The HPP Podcast

“What we're experiencing is not naturally occurring. It is produced. And if it is produced, it can be interrupted. And that, I think, requires us to just be honest about what is producing them.” – Carrie Rosario

The HPP Podcasts celebrates the 2025 Sarah Mazelis Paper of the Year award winner, Dr. Carrie Rosario! In this episode, Dr. Rosario sits down with Dr. Shanaé Burch to discuss the context, significance, and implications of the poem she published in Health Promotion Practice. She discusses how Black American culture emerges in her work, and she even recites an excerpt from the poem to add color to the black and white on the paper. Of note, this is the first poem to be recognized as a Sara Mazelis Paper of the Year.

On behalf of The HPP Podcast and Health Promotion Practice, we pause to celebrate and elevate the contributions of Dr. Carrie Rosario to the health promotion literature! We congratulate her on this milestone achievement and look forward to seeing how lives are transformed as a result of her actions!

Everyone has a role to play in helping deliver formal or informal concussion education and influence athletes' willingness to report a concussion.” Julia D. Drattell

The HPP Podcast observes National Concussion Awareness Day! On this episode of The HPP Podcast, Julia D. Drattellshares information about the current landscape of concussion education as discussed in the article, “Concussion as a Public Health Crisis: Multilevel Approaches for Improving Athlete Care-Seeking.” She incorporates the statistics, describes who is affected, and provides the implications forathletic trainers and health educators. Furthermore, she discusses the culture surrounding concussions socially, environmentally, and politically.

“We try to frame our results in a way that shows youth cannot only identify the things that are happening in their lives, but they also have the power and knowledge, and they have the tools within them to be able to start addressing these issues.”

In this episode, Saharra L. Dixon the use of photovoice andcommunity mapping to examine structural violence’s impact on historically excluded youth’s lived experiences. Using an Arts and Cultural in Public Health framework, she analyzes ways in which structural racism functions as contributes to adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities.

“As a creator myself, I experience a lot of criticism from people about how academics and physicians shouldn't be on socialmedia. I think the takeaway from this is that we should be on social media to balance some of this information and to provide really good evidence-based information for people.”

– Emily J. Pfender

Dr. Emily J. Pfender joins The HPP Podcast in observance of Women’s History Month to discuss her recent study, whichfocuses on pap smear content shared on TikTok. She shares the key findings and highlights some of the racial disparities seen in her analysis. This episode emphasizes messaging and the proactive measures that can be taken to prevent cervicalcancer.  

“It's all about paying it forward. It's about recognizing the mentors I had and now the mentorship that I'm providingto my students. They are the next generation of health educators, right? So, I want to make sure that they're getting the guidance that I received but amplified.” - Alvin Tran

On this episode of The HPP Podcast, Dr. Alvin Tran shares his reflections on his experience with bringing students tothe SOPHE 2025 Annual Conference. He shares his role as a mentor, what the conference meant to his students, and insights for first-time attendees. This episode highlights the mutual benefits of faculty-student relationships and underscores the importance of reaching back to elevate students through conference experiences.  

“The reality is that there are power differentials between a student, a junior scholar and a full professor, or between a medical assistant, a patient, and a physician. But recognizing those power dynamics, if you are in a position of power, really using your privilege, your position as a gatekeeper to speak up and intervene or to give platform to folks that may have less access to power to intervene.”-Khadijah Ameen

Drs. Khadijah Ameen and Collins Airhihenbuwa share their work on how to expand how we think about bystandersand perpetrators of racial violence, and how bystander behavioral approaches can be used to intervene. They bring in antiracism frameworks such as the Public Health Critical Race Praxis and the PEN-3 Cultural Model to illustrate their points using some antiracism bystander intervention scenarios.

“Our bodies are capable of restoringthemselves if given the right information and putting the right things in it. There's more than one way to do it.” -Tia Jeffery

The HPP Podcast celebrates Black History Month! Listen to Tia Jeffery, Amy Schweitzer, and Carolyn Miller discuss theirnutrition program, Black Wellness Matters-Nutrition Series, on a lighthearted episode of The HPP Podcast. They discuss the context for their research, the aims of their study, as well as the methods and the results. They figuratively provide food for thought and the lasting impact they hope their research will have on Black populations while displaying pure joy throughout the episode.

“If we want to reach those societies or reach those populations, we definitely need to have others’ blended approach of having both the clinic and the community organizations working together.”

