Background: Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) conscientiously sought input from students and school health partners to evaluate and improve response efforts.

Objective: The primary objective was to comprehensively gather feedback from students and school health partners in Jefferson County, leveraging community relationships to evaluate JCPH's COVID-19 response and enhance emergency preparedness strategies for future crises.

Methods: JCPH conducted surveys utilizing the REDCap and Google Forms platforms. These surveys aimed to gain a thorough understanding of the community's experiences and expectations during the pandemic period.

Results: Analysis of the surveys revealed valuable insights. There were notable areas identified for improvement, particularly in terms of reporting mechanisms, communication strategies, and collaborative efforts. Additionally, the feedback from youth highlighted significant concerns surrounding feelings of isolation, mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression, and worries about family safety.

Conclusion: The findings led to the proposal of several recommendations to further strengthen response efforts. These include advocating for paid opportunities to engage youth in emergency preparedness initiatives, establishing safe and supportive spaces for healing and expression, and recognizing and valuing the expertise and perspectives of young individuals in decision-making processes. Moreover, the results suggest that early involvement of schools in preparedness efforts could greatly enhance the overall effectiveness of emergency response measures. Moving forward, continued community engagement and feedback mechanisms will remain vital for driving ongoing improvements within JCPH and ensuring a more resilient response to future public health crises and disaster management.

Background: Despite initiatives to enhance diversity in clinical trials, minority groups remain underrepresented. This study aimed to delineate whether disparities manifest in trial invitations versus participation decisions once recruited.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the nationally-representative 2021 Health Information National Trends Survey. Sociodemographic predictors of clinical trial invitation and subsequent participation were analyzed using logistic regression, incorporating survey sample weights.

Results: The final sample include 3044 respondents representing 224,860,738 US adults aged 18 years or older. Overall, 8.0% (95% CI: 6.6 – 9.7%) of adults who were invited to clinical trials. Of those invited, only 47.4% (95%CI: 38.0 – 57.1%) chose to participate. Non-Hispanic Black adults (adjusted OR: AOR 0.44, 95% CI 0.25–0.77) and older adults (≥65 years) were less likely to be invited. Among those invited, Black race (adjusted OR 3.24, 95% CI 1.25-8.40) and unmarried individuals had 3 times higher odds of participation while obesity and comorbidities were associated with lower participation.

Conclusion: Racial and age disparities persisted in clinical trial invitations but did not universally carry over to lower participation once recruited. Findings suggest recruitment barriers rather than diminished willingness to participate contribute to underrepresentation. Targeted community outreach messaging and enhanced physician referrals may mitigate disadvantages and diversify trials.

Background: Currently, in the United States, there is no comprehensive surveillance system to collect data on food allergies (FAs); however, prevalence and severity data is critical to quantify the burden of FAs, develop evidence-based control measures, detect emerging issues, and monitor trends. Objectives and Methods: To address this gap, we conducted a literature search, and expert interviews to identify surveillance systems and datasets that could be used to estimate the prevalence and severity of FAs in the U.S. overall and for specific foods. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed and used to screen each data source. Selected articles were evaluated according to quality parameters to identify the most appropriate studies. Results: Most studies estimated prevalence of FA in children, investigated multiple foods, and used surveys to collect self-reported data. Conclusion: Despite the high quality, robust study designs, and comprehensive survey instruments that currently exist, the studies identified do not provide sufficiently recent data to estimate the current burden of FAs in the country. Studies lack consistencies across the years making the analysis of trends over time a challenge. National surveys conducted by Northwestern University in 2009/2010 and 2015/2016 represented the best available data; however, these data are likely outdated and are limited in assessing temporal FA trends. Data to accurately estimate the current prevalence and severity of FA and related trends is lacking. U.S. public health agencies could explore the development of a comprehensive surveillance program to address this gap and help inform evidence-based policies in FA management and prevention.