Objectives To examine how the National Cancer Institute-funded Community Network Program (CNP) operationalized principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR). Methods Based on our review of the literature and extant CBPR measurement tools, scientists from nine of 25 CNPs developed a 27-item questionnaire to self-assess CNP operationalization of nine CBPR principles. Results Of 25 CNPs, 22 (88%) completed the questionnaire. Most scored well on CBPR principles to recognize community as a unit of identity, build on community strengths, facilitate co-learning, embrace iterative processes in developing community capacity, and achieve a balance between data generation and intervention. CNPs varied in extent to which they employed CBPR principles of addressing determinants of health, sharing power among partners, engaging community in research dissemination, and striving for sustainability. Conclusions Although tool development in this field is in its infancy, findings suggest that fidelity to CBPR processes can be assessed in a variety of settings.

Objectives-This study examines religious fatalism as a potential barrier to good health and healthy behavior.Methods-As part of Nashville's REACH 2010 project, residents (n=1,273) were randomly selected to participate in a telephone survey examining health variables. This survey included the Helpless Inevitability sub-scale of the Religious Health Fatalism Questionnaire.Results-Results indicate significant racial/ethnicity differences, however associations of fatalism with health outcomes and behaviors were only partially confirmed.Conclusions-Fatalism may be primarily a coping response to illness rather than an inhibitory belief.

Management of type 1 diabetes requires a continual balancing of insulin,fuel intake, and metabolic demand (e.g., exercise). This can only be accomplished with knowledge of where one's blood glucose is and where it is going and knowledge of how to manipulate insulin, fuel, and exercise to manage it. Blood Glucose Awareness Training (BGAT) is a psychoeducational intervention that in part addresses these needs. Fifteen research studies from the United States and Europe, involving single-site and multicenter projects,are reviewed. BGAT has been consistently demonstrated to improve the ability to detect and diminish both hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia while reducing the sequelae of extreme blood glucose levels (e.g., episodes of severe hypoglycemia and driving mishaps). BGAT has recently been transformed for internet delivery, making it available both for clinicians to use with their patients and for individuals with type 1 diabetes to pursue as a self-directed tutorial.

This study examined demographic and lifestyle factors that influenced decisions and obstacles to being screened for breast cancer in low-income African Americans in three urban Tennessee cities. As part of the Meharry Community Networks Program (CNP) needs assessment, a 123-item community survey was administered to assess demographic characteristics, health care access and utilization, and screening practices for various cancers in low-income African Americans. For this study, only African American women 40 years and older (n=334) were selected from the Meharry CNP community survey database. There were several predictors of breast cancer screening such as marital status and having health insurance (P< .05). Additionally, there were associations between obstacles to screening and geographic region such as transportation and not having enough information about screenings (P< .05). Educational interventions aimed at improving breast cancer knowledge and screening rates should incorporate information about obstacles and predictors to screening.

African American men bear disproportionate burden of prostate cancer (PCa) that can be reduced by early detection. A 15-minute culturally appropriate PCa education intervention developed to communicate effective, relevant, and balanced PCa screening information to low-income African American men was evaluated in men 42 years and older who had not been screened in one year. Of 539 men enrolled, 392 (72.7%) completed the six-month follow-up. Mean age was 54.4±8.9, 34.7% had no high school diploma, and 65.3% earned less than $25,000 annually. Barriers to screening included health insurance (41.4%), discomfort of digital rectal exam (32.1%), and fear of cancer diagnosis (29.9%). Mean knowledge score of 21 points increased from 13.27±3.51 to 14.95±4.14 (p<.001), and prostate-specific antigen screening from 22.1% to 62.8%. Men without high school diploma recorded the lowest post-intervention PCa knowledge and screening rate (47.7%), suggestive of the need for more than a single education session. Annual physicals with free prostate examination can maintain the positive trend observed.