The body in isolation: The physical health impacts of incarceration in solitary confinement.

We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations.

Safe Sex in the 1970s: Community Practitioners on the Eve of AIDS.

In the 1970s, groups of gay and gay-allied health professionals began to formulate guidelines for safer sexual activity, several years before HIV/AIDS. Through such organizations as the National Coalition of Gay Sexually Transmitted Disease Services, Bay Area Physicians for Human Rights, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, these practitioners developed materials that would define sexual health education for the next four decades, as well as such concepts as "bodily fluids" and the "safe sex hanky." To do so, they used their dual membership in the community and the health professions.

Plague Doctors in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Mental Health Professionals and the "San Francisco Model," 1981-1990.

Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health professionals were among the first and most crucial responders to HIV/AIDS. Given an epidemic in which behavior and identity played fundamental roles, mental health professionals were uniquely positioned to conduct social research to explain the existence and spread of disease; to develop clinical understanding of psychological aspects of HIV/AIDS as they emerged; and to collaborate with affected communities to promote education and behavioral change. This study examines the roles of mental health professionals as "plague doctors" in San Francisco's response to HIV/AIDS, in the early years of the epidemic.

Experiences of Parents Caring for Infants with Rare Scalp Mass as Identified through a Disease-Specific Blog.

Background: Delayed subaponeurotic fluid collection (DSFC) is a self-limited disorder of unknown etiology characterized by a benign, fluid-filled mass in the subaponeurotic layer of an infant's scalp. While a few case series describe DSFC, the experiences of families whose infants develop this condition have not previously been reported.

Methods: We used a disease-specific blog to evaluate the experiences of 69 families affected by DSFC.

Viability of a Web-Based Module for Teaching Electrocardiogram Reading Skills to Psychiatry Residents: Learning Outcomes and Trainee Interest.

Objective: Web-based instruction in post-graduate psychiatry training has shown comparable effectiveness to in-person instruction, but few topics have been addressed in this format. This study sought to evaluate the viability of a web-based curriculum in teaching electrocardiogram (EKG) reading skills to psychiatry residents. Interest in receiving educational materials in this format was also assessed.

"Community ambassadors" for South Asian elder immigrants: late-life acculturation and the roles of community health workers.

Elder immigrants face multiple barriers to accessing health care and other basic services. The Community Ambassador Program for Seniors (CAPS), based in Fremont, California, trains volunteer "ambassadors" from several ethnic and faith communities to perform information and referral services for elders, particularly immigrants. The purpose of this study is to examine the roles of ambassadors in ecologic context as community health workers (CHWs) for clients undergoing late-life acculturation.

Surgical treatment of morbid obesity among patients with bipolar disorder: a research agenda.

Introduction: Persons with bipolar disorder (BD) have an increased risk of obesity and associated diseases. Success of current behavioral treatment for obesity in patients with BD is inadequate.

Methods: Existing literature on bariatric surgery outcomes in populations with BD were reviewed, and needed areas of research were identified.