Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

Social isolation is associated with worse health; however, few studies have examined the health effects of isolation among African Americans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate associations between social isolation and self-rated physical and oral health from the National Survey of American Life, a nationally representative sample of African Americans. Social isolation was operationalized to reflect both objective isolation (lack of contact) and subjective isolation (lack of emotional closeness). Self-rated physical and oral health were regressed on objective and subjective isolation while controlling for marital status, gender, age, family income, education, and health behaviors...

Medical-legal partnerships bring legal services directly into clinical settings. Policy advocacy is often opportunistic and varies across partnerships. Our objective was to study policy advocacy that emerged from a medical-legal partnership in Toronto over a four-year period. This study consisted of a document review and thematic analysis, triangulated with data from interviews with legal team members and health providers. We defined policy advocacy as actions associated with attempts to change policy or legislation...

People with schizophrenia are at increased risk for contracting HIV and face higher mortality rates compared with the general population. Viral suppression is key to HIV care, yet little is known about this metric among people with HIV and schizophrenia. A chart review was conducted among people with HIV/AIDS and schizophrenia living in San Francisco who had received inpatient mental health services between 2010 and 2016. Demographic, laboratory, medication, encounter, and discharge data were collected, and were compared with all people living with HIV in San Francisco (PLWH-SF)...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Human subjects research and drug and device development currently base their findings largely on the genetic data of the non-Hispanic White population, excluding People of Color. This practice puts People of Color at a distinct and potentially deadly disadvantage in being treated for sickness, disability, and disease, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Major disparities exist in all chronic health conditions, including cancer. Data show that less than 2% of genetic information being studied today originates from people of African ancestry...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Migration, detention, and deportation are often rife with violence. This study sought to examine associations between pre-migration experiences, detention conditions, and mental health among Mexicans deported from the U.S. to Mexico between 2020 and 2021. Data from the Migrante Project (N=306, weighted N=14,841) were analyzed using descriptive statistics and unadjusted and adjusted multivariate regression models. The prevalence of a lifetime mental health diagnosis was 18.5%. Exposure to adverse conditions in detention (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=17...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

UNLABELLED: Capacity-building in trauma-informed care and harm reduction approaches with Southern HIV service organizations must be implemented in ways that foster trust and spur organizational change. Using an equity-centered implementation science framework, this study examines implementation strategies of the SUSTAIN COMPASS Coordinating Center's person-centered care (PCC) capacity-building interventions. METHODS: Fifty-eight (58) in-depth qualitative interviews with staff (N=116) who received PCC capacity-building were analyzed using modified grounded theory...

Education, Training and Research Associates (ETR) employed a centralized evaluation (CE) approach to monitor progress toward COMPASS (COMmitment to Partnership in Addressing HIV/AIDS in Southern States) goals and demonstrate the impact of grantmaking, capacity-building, and HIV-related service delivery. Evaluators 1) developed streamlined surveys to capture people served and impact; 2) held routine meetings with partners to contextualize data; 3) implemented partner feedback loops for refinement; and 4) provided partners with evaluation technical assistance...

Effectively combating HIV will require southern HIV Service Organizations (SHSOs) to support Black staff while they navigate traumas related to structural racism driving the epidemic. HIV organizational capacity-building research lacks effective community-led approaches to anti-racist organizational change centered on Black people's experiences. This participatory case study examines "Showing Up for Black Power, Liberation and Healing," an organizational capacity-building initiative that leads to individual and organizational change, developed and implemented by the SUSTAIN, an intermediary purveyor organization (IPO)...

UNLABELLED: Research on gender affirmative models (GAM) of training and service provision is emerging. This study aims 1) to summarize 2018-2019 survey data on GAM training and service provision at Southern HIV Service Organizations (HSOs) in the U.S. South and 2) identify barriers in the region. METHODS: Data were collected from Southern HSOs (n=207). Relations between GAM training and service provision were examined through frequency distributions and logistic regressions...

Black transgender women in the Southeast are at the center of the modern-day HIV crisis in the U.S. This focus group study was aimed at understanding the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health and well-being of Black transgender women in the U.S. Southeast who are affected by HIV. From April-June 2022, we completed seven focus group interviews with 56 participants. Themes identified across the focus groups show: 1) the challenges that pre-dated COVID-19; 2) the challenges of managing COVID-19 risk; 3) negative consequences for mental health, physical health, and overall well-being; 4) negative trends in coping with pandemic stress; 5) the importance of self-care and social support for managing pandemic stress; and 6) the need for more community-based resources...

Southern community-based organizations often lack adequate resources to implement high-quality, culturally appropriate HIV programs and services. Shared learning communities (SLCs) combine in-depth training, tailored coaching, and peer-to-peer learning to strengthen HIV programs and services. This paper describes five SLCs, participant characteristics, and their capacity-building components.

Southern community-based and HIV/AIDS service organizations (CBOs) were particularly vulnerable to the onset of COVID-19 due to already fragile infrastructures and underfunded budgets. At the height of the pandemic, the Gilead COMPASS Coordinating Centers launched the Southern CARE Grant, awarding 41 grants to provide supplemental operational support funds.

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are well-positioned to address the negative effects of HIV stigma, which is prevalent in the U.S. South. This article describes a Gilead COMPASS-funded small grants and capacity-building program for CBOs to address stigma and describes the broad reach and positive outcomes associated with program implementation.

A Memphis-based, community-academic partnership created Snap Out Stigma, a photovoice project, to understand lived experiences of HIV stigma among people with HIV. This report describes traveling photovoice exhibit dissemination strategies, lessons learned, and goals for the future of photovoice dissemination activities and community engagement in Memphis.