Transition Navigator Intervention Improves Transition Readiness to Adult Care for Youth With Sickle Cell Disease.

Objective: Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with sickle cell disease (SCD) experience high rates of acute care utilization and increased morbidity. At this high-risk time, they also face the need to transition from pediatric to adult services, which, if poorly coordinated, adds to heightened morbidity and acute care utilization. The study objective was to characterize the feasibility, acceptability, and short-term efficacy of a protocolized transition navigator (TN) intervention in AYA with SCD.

Rising Mental Health Incidence Among Adolescents in Westchester, NY.

Context: Many governments have publicly released healthcare data, which can be mined for insights about disease conditions, and their impact on society.

Methods: We present a big-data analytics approach to investigate data in the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) consisting of 20 million patient records.

Findings: Whereas the age group 30-48 years exhibited an 18% decline in mental health (MH) disorders from 2009 to 2016, the age group 0-17 years showed a 5.

Evaluation of Pediatric Human Papillomavirus Vaccination Provider Counseling Written Materials: A Health Literacy Perspective.

Background And Objectives: Despite recommendations supporting human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, pediatric vaccination rates remain suboptimal in the United States; lack of tools to support provider counseling is one barrier. We sought to evaluate HPV-related counseling materials for readability, suitability, and content, and assess parent perceptions of materials, using a health literacy perspective.

Methods: A systematic search was conducted for written materials developed for HPV vaccination counseling by examining state Department of Health Web sites and associated links to local and national organizations.

Description of Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behaviors among High School Girls in New York City.

Study Objective: Examination of the association of sexual orientation to the sexual practices and health behaviors of high school girls in New York City (NYC).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Data were drawn from the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System survey of public high school students in grades 9-12 in NYC.

Interventions: None.

Predictors of Early Discontinuation of Effective Contraception by Teens at High Risk of Pregnancy.

Study Objective: In the United States, teen pregnancy rates are declining. However, the United States still has the highest teen pregnancy rate among high-income countries. Understanding factors that predict discontinuation of effective contraception might help to further decrease teen pregnancy.

Barriers and facilitators to engagement of vulnerable populations in HIV primary care in New York City.

Background: Engagement in HIV care helps to maximize viral suppression, which in turn, reduces morbidity and mortality and prevents further HIV transmission. With more HIV cases than any other US city, New York City reported in 2012 that only 41% of all persons estimated to be living with HIV (PLWH) had a suppressed viral load, whereas nearly three-quarters of those in clinical care achieved viral suppression. Thus, retaining PLWH in HIV care addresses this central goal of both the US National HIV/AIDS Strategy and Governor Cuomo's plan to end the AIDS epidemic in New York State.

Pediatricians Transitioning Practices, Youth With Special Health Care Needs in New York State.

Objective: To assess current practices of New York State pediatricians as they transition youth with special health care needs to adult-oriented medical care.

Methods: A survey of New York State pediatricians included 6 critical steps from 2002 consensus statement, 11 essential steps adapted from recent literature, and questions targeting age of starting transition and availability of transition policy.

Results: Of 181 respondents, only 11% have a transition policy.

Barriers and facilitators of linkage to HIV primary care in New York City.

One in 5 people living with HIV are unaware of their status; they account for an estimated 51% of new infections. HIV transmission can be reduced through a "Test and Treat" strategy, which can decrease both viral load and risk behaviors. However, linkage of newly diagnosed HIV-positive persons to care has proved challenging.

Adolescents' views on barriers to health care: a pilot study.

Objectives: To determine from adolescents using health care their: 1) perceptions of barriers to obtaining health services, 2) views on how to overcome the barriers and 3) views on how to create an adolescent-friendly primary care practice.

Design: Six focus group interviews.

Methods: Adolescents 11-21 years old from three health centers in the Bronx were recruited.

Adaptation of an alcohol and HIV school-based prevention program for teens.

Given the current status of HIV infection in youth in India, developing and implementing HIV education and prevention interventions is critical. The goal for School-based Teenage Education Program (STEP) was to demonstrate that a HIV/AIDS and alcohol abuse educational program built with specific cultural, linguistic, and community-specific characteristics could be effective. Utilizing the Train-the-Trainer model, the instructors (17-21 years) were trained to present the 10 session manualized program to primarily rural and tribal youth aged 13-16 years in 23 schools (N = 1,421) in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh in India.

Subjective and objective measures of socioeconomic status: predictors of cardiovascular risk in college students in Mumbai, India.

The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and health changes as a society develops. In developed countries, high SES is associated with better health, but in developing countries, high SES is associated with poorer health. However, measuring SES is difficult in countries like India, where the traditional class and caste system are interwoven and complex.

A study of knowledge, attitude, and sensitivity about HIV/AIDS among school teachers in northwestern Himalayas.

North India is considered a low knowledge and low prevalence setting according to the recent National AIDS Control Organization survey regarding HIV/AIDS. As more than one third of the population in India is young adults and adolescents, reaching and educating them is key for prevention programs and a healthier future. School systems provide an ideal situation to impart this awareness and reach adolescents and young adults.

Differences among male/female adolescents participating in a School-based Teenage Education Program (STEP) focusing on HIV prevention in India.

Introduction: With the rising threat of HIV in India, youth are an important group to reach for prevention education. This pilot study tested the efficacy of STEP (School-based Teenage Education Program focusing on HIV Prevention) for school children.

Method: This pilot study randomized 25 schools in Mumbai to receive STEP (N = 1846).

The Events in Care Screening Questionnaire (ECSQ): a new tool to identify needs and concerns of people with HIV/AIDS.

The purpose of this paper is to present validation data on the Events in Care Screening Questionnaire (ECSQ), which was designed to identify the needs and concerns of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in nine specific domains: adherence to medical instructions; medical problems; specialty and inpatient hospital care; preventive health care and screening and behavioral health; sexual risk behavior; family planning; psychological symptoms; substance use; and life circumstances and demands. The ECSQ is the anchor for a more comprehensive measure called "The Dynamics of Care," and was administered in the context of a longitudinal study to evaluate New York State's HIV Special Needs Plan (HIV SNP), a Medicaid managed care model for PLWHA. Participants in the study, which began in March 2003 and closed recruitment in January 2007, were NYC PLWHA who were enrolled in either a Medicaid HIV SNP or Fee-For-Service plan.

Beyond satisfaction: using the Dynamics of Care assessment to better understand patients' experiences in care.

Background: Patient perceptions of and satisfaction with care have become important indicators of the quality of services and the relationship of services to treatment outcomes. However, assessment of these indicators continues to be plagued by measurement problems, particularly the lack of variance in satisfaction data. In this article, we present a new approach to better capture patient perceptions of experiences in care, the Dynamics of Care (DoC) assessment.

Tobacco use and readiness to quit smoking in low-income HIV-infected persons.

The study aim was to identify covariates of smoking status and readiness to quit that encompassed key sociodemographic and health status variables, health-related quality of life, drug use and unprotected sex, and tobacco use variables in a cohort of low-income persons living with HIV. We also examined the impact of HIV diagnosis on smoking cessation. The sample (N = 428) was mostly male (59%) and Black (53%) or Hispanic (30%), and had a high school education or less (87%).

Construct validity of the posttraumatic stress disorder checklist in cancer survivors: analyses based on two samples.

The measurement of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is critically important for the identification and treatment of this disorder. The PTSD Checklist (PCL; F. W.