Testing Mindful Awareness as a Moderator in the Association Between HIV-Related Stress and Drug and Alcohol Use Problems Among People Living with HIV.

Objectives: People living with HIV (PLWH) are disproportionately affected by stressful life events. HIV-related stress adds to general life stressors to increase health risks among this population. Stress has not only been associated with HIV progression but it is also linked to HIV transmission risk behavior (e.

Achieving cultural congruency in weight loss interventions: can a spirituality-based program attract and retain an inner-city community sample?

Unlabelled: Ethnic minorities continue to be disproportionately affected by obesity and are less likely to access healthcare than Caucasians. It is therefore imperative that researchers develop novel methods that will attract these difficult-to-reach groups. The purpose of the present study is to describe characteristics of an urban community sample attracted to a spiritually based, weight loss intervention.

Patterns of substance use among HIV-positive adults over 50: implications for treatment and medication adherence.

Background: The population of older adults living with HIV is increasing in the United States. Despite an increased focus on the health of HIV-positive older adults, knowledge about their substance use, a primary risk factor for HIV medication non-adherence, and the association between use, problems associated with use, and adherence behavior, is limited.

Methods: Data were collected from 557 HIV-positive adults aged 50 and older in the New York City area via telephone interview.

Essential to understand the relationship between mental illness and work.

In their paper "Nature and Prevalence of Mental Illness in the Workplace," Dewa et al. (2004) take on a task of enormous difficulty but of even greater importance. Generally, Dr.

Spiritual self-schema therapy, drug abuse, and HIV.

This case report describes the use of Spiritual Self-Schema (3-S) therapy in the treatment of an HIV-positive inner-city drug user maintained on methadone and referred for additional treatment due to unremitting cocaine use. 3-S therapy is a manual-guided intervention based on cognitive self-schema theory. Its goal is to help the patient create, elaborate, and make accessible a cognitive schema--the "spiritual" self-schema-that is incompatible with drug use and other HIV risk behaviors.

Spiritual beliefs, world assumptions, and HIV risk behavior among heroin and cocaine users.

The relationship between spirituality and HIV risk behavior in a sample of 34 inner-city cocaine-using methadone-maintained patients was examined. Spirituality was operationally defined in terms of "life meaningfulness" and included the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith (T. G.

Addressing the spiritual needs of a drug user living with human immunodeficiency virus: a case study.

Objectives: To describe an application of Spiritual Self-Schema Therapy (3-S) with a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-seropositive, injection drug-using individual.

Intervention: 3-S is a structured and readily administered therapy for integrating a spiritual dimension into addiction treatments for HIV-positive drug users. It posits the existence of many potential "selves," salient among which are the "addict" self and the "spiritual" self.

Patient attitudes concerning the inclusion of spirituality into addiction treatment.

The purpose of this exploratory study was 3-fold: (a) to determine how 'spirituality' is defined by inner-city HIV-positive drug users; (b) to determine perceived relationships between spirituality and abstinence, harm reduction, and health promotion; and (c) to assess interest in a spirituality-based intervention. Opioid-dependent patients enrolled in an inner-city methadone maintenance program participated in the study; 21 participated in focus groups and 47 completed a questionnaire. In the focus groups, two predominant themes emerged: spirituality as a source of strength/protection of self, and spirituality as a source of altruism/protection of others.