Using Photovoice to Improve Engagement in Community Health Assessments Addressing Behavioral Health.

Behavioral health disorders are well-known to have close links with the social determinants of health, yet little is known about how impacted communities perceive these links. Qualitative participatory methods can not only provide insight into how communities conceptualize these relationships but also empower those with lived experience to contextualize their perspectives and formulate calls to action. This study used Photovoice as a participatory method to supplement the Clark County Health Department Community Health Assessment and determine priority facilitators and barriers contributing to the behavioral health of Clark County, KY, residents. A secondary aim was to gain a greater understanding of how the Photovoice methodology impacts community engagement efforts in Community Health Assessments. Twenty-three Clark County residents participated in four Photovoice groups involving five weekly sessions, which included photograph "show and tell," critical group dialogue, participatory analysis, and planning for dissemination. Secondary analysis of Photovoice focus group discussions revealed behavioral health facilitators and barriers were most influenced by (1) public sector unresponsiveness, (2) strong partnerships formed between community and grassroots organizations, and (3) the siloed division of responsibility between agencies and across sectors. The authors also found the Photovoice method successfully enhanced engagement and empowered those with lived experience to frame their perspectives of the behavioral health landscape. This project has implications for enhancing community engagement and empowerment in behavioral health-focused public health assessments and shaping policy to promote multi-sector collaboration.

Examining the Intersection of Ethnoracial Disparities and HIV Status in Substance Use Risks among U.S. Adults.

Black/African American and Hispanic Americans experience significant HIV-related disparities. Substance use might be a contributing factor to these disparities, but there is limited research on this topic. This study investigated various substance use risks by HIV status and race/ethnicity (Black, Hispanic, White) among U.S. adults. We used data from the 2005-2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 541,921). In each racial/ethnic group, the prevalence rates of past-year and past-month tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine use, and past-year alcohol and illicit drug use disorders were estimated by HIV status. A series of logistic regressions with the interaction term of HIV x race/ethnicity were performed to examine race/ethnicity's moderating effect on the HIV-substance use associations, while controlling for sociodemographic factors and survey year. Moderation analysis showed that HIV status's association with the risks of past-year tobacco use (AOR = 1.67, 95% CI = 1.01-2.75), past-year cocaine use (AOR = 3.80, 95% CI = 1.91-7.57), past-month cocaine use (AOR = 5.34, 95% CI = 2.10-13.60), and past-year alcohol use disorder (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI = 1.29-4.92) differed significantly between Black and White adults. Between the Hispanic and White groups, HIV status's association with the risks of past-year alcohol use (AOR = 2.00, 95% CI = 1.09-3.69), past-year cocaine use (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI = 1.06-5.39), and past-month cocaine use (AOR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.36-10.02) also differed significantly. It is well-established that individuals with HIV face an elevated risk of substance use. Our study added valuable insights by highlighting that this phenomenon is particularly more significant among Black and Hispanic adults for several substances when compared to White adults. Implications for practice are discussed.

Paramagnetic effects on the NMR spectra of isotropic bicelles with headgroup modified chelator lipids and metal ions.

We characterized the paramagnetic effects of nine metal ions on NMR signals of isotropic bicelles with headgroup-modified lipids. We found that Mn(2+), Gd(3+) and Dy(3+) show evidence for influencing NMR signals on the surface more than inside and on the disc edge, providing distance information in the bilayers.