Trajectories of HIV management among virally suppressed and unsuppressed female sex workers in the Dominican Republic: A comparative qualitative analysis.

PURPOSE: Despite suboptimal HIV outcomes among female sex workers (FSW), limited research has been conducted on factors that impact viral suppression among this population. Examining narratives of HIV management, we examined how experiences of diagnosis, treatment initiation, and ongoing care behaviours shaped viral suppression outcomes over time. METHODS: We conducted 20 in-depth interviews with FSW in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Using narrative and thematic qualitative approaches, we developed analytic summaries and matrices to compare trajectories of managing HIV between suppressed and unsuppressed participants. RESULTS: Regardless of suppression status, participants described similar narratives of overcoming initial challenges to HIV management through personal resilience and social support. Unsuppressed participants identified more delays in initiating antiretroviral therapy and more lapses in adherence due to less active acceptance of their HIV status and more persistent experiences of economic hardship and HIV stigma. CONCLUSIONS: We found that individual, interpersonal and structural factors, including stigma and economic precarity, differentiated trajectories towards viral suppression among FSW indicating the importance of multilevel interventions. Improved access to mental health services and social support could promote greater early acceptance of HIV status and progress towards viral suppression among FSW.

"A dream come true": Perspectives on long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy among female sex workers living with HIV from the Dominican Republic and Tanzania.

BACKGROUND: Long-acting injectable antiretroviral therapy (LA ART) was found to be non-inferior to daily oral ART in Phase 3 clinical trials. LA ART may offer an important alternative for people living with HIV with challenges adhering to daily oral ART or preferences for non-pill-based regimens. METHODS: Using a mixed methods approach integrating survey, in-depth interview and biological data from female sex workers (FSW) living with HIV in Tanzania (N = 208) and the Dominican Republic (DR) (N = 201), we assessed factors associated with the potential likelihood of LA ART use if it were available. We conducted multivariate logistic regression and thematic content analysis. RESULTS: Likelihood of LA ART use was high with 84.92% of FSW from the DR and 92.27% of FSW from Tanzania reporting they would be "likely" or "very likely" to use LA ART if available (p = 0.02). In Tanzania better HIV-related patient-provider communication (AOR 4.58; 95% CI 1.90-11.05) and quality of HIV clinical care (AOR 3.68; 95% CI 1.05-12.86) were positively associated with the high likelihood of LA ART use. In the DR, easier clinic access was associated with a higher likelihood of LA ART use (AOR 3.04; 95% CI 1.41-6.56), as was greater monthly income from sex work (AOR 2.37; 95% CI 1.27-4.41). In both settings, years on ART was significantly associated with a strong likelihood of LA ART use (TZ: AOR 1.16 per year; 95% CI 1.00-1.34/DR: AOR 1.07 per year; 95% CI 1.00-1.14). Qualitative findings underscored enthusiasm for LA ART and reinforced its potential to address sex work-specific barriers to daily oral ART adherence including work-related schedules and substance use. CONCLUSIONS: We found a high likelihood of LA ART use if available among FSW in two diverse settings and documented barriers to future uptake. Community-driven approaches which include tailored health education and improved patient-provider communication and quality of care, as well as strategies to facilitate appointment adherence are needed to optimize LA ART use among FSW.

Obstetric Violence as Reproductive Governance in the Dominican Republic.

A human rights violation, obstetric violence encompasses numerous forms of mistreatment against women giving birth in health care facilities. Based on this framework, we conducted open-ended exit interviews with 43 women who had given birth at either one of the two largest public maternity hospitals in the Dominican Republic. Women's narratives revealed a contrast between scholarly definitions of obstetric violence and their own perceptions of receiving abusive care. Analyzing obstetric violence as a form of reproductive governance and the adaptive preference that ensues helps explain why most women accepted with endurance the poor quality of care that they received.

Measuring mistreatment of women during childbirth: a review of terminology and methodological approaches.

BACKGROUND: Although mistreatment of women during facility-based childbirth has received increasing recognition as a critical issue throughout the world, there remains a lack of consensus on operational definitions of mistreatment and best practices to assess the issue. Moreover, only minimal research has focused on mistreatment in Latin America and the Caribbean, a region notable for social inequalities and inequitable access to maternal health care. METHODS: In this article, we discuss the results of a literature review that sought to contribute to the determination of best practices in defining and measuring the mistreatment of women during childbirth, particularly within Latin America and the Caribbean. The review includes a total of 57 English, Spanish, and Portuguese-language research publications and eight legal documents that were published between 2000 and 2017. RESULTS: While the typologies of "disrespect and abuse" and "mistreatment during facility-based childbirth" are most frequently employed in global studies, "obstetric violence" remains the most commonly operationalized term in Latin America and the Caribbean in both research and policy contexts. Various researchers have advocated for the use of those three different typologies, yet the terms all share commonalities in highlighting the medicalization of natural processes of childbirth, roots in gender inequalities, parallels with violence against women, the potential for harm, and the threat to women's rights. For measuring mistreatment, half of the research publications in this review use qualitative methods, such as in-depth interviews and focus groups. After analyzing the strengths and limitations of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches to assessing mistreatment, we recommend mixed methods designs as the optimal strategy to evaluate mistreatment and advocate for the inclusion of direct observations that may help bridge the gap between observed measures and participants' self-reported experiences of mistreatment. CONCLUSIONS: No matter the conceptual framework used in future investigations, we recommend that studies seek to accomplish three objectives: (1) to measure the perceived and observed frequencies of mistreatment in maternal health settings, (2) to examine the macro and micro level factors that drive mistreatment, and (3) to assess the impact of mistreatment on the health outcomes of women and their newborns.

