First Grant Awardees (2022)

Awardee/Affiliation

Iris Feinberg, PhD (Co-PI)
Dawn Aycock, PhD (Co-PI)
Georgia State University

Study:

Tailoring Stroke Education Materials to Increase the Accuracy of Perceived Stroke Risk Among African American Adults

Population/Site:

African American or Black, between the ages of 20 and 34 years, and residing in the Atlanta metropolitan area

Objective: To understand the effectiveness of a video versus written booklet about stroke risk awareness among young adult African Americans (AA) in terms of comprehension, attitude toward materials, intention (to seek more information andto change individual health behaviors).  Methods: AA participants ages 18 and over (n=300) completed an on-line survey through Qualtrics Research Services.  Respondents were randomly selected to receive the video or booklet modality within demographic categories of sex and urbanicity. Descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and moderation analyses were performed using SPSS V28.

Results: Across all four outcomes, intervention modality was a significant predictor (Rs = -.197 to -.222, ps < .001) indicating that controlling for stroke risk knowledge, there was a significant difference in modality; comprehension, attitudes, and behavioral intention (both to seek more information and to change individual health behaviors) were significantly higher in the video modality as compared to the booklet (βs = -.227, .354; p<.001).  Regarding attitude toward message, there was a significant intervention*sex interaction (β = -.120, p = .031).  Males had relatively similar attitudinal ratings in the video and booklet (M = 5.249, M=5.081; however, females had significantly higher ratings in the video (M = 5.3612) than the booklet modality (M = 4.561),  The same interaction was true for intention to seek more information (β = -.150, p = .007) and intention to change individual health behaviors (β = -.173, p = .002). In both cases, males had similar ratings in the video and booklet and females had significantly higher rates in the video modality (Mvideo=12.896, Mbooklet =10.648 and Mvideo=17.807, Mbooklet =15.259, respectively).  Conclusion: Video health education materials on stroke risk awareness that are created using health literacy and plain language guidelines and targeted to its audience may be more effective than written materials for young adult AAs in terms of comprehension, positive attitude toward message, and intention to seek more information and/or change individual health behaviors. Targeted effective health education materials can promote stroke risk awareness and lead to more informed decision-making by increasing awareness of modifiable stroke risk factors such as unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and unhealthy social behaviors.


Awardee/Affiliation

Allyce Haney Smith, MSW (Co-PI)
Jerry Lee, MD (Co-PI)
Greenfield Health Systems

Study:

Increasing Health Literacy Among Individuals Initiating Outpatient Dialysis

Population/Site:

New start dialysis patients of 15 dialysis centers in the Detroit metropolitan area