Publications by authors named "Kurt C Organista"

Article Synopsis
  • The study examines the complex relationship between psychosocial factors and methamphetamine use among sexual minority men living with HIV, using syndemic theory to understand these dynamics.
  • Researchers utilized both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gather data on how elements like post-traumatic stress disorder and depression contribute to substance use.
  • Findings indicate that these psychosocial issues not only promote methamphetamine use as a coping mechanism but also hinder recovery, highlighting the need for interventions that address these interconnected challenges.
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Background: Sexual minority men (SMM) are exposed to societal and structural stressors that translate into poor health outcomes. One such outcome is substance use, which research has long documented as a prominent disparity among SMM. Methamphetamine is a particularly deleterious substance for SMM because its use is often framed as a coping response to social and structural stressors.

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Although pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective HIV prevention intervention, inequities in access remain among Latinx sexual and gender minorities (LSGM). There is also a gap in the PrEP literature regarding providers' perspective on access inequities. This qualitative case study sought to explore barriers and facilitators to PrEP engagement in a community-based integrated health center primarily serving Latinx populations in Northern California.

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A structural-environmental model of alcohol and substance-related sexual HIV risk in 344 Latino migrant day laborers, participants in a cross-sectional survey, is tested using structural equation modeling. Hypothesized pathways include: (1) direct paths between environmental conditions and both distress related risk factors, and cultural and community protective factors; (2) indirect paths between environmental conditions and distress through cultural and community protective factors; and (3) indirect paths between environmental conditions and sexual risk through both distress risk factors and cultural and community protective factors. As hypothesized, the environmental factors, discrimination and working conditions, were indirectly related to sexual risk through the distress related factor, problem drinking, and through the protective factor, contact with family in country of origin.

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. Little research has been conducted on relations between challenging working and living conditions and psychological distress in Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs), a particularly marginalized Latino population in the United States. .

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Objectives: The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between discrimination and psychological distress in Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs), including potential protective factors: access to cultural resources (e.g., festivals, people from one's country of origin), including community services perceived to be culturally competent, and contact with family in country of origin (e.

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Background: Given the structural vulnerability of Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs) to unstable and poorly paying work, harsh living conditions and frequent inability to support or even visit families in country of origin, psychological distress is a common response and one frequently implicated in risky outcomes such as problem drinking.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the relation of three different forms of psychological distress to problem drinking in LMDLs: depression, anxiety, and desesperación, the latter a popular Latino culture-based idiom of psychological distress.

Methods: A cross sectional survey of 344 LMDLs was conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area from January to June of 2014.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between typically difficult living conditions and psychological distress in Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs), with attention to the potentially protective roles of contact with family in country of origin (i.e., communication, sending money, etc.

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The purpose of this study was to better understand the relation between psychological distress and alcohol and substance related sexual risk in Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs). In addition to examining the roles of depression and anxiety, it was also necessary to examine the role of , a popular Latino idiom of distress frequently expressed by LMDLs in response to the thwarting of major migration related life goals such as traveling to the U.S.

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While depression is prevalent among immigrant Latinas, mental health literacy is low. Culturally tailored health narratives can improve mental health literacy and are now increasingly featured in Spanish language fotonovelas (i.e.

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Objective: Integrated behavioral health care has the potential to reduce barriers to mental health treatment among low-income and minority populations. This study aimed to identify predictors of Latino patients' decision to follow through with referrals to depression treatment in an integrated primary care setting, including type of referral (a "warm handoff" from a primary care provider [PCP] to a behavioral health care provider or a prescribed referral).

Methods: The authors conducted a sequential medical record review of 431 patients referred for depression treatment in integrated behavioral health services followed by qualitative semistructured interviews with a subsample of 16 patients.

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Latino migrant day laborers (LMDLs) live under challenging conditions in the San Francisco Bay Area. This study explored day laborer alcohol use guided by a structural vulnerability framework, specifically problem vs. non-problem drinking as perceived by LMDLs and how they cope with or try to avoid problem drinking given their broader environment.

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Undocumented Latino day laborers in the United States are vulnerable to being arrested and expelled at any time. This social fact shapes their everyday lives in terms of actions taken and strategies deployed to mitigate being confronted, profiled, and possibly incarcerated and deported. While perceptions of threat and bouts of discrimination are routine among undocumented Latino day laborers, their specific nature vary according to multiple social factors and structural forces that differ significantly from locale to locale.