Assessing equitable care for Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and understand the barriers to equitable care within health care settings that women of ethnic minorities encounter in Latin America and to examine possible strategies for mitigating the issues. METHODS: This was a comprehensive review of the literature from 2000-2015 available from the online databases PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, and SciELO in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, using a keyword search that included the Region and country names. RESULTS: Health provider discrimination against Indigenous and Afrodescendant women is a primary barrier to quality health care access in Latin America. Discrimination is driven by biases against ethnic minority populations, women, and the poor in general. Discriminatory practices can manifest as patient-blaming, purposeful neglect, verbal or physical abuse, disregard for traditional beliefs, and the non-use of Indigenous languages for patient communication. These obstacles prevent delivery of appropriate and timely clinical care, and also produce fear of shame, abuse, or ineffective treatment, which, in addition to financial barriers, deter women from seeking care. CONCLUSIONS: To ensure optimal health outcomes among Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America, the issue of discrimination in health care settings needs to be understood and addressed as a key driver of inequitable health outcomes. Strategies that target provider behavior alone have limited impact because they do not address women's needs and the context of socioeconomic inequality in which intra-hospital relations are built.

Assessing equitable care for indigenous and afrodescendant women in Latin America / Equitatividad de la atención a las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina

OBJECTIVE: To identify and understand the barriers to equitable care within health care settings that women of ethnic minorities encounter in Latin America and to examine possible strategies for mitigating the issues. METHODS: This was a comprehensive review of the literature from 2000-2015 available from the online databases PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, and SciELO in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, using a keyword search that included the Region and country names. RESULTS: Health provider discrimination against Indigenous and Afrodescendant women is a primary barrier to quality health care access in Latin America. Discrimination is driven by biases against ethnic minority populations, women, and the poor in general. Discriminatory practices can manifest as patient-blaming, purposeful neglect, verbal or physical abuse, disregard for traditional beliefs, and the non-use of Indigenous languages for patient communication. These obstacles prevent delivery of appropriate and timely clinical care, and also produce fear of shame, abuse, or ineffective treatment, which, in addition to financial barriers, deter women from seeking care. CONCLUSIONS: To ensure optimal health outcomes among Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America, the issue of discrimination in health care settings needs to be understood and addressed as a key driver of inequitable health outcomes. Strategies that target provider behavior alone have limited impact because they do not address women's needs and the context of socioeconomic inequality in which intra-hospital relations are built.

OBJETIVOS: Determinar y comprender las barreras que impiden en los entornos de atención de salud de América Latina la asistencia equitativa a las mujeres pertenecientes a minorías étnicas, y analizar las posibles estrategias dirigidas a mitigar los problemas. MÉTODOS: Se llevó a cabo una evaluación exhaustiva de la bibliografía publicada del 2000 al 2015 en las bases de datos en línea PubMed, Google Académico, EBSCOhost y SciELO en español, inglés y portugués, mediante una búsqueda de palabras clave que incluyó los nombres de la Región y los países. RESULTADOS: La discriminación por parte de los proveedores de servicios de salud contra las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes constituye una barrera primaria que impide a estas el acceso a una atención de salud de calidad en América Latina. La discriminación surge de los prejuicios contra las poblaciones de minorías étnicas, las mujeres y los pobres en general. Las prácticas discriminatorias se pueden manifestar en forma de culpabilización de las pacientes, negligencia intencionada, maltrato verbal o físico, falta de respeto a las creencias tradicionales y no utilización de los idiomas indígenas para comunicarse con las pacientes. Estos obstáculos impiden la prestación de una atención médica apropiada y oportuna, y también provocan temor a pasar vergüenza, al maltrato o a un tratamiento ineficaz que, junto a las barreras económicas, disuaden a las mujeres de acudir en busca de asistencia. CONCLUSIONES: Para garantizar resultados óptimos en materia de salud entre las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina, es preciso comprender y abordar el problema de la discriminación en los entornos de atención de salud como factor clave de los resultados no equitativos en materia de salud. Las estrategias dirigidas exclusivamente al comportamiento de los proveedores tienen una repercusión limitada, porque no abordan las necesidades de las mujeres y el contexto de desigualdad socioeconómica en el que se forjan las relaciones intrahospitalarias.

