Having their say: patients' perspectives and the clinical management of diabetes.

Using an illness narratives framework, we provide 1 method that health care providers can use to obtain insight into the perceptions and experiences of their patients living with diabetes. We propose that understanding patients' cultural perspectives help explains their health behavior and can lead to more productive partnering between provider, patient, and community health resources that support adherence and improved health outcomes. We conclude with resources available to assist health care providers in their efforts to deliver culturally appropriate diabetes care and examples of culturally tailored community-based public health initiatives that have been effective in improving diabetes outcomes among African-American patients.

HIV/AIDS knowledge scale in relation to HIV risks among African-American women.

This study assessed psychometrics of an HIV/AIDS knowledge scale and the relation of scores to HIV risk behaviors among African-American women 17 to 44 years of age (N=405). Data were collected from five communities located in Atlanta, Georgia. The HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge scale and the HIV risk-behavior factors were collected.