Attitudes Toward the Uptake of Combination HIV Prevention Methods Among Young Black and Latino Heterosexual Couples Living in New York City: A Qualitative Study.

Couple-based HIV interventions that increase uptake of two or more effective biomedical HIV prevention methods may be a promising HIV prevention strategy for young Black and Latino heterosexual couples. We conducted in-depth, semi-structured individual interviews with 23 Black and Latino adolescent and young adult heterosexual couples that explored their attitudes toward using combination HIV prevention methods (CHPMs). A qualitative hybrid thematic analysis approach was used to identify key themes.

Income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and other mental health services in Canada and Australia.

This paper compares income-based inequities in access to psychotherapy and other mental health services in Canada and Australia, two federal parliamentary systems with sharply contrasting responses to high rates of unmet need. Income-based inequity is measured by need-standardized concentration indices, using comparable data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2011-2012 and the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being 2007. The results indicate that utilization of psychologist services is more concentrated at higher income levels (i.

Strategies to Promote African-American Church Leadership Engagement in HIV Testing and Linkage to Care.

A vital piece in implementing and sustaining HIV testing and linkage-to-care within Black churches is the support of the pastors and church leadership. In order to promote church-based HIV testing and linkage-to-care, we explored pastor and church leaders' (1) HIV-related knowledge, (2) their perception of congregant and community engagement in HIV-related risks, and (3) the potential role of the church in HIV testing and linkage-to-care. We conducted focus groups with 57 church leaders and 8 interviews with pastors across 6 churches in Baltimore, MD, USA.

African American Church Engagement in the HIV Care Continuum.

Providing comprehensive services across the HIV care continuum through African American churches may improve HIV treatment outcomes for African Americans. We explored the feasibility of a church-led HIV care program in six churches in Baltimore, Maryland. Church leaders (n = 57) participated in focus groups and eight pastors participated in interviews.

HIV Testing, Stigma, and Risk: A Comparison of Church Leaders and Their Congregants.

The involvement of African American churches in HIV testing and prevention is a viable community-based strategy in efforts to reduce rates of HIV among African Americans; however, church members' beliefs and attitudes are often barriers to successful implementation. This study aimed to compare church leaders and congregants regarding HIV testing behaviors, HIV-related stigma, HIV knowledge, and perceived risk. This comparative, cross-sectional study used self-reporting questionnaires across six churches in Baltimore, Maryland.

Moving Beyond Age: An Exploratory Qualitative Study on the Context of Young African American Men and Women's Sexual Debut.

African American youth continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. Early sexual debut has been identified as a major determinant of HIV risk. However, emerging research suggests that the overarching context in which first sex occurs may have greater implications for sexual health than simply age alone.

Predictors of HIV/AIDS Programming in African American Churches: Implications for HIV Prevention, Testing, and Care.

Using data from the National Congregational Study, we examined predictors of having an HIV/AIDS program in predominately African American churches across the United States. We conducted regression analyses of Wave II data ( N = 1,506) isolating the sample to churches with a predominately African American membership. The dependent variable asked whether or not the congregation currently had any program focused on HIV or AIDS.

Younger African American Adults' Use of Religious Songs to Manage Stressful Life Events.

The aim of this study was to explore the use of religious songs in response to stressful life events among young African American adults. Fifty-five young African American adults aged 18-49 participated in a qualitative study involving criterion sampling and open-ended interviews. Data analysis included content analysis and descriptive statistics.

A Contextualized Approach to Faith-Based HIV Risk Reduction for African American Women.

HIV/AIDS has a devastating impact on African Americans, particularly women and young adults. We sought to characterize risks, barriers, and content and delivery needs for a faith-based intervention to reduce HIV risk among African American women ages 18 to 25. In a convergent parallel mixed methods study, we conducted four focus groups (n = 38) and surveyed 71 young adult women.

African American church-based HIV testing and linkage to care: assets, challenges and needs.

The US National HIV AIDS strategy promotes the use of faith communities to lessen the burden of HIV in African American communities. One specific strategy presented is the use of these non-traditional venues for HIV testing and co-location of services. African American churches can be at the forefront of this endeavour through the provision of HIV testing and linkage to care.

Messages of Hope: Helping Family Members to Overcome Fears and Fatalistic Attitudes Toward Cancer.

