Melissa Walls
Biographic Data
| ID | 3622726 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Melissa Walls |
| GIVEN NAMES | Melissa |
| FAMILY NAME | Walls |
| SIGNATURE | WALLS M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Johns Hopkins University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 107 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Kia mau i te WeHI
OBJECTIVES: The aims of these studies were to (a) document the creation of the Wellbeing Hononga Index (WeHI), (b) demonstrate how psychometric practices can be Indigenized, and (c) provide a novel protocol for psychometrically validating survey measures. METHOD: We developed a new ordinal response scale based on the "Pūhā" plant and created 41 survey items based on the Ngaruroro model of Māori well-being (MW; Study 1). Interviews with eight Māor…
Culturally centering alcohol use assessments
Objectives: There are high rates of both alcohol abstinence and hazardous drinking among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Few measures exist that examine alcohol use consequences within a relevant historical and cultural context for Indigenous populations, hindering the ability of communities, researchers, and practitioners to effectively address alcohol misuse. In the present study, we disc…
Overdose, Naloxone Receipt, and Willingness to Distribute Naloxone Among People Who Use Drugs on An American Indian Reservation of a Tribal Nation in the Southern Plains of the United States
BACKGROUND: Indigenous populations in the United States experience disproportionate substance use and opioid overdose burdens. Yet, little is known about naloxone distribution in Indigenous communities on Tribal reservation lands. METHODS: We used survey data from 209 people who use drugs (PWUD), collected on the reservation lands of a southern plains Tribal Nation to understand the prevalence of overdose, naloxone receipt, and interest in partic…
Exploring Perspectives About Public Health Vending Machine Implementation on an American Indian Reservation in the Northern Midwest, United States
Public health vending machines (PHVMs) are a recent innovation in the delivery of health promoting supplies in the United States (US). However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of their potential impacts on American Indian reservations. This study explores perspectives about PHVM implementation through semi-structured interviews among a sample of persons (N = 12) who used a PHVM on an American Indian reservation. Participants were …
Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention
The Perpetual Influence of Historical Trauma
This article provides an overview of the perpetual influence and impacts of historical trauma within Indigenous families and communities who now live in areas called the United States and Canada. Indigenous Peoples (to include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations Peoples) continue to experience health inequities which stem in part from violent and systemic geographical dislocations and separations from ancestral and traditional hom…
Indigenous Perspectives on Strengths, Resilience, and Well-being
Indigenous communities consistently call for strengths-based, assets-driven approaches to promoting health equity. This includes efforts to expand well-being and resilience frameworks to reflect cultural understandings and perspectives. This study describes community-based participatory research (CBPR) involving focus groups with four diverse groups of Indigenous community members in a single reservation community in the United States. Data were …
Historical trauma and oppression
American Indian (AI) people experience disproportionate exposure to stressors and health inequities, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and mental health problems. There is increasing interest in how historical trauma and ongoing experiences of discrimination and marginalization (i.e., historical oppression) interact to influence AI health. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between historically traumatic experiences (i.e., bo…
Socio-cultural integration and holistic health among Indigenous young adults
Results underscore the importance of expanding our assessment of social integration with attention to the interrelationships of family, community, culture, and our environment. Such concepts align with Indigenous conceptions of wellbeing, and have relevance for health across cultures. More concretely, the indicators of socio-cultural integration used in this study (e.g., cultural identity, having a sense of connectedness to nature or family, givi…
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots: The Success of COVID-19 Vaccination in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Emily E. HarozPhD, MA, MHS, Christopher G. KempPhD, MPH, Victoria M. O'KeefePhD, MS, Katherine PocockPA-C, David R. WilsonPhD, Loretta ChristensenMD, MBA, MSJ, FACS, Melissa WallsMA, PhD, Allison BarlowPhD, and Laura HammittMD Affiliation Emily E. Haroz, Christopher G. Kemp, Victoria M. O'Keefe, Melissa Walls, Allison Barlow, an…
Empowering Native Adolescents
Objectives: In this study, we assess the impact of a home-based diabetes prevention program, Together on Diabetes (TOD), on adolescent responsibility-taking for tasks related to diabetes risk. Methods: Participants were Native American youth ages 10-19 with or at risk of type 2 diabetes who participated in a 12-session, 6-month diabetes prevention program with an adult caretaker. Assessments completed at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up …
Sources of Stress Among Midwest American Indian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
To address this gap, we analyze focus group transcripts of AI adults with type 2 diabetes from five tribal communities and classify stressors using an inductive/deductive analytical approach. A Continuum of American Indian Stressor Model was constructed from categorization of nineteen stressor categories within four domains. We further identified poverty, genocide, and colonization as fundamental causes of contemporary stress and health outcomes …
Indigenous Adolescent Development
Indigenous Adolescent Development
Embedding content from Syrian citizen journalists
