Characteristics of K-12 Teachers Considering Leaving Due to COVID-19 and for Other Reasons.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has had drastic effects on K-12 teachers. Researchers partnered with a teacher advisory board to identify factors associated with K-12 teachers' consideration of leaving teaching during Fall 2020. METHODS: A web-based survey focused on teachers' working experiences was emailed to school union membership listservs in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. A logistic regression model was developed to identify working conditions associated with teachers considering leaving the profession. RESULTS: Among 5873 K-12 teachers, 27% (n = 1319) were considering leaving the profession either because of COVID-19 (10%), for other reasons (6%) or were undecided (11%). Teachers who were midcareer, having taught 6-10 years, who perceived less supervisor support, whose job duties had changed significantly, who were dissatisfied with the COVID-19 related decision-making, who reported poor or fair mental health, and who were mostly or extremely afraid that a household member would get COVID-19 had higher odds of considering leaving teaching or being undecided about future career plans. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE AND EQUITY: Understanding factors influencing teachers' career decisions will help school leaders improve teacher retention amid challenging circumstances. CONCLUSION: In this study in 3 midwestern US states, limited supervisor support, significant job duty change, dissatisfaction with COVID-19-related decision-making, poor or fair mental health, and fear that a household member would get COVID-19 were associated with teachers' consideration of leaving the profession or being undecided about future career plans.

Community engagement through social media: A promising low-cost strategy for rural recruitment?

PURPOSE: For the same reasons that rural telehealth has shown promise for enhancing the provision of care in underserved environments, social media recruitment may facilitate more inclusive research engagement in rural areas. However, little research has examined social media recruitment in the rural context, and few studies have evaluated the feasibility of using a free social media page to build a network of rural community members who may be interested in a research study. Here, we describe the rationale, process, and protocols of developing and implementing a social media approach to recruit rural residents to participate in an mHealth intervention. METHODS: Informed by extensive formative research, we created a study Facebook page emphasizing community engagement in an mHealth behavioral intervention. We distributed the page to local networks and regularly posted recruitment and community messages. We collected data on the reach of the Facebook page, interaction with our messages, and initiations of our study intake survey. FINDINGS: Over 21 weeks, our Facebook page gained 429 followers, and Facebook users interacted with our social media messages 3,080 times. Compared to messages that described desirable study features, messages that described community involvement resulted in higher levels of online interaction. Social media and other recruitment approaches resulted in 225 people initiating our in-take survey, 9 enrolling in our pilot study, and 26 placing their names on a waiting list. CONCLUSIONS: A standalone social media page highlighting community involvement shows promise for recruiting in rural areas.

Place, Power, and Premature Mortality: A Rapid Scoping Review on the Health of Women in Appalachia.

OBJECTIVE: Appalachian women continue to die younger than in other US regions. We performed a rapid scoping review to summarize women's health research in Appalachia from 2000 to 2019, including health topics, study populations, theoretical frameworks, methods, and findings. DATA SOURCE: We searched bibliographic databases (eg, PubMed, PsycINFO, Google Scholar) for literature focusing on women's health in Appalachia. STUDY INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA: Included articles were: (1) on women's health in Appalachia; (2) published January 2000 to June 2019; (3) peer-reviewed; and (4) written in English. We excluded studies without reported data findings. DATA EXTRACTION: Two coders reviewed articles for descriptive information to create summary tables comparing variables of interest. DATA SYNTHESIS: Two coders co-reviewed a sub-sample to ensure consensus and refine data charting categories. We categorized major findings across the social-ecological framework. RESULTS: A search of nearly 2 decades of literature revealed 81 articles, which primarily focused on cancer disparities (49.4%) and prenatal/pregnancy outcomes (23.5%). Many of these research studies took place in Central Appalachia (eg, 42.0% in Kentucky) with reproductive or middle-aged women (82.7%). Half of the studies employed quantitative methods, and half used qualitative methods, with few mixed method or community-engaged approaches (3.7%). Nearly half (40.7%) did not specify a theoretical framework. Findings included complex multi-level factors with few articles exploring the co-occurrence of factors across multiple levels. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies should: 1) systematically include Appalachian women at various life stages from under-represented sub-regions; 2) expand the use of rigorous methods and specified theoretical frameworks to account for complex interactions of social-ecological factors; and 3) build upon existing community assets to improve health in this vulnerable population.

School-Based Health Centers in the United States: Roots, Reality, and Potential.

BACKGROUND: Given the amount of time children and adolescents spend in school, these locations may be ideal for simultaneously supporting young people's health and academic achievement. School-based health centers (SBHCs) not only bring care to students in accessible and familiar locations, these centers also provide guidance for young people during a life stage when they are establishing lifelong health behavior habits. METHODS: This article examines the literature exploring the impact of SBHCs from the perspective of multiple stakeholder groups including students, guardians, school personnel, community members, providers, hospital administrators, public health officials, and insurers. RESULTS: Studies describe the positive effects of SBHCs on students' health and educational outcomes. SBHCs are generally associated with decreased health care disparities among students, accelerated treatment, and increased school attendance. CONCLUSIONS: Additional research exploring strategies for optimizing SBHC's economic efficiency and tailoring SBHC services to meet the needs of vulnerable patient populations is essential. Investigation into the impacts of SBHCs on community stakeholders outside of the student population is also vital.