BackgroundPre-natal and post-natal periods are times when many women actively seek health information from multiple sources, including the Internet. However, little is known about how pregnant women and mothers of young children seek and process online pediatric health information.ObjectiveTo explore why and where mothers of young children look for online health information and how they determine if the information they receive is trustworthy.MethodsFocus groups were conducted in a Southeastern US city to provide an in-depth exploration of web-related behaviors and beliefs among mothers who work inside and outside of the home. Data from the focus groups were coded using deductive and inductive coding schemes and content was analyzed for the existence of themes.ResultsTwenty mothers of young children participated in four focus groups. Most participants sought information on the Internet during pregnancy and nearly all sought online information after their child was born, primarily to diagnose or treat pediatric conditions and to seek advice on parenting and development. Participants mainly used commercial information websites for health information and many expressed disdain for commercial product websites. Many also expressed concerns about the reliability of health information on the web and described strategies for determining how much they trust each website.ConclusionsWomen appear to be high information seekers during pregnancy and the first few years following delivery, and this period represents an important window of time for providing online health information. Participants suggested that online information sources and motives for providing online information should be clear in order to increase perceptions of trust. Participants expressed preference for online clinical health information that is presented by clinical professionals, and online parenting advice that is presented from other parents.

Background: Due in part to declining vaccination rates, in 2018 over 20 states reported at least one case of measles, and over 40,000 cases have been confirmed in Europe. Antivaccine posts on social media may be facilitating anti-vaccination behaviour. This study aimed to systematically characterize (1) individuals known to publicly post antivaccination content on Facebook, (2) the information they convey, and (3) the spread of this content. Methods: Our data set consisted of 197 individuals who posted anti-vaccination comments in response to a message promoting vaccination. We systematically analysed publicly-available content using quantitative coding, descriptive analysis, social network analysis, and an in-depth qualitative assessment. The final codebook consisted of 26 codes; Cohen's κ ranged 0.71-1.0 after double-coding. Results: The majority (89%) of individuals identified as female. Among 136 individuals who divulged their location, 36 states and 8 other countries were represented. In a 2mode network of individuals and topics, modularity analysis revealed 4 distinct subgroups labelled as "trust," "alternatives," "safety," and "conspiracy." For example, a comment representative of "conspiracy" is that poliovirus does not exist and that pesticides caused clinical symptoms of polio. An example from the "alternatives" subgroup is that eating yogurt cures human papillomavirus. Deeper qualitative analysis of all 197 individuals' profiles found that these individuals also tended to post material against other health-related practices such as water fluoridation and circumcision.

What is already known on this topic? Food insecurity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and household food insecurity is more prevalent where a household member has diabetes. What is added by this report? Food bank clients at risk for diabetes were offered a year-long diabetes prevention pilot intervention near Oakland, California. The intervention featured diabetes-appropriate food, text-based education, and health care referrals. At midpoint (6 months), we found significant improvements in food security, dietary intake, physical activity, and health status. Twelve-month results were unchanged from midpoint. What are the implications for public health practice? Food banks, which serve highly vulnerable communities, can improve food security and nutrition, but further reducing chronic disease risk and improving health outcomes may require additional partnerships.

The Internet has emerged as potential vehicle for distributing health communication to millions of individuals because it is interactive, user controlled, and offers breadth and depth of information. However, its widespread use by the public may be limited due to three overarching concerns: privacy and confidentiality, information accuracy and perceptions of credibility, including limited credibility of some government-sponsored web sites. To explore the potential of using the Internet, especially for delivering information on human genetics communication, 15 focus groups and one interview were conducted with African American and European American adult males and females in a southeastern town. We found that the participants recognized great potential in the Internet for health communication on human genetics, but they also voiced concerns about the credibility and accuracy of online information, lack of trust in many web sites, and fear of safeguarding privacy. Their concerns are summarized here, along with potential remedies health communicators could implement and should research further. The Internet cannot achieve its full potential for human genetics communication until the public's concerns are addressed and resolved.

Training in injury prevention and control represents a major deficit in the fields of health promotion and public health. Internet-based distance learning is an innovative method of offering continuing education to professionals, but this approach has not yet been widely researched or implemented with public health audiences. VINCENTweb involved the development and evaluation of a no-cost continuing education course on injury prevention and control presented exclusively on the World Wide Web. The course was evaluated using online surveys at baseline and follow-up. Participants, especially those with lower education levels, provided positive feedback about the course and reported high levels of learning and satisfaction. This article describes the development and evaluation of VINCENTweb and discusses the implications for developing future Internet-based courses in public health.

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Pregnant and postpartum women have special needs during public health emergencies but often have inadequate levels of disaster preparedness. Thus, improving maternal emergency preparedness is a public health priority. More research is needed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches to how preparedness information is communicated to these women. A sample of web pages from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention intended to address the preparedness needs of pregnant and postpartum populations was examined for suitability for this audience. Five of the 7 web pages examined were considered adequate. One web page was considered not suitable and one the raters split between not suitable and adequate. None of the resources examined were considered superior. If these resources are considered some of the best available to pregnant and postpartum women, more work is needed to improve the suitability of educational resources, especially for audiences with low literacy and low incomes.