Abstract The disparity between supply and demand for life-saving and life-sustaining donor organs disproportionally affects ethnic and racial minorities, which is partly due to negative attitudes and beliefs regarding transplantation. One way to address these disparities is to implement targeted and tailored behavioral interventions among minority communities, such as the American Muslim population. We designed, implemented, and evaluated a religiously tailored, ethically balanced, and mosque-based educational intervention within the USA. This intervention increased participants’ biomedical and religious knowledge of living organ donation, self-perceived preparedness to make a donation-related decision, and self-reported likelihood to donate a kidney. This paper assesses whether these reported outcomes can be explained through the Theory of Planned Behavior. Our intervention positively impacted living organ donation-related behavioral, normative, and control beliefs—independent of sociodemographic factors. These changes were partly associated with changes in the intention to perform donation-related behaviors. Most significantly, a positive change in behavioral beliefs increased participant’s self-perceived likelihood to donate a kidney during their lifetime. These findings support the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to educational interventions on organ donation in religious communities and could support those seeking to design theory-driven educational interventions for Muslim minorities in other western contexts.
Abstract This study compared the effectiveness of three teaching methods (traditional, video-based, and augmented reality training) on the acquisition, performance quality, and retention of automated external defibrillator skills in secondary school students. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with post-intervention measurements and a 3-month follow-up. 193 untrained students (aged 13–15) were divided into three intervention groups (traditional training group, video training group, and augmented reality training group). Skills were individually assessed using a simulation manikin immediately post-intervention and at a 3-month follow-up, measuring shock effectiveness, safety, quality, and time. Immediately after training, all methods achieved high rates of effective and safe shocks, though performance quality was superior in the digitally supported groups. At 3 months, the augmented reality training group maintained a 100% effective shock rate, whereas the traditional training group showed a significant decrease. While execution times were similar initially, differences emerged during follow-up. In conclusion, although all methodologies are effective for initial skill acquisition, digital resource-based training promotes higher execution quality and superior long-term retention, strongly supporting their implementation in educational contexts.
Awareness of alcohol consumption as a breast cancer risk remains limited among young adult women in the USA. This experiment (N = 1038) examined how female young adults aged 18-29 reporting past 30-day alcohol consumption responded to health warnings about the risk of alcohol for developing breast cancer. Structural equation modeling assessed associations between health warning exposure, binge-drinking frequency, negative affect, perceived threat of alcohol harms and behavioral intentions to reduce or stop drinking alcohol and seek information about alcohol health effects. Results found that exposure to health warnings elicited increased negative affect (beta = .12, P < .001), which was associated with higher perceived threat of alcohol harms (beta = .35, P < .001). Higher binge-drinking frequency was associated with increased negative affect (beta = .21, P < .001) and perceived threat of alcohol harms (beta = .13, P < .001). Finally, greater perceived threat of alcohol harms was associated with greater behavioral intentions to reduce drinking (beta = .24, P < .001), stop drinking (beta = .17, P < .001), seek information about alcohol harms (beta = .34, P < .001), discuss alcohol harms with friends and medical professionals (beta = .31, P < .001), and support policies for warnings on alcohol products (beta = .15, P < .001). Findings suggest health warning designers should consider high-risk drinking patterns and develop warnings that influence affective reactions and related threat responses.
Mental health challenges continue to rise in the United States, yet access to treatment remains limited. Podcasts have become an important channel for disseminating mental health information and improving mental health. Despite the proliferation of mental health podcasts, little is known about the characteristics that make certain podcasts especially popular. To address this gap, the present study conducted a comprehensive content analysis of the top 100 mental health podcasts listed in the Apple Podcasts app and guided by the PodCred Framework. Three trained coders analyzed 100 mental health podcasts. Findings revealed consistent patterns among top-ranked podcasts. Most of them maintained a strong topical focus, consistent structure, and conversational delivery style, with episodes averaging 30-60 minutes. Podcasters frequently shared personal experiences, displayed emotional expressiveness, and demonstrated professional credibility through credentials and affiliations. Content typically combined recommendations, factual information, and personal discussion, supported by high production quality and predictable release schedules. Overall, the results extend the PodCred Framework to the mental health domain and highlight key features that appear to attract and sustain listeners. These insights offer practical guidance for podcast creators and contribute to emerging scholarship on digital mental health communication.
Migrant populations encounter barriers to healthy lifestyles, increasing their risk for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). A randomized controlled trial with two groups and repeated measures was carried out in four factories in Bangkok to evaluate the effectiveness of a Social Cognitive Theory-Based Self-Efficacy Intervention with LINE Follow-Up on self-efficacy, health promoting behaviours (HPBs), and body mass index (BMI). Sixty registered Myanmar migrants were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). Measurements were taken at the baseline, Week 3, and Week 8. Data analysis was conducted using a two-way mixed repeated measures MANOVA with a significance level of α = 0.01. The results revealed a significant interaction effect between time and group for all dependent variables [F (6,53) = 11.84, P < .001, ηp2 = 0.57], indicating a significant difference in the trajectory of the three dependent variables between the intervention and control groups. The intervention group showed significantly greater improvements in HPBs [F (2,116) = 5.309, P = .006, ηp2 = 0.08] and BMI [F(1.711,99.232) = 34.846, P < .001, ηp2 = 0.375] compared to the control group over the 8-week period. A Self-Efficacy Intervention with LINE Follow-Up led to significant improvements in self-efficacy, HPBs, and BMI trajectory among Myanmar migrants. The smartphone-based LINE Official Account is a low-cost and practical tool for health promotion that reinforces self-efficacy through verbal persuasion and motivation, and it facilitates sustained HPBs that can influence BMI by continuous and accessible follow-up. This digital health strategy shows promise for enhancing health outcomes in this population and could potentially contribute to a healthier workforce and decreased burden of NCDs in the long term. Contribution to Health Promotion This paper outlines the strategies for supporting the implementation of a Social Cognitive Theory-Based Self-Efficacy Intervention with LINE Follow-Up.Stakeholder engagement is emphasized as crucial for the success of the programme, based on SCT.If the effectiveness of the intervention on HPBs is confirmed, the findings could inform nationwide programmes for migrants, potentially reducing NCDs and healthcare costs.From a health economic standpoint, this study contributes to promoting a healthy workforce in Thailand. The systematic approach used to develop the self-efficacy strategy can be applied to different contexts and interventions.
