Mobility paradoxes: disruptors, benefits, and agency among mobile female sex workers living with HIV in the Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

Background: Mobility is a key social determinant of health for female sex workers (FSWs). While extant research has focused on the adverse effects of mobility for FSWs, there are very few studies that have examined the multiple ways in which mobility may impact the lives of these mobile women from their perspective. This qualitative study aims to fill this gap by exploring how mobility impacts the lives, livelihoods, and HIV care and treatment from the perspectives of women living with HIV in two epidemic settings, the Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

Dietary changes among people practicing Meatless Monday: A cross-sectional study.

Background: High meat consumption negatively impacts human and planetary health. Meatless Monday (MM) is a widely known public health initiative that promotes healthy and sustainable diets by encouraging people to eliminate meat for one day each week.

Objectives: This study investigated whether exposure to MM, through practicing MM and receiving the MM e-newsletter, is associated with reduced meat intake on days other than Mondays.

WHO antenatal care policy and prevention of malaria in pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: The WHO 2016 antenatal care (ANC) policy recommends at least eight antenatal contacts during pregnancy. This study assessed ANC8 uptake following policy implementation and explored the relationship between ANC attendance and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) coverage in sub-Saharan Africa following the rollout of the World Health Organization (WHO) 2016 ANC policy, specifically, to assess differences in IPTp uptake between women attending eight versus four ANC contacts.

Methods: A secondary analysis of data from 20 sub-Saharan African countries with available Demographic Health and Malaria Indicator surveys from 2018 to 2023 was performed.

"You know that we travel a lot": Mobility narratives among female sex workers living with HIV in Tanzania and the Dominican Republic.

Female sex workers (FSW) are highly mobile, which may result in reduced access to and use of health services and increased risk for poor health outcomes, particularly for those living with HIV. Mobility includes spatial, temporal, and social elements that are not fully captured by quantitative measures. We conducted two rounds of in-depth interviews with FSW living with HIV in Iringa, Tanzania (n = 20), and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (n = 20), to describe mobility experiences and compare mobility narratives across settings.

Leveraging Electronic Health Records to Assess Residential Mobility Among Veterans in the Veterans Health Administration.

Background: Residential mobility, or a change in residence, can influence health care utilization and outcomes. Health systems can leverage their patients' residential addresses stored in their electronic health records (EHRs) to better understand the relationships among patients' residences, mobility, and health. The Veteran Health Administration (VHA), with a unique nationwide network of health care systems and integrated EHR, holds greater potential for examining these relationships.

What does your partner want? Using a gender equality lens to assess partner support and involvement in family planning in Uganda.

It is unclear if there are any differences in the ways men and women perceive partner support in the context of family planning. The USAID-funded Social and Behavior Change Activity (SBCA) in Uganda explored male versus female priorities in the decision-making considerations and preferred measures of partner support related to family planning. Data were from a cross -sectional nationally representative telephone survey of 1177 men and women aged 18-49 years old in sexual partnerships.

'They Talk about the Weather, but No One Does Anything about It': A Mixed-Methods Study of Everyday Climate Change Conversations.

Understanding everyday conversations about climate change may provide insights into framing the issue to promote climate change action. As part of a longitudinal online study in the US launched in June 2021, 805 respondents were asked if they had discussed climate change with a friend or family member in the prior month; if not, why not, and if yes, they were asked to delineate the conversation topic. Concurrent mixed methods were used to analyze the data.

Health behavior profiles and association with mental health status among US active-duty service members.

Introduction: This study investigated the clustering of health behaviors among US active duty servicemembers (ADSM) into risk profiles and explored the association between these profiles with ADSM sociodemographic characteristics and mental health status.

Methods: This study utilized secondary data from the 2018 Health Related Behaviors Survey (HRBS), a Department of Defense (DoD) self-administered online survey. Health behaviors included physical activity, screen use, sleep habits, tobacco/substance use, alcohol drinking, preventive health care seeking and condom use at last sex/having multiple sexual partners.

Unmet Need for Family Planning and Spousal Separation in Nepal: A Spatial and Multilevel Analysis.