“Responsible gun ownership as a phrase is not just one thing; it's many, and it doesn't just lead to one behavior; it potentially leads to many.” -Nicholas R. Buttrick

The HPP Podcast welcomes Tara D. Warner and Nicholas R. Buttrick as they discuss their research on how firearm owners’ identities influence their perceptions and actions related to responsible firearm storage. They share the impetus for the study, their methods, and their results. They also provide future directions for their research, practical solutions for public health practitioners given the scope of their current work, and policy considerations.

To read the article in its entirety, visit:

“We all have a role in this, and I think if we're going to takethe ending the HIV epidemic conversation more seriously, we need to have a pretty frank conversation about, you know, expanding roles and not relying so heavily on one discipline to resolve these issues. Dental visits are a missed opportunity. They're an untapped setting. There's missed opportunities and we should be thinking creatively about how to, again, reimagine that kind of space.”Anthony J. Santella

“I think one really important thing thatdrives my work is that it's really critical that we try to scale up our evidence-based programs to reach larger numbers and to try to change organizational practices. It's probably the only way we're going to get public health or population-level change.” Sara Wilcox

“People were able to be themselves. So that was like my biggest thing.” Liane Khoury

The HPP Podcast celebrates Sexual Health Awareness Month! On this episode of The HPP Podcast, Liane Khoury shares information about a program designed to build community and address food insecurity among LGBTQIA+ newcomers to Nova Scotia in the article “East Coast Kitchen Party: A Ceilidh-Inspired Program to Reduce Social Isolation and Food insecurity Among LGBTQIA+ Newcomers.” She provides the context for the program, gives examples of the lived experiences of the participants, and describes potential opportunities to strengthen future iterations of the program.

“Everyone has a role to play in helping deliver formal or informal concussion education and influence athletes'willingness to report a concussion.” Julia D. Drattell

The HPP Podcast observes National Concussion Awareness Day! On this episode of The HPP Podcast, Julia D. Drattellshares information about the current landscape of concussion education as discussed in the article, “Concussion as a Public Health Crisis: Multilevel Approaches for Improving Athlete Care-Seeking.” She incorporates the statistics, describes who is affected, and provides the implications forathletic trainers and health educators. Furthermore, she discusses the culture surrounding concussions socially, environmentally, and politically.

“What I think really shines through is how the family context and the cultural context and the political context influenceboth mental and sexual health experience for Latina adolescents, particularly the role of shame and stigma and how that played a part in gaining access to healthcare or being able to talk openly about these sensitive or potentiallysensitive topics. So, we hope that the zines that they created helped to break that stigma within the community.” Jenn M. Lilly

The HPP Podcast celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month AND Sexual Health Month! This episode sits at the intersectionof both observances.  In this episode, Jenn M. Lilly, shares useful tidbits discussed in her and her colleagues’ article, “Digital Zines as Mental and Sexual Health Communication Tools for Latina Teens: Format and Content Acceptability and Initial Findings.” She discusses what zines are, how they are used with Latina Teens, and what can be done to improve mental and sexual health outcomes in this population. She also shares practical tips for the use of AI to support research.

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“We really need to provide support to our health care providers, our pediatricians, and try to identify ways that we can help them effectively communicate with parents and patients, and motivational interviewing seems to be a really great avenue for that. And so, trying to figure out how do we most effectively train healthcare providers and using thebest motivational interviewing techniques to communicate with parents and patients is one avenue of this research that can keep moving forward.” Brittany L. Rosen

The HPP Podcast celebrates National Immunization Awareness Month! In this episode, Dr. Brittany L. Rosen, author of “Factors Influencing Adolescent COVID-19 Vaccination During the Omicron Surge,” shares processes and findings from her qualitative study, which includedparent-adolescent dyads to understand vaccine decision-making during the Omicron winter 2021/2022 surge. She reveals practical implications, discusses the relevance to National Immunization Awareness Month, and providesrecommendations for advancing her work.

“Pay attention to your community. Always look at them as your big boss. You've got to make sure that they understandwhat it is you're trying to communicate, and ultimately, they're the ones you are serving.” Adriane K. Griffen

The HPP Podcast continues its celebration of Disability Pride Month! In this episode, Dr. Adriane K. Griffen shares updates on her Inclusion Wheel of Factors and Conditions to Include People With Disabilities in Public Health Efforts, and where she is in evaluating its utility. She shares the applicability of the Inclusion Wheel to professional practice and its potential to improve the lives of people living with visible and invisible disabilities.  