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Research shows high risk for depression among immigrant Latinas known to increase during the acculturation process. Several barriers such as stigma and low health literacy result in an under-utilization of needed treatment among these women. In response, this study replicated the effectiveness of a Spanish language fotonovela, a form of Entertainment-Education (E-E), designed to increase depression literacy, decrease stigma, and increase help-seeking knowledge and behavior in Latinos.

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This study explored self-reported alcohol use of Mexican and Central American men who had recently migrated to the United States to work. Ethnographic observation took place at a day laborer hiring site in 2006-2007 and qualitative interviewing involved 120 men with divergent drinking patterns. Short interviews were conducted informally on the street, and interviews lasting 1-2 hours addressed day laborers' perspective about how life conditions shape where drinking takes place and how much alcohol gets consumed.

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The purpose of this paper is to explore the context of the sexual health of Latino migrant day labourers in the USA, challenges to sexual health and ways of coping, with attention to conditions of structural vulnerability permeating the lives of this unique Latino population. Given the limited information about this topic and population, ethnographic research employing in-depth semi-structured interviews with 51 labourers, recruited through purposive sampling in the San Francisco Bay Area, was utilised. The sexual health aspirations of the men are deeply embedded in the core value and practice of Latino familismo or, in this case, the central goal of securing a family headed by men as providers and present husbands/fathers.

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The practice model described in this article represents a new synthesis of some of the best and most pragmatic models and concepts in the cultural competence literature. The article begins by infusing the ecosystems perspective with Latino-relevant theories and research for enhancing cultural sensitivity, both heightened awareness of the Latino experience and understanding of problem patterns in their historical, social, and cultural contexts. The article builds to a description of the practice model by selectively reviewing and synthesizing state-of-the-art models and methods of culturally competence practice.

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Context: The prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and associated risk behaviors among California farmworkers is not well described.

Purpose: To estimate the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and associated risk behaviors among California farmworkers.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of population-based survey data from 6 California agricultural regions was performed for participants tested for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhea (GC), and syphilis, and who completed an interviewer-administered behavioral risk factor survey.

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This cross sectional study utilized convenience sampling to investigate the HIV testing intentions of 290 sexually active, male, migrant Latino day laborers, 18 years old or older. The findings indicate that day laborers are indeed at risk for HIV. Nearly two-thirds of the men intended to test for HIV in the next year.

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A preliminary survey was conducted with 102 migrant day laborers (MDLs) to assess HIV risk and related contextual problems and issues. These men were primarily Mexican, of low SES background, low in acculturation to the United States, and their income ranged from $100 and $400 a week, 40% of which is sent back home. The psychosocial context of HIV risk included concerns expressed about lack of money and employment, followed by racism, social isolation, sadness and loneliness.

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This study examined predictors of HIV-related sexual risk taking in a high risk and understudied convenience sample of 366 predominantly Mexican, migrant adults without stable housing. The sample included 27% men who have sex with men, 28% injectors of illegal drugs, and 21% sex workers. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that sexual risk taking was predicted by low condom self-efficacy, high-risk behavior, and being female.

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Charged with the task of reviewing the research outcome literature on HIV prevention with Mexican migrants in the United States, the following broad observations and conclusion were made: (1) there is little research on this specialized topic of concern; (2) the research that exists reflects an overly individualistic behavioral science approach designed to reduce individual risk factors, with little regard for structural and environmental factors that influence HIV risk; and (3) there is a compelling need to develop better theoretic frameworks for understanding the complex and dynamic social and cultural processes influencing sexual behavior among Mexican migrants so as to better inform HIV prevention efforts with this unique and diverse Latino(a) population.

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Objective: The aim of this study was to determine whether supplementing traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression with clinical case management would reduce the rate of dropout from care and improve outcomes for ethnically diverse, impoverished medical outpatients.

Methods: The study was a randomized trial that compared cognitive-behavioral group psychotherapy alone (N=103) with the same therapy supplemented by clinical case management (N=96).

Results: The patients who received supplemental case management had lower dropout rates than those who received cognitive-behavioral group therapy alone.

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