Impact of Community Support Workers in Rural Ethiopia on Emotional and Psychosocial Health of Persons Living with HIV: Results of a Three-Year Randomized Community Trial.

People living with HIV face multiple psychosocial challenges. In a large, predominantly rural Ethiopian region, 1799 HIV patients new to care were enrolled from 32 sites in a cluster randomized trial using trained community support workers with HIV to provide individual health education, counseling and social support. Participants received annual surveys through 36 months using items drawn from the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale-10, Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey, and HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument-PLWA.

Disclosure of HIV status among patients new to HIV care in Southern Ethiopia: role of perceived social support and other factors.

Reports from Sub-Saharan Africa, with a large HIV-infected population, vary widely in how often HIV status is disclosed to others, including spouses and other partners. We surveyed 1799 Ethiopian HIV patients newly enrolled in care within the previous 3 months at one of 32 local hospitals and health centers about disclosure of HIV status and two perceived social support domains: emotional/informational (EI) and tangible assistance (TA) support. Disclosure to another person was reported by 1389 (77%) persons.

Advanced HIV Disease among Males and Females Initiating HIV Care in Rural Ethiopia.

Despite recommendations for rapidly initiating HIV treatment, many persons in sub-Saharan Africa present to care with advanced HIV disease. Baseline survey and clinical data were collected on 1799 adults newly enrolling at 32 district hospitals and local health HIV clinics in rural Ethiopia. Among those with complete HIV disease information, advanced HIV disease (defined as CD4 count <200 cells/mm or World Health Organization [WHO] HIV clinical stage III or IV disease) was present in 66% of males and 56% of females ( P < .

A multi-site community randomized trial of community health workers to provide counseling and support for patients newly entering HIV care in rural Ethiopia: study design and baseline implementation.

Background: Although HIV therapy is delivered to millions globally, treatment default (especially soon after entering care) remains a challenge. Community health workers (CHWs) can provide many services for people with HIV, including in rural and resource-limited settings.

Objectives: We designed and implemented a 32 site community randomized trial throughout southern Ethiopia to assess an intervention using CHWs to improve retention in HIV care.

Pandemic influenza a in residential summer camps--Maine, 2009.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the preparedness for and response of Maine summer camps to the 2009 pandemic influenza H1N1 (pH1N1).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective web-based survey of the Maine Youth Camping Foundation members at the end of the 2009 camping season. The outcome measures were responses to the pandemic including educational efforts, isolation practices and antiviral usages as well as percentage of influenza-like illness (ILI) and laboratory-confirmed influenza outbreaks among Maine residential summer camps.

Injury-prevention practices as depicted in G- and PG-rated movies, 2003-2007.

Objective: Our goal was to determine if the depiction of injury-prevention practices in children's movies is different from what was reported from 2 earlier studies, which showed infrequent depiction of characters practicing recommended safety behaviors.

Methods: The top-grossing 25 domestic G-rated (general audience) and PG-rated (parental guidance suggested) movies per year for 2003-2007 were included in this study. Movies or scenes were excluded if they were animated, not set in the present day, fantasy, documentary, or not in English.