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Aim: To describe the process of engaging underserved communities of color that designs, conducts, and evaluates community-engaged COVID-19 Community Health Navigator training on COVID-19: Vaccination, Prevention, and Contact Tracing. Subject and methods: The project used a mixed-methods design; 18 community health navigators (CHNs) representing Asian American, Arab American, Black/African American, and Hispanic/Latinx communities completed the pretest, training, and post-test. Demographic characteristics, along with knowledge and confidence level questions regarding COVID-19 issues, were gathered in pre- and post-tests. Qualitative data were collected via open-ended questions in post-tests. Results: Findings suggest that the community health navigator training successfully increased participants’ knowledge of COVID-19-related topic areas and confidence in educating community members regarding COVID-19 vaccination and prevention. Qualitative evaluation contained information learned and found most helpful, and application and utilization plans for CHNs’ follow-up work. Conclusion: The process of community health navigator training and evaluation results adds important insights to the current COVID-19 pandemic workforce literature and can inform future trainings.

Firearm-related injuries are a major public health concern in the USA. Given the increased racism endured by Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the current study aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of racism, mental distress, and substance use on firearm purchase among Asian Americans. To fulfill this purpose, we collected data from a national sample of 916 Asian Americans in 2021. The study results showed that Asian Americans’ racism experience is directly related to increased mental distress, substance abuse, and firearm purchase. Both mental distress and alcohol use were also linked to firearm purchase. It was found that racism links to more mental distress and increased alcohol use, which in turn link to increased firearm purchases. The findings add new information on how racism can have compounded effects on mental distress and alcohol use in addition to firearm-related risk behavior among Asian Americans and posing serious public health concerns.

Vaccination disparities are part of a larger system of health inequities among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. To increase vaccine equity of racial and ethnic populations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designed the Partnering for Vaccine Equity program in January 2021, which funded and supported national, state, local, and community organizations in 50 states—which include Indian Health Service Tribal Areas; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico—to implement culturally tailored activities to improve access to, availability of, and confidence in COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. To increase vaccine uptake at the local level, CDC partnered with national organizations such as the National Urban League and Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum to engage community-based organizations to take action. Lessons learned from the program include the importance of directly supporting and engaging with the community, providing tailored messages and access to vaccines to reach communities where they are, training messengers who are trusted by those in the community, and providing support to funded partners through trainings on program design and implementation that can be institutionalized and sustained beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on these lessons will ensure CDC and other public health partners can continue to advance vaccine equity, increase vaccine uptake, improve health outcomes, and build trust with communities as part of a comprehensive adult immunization infrastructure.

Although the Asian American population has steadily increased since 1980s, there remains a paucity of literature on cancer screening utilization on this population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate preventive health and screening practices by examining demographic predictors of health and screening behaviors among 217 Asian Americans living in state of Michigan. Several demographic and acculturation-related factors were found to be associated with “ever screened” status in the bivariate analyses. This included the examination of the relationships among refugee status and cancer screening practices among Asian Americans. After adjusting for other demographic correlates, Asian Americans in the refugee group had lower screening rates in colorectal and breast cancer. Our findings emphasize the need for effective interventions to increase cancer screening rates in this vulnerable population.

Breast cancer consistently is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second most common cause of cancer mortality among Asian Americans in the United States. The incidence of breast cancer in Asian American women has been increasing at a much higher rate than in white women.

Cancer is the leading cause of death for Asian Americans, and breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed among Asian American women. Despite the alarming facts, Asian American women have low breast cancer screening rates. This study examined the effects of a culturally appropriate community-based breast intervention program on participants' knowledge about breast cancer and intention for screening among Southeast Asian and South Asian women in Michigan. Data were collected from 166 women. At baseline, participants had limited knowledge of breast cancer screening guidelines and misconceptions about the risk factors of breast cancer. After the educational intervention, participants reported significantly higher knowledge scores related to breast cancer and screening recommendations and intentions to obtain follow-up CBE and mammograms. This culturally appropriate intervention provides strategies to overcome personal instructional barriers to meet the needs of this group for early detection and cancer control.

Cancer is the leading cause of death among Asian American women, and the death rate has increased almost 200% since 1990. Previous research has applied the transtheoretical model constructs to examine cancer screening behavior; however, to our knowledge, this is the first such investigation to examine relationships between stages of mammography adoption and decision balance among Asian American women. This article presents study findings from a convenience sample of 228 women aged 40 to 81 years (mean = 55.0, SD = 9.6) residing in southeastern Michigan. The current study demonstrates excellent support for the psychometric properties of a pros and cons measure, with promising Cronbach alphas above .70. Results from confirmatory factor analysis also support the factor structure derived from exploratory factor analysis with good model fit indices. This study also provides some support on transtheoretical model-hypothesized relationships in this sample of Asian American women that, as the stages of adoption of mammography proceeded from earlier to later ones, the decisional balance would become more favorable. The specific beliefs (both positive and negative) associated with the various stages of mammography adoption have implications for health professionals in developing stage-matched interventions to motivate women in adopting regular mammography.

The purpose of this paper is to present a comparative analysis of the determinants of physical activity among adolescents in Taiwan and in the United States. Pender's Health Promotion Model (HPM) served as the theoretical framework for both studies (Pender, 1996). The major determinants of health behavior in the HPM are perceived benefits, perceived barriers, self-efficacy, activity-related affect, interpersonal influences, situational influences, commitment to a plan of action, and immediate competing demands. In Taiwan, 969 middle school students (55% males; 45% females) from Taipei provided data for the study. In the United States, the sample was collected from 286 late elementary and middle school students (48% males; 52% females). Results showed the gender differences in activity levels were apparent in the youths from both countries. In both Taiwanese and American youths, boys were more active than girls. Cross-cultural differences in the importance of barriers to physical activity emerged. Among Taiwanese adolescents, barriers did not emerge as a significant direct predictor of physical activity as they did among US adolescents. Perceived efficacy directly predicted physical activity among Taiwanese youths while it indirectly predicted physical activity and appeared to be mediated by beliefs regarding exercise benefits and barriers among American youths. In addition, the paths of effect for interpersonal influences were different when Taiwanese and US youths were compared. The findings from this paper have important and culturally-relevant information that can inform future physical activity intervention studies with diverse adolescents.