Associations of HCV Knowledge and Medical Mistrust with Being Screened for HCV and Offered HCV Treatment among People with HIV.

An estimated one-fourth of people with HIV in the U.S. are coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Drivers of differential views of health equity in the U.S.: is the U.S. ready to make progress? Results from the 2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes.

Objectives: The public health sector has long recognized the role of the social determinants of health in health disparities and the importance of achieving health equity. We now appear to be at an inflection point, as we hear increasing demands to dismantle structures that have perpetuated inequalities. Assessing prevailing mindsets about what causes health inequalities and the value of health equity is critical to addressing larger issues of inequity, including racial inequity and other dimensions.

Evaluation of the Connections to Care (C2C) Initiative: Interim Report.

At least one in five adult New Yorkers is likely to meet the criteria for a mental health diagnosis, yet most do not receive mental health services to treat these problems. Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, disproportionately affect historically underserved segments of the population, such as racial/ethnic minority and low-income individuals, and these groups are least likely to receive mental health services. The Connections to Care (C2C) Collaborative developed the C2C program, which integrates mental health support into the work of nonclinical community-based organizations (CBOs) through task shifting; task shifting is an approach extending evidence-informed health care skills to community-based partners under the oversight of trained professionals to expand the health care workforce.

The Longitudinal Association between Perceived Powerlessness and Sexual Risk Behaviors among Urban Youth: Mediating and Moderating Effects.

A distal psychosocial factor, perceived powerlessness, has been found to predict various sexual risk behaviors among youth, yet no studies have assessed mediators or moderators in this relationship. Using a demographically diverse, longitudinal sample of urban youth (N = 257), this study assessed whether the need for sexual validation mediates the relationship between perceived powerlessness and sexual risk behaviors and to assess whether this mediated pathway is moderated by socioeconomic status and gender. The mean age of the participants was 21 years old (range: 15-24) and the majority of the sample identified as Black (65%) and female (62%).

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Rapid Re-housing Intervention for Homeless Persons Living with HIV/AIDS: Impact on Housing and HIV Medical Outcomes.

We conducted a randomized controlled trial to determine whether, for homeless persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), rapid re-housing can improve housing and HIV viral suppression more than standard housing assistance. We recruited 236 PLWHA from HIV emergency housing in New York City (NYC) and randomized them to: (1) Enhanced Housing Placement Assistance (EHPA), i.e.

Connections to Care (C2C): The Perspectives of Leaders at Community-Based Organizations That Are Integrating Mental Health Supports.

The mental health system often does not reach all individuals who need mental health services. The Connections to Care (C2C) program, a $30 million public-private partnership under the federal Social Innovation Fund, with oversight from the C2C Collaborative, aims to address this problem by reaching up to 40,000 New Yorkers over five years by encouraging formal collaborations between community-based organizations (CBOs) and mental health providers (MHPs). In the C2C task-shifting model, mental health specialists equip non-specialist direct service staff at CBOs with the skills to deliver nonmedical mental health services while also facilitating referrals for more intensive care, if needed.

Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and invariance assessment of the perceived powerlessness scale among youth in Baltimore.

Generalized perceived powerlessness is an important psychosocial construct that determines a wide range of health behaviors and outcomes. This study has two aims: (1) examine the structure of the newly developed perceived powerlessness scale using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and (2) assess the scale's invariance across key demographic variables using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis among a random household sample of African American and White youth (aged 15-24 years) residing in Baltimore, MD. Our study results demonstrated that the powerlessness scale is valid among a demographically diverse sample of urban youth, showing promise for use in future health behavior and outcome studies.

The Interaction of Sexual Validation, Criminal Justice Involvement, and Sexually Transmitted Infection Risk Among Adolescent and Young Adult Males.

Background: Young men who have been involved with the criminal justice system are more likely to have concurrent sexual partners, a key driver of sexually transmitted infections. The value men place on having sexual relationships to validate themselves may play an important role in understanding this association.

Methods: Data were from a household survey.

Towards More Nuanced Classification of NGOs and Their Services to Improve Integrated Planning across Disaster Phases.

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are being integrated into U.S. strategies to expand the services that are available during health security threats like disasters.

Building a National Culture of Health: Background, Action Framework, Measures, and Next Steps.

Because health is a function of more than medical care, solutions to U.S. health problems must encompass more than reforms to health care systems.

Cross-Sector Collaborations And Partnerships: Essential Ingredients To Help Shape Health And Well-Being.

Cross-sector collaborations and partnerships are an essential component of the strategy to improve health and well-being in the United States. While their importance is unquestioned, their impact on population health has not yet been fully observed. Cross-sector collaboration also is the second Action Area of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's four-part Action Framework to build a Culture of Health in the United States.

Youth Resilience Corps: An Innovative Model to Engage Youth in Building Disaster Resilience.

Objective: Despite the growing awareness that youth are not just passive victims of disaster but can contribute to a community's disaster resilience, there have been limited efforts to formally engage youth in strengthening community resilience. The purpose of this brief report was to describe the development of a Youth Resilience Corps, or YRC (ie, a set of tools to engage young people in youth-led community resilience activities) and the findings from a small-scale pilot test.

Methods: The YRC was developed with input from a range of government and nongovernmental stakeholders.

CMS Innovation Center Health Care Innovation Awards: Evaluation Plan.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has funded 108 Health Care Innovation Awards, funded through the Affordable Care Act, for applicants who proposed compelling new models of service delivery or payment improvements that promise to deliver better health, better health care, and lower costs through improved quality of care for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program enrollees. CMS is also interested in learning how new models would affect subpopulations of beneficiaries (e.g.

Oral Health in the District of Columbia: Parental and Provider Perspectives.

Research suggests that there are significant barriers to oral health care for many children in Washington, D.C. This article assesses the perspectives of Washington, D.

Persistently high prevalence and unrecognized HIV infection among men who have sex with men in Baltimore: the BESURE study.

Background: Given high rates of HIV among Baltimore men who have sex with men (MSM), we examined characteristics associated with HIV prevalence and unrecognized HIV infection among Baltimore MSM at two time points.

Methods: Cross-sectional behavioral surveys and HIV testing in 2004-2005 and 2008 using venue-based sampling among adult Baltimore men at MSM-identified locations. MSM was defined as sex with a male partner in the past year.

The geography of heterosexual partnerships in Baltimore city adults.

Background: Human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted disease (HIV/STD) risk is determined in part by sexual network characteristics, which include spatial parameters. Geography and proximity of partner selection are important factors, which may explain neighborhood-level differences in HIV/STD morbidity. To study the effects of neighborhood factors on HIV/STD transmission in high-density urban areas, the geography of partner selection must be understood.

Prevalence of HIV infection and sexual risk behaviors among individuals having heterosexual sex in low income neighborhoods in Baltimore, MD: the BESURE study.

Data from the 2007 heterosexual wave at the Baltimore site of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance System, a cross-sectional, venue-based sample survey targeting high-risk heterosexuals, are presented on risks associated with reporting unprotected sex with casual/exchange partners. Recruitment areas were 10 census tracts within Baltimore City categorized as being in the top 20% of tracts most affected by poverty and AIDS in the Baltimore-Towson metropolitan statistical area. Recruitment venues were not attended for the sole purpose of finding sexual partners.

Street life and drug risk behaviors associated with exchanging sex among male street children in Lahore, Pakistan.

Background: Throughout the developing world, children living on urban streets is a byproduct of economic deprivation. In Lahore, Pakistan, there are an estimated 5,000-7,000 street children.

Purpose: The study examined HIV risk behaviors and factors associated with exchanging sex among male street children in Lahore, Pakistan.