GW Medical Faculty Associates

High dietary quality can protect against diet-related chronic diseases. In the United States, racial and ethnic minorities and those with lower incomes consistently exhibit lower dietary quality. Independently-owned restaurants are a common prepared food source in minority low-income communities, but there are significant knowledge gaps on how to work with these restaurants to offer healthy food, due to underlying and dynamic complexities associated with providing healthy food options. The Focus on Restaurant Engagement to Strengthen Health (FRESH) study addresses this complex problem by leveraging systems science approaches to work with independently-owned restaurants. FRESH has two interrelated objectives: (1) to test impact on regular customer dietary quality via a multisite cluster randomized controlled trial in two low-income urban areas (Baltimore and the Washington DC metropolitan area), and (2) to use systems science approaches to develop, parameterize, and calibrate a simulation model. The intervention is theory-and practice-based, comprising three phases: restaurant engagement, low-sugar beverages and healthy meals. The FRESH intervention will be implemented for 12 months in a total of 24 intervention and 24 comparison restaurants. The study is powered to detect a 5-point change in the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score of regular customers, which would signify a meaningful shift toward healthier eating patterns. The FRESH study will test a novel, multilevel, multisite intervention that aims to improve access to healthier prepared food options among small, independently-owned restaurants located in under-resourced settings. The design of the FRESH intervention and its evaluation are described, as well as plans for the development of a system dynamics simulation model for policymakers and other stakeholders to virtually test future restaurant-based interventions. https://clinicaltrials.gov, identifier, NCT05869149.

The original version of this article unfortunately contained an error in collaborator name mentioned in the author group. The collaborator name should have been "on behalf of the DC Cohort Executive Committee" instead of "on behalf of DC Cohort". The original article has been corrected.

We propose a projection-based test to check logistic regression models and apply the test to study telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with HIV. The test is shown to be consistent and can detect root- local alternatives. The use of the proposed test to investigate a COVID-19 dataset reveals that the probability of telehealth utilization depends on the following variables: overweight, education, and age and the interaction between age and ethnicity. Specifically, the probability for the Hispanic group decreases with older age, whereas there is no trend between the probability with the age for the group of non-Hispanic. This interaction may be ignored when we apply other goodness-of-fit methods. The simulation studies also show the performance of the proposed method is remarkably attractive compared to its competitors.

This article aims to offer a comprehensive review of optimal integrative medicine practices for geriatric oncology patients. Given the aging population and the global rise in cancer incidence, it is crucial to identify evidence-based modalities and employ an integrated approach to enhance cancer outcomes and quality of life in older adults. It has been predicted that 20.5% (6.9 million) of new cancer cases in 2050 will occur in adults over 80years old.1 The increasing focus on lifestyle factors in healthy aging has shed light on various overlooked areas of significance. Notably, anti-inflammatory diets and the promotion of a healthy gut microbiome have demonstrated significant impacts on overall health outcomes, bolstering the body's innate capacity to combat disease. This review delves into further evidence and extrapolation concerning integrative approaches and their influence on cancer outcomes and older adults quality of life. The complexity and unique nature of cancer in older adults requires a wide range of support from medical providers. Incorporating various integrative techniques as part of cancer treatment and side effect support can improve health outcomes and patient's quality of life. Familiarity with the lifestyle interventions and other topics explored in this review equips healthcare providers to offer tailored and holistic care to geriatric patients navigating cancer.

Religiosity as a modicum of meaning surrounding and within objects has raised ethical issues ever since people began collecting, especially as some of the first works of art were commissioned by religious practitioners or for religious purposes. In the twenty-first century, as curators and collections specialists grapple with the religious and cultural trauma surrounding the looting and unethical collecting of objects with inherent spiritual and sacred value, this article explores the implications of this value and meaning in our museum databases. How do museums care for objects that are themselves non-human living beings, spirits, and/or ancestors and how do they care for objects whose legacies of creation, contact, and engagement affect the ways in which they can be displayed or preserved? This article utilizes a case study of Catholic relics to explore how collections specialists catalog their value, both historical and spiritual, and how it affects the ways in which they are touched, treated, and housed.