In Nepal, where increasing numbers of married couples live apart due to migration, progress in reducing unmet need for family planning (UMN) is stagnant. This study aims to identify spatial patterns of UMN of married women and spousal separation in Nepal and explore associations between UMN and spousal separation at individual- and district-levels. We used 2016 Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys data to conduct spatial and multilevel logistic analyses.

A Longitudinal Analysis of Residential Mobility and Experience of Client Violence Among Women Who Exchange Sex in Baltimore.

Residential mobility remains an underexplored yet critical construct that may influence the risk of violence among women who exchange sex. This study examined the longitudinal relationship between residential mobility and experience of client-perpetrated physical or sexual violence among women who exchange sex in Baltimore, Maryland. Participants were at least at 18 years of age, were cisgender women, reported having engaged in transactional sex three or more times within the last 3 months, and were willing to be contacted for 6-, 12-, and 18-month follow-up visits.

"In our culture, if you quarantine someone, you stigmatize them": Qualitative insights on barriers to observing COVID-19 prevention behaviors in Côte d'Ivoire.

While vaccines are now authorized for use against the SARS-CoV2 virus, they remain inaccessible for much of the world and widespread hesitancy persists. Ending the COVID-19 pandemic depends on continued prevention behaviors such as mask wearing, distancing, hand hygiene, and limiting large gatherings. Research in low- and middle-income countries has focused on the prevalence of adherence and demographic determinants, but there is a need for a nuanced understanding of why people do or do not practice a given prevention behavior.

Effects of women's economic empowerment interventions on antenatal care outcomes: a systematic review.

Objectives: Early and adequate antenatal care (ANC) has been shown to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality globally. Increasing evidence suggests that women's economic empowerment (WEE) is a critical factor that may influence uptake of ANC during pregnancy. However, existing literature lacks a comprehensive synthesis of studies on WEE interventions and their effects on ANC outcomes.

Gender norms, contraceptive use, and intimate partner violence: A six-country analysis.

Background: While considerable research has explored associations between gender norms and various sexual and reproductive health behaviors (SRH) with the aim of informing programs, no studies have examined whether couple concordance on specific gender norms is associated with both contraceptive use and reduced intimate partner violence (IPV) experience.

Methods: This study relies on analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) couples' datasets from Mali, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Zambia that were collected in/after 2015 and include the DHS Domestic Violence Module for female respondents. To examine the associations between couple concordance regarding household decision-making or justification of violence (wife beating) and women's use of modern contraceptives or experience of violence, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fit using Stata15.

The Salience of Trust to the Client-Provider Relationship in Post-Ebola Guinea: Findings From a Qualitative Study.

Lack of trust in the health care system can serve as a barrier to service utilization, especially in pandemic and postemergency settings. Although previous research has identified domains of trust that contribute to individuals' trust in the health system, little research exists from low- and middle-income countries, particularly during and after infectious disease outbreaks. The current study-conducted to inform activities for a post-Ebola program-explored perceptions and experiences of health care provision in post-Ebola Guinea, with particular attention to trust.

"On the last day of the last month, I will go": A qualitative exploration of COVID-19 vaccine confidence among Ivoirian adults.

The authorization of several high-efficacy vaccines for use against the novel SARS-CoV2 virus signals a transition in the global COVID-19 response. Vaccine acceptance is critical for pandemic control and has a variety of context- specific drivers that operate at the individual, group, and sociopolitical levels. Social and behavior change interventions can influence individual knowledge, attitudes, and intentions as well as community norms to facilitate widespread vaccine uptake.

Trends in handwashing behaviours for COVID-19 prevention: Longitudinal evidence from online surveys in 10 sub-Saharan African countries.

Handwashing is essential for respiratory virus prevention, but uptake of handwashing in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic remains under-explored. This study examines trends in and determinants of handwashing practices for COVID-19 prevention in 10 countries in West, East, and Southern Africa. Data are derived from an online global Facebook survey assessing COVID-19 knowledge, attitudes, and practices, fielded in July (Round 1) and November 2020 (Round 2).

