Accessing and evaluating urologic health information: differences by race/ethnicity and gender.

Patients with urologic symptoms seek information from a variety of sources outside the traditional health care arena. There are differences between the genders and racial/ethnic groups related to sources consulted and confidence in those sources.

Talking with others about stigmatized health conditions: implications for managing symptoms.

We investigated the influence of social ties on symptom management and help seeking, using urinary symptoms as a case study. Talking with others about these symptoms was common and both facilitated and hindered symptom management and help seeking. In some cases, talking with others resulted in gaining a sense of identification with others suffering the same symptoms, receiving assistance to ease the burden of symptoms, obtaining suggestions to help manage symptoms, and learning information about available treatments.

A qualitative inquiry of patient-reported outcomes: the case of lower urinary tract symptoms.

Background: Patient-reported outcomes are a valuable tool for assessing healthcare, particularly for symptom-based conditions that lack definitive physiological measures of treatment efficacy.

Objective: To explore the value of qualitative methods for understanding and developing patient-reported outcomes of medical care for symptom-based conditions by examining the case of lower urinary tract symptoms.

Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with a diverse community sample of 90 respondents who had spoken with a provider about their urinary symptoms.

Race and ethnic differences in health beliefs about lower urinary tract symptoms.

Background: Health beliefs are an important mediator between the experience of symptoms and health behaviors, and these beliefs can vary by race or ethnicity.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to better understand the gap between experiencing symptoms and not seeking medical care by examining health beliefs about lower urinary tract symptoms across race and ethnic groups.

Method: Qualitative, semistructured interviews were conducted with 35 Black, Hispanic, and White people who reported at least one urinary symptom but had not spoken with a healthcare provider about the symptom(s).

Moderating perceptions of bother reports by individuals experiencing lower urinary tract symptoms.

We compared reports of symptom bother for the same urinary symptoms to understand why symptom severity and bother do not correspond in a straightforward manner. We used a grounded theory approach to analyze qualitative data from 123 individual interviews and developed a conceptual framework, identifying three symptom perceptions that might moderate symptom bother: causal, relative, and uncertainty. Symptom bother was lower for respondents who viewed symptoms causally (symptoms seemed explainable or "normal") or relatively (urinary symptoms were compared to other symptoms or conditions).

Beyond incontinence: the stigma of other urinary symptoms.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study conducted to characterize the stigma of urinary frequency and urgency and differentiate it from the stigma of incontinence and to describe race/ethnic and gender differences in the experience of stigma among a diverse sample of individuals.

Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms, including frequency, urgency and incontinence, are susceptible to stigma, but previous stigma research has focused almost exclusively on incontinence.

Method: The Boston Area Community Health Survey is a population-based, random sample epidemiological survey of urologic symptoms (N = 5503).

Adopting best practices: lessons learned in the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness (CICH).

The Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness (CICH) was established to provide housing and supportive services for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. As part of this initiative, 11 projects across the country received funding to apply models of best practices to support their clients in housing. This paper reports on the experiences of the CICH projects in their use of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), clinical practice models commonly used by CICH projects.