Behavioral Health Appointment Attendance Following Implementation of an Automated Appointment Reminder System.

This project explored the effect of an automated appointment reminder system (texts/e-mails/telephone calls) on patient attendance at behavioral health appointments in a federally qualified health care agency in Texas. Appointment reminder systems have been shown to improve attendance rates in behavioral health (Clouse, Williams, & Harmon, 2017; Gajwani, 2014; Molfenter, 2013; Whisenhunt, 2014). It was expected that behavioral appointment attendance which in this agency has been historically low, would increase following implementation of an automated appointment reminder system.

A web-based cultural competency training for medical students: a randomized trial.

Background: The objectives of this research were to compare a Web-based curriculum with a traditional lecture format on medical students' cultural competency attitudes using a standardized instrument and to examine the internal consistency of the standardized instrument.

Methods: In 2010, we randomized all 180 1st-year medical students into a Web-based (intervention group) or a lecture-based (control group) cultural competency training. The main outcome was the overall score on the Health Belief Attitudes Survey (1 = lowest, 6 = highest).

An evaluation of the measurement equivalence of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire--Short Form across gender and race in a sample of drug-abusing adults.

Objective: A number of practice guidelines and recommendations call for an assessment of childhood abuse history among adult medical patients. The cultural sensitivity of screening instruments, however, has not been examined. High rates of childhood abuse history have been reported among adults who abuse substances.

Redes En Acción. Increasing Hispanic participation in cancer research, training, and awareness.

Hispanics are affected by many health care disparities. The National Cancer Institute (NCI), through its Special Populations Branch, is supporting networking and capacity-building activities designed to increase Hispanic participation and leadership in cancer research. Redes En Acción established a national network of cancer research centers, community-based organizations, and federal partners to facilitate opportunities for junior Hispanic scientists to participate in training and research projects on cancer control.

Self-assessment of cultural and linguistic competence in an ambulatory health system.

The University Health System (UHS) leaders organized a comprehensive planning process of its ambulatory care system. As part of this planning process, UHS assessed the cultural and linguistic competence of its outpatient environment. This assessment was conducted within the context of standards outlined in the U.

Childhood trauma, sexually transmitted diseases and the perceived risk of contracting HIV in a drug using population.

This cross-sectional study explored the association among childhood trauma, sexually transmitted diseases histories, and perceived risk of contracting AIDS in 358 women and 338 male drug users in San Antonio, Texas. Women addicts were less educated, more likely to be in a common-law relationship, living with someone of the opposite sex or separated, and had lower incomes in comparison to men addicts. Significant findings were that women with increasing severity of abuse (emotional, physical, and sexual) histories as measured by the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire had increasing numbers of sexually transmitted diseases and perceptions of contracting HIV.

A national agenda for Latino cancer prevention and control.

Although cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and premature death among Latinos, there is limited knowledge of cancer-related issues and priorities of greatest significance to the Latino population, the largest minority group in the nation. This information is vital in helping to guide Latino cancer research, training, and awareness efforts at national, regional, and local levels. To help identify cancer issues of greatest relevance to Latinos, Redes En Accion, The National Hispanic/Latino Cancer Network, a major network among the National Cancer Institute's Special Populations Networks, conducted a survey of 624 key opinion leaders from around the country.

Childhood abuse and neglect histories in low-income women: prevalence in a menopausal population.

Objectives: To examine the prevalence of self-reported childhood abuse and neglect in a primary care population of menopausal women.

Design: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study.

Results: Three of four women (119/160, 74%) reported histories of childhood abuse and neglect.

The BELIEF Instrument: a preclinical teaching tool to elicit patients' health beliefs.

Purpose: The BELIEF Instrument is a cultural interviewing tool for preclinical medical students that does not require diagnostic or therapeutic skills.

Methods: An expert panel developed and taught the instrument to 200 first-year medical students in (1) a didactic session, (2) standardized patient interviews, and (3) clinical correlation sessions with community physicians and third-year medical students. Standardized patients evaluated students on the BELIEF questions in a graded interview.

Childhood trauma and adult prostitution behavior in a multiethnic heterosexual drug-using population.

A cross-sectional study of the association between severity of childhood trauma and adult prostitution behaviors was conducted among 676 heterosexual drug addicts in San Antonio, Texas. Three hundred and fifty eight women and 338 men taking part in a national multisite program for AIDS prevention research completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire as part of a comprehensive risk behavior assessment. Women addicts in the sample were less educated, more likely to be in a common-law relationship, living with someone of the opposite sex or separated, and had lower incomes in comparison to men addicts.

Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire.

Objective: The goal of this study was to develop and validate a short form of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (the CTQ-SF) as a screening measure for maltreatment histories in both clinical and nonreferred groups.

Method: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the 70 original CTQ items were used to create a 28-item version of the scale (25 clinical items and three validity items) and test the measurement invariance of the 25 clinical items across four samples: 378 adult substance abusing patients from New York City, 396 adolescent psychiatric inpatients, 625 substance abusing individuals from southwest Texas, and 579 individuals from a normative community sample (combined N=1978).

Results: Results showed that the CTQ-SF's items held essentially the same meaning across all four samples (i.

Psychological distress in childhood trauma survivors who abuse drugs.

The relationships between the level of childhood maltreatment and current psychological distress were examined in a community sample of 676 substance abusing men and women using a validated self-report instrument (the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) designed to measure physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and physical and emotional neglect. Current levels of self-reported psychological distress/symptoms were measured using a 53-item Brief Symptom Inventory. Prevalence of early trauma ranged from 44% for emotional neglect to 65% for sexual abuse.