High-Fidelity Agent-Based Modeling to Support Prevention Decision-making

Wouter Vermeer, PhD
Northwestern University

ABSTRACT:
Preventing adverse health outcomes is complex due to the multilevel contexts and social systems in which these phenomena occur. To capture both the systemic effects, local determinants, and individual-level risks and protective factors simultaneously, the prevention field has called for adoption of system science methods in general, and agent-based models (ABMs) specifically. While these models can provide unique and timely insight into the potential of prevention strategies, an ABM’s ability to do so depends strongly on its accuracy in capturing the phenomenon. What is more, to support what we call model-based decision-making, these models they need to be accepted by and available to decision-makers and other stakeholders. In this presentation we will present a set of recommendations for adopting and using this novel method. We recommend ways to include stakeholders throughout the modeling process, as well as ways to conduct model verification, validation, and replication.

Racial Microaggressions in Patient-Provider Interactions

Kacey Eichelberger, MD
University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville

Jonathan Kanter, PhD
University of Washington

ABSTRACT:
For several years, our team has been working closely with leaders at the University of Washington Medical Center to develop, scientifically evaluate, and implement interventions to address racial bias in medical care and improve provider’s capacity for more flexible, empathic, and connected antiracist responses to their patients. We have focused in particular on inter-racial provider-patient interactions and highly charged moments in medical exams when providers are likely to microaggress against patients. We have identified four key psychological processes that fuel microaggressions and other acts of bias in these moments and target these processes with contextual-behavioral science interventions that emphasize mindfulness and acceptance, rather than avoidance or suppression, to create behavior change. Embracing an antiracism agenda, we are particularly interested in addressing the processes that often frustrate diversity trainers, such as defensiveness, anxiety, passivity, and entrenchment in unhelpful behavior that are often observed even during anti-bias trainings. Overall, our research provides important scientific foundations that racial microaggressions are real and harmful; they must be understood as important determinants of the health and well-being of our patients and it is crucial to identify effective strategies to address them and improve inter-racial provider-patient interactions and relationships.

To request Dr. Kanter’s powerpoint slides, please email psmg@northwestern.edu

Recent trends in suicide and nonfatal suicidal behavior in the US and implications for public health prevention

Deborah Stone, ScD, MSW, MPH
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ABSTRACT:
Suicide is a continuing public health concern with rates having increased 33% between 1999 and 2019, with a slight dip in 2019 and another drop in 2020, according to provisional estimates. Further complicating this vexing issue are the added stressors associated with the ongoing and shifting COVID-19 pandemic, as well as ongoing concerns about data quality and potential misclassification of suicides. This presentation will showcase recent trends in suicide in the United States, including data on emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts and other related outcomes (e.g., mental health conditions, suicide ideation) during the COVID-19 pandemic as compared to earlier time points. Implications for suicide prevention going forward and a discussion of CDC’s comprehensive approach to suicide prevention, including a focus on populations disproportionately impacted, will round out the session.

To request Dr. Stone’s powerpoint slides, please email psmg@northwestern.edu