Accuracy of self-assessed Spanish fluency in medical students.

Background: Non-English language fluency is increasingly important in patient care. Fluency self-assessment is easily obtained, but its accuracy is unknown.

Purposes: The purpose is to determine accuracy of medical students' self-assessed Spanish fluency.

Teaching Advanced Leadership Skills in Community Service (ALSCS) to medical students.

Inadequate access to health care, lack of health insurance, and significant health disparities reflect crises in health care affecting all of society. Training U.S.

Sexual orientation and sexual health care needs: a comparison of women beneficiaries in outpatient military health care settings.

The objectives of this study are to compare the sexual concerns, interest and experiences in discussing these concerns with their doctor for women of "Only Men" and "Some to Only Women" sexual orientation. A survey was mailed to women patients from two military outpatient settings, with 1,196 women responding. Of eligible respondents (N = 1,170), 90% reported "Only Men" and 10% reported "Some to Only Women" sexual orientation.

A longitudinal medical Spanish program at one US medical school.

Introduction: Policymakers have recommended recruiting or training (or both) more US physicians who can provide care in Spanish. Few longitudinal medical Spanish programs have been described and evaluated.

Objective: This study aims to describe development and evaluation of the preclinical phase of a 4-y program designed to graduate physicians who can provide language-concordant care in Spanish.

Survey of oral health practices among adults in a North Carolina Hispanic population.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to collect baseline data pertaining to the oral health of Hispanics residing in Siler City, NC, a microcosm of the flourishing Latino growth found especially in the southeastern United States.

Methods: A convenience sample of 158 Hispanic adults was recruited. A 41-item Spanish language survey was utilized.

Patient-centered outcomes for frequent headaches.

Objective: To identify clinical outcomes that headache sufferers consider meaningful.

Background: Several standardized instruments have been developed to assess the severity of headaches and the impact of headaches on an individual's quality of life. To our knowledge, however, little research has been conducted to determine which of these many clinical endpoints are considered by headache sufferers themselves to be most important.

Intimate partner violence among Latinas in eastern North Carolina.

This article explores the correlates of intimate partner violence (IPV) among rural, southern Latinas. A sample of 1,212 women in blue-collar work sites in rural North Carolina completed a questionnaire assessing IPV and other social, demographic, and health-related variables. Social and demographic correlates of IPV were examined.

"Una mujer trabaja doble aqui": Vignette-based focus groups on stress and work for Latina blue-collar women in eastern North Carolina.

Latina women are a growing percentage of the working population, and very little is known about their health needs and interests. The purpose of this article is to share qualitative research results gathered from Latina women with a particular focus on exploring stress and health. This project was a substudy of Health Works in the Community, a 5-year CDC-funded multiple risk-factor reduction trial using participatory action research approaches to address smoking, healthy eating, stress, and physical activity among blue-collar women from 12 manufacturing work sites in rural, eastern North Carolina.

Asking about intimate partner violence: advice from female survivors to health care providers.

Understanding the perspectives of women who have experienced IPV will allow us to identify specific techniques of addressing IPV that increase patient comfort and willingness to disclose and/or seek help. Our study objective was to identify what advice women who had experienced IPV would give health providers regarding how to ask about and discuss the issue of IPV. The women in our study advised that providers (1) give a reason for why they are asking about IPV to reduce women's suspicions and minimize stigma, (2) create an atmosphere of safety and support, (3) provide information, support and access to resources regardless of whether the woman discloses IPV.

Knowledge and attitudes about intimate partner violence among immigrant Latinos in rural North Carolina: baseline information and implications for outreach.

To create appropriate intimate partner violence (IPV) services for Latino immigrants, practitioners must be aware of their needs. We conducted interviews with 100 recent Latino immigrants in a rural North Carolina county. Overall, IPV was not perceived to be a problem; however, men and women differed in their perceptions.

Disaster down East: using participatory action research to explore intimate partner violence in eastern North Carolina.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in 1999, a Community Advisory Committee requested assistance from its university partners (University of North Carolina) to address stress and increased risk for intimate partner violence (IPV). Collected from 12 study work sites, baseline data indicated that IPV rates were higher among blue-collar women in eastern North Carolina than national population-based rates suggest. IPV victims reported higher levels of perceived stress, psychological distress, somatic complaints, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms than did nonvictimized coworkers.

What happens when health care providers ask about intimate partner violence? A description of consequences from the perspectives of female survivors.

Objective: To describe positive and negative consequences of health care screening for intimate partner violence from the perspectives of female survivors.

Method: We conducted 7 semistructured focus group interviews with 41 women in battered women's shelters or intimate partner violence support groups.

Results: Positive consequences of screening included: recognizing that the violence was a problem, decreased isolation, and feeling that the medical provider cared.

Increasing physician comfort level in screening and counseling patients for intimate partner violence: hands-on practice.

A paucity of literature exists on implementing and evaluating residency curriculum addressing intimate partner violence. We used unknown simulated patients in a university-based family practice clinic following a pilot curriculum intervention. The curriculum focused on physician comfort with screening, counseling, and referral of patients, using standard conferences as well as a role-play session.