Sexual culture in low-income older adult housing: norms, behaviours and risks.

This paper explores the behaviours and meanings associated with intimacy and sexuality among older adults with diverse partners living in subsidised senior housing. It utilises survey and qualitative data from a mixed methods of ageing/HIV exposure to illustrate gendered views on sexual and intimate behaviours, and attitudes towards transactional/commercial sex. Data suggest that women were cautious about engaging in intimate relationships, while men sought them and the companionship they provided to address loneliness.

Multi-level intervention to prevent influenza infections in older low income and minority adults.

In this paper we describe a successful multi-level participatory intervention grounded in principles of individual and group empowerment, and guided by social construction theory. The intervention addressed known and persistent inequities in influenza vaccination among African American and Latino older adults, and associated infections, hospitalizations and mortality. It was designed to increase resident ability to make informed decisions about vaccination, and to build internal and external infrastructure to support sustainability over time.

Changing drug users' risk environments: peer health advocates as multi-level community change agents.

Peer delivered, social oriented HIV prevention intervention designs are increasingly popular for addressing broader contexts of health risk beyond a focus on individual factors. Such interventions have the potential to affect multiple social levels of risk and change, including at the individual, network, and community levels, and reflect social ecological principles of interaction across social levels over time. The iterative and feedback dynamic generated by this multi-level effect increases the likelihood for sustained health improvement initiated by those trained to deliver the peer intervention.

Outcomes of a peer HIV prevention program with injection drug and crack users: the Risk Avoidance Partnership.

The Risk Avoidance Partnership (RAP) Project conducted in Hartford, Connecticut, tested a program to train active drug injectors and crack cocaine users as "Peer Health Advocates" (PHAs) to deliver a modular HIV, hepatitis, and STI prevention intervention to hard-to-reach drug users in their networks and others in the city. The intervention was designed to diffuse health promotion and risk-reduction interventions by supporting PHAs to model prevention practices and deliver risk- and harm-reduction materials and information. We compared change in behaviors and attitudes between baseline and 6-month follow-up of 112 primarily African-American and Latino PHAs, 223 of their drug-user network contact referrals, and 118 other study recruits (total n = 523).

Building interdisciplinary/intersectoral research partnerships for community-based mental health research with older minority adults.

Community-based research often brings investigators from different disciplinary backgrounds together with community representatives to conduct research on topics of mutual concern. This paper describes a case example that illustrates an interdisciplinary/intersectoral study of depression and barriers to mental health care among older adults and illustrate the factors central to implementing a successful research partnership. It will address the following conditions that facilitate and challenge interdisciplinary/intersectoral research: (1) achieving commonality of purpose in study design and research and referral approaches; (2) ensuring the ability to develop, field-test and implement psychometrically rigorous and culturally and qualitatively appropriate instruments; (3) building effective management structures for interdisciplinary/intersectoral research partnerships; and (4) identifying, training and supporting qualified researchers to carry out a mental health study with older ethnically diverse adults.

Assessing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk among older urban adults: a model for community-based research partnership.

Community-based research brings together researchers and community members as partners to conduct research of mutual concern. This article describes the components necessary to implement a successful research partnership, taking as an example a study of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk among residents of senior housing sites in two North American cities. The article describes important aspects of building and sustaining partnerships, the methods implemented to conduct research on sensitive topics, share resources, disseminate results and collaborate on programs and interventions to benefit the health and well-being of older adults.