Assessing equitable care for Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America / Evaluación de la equitatividad de la atención a las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina

Objective. To identify and understand the barriers to equitable care within health care settings that women of ethnic minorities encounter in Latin America and to examine possible strategies for mitigating the issues. Methods. This was a comprehensive review of the literature from 2000–2015 available from the online databases PubMed, Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, and SciELO in Spanish, English, and Portuguese, using a keyword search that included the Region and country names. Results. Health provider discrimination against Indigenous and Afrodescendant women is a primary barrier to quality health care access in Latin America. Discrimination is driven by biases against ethnic minority populations, women, and the poor in general. Discriminatory practices can manifest as patient-blaming, purposeful neglect, verbal or physical abuse, disregard for traditional beliefs, and the non-use of Indigenous languages for patient communication. These obstacles prevent delivery of appropriate and timely clinical care, and also produce fear of shame, abuse, or ineffective treatment, which, in addition to financial barriers, deter women from seeking care. Conclusions. To ensure optimal health outcomes among Indigenous and Afrodescendant women in Latin America, the issue of discrimination in health care settings needs to be understood and addressed as a key driver of inequitable health outcomes. Strategies that target provider behavior alone have limited impact because they do not address women’s needs and the context of socioeconomic inequality in which intra-hospital relations are built.

Objetivos. Determinar y comprender las barreras que impiden en los entornos de atención de salud de América Latina la asistencia equitativa a las mujeres pertenecientes a minorías étnicas, y analizar las posibles estrategias dirigidas a mitigar los problemas. Métodos. Se llevó a cabo una evaluación exhaustiva de la bibliografía publicada del 2000 al 2015 en las bases de datos en línea PubMed, Google Académico, EBSCOhost y SciELO en español, inglés y portugués, mediante una búsqueda de palabras clave que incluyó los nombres de la Región y los países. Resultados. La discriminación por parte de los proveedores de servicios de salud contra las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes constituye una barrera primaria que impide a estas el acceso a una atención de salud de calidad en América Latina. La discriminación surge de los prejuicios contra las poblaciones de minorías étnicas, las mujeres y los pobres en general. Las prácticas discriminatorias se pueden manifestar en forma de culpabilización de las pacientes, negligencia intencionada, maltrato verbal o físico, falta de respeto a las creencias tradicionales y no utilización de los idiomas indígenas para comunicarse con las pacientes. Estos obstáculos impiden la prestación de una atención médica apropiada y oportuna, y también provocan temor a pasar vergüenza, al maltrato o a un tratamiento ineficaz que, junto a las barreras económicas, disuaden a las mujeres de acudir en busca de asistencia. Conclusiones. Para garantizar resultados óptimos en materia de salud entre las mujeres indígenas y afrodescendientes de América Latina, es preciso comprender y abordar el problema de la discriminación en los entornos de atención de salud como factor clave de los resultados no equitativos en materia de salud. Las estrategias dirigidas exclusivamente al comportamiento de los proveedores tienen una repercussion limitada, porque no abordan las necesidades de las mujeres y el contexto de desigualdad socioeconómica en el que se forjan las relaciones intrahospitalarias.

Widespread but regionally specific effects of experimenter- versus self-administered morphine on dendritic spines in the nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and neocortex of adult rats.

We studied the effects of self-administered (SA) vs. experimenter-administered (EA) morphine on dendritic spines in the hippocampal formation (CA1 and dentate), nucleus accumbens shell (NAcc-s), sensory cortex (Par1 and Oc1), medial frontal cortex (Cg3), and orbital frontal cortex (AID) of rats. Animals in the SA group self-administered morphine in 2-h sessions (0.5 mg/kg/infusion, i.v.) for an average of 22 sessions and animals in the EA group were given daily i.v. injections of doses that approximated the total session dose for matched rats in Group SA (average cumulative dose/session of 7.7 mg/kg). Control rats were given daily i.v. infusions of saline. One month after the last treatment the brains were processed for Golgi-Cox staining. In most brain regions (Cg3, Oc1, NAcc-s) morphine decreased the density of dendritic spines, regardless of mode of administration (although to a significantly greater extent in Group SA). However, only SA morphine decreased spine density in the hippocampal formation and only EA morphine decreased spine density in Par1. Interestingly, in the orbital frontal cortex morphine significantly increased spine density in both Groups SA and EA, although to a much greater extent in Group SA. We conclude: 1) Morphine has persistent (at least 1 month) effects on the density of dendritic spines in many brain regions, and on many different types of cells (medium spiny neurons, pyramidal cells, and granule cells); 2) The effect of morphine on spine density (and presumably synaptic organization) varies as a function of both brain region and mode of drug administration; and 3) The ability of morphine to remodel synaptic inputs in a regionally specific manner may account for the many different long-term sequelae associated with opioid use.