Critical Dialogue and Capacity-Building Projects Reduced Alcohol and Substance Use in a Randomized Clinical Trial Among Formerly Incarcerated Men.

Rates of alcohol and/or substance use (ASU) among residents of predominantly Black and marginalized communities are similar to ASU rates in White communities. Yet ASU has worse consequences in predominantly Black and marginalized communities (e.g.

Use of research electronic data capture (REDCap) in a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART): a practical example of automating double randomization.

Background: Adaptive interventions are often used in individualized health care to meet the unique needs of clients. Recently, more researchers have adopted the Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART), a type of research design, to build optimal adaptive interventions. SMART requires research participants to be randomized multiple times over time, depending upon their response to earlier interventions.

Use of research electronic data capture (REDCap) in a sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART): A practical example of automating double randomization.

Adaptive interventions are often used in individualized health care to meet the unique needs of clients. Recently, more researchers have adopted the Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial (SMART), a type of research design, to build optimal adaptive interventions. SMART requires research participants to be randomized multiple times over time, depending upon their response to earlier interventions.

Linking critical consciousness and health: The utility of the critical reflection about social determinants of health scale (CR_SDH).

Introduction: Critical consciousness (CC) theory has been proposed as a framework to inform health interventions targeting a wide variety of health conditions. Unfortunately, methodological limitations have made it difficult to test CC as a mediator of health outcomes. Specifically, standardized and widely accepted measures of health-related CC are needed.

Enhancing behavioral intervention science: using community-based participatory research principles with the multiphase optimization strategy.

Innovative methodological frameworks are needed in intervention science to increase efficiency, potency, and community adoption of behavioral health interventions, as it currently takes 17 years and millions of dollars to test and disseminate interventions. The multiphase optimization strategy (MOST) for developing behavioral interventions was designed to optimize efficiency, efficacy, and sustainability, while community-based participatory research (CBPR) engages community members in all research steps. Classical approaches for developing behavioral interventions include testing against control interventions in randomized controlled trials.

Interprofessional collaboration associated with frequency of life-saving links to HIV continuum of care services in the urban environment of Newark, New Jersey.

Background: HIV continuum of care has been used as a strategy to reduce HIV transmission rates, with timely engagement in HIV testing being the first and most critical step. This study examines interprofessional-collaboration (IPC) after controlling for agency/ provider demographics, provider training and self-efficacy as a significant predictor of how frequently HIV service providers link their clients to HIV testing.

Methods: Multilevel binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of IPC on links to HIV testing while controlling for demographic and agency information, provider training, and standardized measures of providers' feelings, attitudes, and opinions about IPC.

Optimizing a community-engaged multi-level group intervention to reduce substance use: an application of the multiphase optimization strategy.

Background: Rates of alcohol and illicit drug use (AIDU) are consistently similar across racial groups (Windsor and Negi, J Addict Dis 28:258-68, 2009; Keyes et al. Soc Sci Med 124:132-41, 2015). Yet AIDU has significantly higher consequences for residents in distressed communities with concentrations of African Americans (DCAA - i.

Cognitive behavioral therapy: a meta-analysis of race and substance use outcomes.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective intervention for reducing substance use. However, because CBT trials have included predominantly White samples caution must be used when generalizing these effects to Blacks and Hispanics. This meta-analysis compared the impact of CBT in reducing substance use between studies with a predominantly non-Hispanic White sample (hereafter NHW studies) and studies with a predominantly Black and/or Hispanic sample (hereafter BH studies).

: A formative evaluation of a community based health intervention.

Individuals with histories of incarceration and substance abuse residing in distressed communities often receive suboptimal services partly due to a lack of empirically supported substance abuse treatments targeting this population. Grounded in community-engaged research, we developed , a manualized, 12-week, group behavioral intervention. The intervention aims to reduce substance use frequency, HIV/HCV risk behaviors, and reoffending among individuals with histories of substance abuse and incarceration.

Community Wise: paving the way for empowerment in community reentry.

Theoretical approaches traditionally applied in mental health and criminal justice interventions fail to address the historical and structural context that partially explains health disparities. Community Wise was developed to address this gap. It is a 12week group intervention informed by Critical Consciousness Theory and designed to prevent substance abuse, related health risk behaviors, psychological distress, and reoffending among individuals with a history of incarceration and substance abuse.

Using Concept Mapping in Community-Based Participatory Research: A Mixed Methods Approach.

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) has been identified as a useful approach to increasing community involvement in research. Developing rigorous methods in conducting CBPR is an important step in gaining more support for this approach. The current article argues that concept mapping, a structured mixed methods approach, is useful in the initial development of a rigorous CBPR program of research aiming to develop culturally tailored and community-based health interventions for vulnerable populations.

From the Individual to the Community: Perspectives about Substance Abuse Services.

This paper argues that substance abuse interventions in distressed African-American communities must be culturally-tailored and incorporate a framework targeting changes in both individual behavior and the community. The current study employed Concept Mapping in conjunction with Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) principles to involve 100 community members, substance users, and service providers to examine the role of alcohol and other drugs in distressed African-American communities. Findings reveal the way participants understand the role of drugs and alcohol in their community and their perceptions of substance abuse services.

Surviving oppression under the rock: the intersection of New York's drug, welfare, and educational polices in the lived experiences of low-income African Americans.