This qualitative study explored strategies family members of African-American cancer patients used to overcome their fears and fatalistic attitudes toward cancer. Twenty-four family members were recruited through criterion purposeful sampling. Data were collected and analyzed using open-ended interviews and thematic analysis.

Readiness to Implement HIV Testing in African-American Church Settings.

HIV and AIDS continue to impact Black Americans at disproportionately high rates. Promotion of HIV testing and linkage to care is a national health imperative for this population. As a pillar in the Black community, the Black Church could have a significant impact on the promotion of HIV testing within their churches and surrounding communities.

A developing framework for the development, implementation and maintenance of HIV interventions in the African American church.

The African American church has promoted the health of African Americans through supporting interventions that target a wide variety of diseases, and it is a crucial community partner in the development of HIV prevention interventions. Although research has described the development of church-based HIV interventions, there is a significant lack of frameworks and approaches available to guide the implementation and maintenance of HIV interventions within church-based settings. A developing framework of a comprehensive church-based intervention, derived from an ethnographic study about the development, implementation, and maintenance of an HIV/AIDS Ministry within an African American church is presented.

A multi-level approach for promoting HIV testing within African American church settings.

The African American church is a community-based organization that is integral to the lives, beliefs, and behaviors of the African American community. Engaging this vital institution as a primary setting for HIV testing and referral would significantly impact the epidemic. The disproportionately high HIV incidence rate among African Americans dictates the national priority for promotion of early and routine HIV testing, and suggests engaging community-based organizations in this endeavor.

Implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions for young adult African American women in church settings.

Objective: To assess the barriers and facilitators to using African American churches as sites for implementation of evidence-based HIV interventions among young African American women.

Design: Mixed methods cross-sectional design.

Setting: African American churches in Philadelphia, PA.

Attitudes and beliefs toward biobehavioural research participation: voices and concerns of urban adolescent females receiving outpatient mental health treatment.

Background: Biobehavioural research methodology can be invasive and burdensome for participants - particularly adolescents with mental illnesses. Human biological researchers should consider how methodological impositions may hinder adolescent research participation. However, literature on adolescent's voices and concerns toward biobehavioural research participation is virtually non-existent.

The Black church, sexual health, and sexuality: a conceptual framework to promote health through faith-based organizations.

There is a growing body of literature that documents the unique impact of black churches on social and health-related changes in the black community. Sexual health and sexuality, however, have long been sources of contention within the institution. The purpose of this article was to refine existing theoretical models that undergird sexual health research in faith-based organizations.

Pastor and lay leader perceptions of barriers and supports to HIV ministry maintenance in an African American church.

Clergy and lay leaders have a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of HIV Ministries within the African American church. However, little is known about the actual roles these men and women have, the barriers they face and the supports they have found in the development and maintenance of an HIV Ministry. The purpose of this study is to examine the role, barriers and supports clergy and lay leaders experienced in the development of a long-standing HIV ministry in an African American church.

Factors contributing to the development of an HIV ministry within an African American church.

Having an HIV ministry within a church depends on the religious culture of that church. However, little is known about how a church's religious culture influences an HIV ministry. This study's purpose was to examine how an African American church's religious culture supported the development, implementation, and maintenance of an HIV ministry within the church.

Validity of self-report screening for overweight and obesity. Evidence from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Objective: Community health surveys often collect self-report data on body height and weight for the purposes of calculating the Body Mass Index (BMI) and identifying cases of overweight and obesity. The aim of the study was to test the validity of this method and to describe age and gender trends in self-report bias in height, weight, and BMI.

Methods: This population survey included 4,615 adolescents and adults from across Canada who were interviewed and then measured in their homes.

Television and the behaviour of adolescents: does socio-economic status moderate the link?

This paper examines the relationship between adolescent behaviour, television viewing and family socio-economic status (SES) using the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY). The effect of television viewing on adolescents' behaviour, ranging from pro-social to aggressive, and whether this effect is moderated by family socio-economic status is investigated. An adolescent fixed effects model is used to estimate the effect of television viewing on behaviour.

Do ordering effects matter in willingness-to-pay studies of health care?

Willingness-to-pay studies are increasingly being used in the evaluation of health care programmes. However, there are methodological issues that need to be resolved before the potential of willingness-to-pay can be fully exploited as a tool for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Of particular methodological interest are the consequences of varying the order in which willingness-to-pay questions are presented to respondents in contingent valuation studies.