Evaluation of an online research best practices training for community health workers and promotoras.

Introduction: Community health workers and promotoras (CHW/Ps) have a fundamental role in facilitating research with communities. However, no national standard training exists as part of the CHW/P job role. We developed and evaluated a culturally- and linguistically tailored online research best practices course for CHW/Ps to meet this gap.

Eliciting Opinions on Health Messaging During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative Survey Study.

Background: Effective public health messaging has been necessary throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but stakeholders have struggled to communicate critical information to the public, especially in different types of locations such as urban and rural areas.

Objective: This study aimed to identify opportunities to improve COVID-19 messages for community distribution in rural and urban settings and to summarize the findings to inform future messaging.

Methods: We purposively sampled by region (urban or rural) and participant type (general public or health care professional) to survey participants about their opinions on 4 COVID-19 health messages.

What Cuts in Federal COVID-19 Funding Could Mean for Rural Communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the health disparities between urban and rural communities as rural populations face more limited health care capacities and worse COVID-19 outcomes than their urban counterparts. When this article was written, congress was debating continuing federal funds for free COVID-19 testing, vaccines, and treatment. In this article, we discuss the potential consequences rural communities may experience should such funding fail to be approved.

Towards a more patient-centered clinical trial process: A systematic review of interventions incorporating health literacy best practices.

Background: A 2019 public workshop convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) Roundtable on Health Literacy identified a need to develop evidence-based guidance for best practices for health literacy and patient activation in clinical trials.

Purpose: To identify studies of health literacy interventions within medical care or clinical trial settings that were associated with improved measures of health literacy or patient activation, to help inform best practices in the clinical trial process.

Data Sources: Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, SCOPUS, Cochrane, and Web of Science from January 2009 to June 2021.

Health Literacy: Global Advances with a Focus Upon the Shanghai Declaration on Promoting Health in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a steadily growing effort, the world has witnessed more than three decades of effort in research, practice, and policy to socially construct what has been identified as health literacy. While much of the earlier work in health literacy was in the United States, the extent of scholars and practitioners is now truly global. To advance international health literacy, the chapter highlights the role of the World Health Organization (WHO) and a series of international conferences that began in 1980s.

How Health Literacy Can Enhance the Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials from Consent to Conclusion.

Health literacy research and interventions have provided multiple tools to improve communication between professionals and patients in clinical contexts for many years. Despite the reality that many patients participate in clinical trials in conjunction with standard medical care, only recently have efforts extended to address and improve the health literacy of both clinical trial researchers and participants. To date, the primary focus of health literacy activities in clinical trials has centered on communicating trial results to trial participants.

Using formative research to tailor a community intervention focused on the prevention of chronic disease.

This case study attempts to illustrate and address in-depth the issues surrounding the collection, analysis, and application of formative research findings to program development and implementation. We provide an in-depth case study of tailoring a program for the residents of Berkshire County, Massachusetts. The formative research process includes collection and analysis of secondary data sources, extensive in-person interviews with community leaders, and in-depth focus groups with members of the population of interest.

Substance Use, Victimization, HIV/AIDS Risk, And Recidivism Among Females in A Therapeutic Justice Program.

This analysis examines the association between crack/cocaine use only and the SAVA syndemic ((any substance use, AND being exposed to violence, AND having HIV/AIDS risk behaviors) at baseline and any felony, misdemeanor, or municipal violations by an 8-month follow-up. Data comes from 317 women recruited from a Municipal Drug Court System in the Midwest. Among the sample, 45% of the women had at least one felony, misdemeanor, or a municipal violation at the 8-month follow-up (felony: 20%; misdemeanor or municipal violation 25%).

Social Media: A Path to Health Literacy.

Social media - websites and other online tools called social networks - serve as a tool to connect people and organizations around topics of common interest. Social media platforms offer tremendous opportunity to engage quickly and sometimes in depth with many and diverse stakeholders as people have the ability to communicate back-and-forth from anywhere in the world. As increasing numbers of people receive their news and health information online, it is important to ensure content delivered through online resources is accessible to diverse target audiences.

Breaking the blue wall of silence: risk factors for experiencing police sexual misconduct among female offenders.

Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of and risk factors for trading sex with a police officer among women recruited from drug courts in St Louis, Missouri.

Methods: In 2005 to 2008, we recruited women into an HIV intervention study, which surveyed participants about multiple sociodemographic, lifestyle, and risk factors. Regression analyses assessed risk factors for trading sex, a form of police sexual misconduct (PSM).

Ethical issues in obtaining collateral information on alcohol and drug use: experience from Asia and Africa.

Purpose Of Review: In many regions of the world, wives of alcohol and drug-using men are at an increased risk for HIV/AIDS because of their husbands' high-risk behaviours. These women also tend to be poor, illiterate and dependent on their husbands. Few interventions are designed exclusively for these women.

Community needs, concerns, and perceptions about health research: findings from the clinical and translational science award sentinel network.

