About

Patricia M. Risica is an Associate Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences and of Epidemiology at Brown University School of Public Health. She serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies for the school. Dr. Risica holds a B.S. from Ohio State University, and MPH and DrPH degrees from Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation, early detection of melanoma, opioid use, and health behaviors, with a particular emphasis on community and public health interventions. She has led and contributed to numerous projects, including interventions to improve nutritional environments in family childcare settings, studies on tobacco exposure and cessation, and culturally tailored mindfulness interventions among Black women. Dr. Risica also serves as an epidemiologist and evaluator for the Rhode Island Department of Health, working on women's cancer screening programs and other health initiatives. Her work involves collaboration with community and academic partners to develop and evaluate strategies aimed at health promotion and disease prevention.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Physical therapy
• Computer Science
• Internal medicine
• Cardiology
• Environmental health
• Psychiatry
• Nursing
• Obstetrics
• Intensive care medicine
• Gerontology
• Database
• Family medicine

Selected publications

• Strong Families Start at Home/Familias Fuertes Comienzan en Casa—Improving Child Diet Quality and Parental Feeding Practices: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

  2025-03-13 · 2 citations

  preprintOpen access

  <sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> Children in the United States have poor diet quality, increasing their risk for chronic disease burden later in life. Caregivers’ feeding behaviors are a critical factor in shaping lifelong dietary habits. The Strong Families Start at Home/Familias Fuertes Comienzan en Casa (SFSH) was a 6-month, home-based, pilot randomized-controlled feasibility trial that aimed to improve the diet quality of 2-5-year-old children and promote positive parental feeding practices among a predominantly Hispanic/Latine sample. The pilot saw significant improvements in children’s Healthy Eating Index-2015 total and whole fruit scores, as well as multiple food parenting practices, and it was received well by participants. </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> Building on the success of the pilot study, this protocol paper describes the modifications, study design, and procedures for a fully powered randomized controlled trial. </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> Caregiver-child dyads are randomized to a “healthy eating” intervention group or a “reading readiness” attention control group. In the intervention group, a trained community health worker conducts monthly home visits or phone calls for 6 months that focus on age-appropriate nutrition recommendations and food parenting practices. There are three home visits that include tailored nutrition education materials that address their child’s appetitive traits and eating habits, an interactive cooking activity, and a review of a family meal video with feedback. Community health workers use motivational interviewing and goal setting, which are key components of the program. The control group is similarly structured, with content focusing on reading and language development. Caregivers complete in-person and over-the-phone baseline and 6-month follow-up measurements to capture diet quality (primary outcomes: Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores via two 24-h dietary recalls and dermal carotenoids) and selected parental feeding practices and availability of healthy foods in the home (secondary outcomes). </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> This protocol was approved by the Brown University institutional review board (protocol number 2022003389). As of March 2025, a total of 81 participants were randomized. Of these, 29 participants completed the study, and 8 participants withdrew. Recruitment will continue until 257 participants have been randomized. Data analysis is expected to conclude in 2028. </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> Findings will determine the efficacy of the intervention to improve child diet quality and parental feeding practices, which will ultimately inform future effectiveness and the real-world of home-based food parenting programs. </sec> <sec> <title>CLINICALTRIAL</title> ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06099288; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06099288 </sec> <sec> <title>INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT</title> DERR1-10.2196/73923 </sec>

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Strong Families Start at Home/Familias Fuertes Comienzan en Casa—Improving Child Diet Quality and Parental Feeding Practices: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

  JMIR Research Protocols · 2025-05-05

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Children in the United States have poor diet quality, increasing their risk for chronic disease burden later in life. Caregivers' feeding behaviors are a critical factor in shaping lifelong dietary habits. The Strong Families Start at Home/Familias Fuertes Comienzan en Casa (SFSH) was a 6-month, home-based, pilot randomized-controlled feasibility trial that aimed to improve the diet quality of 2-5-year-old children and promote positive parental feeding practices among a predominantly Hispanic/Latine sample. The pilot saw significant improvements in children's Healthy Eating Index-2015 total and whole fruit scores, as well as multiple food parenting practices, and it was received well by participants. OBJECTIVE: Building on the success of the pilot study, this protocol paper describes the modifications, study design, and procedures for a fully powered randomized controlled trial. METHODS: Caregiver-child dyads are randomized to a "healthy eating" intervention group or a "reading readiness" attention control group. In the intervention group, a trained community health worker conducts monthly home visits or phone calls for 6 months that focus on age-appropriate nutrition recommendations and food parenting practices. There are three home visits that include tailored nutrition education materials that address their child's appetitive traits and eating habits, an interactive cooking activity, and a review of a family meal video with feedback. Community health workers use motivational interviewing and goal setting, which are key components of the program. The control group is similarly structured, with content focusing on reading and language development. Caregivers complete in-person and over-the-phone baseline and 6-month follow-up measurements to capture diet quality (primary outcomes: Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores via two 24-h dietary recalls and dermal carotenoids) and selected parental feeding practices and availability of healthy foods in the home (secondary outcomes). RESULTS: This protocol was approved by the Brown University institutional review board (protocol number 2022003389). As of March 2025, a total of 81 participants were randomized. Of these, 29 participants completed the study, and 8 participants withdrew. Recruitment will continue until 257 participants have been randomized. Data analysis is expected to conclude in 2028. CONCLUSIONS: Findings will determine the efficacy of the intervention to improve child diet quality and parental feeding practices, which will ultimately inform future effectiveness and the real-world of home-based food parenting programs. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06099288; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06099288. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/73923.