The ways the New York Times has incorporated citizen videos from the Syrian conflict into its live blog, The Lede, is explored in this article. The analysis reveals the creation of a new journalistic element – the Collaborative News Clip – in which ordinary people are now producing immersive, emotional, multidimensional self-created videos that news outlets cooperatively incorporate into online content. The Collaborative News Clip is created thro…
The `Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation
This article assesses the US conservative attack on the BBC during the post 9/11 terrorism wars, finding conservative blogs, print media and think tanks notably hostile. The processes of media criticism taking place within this conservative triad are viewed through the analytical concepts of news repair and boundary maintenance. The findings suggest that the BBC's perceived transgression was that it threatened to reveal the fallacy of an argument…
Blogs of war
This article examines current events weblogs or blogs that were particularly active during the second US war with Iraq, in the spring of 2003. Analysis suggests that these blogs are a new genre of journalism that emphasizes personalization, audience participation in content creation and story forms that are fragmented and interdependent with other websites. These characteristics suggest a shift away from traditional journalism’s modern approach t…
Blogs of war
This article examines current events weblogs or blogs that were particularly active during the second US war with Iraq, in the spring of 2003. Analysis suggests that these blogs are a new genre of journalism that emphasizes personalization, audience participation in content creation and story forms that are fragmented and interdependent with other websites. These characteristics suggest a shift away from traditional journalism’s modern approach t…
Embedding content from Syrian citizen journalists
The ways the New York Times has incorporated citizen videos from the Syrian conflict into its live blog, The Lede, is explored in this article. The analysis reveals the creation of a new journalistic element – the Collaborative News Clip – in which ordinary people are now producing immersive, emotional, multidimensional self-created videos that news outlets cooperatively incorporate into online content. The Collaborative News Clip is created thro…
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots: The Success of COVID-19 Vaccination in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Emily E. HarozPhD, MA, MHS, Christopher G. KempPhD, MPH, Victoria M. O'KeefePhD, MS, Katherine PocockPA-C, David R. WilsonPhD, Loretta ChristensenMD, MBA, MSJ, FACS, Melissa WallsMA, PhD, Allison BarlowPhD, and Laura HammittMD Affiliation Emily E. Haroz, Christopher G. Kemp, Victoria M. O'Keefe, Melissa Walls, Allison Barlow, an…
The `Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation
This article assesses the US conservative attack on the BBC during the post 9/11 terrorism wars, finding conservative blogs, print media and think tanks notably hostile. The processes of media criticism taking place within this conservative triad are viewed through the analytical concepts of news repair and boundary maintenance. The findings suggest that the BBC's perceived transgression was that it threatened to reveal the fallacy of an argument…
Sources of Stress Among Midwest American Indian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
To address this gap, we analyze focus group transcripts of AI adults with type 2 diabetes from five tribal communities and classify stressors using an inductive/deductive analytical approach. A Continuum of American Indian Stressor Model was constructed from categorization of nineteen stressor categories within four domains. We further identified poverty, genocide, and colonization as fundamental causes of contemporary stress and health outcomes …
Historical trauma and oppression
American Indian (AI) people experience disproportionate exposure to stressors and health inequities, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and mental health problems. There is increasing interest in how historical trauma and ongoing experiences of discrimination and marginalization (i.e., historical oppression) interact to influence AI health. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between historically traumatic experiences (i.e., bo…
The Perpetual Influence of Historical Trauma
This article provides an overview of the perpetual influence and impacts of historical trauma within Indigenous families and communities who now live in areas called the United States and Canada. Indigenous Peoples (to include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations Peoples) continue to experience health inequities which stem in part from violent and systemic geographical dislocations and separations from ancestral and traditional hom…
Blogs of war
This article examines current events weblogs or blogs that were particularly active during the second US war with Iraq, in the spring of 2003. Analysis suggests that these blogs are a new genre of journalism that emphasizes personalization, audience participation in content creation and story forms that are fragmented and interdependent with other websites. These characteristics suggest a shift away from traditional journalism’s modern approach t…
The `Baghdad Broadcasting Corporation
This article assesses the US conservative attack on the BBC during the post 9/11 terrorism wars, finding conservative blogs, print media and think tanks notably hostile. The processes of media criticism taking place within this conservative triad are viewed through the analytical concepts of news repair and boundary maintenance. The findings suggest that the BBC's perceived transgression was that it threatened to reveal the fallacy of an argument…
Indigenous Adolescent Development
Indigenous Adolescent Development
Embedding content from Syrian citizen journalists
The ways the New York Times has incorporated citizen videos from the Syrian conflict into its live blog, The Lede, is explored in this article. The analysis reveals the creation of a new journalistic element – the Collaborative News Clip – in which ordinary people are now producing immersive, emotional, multidimensional self-created videos that news outlets cooperatively incorporate into online content. The Collaborative News Clip is created thro…