Objectives: We used results generated from the first study of the National Institutes of Health Sentinel Network to understand health concerns and perceptions of research among underrepresented groups such as women, the elderly, racial/ethnic groups, and rural populations.

Methods: Investigators at 5 Sentinel Network sites and 2 community-focused national organizations developed a common assessment tool used by community health workers to assess research perceptions, health concerns, and conditions.

Results: Among 5979 individuals assessed, the top 5 health concerns were hypertension, diabetes, cancer, weight, and heart problems; hypertension was the most common self-reported condition.

Risk factors for gun-related behaviors among urban out-of-treatment substance using women.

We examine the prevalence and factors associated with lifetime gun-carrying among 858 urban out-of-treatment substance using women using data collected between 2000 and 2004 in a large Midwestern city. Instruments assessed gun ownership, carrying and access, psychopathology and personal lifestyle risk factors. Analyses were conducted using logistic regression.

Risk factors associated with Hepatitis C among female substance users enrolled in community-based HIV prevention studies.

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the most frequent chronic blood-borne infections in the United States. The epidemiology of HCV transmission is not completely understood, particularly in women and minorities.

Findings: We examined the HCV associated risk factors in substance abusing females involved in National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded HIV prevention studies of street recruited women.

Effects of major depression on crack use and arrests among women in drug court.

Aims: We examined whether a current major depressive episode (MDE) at baseline predicted crack use and arrests at follow-up among women enrolled in drug court.

Design: Primary analyses used zero-inflated Poisson (ZIP) and zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) regression analyses to predict both yes/no and number of (i) days of crack use and (ii) arrests at 4-month follow-up from current (30-day) MDE at baseline. Secondary analyses addressed risk conferred by current versus past MDE at baseline.

The association of trauma and PTSD with the substance use profiles of alcohol- and cocaine-dependent out-of-treatment women.

The association of trauma and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with alcohol and cocaine use is explored to determine if there is additive risk associated with dual dependence. Data were collected from out-of-treatment women enrolled in an HIV-prevention study. Women who experienced a DSM-IV qualifying event (n = 791) were stratified into four substance use groups based on lifetime alcohol and cocaine use.

Problem drinking among married men in India: comparison between husband's and wife's reports.

Introduction And Aims: This study compared the husband's report and wife's report of her husband's problem drinking, among residents of an urban slum in Bangalore, India.

Design And Methods: The data come from a feasibility study to prevent HIV infection among at-risk women in Bangalore. Household enumeration was carried out (n = 509) to choose 100 married men between 18 and 50 years who reported problem drinking (scores 8 and above) on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT).

History of sexual trauma and recent HIV-risk behaviors of community-recruited substance using women.

This study examines whether substance using women exposed to a lifetime sexual trauma (n = 457) are distinguishable from substance using women exposed to non-sexual trauma (n = 275) in terms of demographics, psychopathology and high-risk sexual behaviors. Baseline data were collected from out-of-treatment substance using women enrolled in an HIV prevention study. Logistic regression analyses revealed that when demographics, psychopathology and lifetime indicators of sexual risk were assessed simultaneously, poor health, depression, antisocial personality disorder and lifetime sex-trading were associated with sexual trauma exposure.

Feasibility and effectiveness of HIV prevention among wives of heavy drinkers in Bangalore, India.

Few studies have examined the effectiveness of community based HIV interventions for monogamous married women. We examined prevalence of risky behaviors and effectiveness of a Western intervention on increased knowledge and reductions in risky behaviors among wives of heavy drinkers in an urban slum in Bangalore, India. Household enumeration was conducted on 509 households; wives of the youngest married man 18-50 years of age who scored 8+ on the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) were selected (N = 100) and assessed with Indian adaptations of the Substance Abuse Module (SAM), the Washington University Risk Behavior Assessment for Women (WU-RBA-W), the Violence Exposure Questionnaire (VEQ), the CES-D, the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS-IV), and a Proxy AUDIT.

Risky business: focus-group analysis of sexual behaviors, drug use and victimization among incarcerated women in St. Louis.

Incarcerated women report multiple vulnerabilities and, yet, are under-represented in research. This study used focus-group methodology to explore high-risk sexual behaviors, drug use, and victimization among female offenders in St. Louis.

Subjective versus Objective Definitions of Homelessness: Are there Differences in Risk Factors among Heavy-Drinking Women?

Investigations with homeless populations have focused on those living on the streets or in shelters; few have examined phenomena based on respondents' self-definitions as homeless or not. This investigation examined similarities and differences among risk factors (including mental health, substance abuse, religion/spirituality, social support, and risky sexual behaviors) using two definitions of homelessness: one where place of residence defined individuals as homeless (the `objective', or traditional, definition) and another where respondents defined themselves as homeless (the `subjective' definition). Data come from the baseline survey of the NIAAA-funded "Sister-to-Sister" study (n=339) of heavy-drinking women.