Drawing on standpoint and intersectionality theories, this study explores the degree to which interactions among New York State's Rockefeller Drug Laws and educational and welfare policies have contributed to the maintenance of a culture of surveillance in which the lives of impoverished African Americans are overseen and influenced by oppressive policies and governmental institutions. Qualitative secondary analysis of longitudinal ethnographic data was conducted. Findings demonstrate multiple disadvantages that impoverished African American families struggling with substance use or sale experience.

The provider perception inventory: psychometrics of a scale designed to measure provider stigma about HIV, substance abuse, and MSM behavior.

Nongay identified men who have sex with men and women (NGI MSMW) and who use alcohol and other drugs are a vulnerable, understudied, and undertreated population. Little is known about the stigma faced by this population or about the way that health service providers view and serve these stigmatized clients. The provider perception inventory (PPI) is a 39-item scale that measures health services providers' stigma about HIV/AIDS, substance use, and MSM behavior.

Challenging controlling images, oppression, poverty and other structural constraints: Survival strategies among African American women in distressed households.

Powerful controlling images perpetuate misguided messages about impoverished African American women that contribute to the oppression these women endure. These images inform policies and behavior that create and maintain structural barriers such as lack of access to education and meaningful employment further marginalizing oppressed individuals. This article uses in-depth interview data to analyze interlocking oppressions in the lived experience of impoverished African American women.

Dimensions of oppression in the lives of impoverished black women who use drugs.

Oppression against Black women continues to be a significant problem in the United States. The purpose of this study is to use grounded theory to identify multiple dimensions of oppression experienced by impoverished Black women who use drugs by examining several settings in which participants experience oppression. Three case studies of drug using, impoverished Black women were randomly selected from two large scale consecutive ethnographic studies conducted in New York City from 1998 to 2005.

Spiritual change in drug treatment: utility of the Christian Inventory of Spirituality.

The current study used data from reliability testing of the Christian Inventory of Spirituality (CIS) to (1) assess the utility of CIS in detecting differences in level of spirituality in residents of residential Christian faith-based substance abuse programs (RCFBSAPs); (2) test the hypothesis that residents who have been in the program for longer periods of time will have significantly higher levels of spirituality after controlling for relevant demographic characteristics; and (3) test the hypothesis that residents of programs that only use unlicensed staff and place higher importance on spirituality will have significantly higher levels of spirituality. A purposive sample of the cross-sectional data from the reliability testing of the CIS was used (n = 253). Analysis supported the hypothesis.

What is substance use about? Assumptions in New York's drug policies and the perceptions of African Americans who are low-income and using drugs.

The current article uses intersectionality and standpoint theories to examine the social impact of solely relying on Eurocentric worldviews when developing drug policies that affect low-income African American communities. It is argued that low-income African Americans share a unique cultural and historical background that must be taken into account in the development and implementation of policies and interventions that effect this population. Analysis of longitudinal qualitative data will compare the assumptions informing New York's Rockefeller Drug Laws with the worldviews of drug using and low-income African Americans in New York City, New York, while examining the impact of these policies in participants' lived experiences.

Substance abuse and dependence among low income African Americans: using data from the national survey on drug use & health to demystify assumptions.

The media has portrayed African Americans as drug users and criminals. The purpose of this study is to test the assumption that low-income African Americans use more alcohol, nicotine, marijuana, and illicit drugs than other racial groups using data from the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health to compare drug abuse and dependence across low income racial groups (N = 20,172). Most respondents were white, female, and older than 26 years of age.

Keeping families engaged: the effects of home-based family therapy enhanced with experiential activities.

Engagement of high-risk adolescents and their families in treatment is a considerable challenge for service providers and agencies. Despite its importance, little research has been conducted that explores this important treatment process. To address this gap, a test of an innovative method to improve engagement in family therapy was undertaken.

Systematic assessment of culturally competent chemical dependence treatment services for African Americans.

This project aimed to develop a tool for assessing and planning culturally competent and relevant chemical dependence treatment services for African American clients and their families. Focus groups were conducted with experts in African American culture and chemical dependence in eight substance abuse programs serving adult and adolescent African Americans and their families. Seventy-five statements were developed describing characteristics of culturally competent and relevant organizations.

Educating Homeless Youth in Texas: The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001.

This paper discusses homeless youth in the US focusing on educational issues addressed by the implementation of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Improvements Act of 2001. This law requires that states ensure each homeless child has equal access to public education. Moreover, the law requires states to identify and remove barriers to homeless children's education, such as requirements for previous school records and proof of residency.

Assessing culturally competent chemical dependence treatment services for Mexican Americans.

Mexican Americans struggling with chemical dependence are greatly underserved. Barriers to treatment include language, lack of culturally relevant services, lack of trust in programs, uninviting environments, and limited use and linkage with cultural resources in the community. This project aimed to develop a tool for assessing and planning culturally competent/relevant chemical dependence treatment services for Mexican Americans.

Bridges to life: evaluation of an in-prison restorative justice intervention.

Restorative justice initiatives have been identified as primarily, if not exclusively, useful as a "front-end" diversionary option reserved for non violent property crimes and minor assaults. In-prison restorative justice programs are rare and have not been examined for their impact on recidivism. Bridges to Life (BTL) is a voluntary, manualized, ecumenical faith-based restorative justice program offered to incarcerated offenders who are within nine months of their release.