The HPP Podcast Celebrates Disability Pride Month! This brief episode focuses on the observance of Disability Pride Monthand provokes introspection regarding professionals’ roles in being inclusive of people with disabilities.

“If you look socio-politically, there's a lot of structural stigmas that we have to face and, you know, resist, if you will; and then there's also, through that, creating space to find joy andthriving. So, it's not just focused on being, you know, a marginalized group and being minoritized but also cultivating those strengths, and that's what Trans Wellness, Trans Brilliance really aspires to do!”  -Brayden A. Misiolek

The HPP Podcast Celebrates Pride! In this episode of The HPP Podcast, C. M. McGhee, Brayden A. Misiolek, and Shanna KatzKatarri share their passion for inclusive spaces fortrans/gender diverse communities in their development on the intervention, Trans Wellness, Trans Brilliance! They share the inspiration for the intervention, key findings, and benefits and barriers to implementing the intervention in Michigan. They also offer words of encouragement to the trans/gender diverse communities and their allies.

In this episode, Dr. Keon Gilbert is in conversation with Dr. Darrell Hudson. Dr. Hudson's research aims to better understand why Black Americans do not get the same health returns that are associated with upward social mobility as White Americans. They help distinguish between historical and contemporary racism, and they also unpack hyper-vigilance and the anticipatory stress and expectations that come from negative racist experiences. They encourage us to think about the permanence of racism and its impact on stress and wealth.

“We try to frame our results in a way that shows youth can not only identify the things that are happening in their lives, but they also have the power and knowledge, and they have the tools within them to be able to start addressing these issues.”

In this episode, Saharra L. Dixon the use of photovoice and community mapping to examine structural violence’s impact on historically excluded youth’s lived experiences. Using an Arts and Cultural in Public Health framework, she analyzes ways in which structural racism functions as contributes to adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities.

“I saw mentoring from a new perspective because I was able to just be totally honest with them. I think that's onething that I kind of learned is that being honest helped them the most. So, telling them that, hey, when I first went to a conference as a grad student, I was so nervous, and I had imposter syndrome around every corner and that thatstill does creep up; like admitting that and being honest about it. But then also telling them that I've figured out ways to manage that.”  -Rebecca Rich

In preparation for the 2025 SOPHE Annual Conference, Rebecca Rich, Liz Rivera, Aspen Goolsby, and SidneyGonzalez-DiGenio share their reflections on the 2024 SOPHE Annual Conference and National Case Study Competition in Health Education. They are the authors of “We Don’t Get Anywhere Alone: Reflections on the 2024 SOPHE Conference as a Full Circle Moment.” Additionally, Tom Webb, the Director of Development for SOPHE, shares what conference attendees can expect at the 2025 AnnualConference to be held in Long Beach, CA. Listeners can hear stories of hope, triumph, and success in this episode which highlights the importance of mentoring in the health education profession.

“Period poverty is defined as the lack of an ability to access period products, but also not just period products, other things such as hygiene management like running water and resources andeducation on period management. So, it's not just the physical products themselves that you're unable to access, but also other things that surround menstruation like education and hygiene management things.” -Isabel Cava

In observance of Women’s History Month, Purdue alumna, Megan Morley and Isabel Cava, authors of “Addressing Period Poverty: Evaluating a Free Period Product Program in a University Setting” discuss theirfirst publication in Health Promotion Practice. Morley and Cava share insights on their work with college students, the components of their intervention, and findings and implications of their work. They share their hopes and aspirations, and the impact they hope this work will have on current and futurewomen.

“For me, my research, I can sum it up in eight words in four steps: Sit less; move more; feel better; live longer.”

In observance of Black History Month, Dr. LaTerica Thomas, an HBCU alumna and author of “Facilitators and Barriers to Performing Workplace Physical Activity to Relieve Stress at the Florida Department of Health.” Dr. Thomas shares the context and priorities regarding her dissertation study, which led to this publication, her first in Health Promotion Practice. Tips for those who oversee worksite health promotion programs, supervisors, and employees are divulged in this episode.

“If we want to reach those societies or reach those populations, we definitely need to have others’ blended approach of having both the clinic and the community organizations working together.”

"The way that people talk about immigrants in the news media affects those internalized stereotypes and, also, real fears that construct or limit somebody's mobility."