Sources of Stress Among Midwest American Indian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
To address this gap, we analyze focus group transcripts of AI adults with type 2 diabetes from five tribal communities and classify stressors using an inductive/deductive analytical approach. A Continuum of American Indian Stressor Model was constructed from categorization of nineteen stressor categories within four domains. We further identified poverty, genocide, and colonization as fundamental causes of contemporary stress and health outcomes …
Empowering Native Adolescents
Objectives: In this study, we assess the impact of a home-based diabetes prevention program, Together on Diabetes (TOD), on adolescent responsibility-taking for tasks related to diabetes risk. Methods: Participants were Native American youth ages 10-19 with or at risk of type 2 diabetes who participated in a 12-session, 6-month diabetes prevention program with an adult caretaker. Assessments completed at baseline, 6-month, and 12-month follow-up …
Socio-cultural integration and holistic health among Indigenous young adults
Results underscore the importance of expanding our assessment of social integration with attention to the interrelationships of family, community, culture, and our environment. Such concepts align with Indigenous conceptions of wellbeing, and have relevance for health across cultures. More concretely, the indicators of socio-cultural integration used in this study (e.g., cultural identity, having a sense of connectedness to nature or family, givi…
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots
Nurturing Innovation at the Roots: The Success of COVID-19 Vaccination in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities Emily E. HarozPhD, MA, MHS, Christopher G. KempPhD, MPH, Victoria M. O'KeefePhD, MS, Katherine PocockPA-C, David R. WilsonPhD, Loretta ChristensenMD, MBA, MSJ, FACS, Melissa WallsMA, PhD, Allison BarlowPhD, and Laura HammittMD Affiliation Emily E. Haroz, Christopher G. Kemp, Victoria M. O'Keefe, Melissa Walls, Allison Barlow, an…
Indigenous Perspectives on Strengths, Resilience, and Well-being
Indigenous communities consistently call for strengths-based, assets-driven approaches to promoting health equity. This includes efforts to expand well-being and resilience frameworks to reflect cultural understandings and perspectives. This study describes community-based participatory research (CBPR) involving focus groups with four diverse groups of Indigenous community members in a single reservation community in the United States. Data were …
Historical trauma and oppression
American Indian (AI) people experience disproportionate exposure to stressors and health inequities, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and mental health problems. There is increasing interest in how historical trauma and ongoing experiences of discrimination and marginalization (i.e., historical oppression) interact to influence AI health. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between historically traumatic experiences (i.e., bo…
Preexposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention
The Perpetual Influence of Historical Trauma
This article provides an overview of the perpetual influence and impacts of historical trauma within Indigenous families and communities who now live in areas called the United States and Canada. Indigenous Peoples (to include American Indians, Alaska Natives, and First Nations Peoples) continue to experience health inequities which stem in part from violent and systemic geographical dislocations and separations from ancestral and traditional hom…
Kia mau i te WeHI
OBJECTIVES: The aims of these studies were to (a) document the creation of the Wellbeing Hononga Index (WeHI), (b) demonstrate how psychometric practices can be Indigenized, and (c) provide a novel protocol for psychometrically validating survey measures. METHOD: We developed a new ordinal response scale based on the "Pūhā" plant and created 41 survey items based on the Ngaruroro model of Māori well-being (MW; Study 1). Interviews with eight Māor…
Culturally centering alcohol use assessments
Objectives: There are high rates of both alcohol abstinence and hazardous drinking among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities compared with non-Hispanic Whites. Few measures exist that examine alcohol use consequences within a relevant historical and cultural context for Indigenous populations, hindering the ability of communities, researchers, and practitioners to effectively address alcohol misuse. In the present study, we disc…
Overdose, Naloxone Receipt, and Willingness to Distribute Naloxone Among People Who Use Drugs on An American Indian Reservation of a Tribal Nation in the Southern Plains of the United States
BACKGROUND: Indigenous populations in the United States experience disproportionate substance use and opioid overdose burdens. Yet, little is known about naloxone distribution in Indigenous communities on Tribal reservation lands. METHODS: We used survey data from 209 people who use drugs (PWUD), collected on the reservation lands of a southern plains Tribal Nation to understand the prevalence of overdose, naloxone receipt, and interest in partic…
Exploring Perspectives About Public Health Vending Machine Implementation on an American Indian Reservation in the Northern Midwest, United States
Public health vending machines (PHVMs) are a recent innovation in the delivery of health promoting supplies in the United States (US). However, there are significant gaps in our understanding of their potential impacts on American Indian reservations. This study explores perspectives about PHVM implementation through semi-structured interviews among a sample of persons (N = 12) who used a PHVM on an American Indian reservation. Participants were …
Indigenous (7 works) · Medicine (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Gerontology (5 works) · Indigenous Health, Education, and Rights (5 works) · Public health (5 works) · Sociology (5 works) · Nursing (4 works) · Clinical Psychology (3 works) · Ecology (3 works)