'I can't leave everything in the hands of my husband': Economic constraints and gender roles in care-seeking in post-Ebola Guinea.

The 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic in West Africa had enduring effects on health systems and healthcare utilisation. This study explores the intersection of economic constraints and gender roles in Guinea to understand delays in care-seeking post-Ebola. In-depth interviews ( = 45) and focus group discussions ( = 24) were conducted with mothers, male heads of household, grandmothers, and health workers in rural and urban areas in Basse-Guinée and Guinée Forestière.

Mobility for sex work and recent experiences of gender-based violence among female sex workers in Iringa, Tanzania: A longitudinal analysis.

Female sex workers are highly mobile, which may influence their risk of experiencing physical and sexual violence. However, there remains a paucity of research, particularly longitudinal, from Sub-Saharan Africa exploring mobility and gender-based violence among female sex workers. To address this gap, this study examined the longitudinal relationship between work-related mobility and recent experience of physical or sexual gender-based violence from a client or partner among female sex workers in Iringa, Tanzania.

Addressing Uptake of HIV Testing and Linkage to Care Among Men in Côte d'Ivoire: An Evaluation of the Brothers for Life Program Implementation.

Background: Historically, men in sub-Saharan Africa have worse outcomes along the HIV care continuum than women. Brothers for Life (BFL) is a community-based behavior change intervention for men, adapted for Côte d'Ivoire, involving group discussions that address salient gender norms and promote HIV prevention, testing, and linkage to care with support from peer navigators. The goal of this study was to describe the BFL program as implemented in Côte d'Ivoire, evaluate program implementation, and report uptake of HIV testing and treatment among BFL participants.

Bringing fear into focus: The intersections of HIV and masculine gender norms in Côte d'Ivoire.

This qualitative research study explored the role of masculinity in men's engagement in the HIV care continuum in Côte d'Ivoire. The researchers conducted 73 in-depth interviews and 28 focus group discussions with 227 Ivoirian men between November and December 2016 across three urban sites. Participants in the study expressed that fear was the primary barrier to HIV testing and treatment.

The relationship between non-permanent migration and non-communicable chronic disease outcomes for cancer, heart disease and diabetes - a systematic review.

Background: The relationship between migration and health has primarily focused on permanent migrants, although non-permanent migrants comprise a large proportion of global migrants. Non-permanent migrants may have distinct needs that affect their health outcomes. This systematic review 1) examined the evidence concerning whether non-permanent migrants have different health outcomes than other population groups for non-communicable chronic diseases (NCDs) and 2) sought to describe how non-permanent migration is defined and measured.

Men's perceptions of HIV care engagement at the facility- and provider-levels: Experiences in Cote d'Ivoire.

Men in sub-Saharan Africa have lower rates of HIV testing and are less likely to initiate treatment compared to women. Service delivery dimensions are a key factor in facilitating engagement along the HIV treatment continuum for men and women, yet male specific overall perceptions of the service delivery environment have received little attention in West Africa. This study draws on qualitative data collected in Côte d'Ivoire to explore provider-level and structural factors affecting men's engagement in HIV testing and treatment through interviews and focus group discussions conducted with health workers and men living with HIV (some on ART) or whose HIV status was unknown.

Talking about reproduction with a migrating spouse: Women's experiences in Dhading, Nepal.

Communication between Nepali women and their migrating spouses affects the transregional or transnational social fields of women "left behind" and may have implications for their reproductive health. We explored women's interactions with their absent spouses using data gathered from qualitative interviews. Conversations with migrant husbands were frequent, organized around husbands' schedules, and focused on children's needs and expenses.

The (re)productive work of labour migration: the reproductive lives of women with an absent spouse in the central hill region of Nepal.

Limited attention has been given to the effects of labour migration on the reproductive lives of women 'left behind' as their partners travel for work. Drawing on two rounds of qualitative interviews with 20 women in the central hill region of Nepal, this paper examines how global economic processes that lead Nepali men to travel for work also affect women's reproductive work, including childrearing and reproductive decision-making. Women understood their husband's migration to engage in the wage economy as a response to both immediate and long-term goals for their children and family.