Assessing cognitive capacity for participation in a research study.

To give informed consent in research, persons must be mentally capable of understanding the study, risks, and benefits. An objective screening tool may assess cognitive capacity better than brief conversations or clinician input. The purpose is to explore the validity of the Mental Alternations Test (MAT) to assess the cognitive capacity of older (ages 50 years +) HIV+ persons (N = 81).

Who wins in the status games? Violence, sexual violence, and an emerging single standard among adolescent women.

Throughout U.S. history, women have changed their sexual behaviors in response to, or as actors affecting, economic, political, and legal imperatives; to preserve health; to promote new relationship, identity or career paths; to assert a set of values; as a result of new reproductive technologies; or to gain status.

Assessing self-management information needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

In order to maximize their health status, persons living with HIV/AIDS must use a variety of self-management strategies. They learn these strategies from many sources often based on a specific need or problem. Information needs can be addressed during health care appointments but time is often limited and spent on more acute issues such as symptom control or medication adherence.

Homelessness, substance misuse, and access to public entitlements in a soup kitchen population.

The study examined the effects of homelessness on access to public entitlements (Medicaid and food stamp programs) in a soup kitchen population. Data were collected between 1997 and 1999 from a sample of 343 adults at two soup kitchen sites in New York City. Five hypotheses, focusing on the effects of housing status (literal homelessness, unstable housing, and domiciled), frequency of drug/heavy alcohol use, drug/alcohol-user treatment history and childcare responsibilities on access to Medicaid and food stamp programs were tested.