The Healthy Communities Research Institute (HCRI) was launched as part of Kent State University's strategic roadmap. HCRI promotes transdisciplinary research and endeavors to build connections between researchers at Kent State University and beyond to tackle some of today's most pressing health issues. The Healthy Communities Research Institute Collection highlights research that has been conducted by HCRI members.
Browse the Healthy Communities Research Institute (HCRI) scholarly publications Collections
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State of Families Brief Report: Ohio (2023)
09/18/2025This brief report provides an overview of the state of families in Ohio, USA, using data primarily from the US Census Bureau and the state of Ohio. The report covers various aspects such as the number of families, family size, family composition, ethnic and racial diversity, family income, poverty rates, employment rates, unemployment rates, education levels, marriage, and divorce rates, among others.
The Voting Wars: Public Opinion About Battles Over Voting Rules
09/09/2025The voting wars rank among the most rancorous and active partisan battles in an era defined by extreme partisan animus. The current battle lines formed decades ago, but neither party has a monopoly on protecting voting rights or preventing fraud. Instead we theorize partisan positions in voting wars reflect beliefs about assembling winning coalitions. Sometimes elections are won by turning out supporters and sometimes elections are won by preventing opponents from voting. Which brings us to the current conventional wisdom about turnout: the Democrats would win if everyone voted. The turnout myth is as strong as it is flawed and we investigate whether it is at the heart of the current voting wars. The turnout myth has received extensive scholarly attention, but public belief in the myth has never been examined nor has its role in public attitudes about restrictive voting laws. Toward that end we fielded a series of surveys with new measures of belief in the turnout myth. We find that Democrats' turnout myth beliefs shape their positions on restrictive voting laws, but Republican support for restrictive voting rules is dominated by beliefs that voting fraud is a major problem. In addition to beliefs having different effects, further analyses reveal vast partisan differences in beliefs as well. Protecting the integrity of American elections will require finding common cause among partisans with very different beliefs and motivations.
The role of shame and spontaneous self-affirmation among people with concealable stigmatized identities
09/08/2025Many Americans report having a concealable stigmatized identity (CSI) - when one belongs to a group that is devalued by society, but membership can be hidden - which is linked with poor health outcomes. One factor consistently linked with poor health among people with CSIs is anticipated stigma. The current study uses structural equation modeling to examine how responses to anticipated stigma (shame, spontaneous self-affirmation) explain the relationship between anticipated stigma and poor health. Using students from a large Midwestern University (N = 314), our model demonstrated that anticipated stigma was indirectly associated with poor health (i.e. psychological and physical quality of life, emotional eating) through shame. Spontaneous self-affirmation was associated with positive health outcomes but was not a significant mediator. This model illustrates the importance of shame and spontaneous self-affirmation as mechanisms of stigma to health relationship among individuals with CSIs, and provides potential targets (shame, spontaneous self-affirmation) for future work.
The HARMONEE project: Using GenAI images for reminiscence with older adults in long-term care
09/2025Social isolation and demoralization in older adults in long-term care facilities are critical public health concerns linked to higher morbidity, mortality, and reduced quality of life. The HARMONEE project (Harnessing Artificial Intelligence Resources for Mental Well-being for Older Adults and Nurturing Empathy in Education) addressed these issues using AI-generated images based on participants' memories to support personalized reminiscence. This pilot study (n = 34) employed a mixed-methods feasibility design across two facilities over 60 days to evaluate the practicality and acceptability of the intervention. Findings revealed an 85 % retention rate with 100% of participants expressing high satisfaction with the intervention. A statistically significant improvement in older adults' short-term mood (p < 0.05) was observed highlighting its ability to elicit positive emotions and memories. Qualitative data revealed the intervention evoked happiness, enjoyment, nostalgia, memory stimulation, and social connectedness. The HARMONEE intervention shows promise for enhancing mood, engagement, and emotional well-being in older adults. (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)Supporting linkage facilitators working with persons with opioid use disorder: Challenges, advances, and future directions
08/31/2025This narrative review explores the evolving role of linkage facilitation (LF) in supporting persons with opioid use disorder (OUD) including both the organizational strategies to initiate and sustain LF services and strategies to support the LF workforce. Drawing on expert consensus and iterative review by an interdisciplinary author team, we synthesized relevant literature from diverse fields using a narrative review approach. Organizational strategies include: ensure leadership support, engage community partners and tailor services, consult with those already delivering LF services, provide adequate pay and career advancement opportunities, establish role clarification, and create official documentation of LF services. Strategies to support the LF workforce include: ensure comprehensive training and continuing education, provide robust supervision, encourage self-care, and establish quality/fidelity standards. Recommendations for advancing the profession include enhancing training for both LFs and supervisors, establishing centralized resource libraries, and tailoring support for diverse OUD-affected populations. This review advocates for the development of best practice guidelines, practical evaluation tools, and a collaborative resource-sharing hub to ensure long-term LF workforce sustainability and improved outcomes for those served.
Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Ambiguity and Predictors of Health Behavior Across Three Contexts: The COVID-19 Pandemic, Antibiotic Regimens, and e-Cigarette Use
08/11/2025Ambiguity can elicit ambiguity aversion, or avoidance behavior, which is theoretically expected to occur because of a pessimistic interpretation of information (e.g. about risk) and from low perceived personal competence. Emotion may also play a role in how people respond to ambiguity, although little research has examined the role of emotion. The purpose of this research is to examine support for theoretical frameworks of ambiguity aversion and the role of emotion in responses to ambiguity. To do so, we tested (1) whether risk perceptions, perceived competence, and self-efficacy mediated the relationship between ambiguity and behavioral avoidance, and (2) whether fear and anger mediated the relationship between ambiguity and risk perceptions. Three online experiments were conducted across three health contexts - COVID-19, antibiotic regimens, and e-cigarettes. Across experiments, participants were randomly assigned to read an ambiguous or unambiguous health message relevant to the health context. Next, participants completed a survey of measures relevant to study aims. Based on the results of mediation analyses, one significant pattern of results emerged across two of three experiments: ambiguity led to lower behavioral intentions, consistent with behavioral avoidance. However, there was no consistent pattern of results across all three experiments to support the competence hypothesis or pessimistic appraisal as an explanation for this behavioral avoidance. In Experiment 2 only, there was some support for the competence hypothesis, but there was no support across any of the three experiments for pessimistic appraisal. As for the role of emotion in responses to ambiguity, anger (in Experiments 2 and 3) and fear (in Experiment 3) mediated the relationship between ambiguity and risk perception (i.e. perceived susceptibility and worry), but the direction of these effects was inconsistent with hypotheses. Overall, the results of the present research demonstrate that ambiguity can lead to behavioral avoidance, although the mechanisms remain unclear. Motivated reasoning may provide one explanation for the pattern of results. Findings have implications for health behavior interventions when ambiguity is experienced.