In this episode, Dr. Mario Alberto Viveros Espinoza-Kulick and Dr. Alex Espinoza-Kulick explore how the news media impacts the content and context of health access and decision-making among Latinx immigrant and Indigenous communities. They remind us that we need more immigration policies that center the health, well being, and dignity of migrant communities. Their research emphasizes the interconnectedness of immigration policy and public health, urging policymakers to evaluate immigration laws based on their impact on the health of communities, especially immigrant and Indigenous peoples.

“Language justice shifts the responsibility from the person to the system.”

Author Maya I. Ragavan shares best practices for including people who use languages other than English in research. She highlights how language justice can be a barrier to achieving health equity and exacerbates health disparities in these populations. The six core pillars required to achieve language justice are expounded upon in this episode.

“The reality is that there are power differentials between a student, a junior scholar and a full professor, or between a medical assistant, a patient, and a physician. But recognizing those power dynamics, if you are in a position of power, really using your privilege, your position as a gatekeeper to speak up and intervene or to give platform to folks that may have less access to power to intervene.”- Khadijah Ameen

Drs. Khadijah Ameen and Collins Airhihenbuwa share their work on how to expand how we think about bystanders and perpetrators of racial violence, and how bystander behavioural approaches can be used to intervene. They bring in antiracism frameworks such as the Public Health Critical Race Praxis and the PEN-3 Cultural Model to illustrate their points using some antiracism bystander intervention scenarios.

“Content creation is, in fact, their unique expertise.”-Emily S. Miller

Alex Michel and Emily S. Miller share the findings of their scoping review to uncover the relationship between public health entities and social media influencers to advance public health causes. They provide practical tips on how best to foster relationships with social media influencers, and how to implement and evaluate social media influencer campaigns.

“Language justice shifts the responsibility from the person to the system.”

Author Maya I. Ragavan shares best practices for including people who use languages other than English in research. She highlights how language justice can be a barrier to achieving health equity and exacerbates health disparities in these populations. The six core pillars required to achieve language justice are expounded upon in this episode.

“An increasing number of patients are utilizing federally qualified health care centers every year and given the target population of those who are probably most at need or have been kind of historically underserved, they also, unfortunately, disproportionately experience behavioral health challenges. So, it kind of leads to this situation where there's really high behavioral health needs amongst patients serviced by federally qualified health centers.”

Authors Kelsey S. Dickson and Tana Holt share how they applied the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research and the Health Equity Implementation framework to conduct a needs and context assessment to inform the development and testing of evidence-based practice strategies and implementation support as part of a care coordination program within a partnered Federally Qualified Health Center. They share their methodology, key findings, and recommendations for improving the postpartum outcomes of this population. The authors share how care coordination was enhanced and offer a glimpse into the next phase of this research.

“Women in the postpartum period need things, right? I think that there's still a major gap, even though we know if you're in maternal health, you know, over and over again that there's not enough that exists for women in the postpartum period—and that's where the majority of pregnancy related deaths happen.”

In this episode, Morgan V. Davis, Kaitlyn Hernandez-Spalding, Rasheeta Chandler, and Natalie Hernandez-Green discuss their recent scoping review which examined the perceptions and use of mHealth in postpartum Black Women. They share their methodology, key findings, and recommendations for improving the postpartum outcomes of this population.

“We try to frame our results in a way that shows youth can not only identify the things that are happening in their lives, but they also have the power and knowledge, and they have the tools within them to be able to start addressing these issues.”

In this episode, Saharra L. Dixon the use of photovoice and community mapping to examine structural violence’s impact on historically excluded youth’s lived experiences. Using an Arts and Cultural in Public Health framework, she analyzes ways in which structural racism functions as contributes to adolescent sexual and reproductive health inequities.

“We wanted to show people kind of like a simple way how the arts and cultural experiences can be related to public health practice and the other way around.”

First published in Season 03 Episode 36:

In this episode, Cynthia Begay is in conversation with Dr. Diane McEachern and Lauren White about their research in rural northwest Alaska Native villages on the quantities, types, sources, and frequency of support that Alaska Native youth and young adults had. They discuss the impact of colonization on education, and they reaffirm the existing support that occurs in Native communities. Furthermore, they offer ways that research can be more nuanced for Native communities to perhaps better measure support for males, use traditional milestone markers instead of age, pivot away from Western terms like informal and formal supports, and focus on involving the whole community.