  PublisherDOI

• “You Can Talk to Me About Your Pregnancy”: Exploring the Perspectives of Health-Care Providers on Cannabis Use During Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

  The Journal of Perinatal Education · 2025-11-25

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Tobacco Smoke Use and Exposure Are Linked with Breastfeeding Psychosocial Factors and Behaviors

  International Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health · 2025-05-20

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Background and Objective: To describe the intersection of tobacco smoke exposure with breastfeeding psychosocial predictors and practice. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of the Baby’s Breath study data among a free-living people from southeastern New England. Participants were 843 pregnant people who use (38%), recently quit (23%) or are exposed to (39%) tobacco smoke, who intended (77%) to breastfeed, and who were 55% married, 53% primiparous, 56% unemployed, 41% non-Hispanic White, 27% Hispanic, 13% non-Hispanic Black, and 28% &lt;21, 39% 21-25 or 33%&gt;25 years old. Main outcome measures were self-reported breastfeeding intentions and predictors at 16- and 32-weeks gestation, breastfeeding initiation and continuation at 3 and 6 months postpartum, and tobacco use and exposure at all timepoints. Chi-square and regression models assessed breastfeeding and smoking status and associations between psychosocial scores with breastfeeding intention and smoking status. Results: Breastfeeding variables differed by smoking exposure. Psychosocial scores were associated with breastfeeding intention. Knowledge, self-efficacy, and social support scores were associated with tobacco smoke exposure during pregnancy. Conclusions: Breastfeeding intention, practice, and associated knowledge, self-efficacy, and social support are associated with tobacco use and exposure. Tobacco smoke avoidance messaging and breastfeeding support addressing common antecedents will likely lead to less smoke-exposed, more successfully breastfed babies with better health outcomes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dietary Risk Among Older Adults: Examining the Role of Food Insecurity and Social Isolation

  Innovation in Aging · 2025-12-01

  articleOpen access

  Abstract As the aging U.S. population grows, so do healthcare challenges, particularly in nutrition and dietary quality. Older adults face a higher risk of malnutrition, affecting health and quality of life. Dietary intake is influenced by health, social environments, and food access, but their combined impact remains unclear among vulnerable populations. While food security is recognized as crucial for adequate nutrition, the role of social and environmental factors in dietary quality is less understood. The Deliver-EE trials aim to explore these relationships. The purpose of our investigation is to assess the relationships between social isolation, food insecurity, and dietary risk, contributing to a deeper understanding of nutrition among older adults. With a Dietary Screening Tool (DST) threshold of ≤ 60, 93% of the sample was categorized as at risk for low dietary quality. Food insecurity in the sample was 52%, yet a high proportion of both food-insecure and food-secure individuals were at risk for low dietary quality (48% and 45% respectively). No significant association was found between social isolation and DST scores. Dietary risk does not seem to be associated with food insecurity or social isolation. These findings suggest that systemic factors, rather than ability to afford food and social connectivity, drive dietary risk. Future research should examine nutritional gaps in food assistance programs and structural determinants of dietary quality in vulnerable populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Exploring barriers and facilitators to water availability and accessibility, and potential strategies for improving water accessibility and children’s intake in family childcare homes: a qualitative study

  Frontiers in Nutrition · 2025-03-12

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Background: Children in the U.S. drink too little water and too much juice and sugar sweetened beverages. Inadequate access to drinking water in locations where children spend substantial time, like family childcare homes (FCCH) could play a role in low child water intake. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore barriers and facilitators to water availability and accessibility in FCCH, and determine potential strategies for facilitating water accessibility and children's intake in FCCH. Methods: themes. Additional codes were developed and applied to capture emerging themes from the qualitative data. Results: Twenty FCCP (100% identified as female; 50% as Latina) participated in the interviews. FCCP barriers to water availability at FCCH included focus on other beverages, e.g., milk; confusion with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) guidelines regarding water, and concerns about: water quality, mess, children eating enough food/milk, bathroom accidents, and cost for filters/bottled water. Barriers to children drinking water included: children not liking or preferring water, parental preferences/role modeling, and parental concerns about water quality. Suggested potential strategies to facilitate water access and intake included water filters to ensure safe water access, self-serving stations and water bottles to encourage autonomy among children, and incorporating water into daily routines. Participants also favored materials and activities to educate and encourage children to drink water and to keep track of their intake. Conclusion: These findings suggest that interventions to increase water consumption at FCCH should provide resources to guarantee safe water access to children, encourage children to drink water, and help clarify misperceptions and confusion around CACFP beverage guidelines. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to provide education and water access resources to FCCP and families on improving child water access, availability and intake.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Goals, Barriers, and Facilitators of Caregivers Who Participated in an In-Home Intervention to Improve Food Parenting Practices and Child Diet Quality

  Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior · 2024-04-30 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Associations between child eating behaviors with eating patterns and diet quality in preschool-aged children

  Appetite · 2024-08-08 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• One Month Whole Food Plant-Based Nutrition Educational Program Lowers LDL, A1C, and Decreases Inflammatory Markers

  American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine · 2024-11-01 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Lifestyle-related chronic disease increases in the United States have led to the need for innovative programs targeting dietary choices. Based on growing evidence supporting whole food plant-based (WFPB) nutrition to improve overall health, we devised a one-month WFPB intervention program, Jumpstart Your Health! (JYH), to introduce and encourage adoption of the WFPB dietary lifestyle. This paper investigates its effects on various health indicators associated with cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Among the total of 150 participants, before and after physical measurements and blood chemistries demonstrate significant (p< 0.05) decreases in weight (-4.2 pounds), cholesterol (-25.3 mg/dl), LDL (-19.0 mg/dl), HDL (-5.6 mg/dl), hemoglobin A1c (-0.2%), and hsCRP (-1.9 mg/L). Among the high-risk participants, we found significant decreases in systolic blood pressure (-10 mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (-8.7 mmHg), weight (-4.3 pounds), cholesterol (-38.8 mg/dl), LDL (-22.7 mg/dl), HDL (-2.8 mg/dl), hemoglobin A1c (-0.2 %), and hsCRP (-2.3 mg/L). We demonstrate that a simple WFPB intervention implemented over one month resulted in significant reductions in physical measurements and blood chemistries that could translate to lowered risk or improvement for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type-2 diabetes.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Evaluating effects of meal delivery on the ability of homebound older adults to remain in the community via a pragmatic, two-arm, randomized comparative effectiveness trial: study protocol for the Deliver-EE trial

  Trials · 2024-11-22

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: As food insecurity and healthcare costs are linked, healthcare entities (i.e., providers, healthcare systems, insurers) are increasingly interested in identifying and providing solutions to address food insecurity among their patients. Home-delivered meals are one long-standing solution to address food insecurity among homebound older adults. However, there is limited evidence about what mode of delivery is most effective in promoting community independence, reducing healthcare utilization, and improving quality of life as well as how these outcomes may vary as a function of people's preferences for how meals are delivered to them. METHODS: With extensive stakeholder input, we designed and implemented a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study in which we will enroll 2300 older adults on waiting lists at home-delivered meals programs across the country and randomize them to receive for 6 months, either (1) weekday lunchtime meals delivered by a local volunteer or driver who also provides socialization and wellness checks or (2) biweekly delivery of 10 frozen meals to participants' homes. Participant data will be combined with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data to calculate post-randomization institutional vs. community days. Baseline and 3-month surveys will evaluate secondary outcomes (e.g., food insecurity, loneliness, quality of life) and exploratory outcomes (e.g., nutritional risk). To examine heterogeneity of treatment effects, we will test for interactions between the two types of meal delivery and participants' preferred mode of meal delivery as well as participants' living arrangements. DISCUSSION: This research will be the first to prospectively evaluate the comparative effectiveness of the two predominant meal delivery options. The knowledge generated from this research will be of value to healthcare providers, health systems, payers, community-based organizations, older adults, and their families, because it will identify the mode of meal delivery that best meets homebound older adults' needs and promotes community independence. In addition, the experience of working closely with stakeholders in designing and conducting this trial will be useful to researchers seeking to engage with stakeholders in the development and evaluation of complex social service interventions while balancing regulatory, resource, and human subjects research considerations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT05357261 . Registered on May 02, 2022.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Fresh to You: Multilevel approaches in low income housing to increase F&V intake

  NIH · $3.4M · 2009–2016

• Improving nutrition and physical activity environments in home-based child care

  NIH · $4.2M · 2014–2020

• Innovative approaches to increase F&V intake thru worksites: The Fresh Initiative

  NIH · $3.1M · 2009–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Kim M. Gans

  University of Connecticut

  247 shared

• Martin A. Weinstock

  Providence College

  89 shared

• Augustine Kang

  Stanford University

  76 shared

• Alison Tovar

  Brown University

  76 shared

• Thomas M. Lasater

  John Brown University

  61 shared

• Usree Kirtania

  58 shared

• Tayla von Ash

  Brown University

  57 shared

• Charles B. Eaton

  Kent Hospital

  51 shared

Education

• B.S.

  Ohio State University

• Other

  Johns Hopkins University

• Other

  Johns Hopkins University