Applications in bridging the gap: a community-campus partnership to address sexual health disparities among African-American youth in the south.

Risky sexual behavior among African-American youth increases risks for sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy. This article describes a community-academic partnership to assess The 2 HYPE Abstinence Club, a program combining abstinence education with stress management and creative arts promotion for African-American youth ages 12-18. Bi-directional learning and communication systems were established to facilitate culturally relevant evaluation approaches, quality assurance in data collection, and action-based protocols for on-going improvement. Assessment tools included self-administered surveys and focus groups to gauge intervention effectiveness and perceptions regarding abstinence, sexual peer norms and intervention characteristics. Statistically significant increases in the understanding of abstinence benefits and sexual activity risks were observed and youth identified goal-setting and refusal skills as most important program components. Youth-instructor relationships and the integration of hip-hop were reasons cited for sustained participation. This assessment partnership represents a rapport with minority youth and a participatory evaluation approach adding programmatic and evidence-based value to intervention efforts.

Barriers to asthma management among urban families: caregiver and child perspectives.

OBJECTIVE: Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood. Those particularly affected are young, poor, African American children. Moreover, rates of emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and mortality are substantially higher for black children. Despite the ample published research on asthma prevalence and asthma management interventions, there is little research available on barriers to asthma care among urban, low-income families as perceived by children with asthma and their caregivers. METHODS: This qualitative study analyzed data from five focus groups conducted with 28 participants in metropolitan Atlanta. RESULTS: This study found caregiver and child health beliefs and perceptions concerning the use of daily controller medications to be a significant barrier to asthma care and proper self-management at home and at school. Barriers to environmental control consisted mostly of financial constraints, which made residential environmental remediation activities difficult to implement. Psychological distress was prevalent among both children and caregivers, which demonstrated the burden associated with managing a chronic illness. CONCLUSION: Families in urban, low-income communities require asthma management interventions tailored to their specific characteristics, barriers, and challenges. Our findings can be used to inform and enhance asthma management interventions for urban families with children with asthma.

The Health, Enlightenment, Awareness, and Living (HEAL) Intervention: Outcome of an HIV and Hepatitis B and C Risk Reduction Intervention.

African American women have among the highest HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C incidence rates in the United States, especially among those homeless or incarcerated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Health Enlightenment, Awareness and Living Intervention, designed to decrease HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and related risky behaviors. The thirteen-session intervention was implemented among homeless and formerly incarcerated low-income African American women, ages 18 to 55, in Atlanta, Georgia from 2006 to 2010. A single group repeated measures study design was employed and consisted of a pre-test (n = 355) group, an immediate post-test (n = 228) group with a response rate of 64%, and a six-month follow up (n = 110) group with response rate of 48%, completing a 135-item survey. Paired-sample t-tests, McNemar tests, and repeated measures ANOVA were applied to compare survey results. Participants demonstrated statistically significant increases in hepatitis B and C knowledge over time (p < 0.001). Statistically significant decreases were also reported for unprotected sex in exchange for money, drugs or shelter (p = 0.008), and sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol (p < 0.001). Reported substance use decreased with statistical significance for alcohol (p = 0.011), marijuana (p = 0.011), illegal drugs (p = 0.002), and crack/cocaine (p = 0.003). Findings broaden the evidence base related to the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis risk reduction interventions designed for homeless and previously incarcerated African American women.