infants and toddlers, and prevent caregivers from being misled about toddler-milk healthfulness.
This study assessed communication factors influencing shared decision-making (SDM) between language-congruent clinicians and Latina mothers of pediatric mental health patients. The sample comprised Latinx youth up to 22 years old who were enrolled in mental healthcare and attended mental health-related sessions with their parent. One hundred transcripts depicting mental health visits were coded using the Conversation Analysis framework. Coding included inductive coding that came from analyzing the structure, or orderliness, of the visits and content discussed that affects SDM. Thematic qualitative analysis revealed that facilitators to SDM included collaborative engagement, parents being active in tailoring session content, and integrating the preferences, roles, and next steps for treatment among all participants. Barriers included unskilled interpersonal interactions undermining rapport, off-topic conversations becoming the session's focus, poor time management, and irregularly integrating parent/patient preferences into the clinician's decisions regarding the child's treatment. Additionally, visit content, structure, tone, and interpersonal engagement were factors that variably facilitated or served as barriers to patient participation in SDM and were integral to collaborative, family-centered care. These findings delineated characteristics of pediatric mental health conversations and identified areas to strengthen communication between parents, patients, and clinicians to shift toward more effective SDM and improve patient outcomes among Latinx families.