Thompson Anna L, Davis Bradley S, Rohrbach Augusta, Davis Jonathan M, Sebastiani Paola, Tang Alice M
Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, Tufts University, Boston, MA (Ms Anna Thompson, Mr Bradley Davis, Dr Augusta Rohrbach); Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), Tufts University, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA (Dr Jonathan Davis); Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design (BERD) Center, Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute, Tufts University, Boston, MA (Dr Paola Sebastiani); and Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA (Dr Alice Tang).
J Public Health Manag Pract. 2025;31(2):291-304. doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000002052. Epub 2024 Sep 6.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to the closure of prekindergarten to grade 12 schools and an inequitable return to full-time in-person learning.
To explore how ethnic and racial differences across school districts in Massachusetts correlate with parents' attitudes, beliefs, and trusted sources of information about COVID-19 and mitigation strategies.
An electronic survey was distributed by school administrators to parents and guardians in November and December 2021 using existing school district contact lists and established methods of communication (email in 2 school districts; email and text message in 1 district).
Three school districts in Massachusetts (Chelsea, Medford, and Somerville).
Parents of prekindergarten to grade 12 school students attending public schools.
Parental attitudes and beliefs regarding mitigation strategies for COVID-19 (surveillance testing, masking, and vaccination); trusted information sources about COVID-19; preferred methods of communication from schools.
A total of 1496 survey responses were analyzed. Chelsea respondents were predominantly Hispanic/LatinX (88%); Medford and Somerville were predominantly White/non-Hispanic (80% and 68%, respectively). Testing, masks, and vaccination were supported by >80% of parents/guardians across districts. However, there were statistically significant differences between school districts regarding participation in testing programs, implications of a child testing positive, vaccination of young children, communication preferences, and trusted sources of information.
Although primarily focused on COVID-19, these results highlight opportunities for public health personnel and school administrators to work directly with parents and guardians in their school districts to improve communication strategies and be a trusted source of information for a variety of public health issues.
新冠疫情导致幼儿园至12年级学校关闭，恢复全日制面授学习的情况存在不公平现象。
探讨马萨诸塞州各学区的种族差异如何与家长对新冠疫情及缓解策略的态度、信念和可靠信息来源相关联。
2021年11月和12月，学校管理人员通过现有学区联系人名单和既定沟通方式（2个学区使用电子邮件；1个学区使用电子邮件和短信），向家长和监护人发放了电子调查问卷。
马萨诸塞州的三个学区（切尔西、梅德福和萨默维尔）。
公立学校幼儿园至12年级学生的家长。
家长对新冠疫情缓解策略（监测检测、戴口罩和接种疫苗）的态度和信念；关于新冠疫情的可靠信息来源；学校首选的沟通方式。
共分析了1496份调查问卷回复。切尔西的受访者主要是西班牙裔/拉丁裔（88%）；梅德福和萨默维尔的受访者主要是白人/非西班牙裔（分别为80%和68%）。各学区超过80%的家长/监护人支持检测、戴口罩和接种疫苗。然而，在参与检测项目、孩子检测呈阳性的影响、幼儿接种疫苗、沟通偏好以及可靠信息来源方面，各学区之间存在统计学上的显著差异。
尽管主要关注新冠疫情，但这些结果凸显了公共卫生人员和学校管理人员直接与所在学区的家长和监护人合作的机会，以改进沟通策略，并成为各种公共卫生问题的可靠信息来源。
