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Intergenerational Correlations in Longevity

Climate migration across contexts, gender, and the life course: an examination in contemporary Mexico

Consequences of Receiving or Being Denied an Abortion in the US and Nepal

Purpose: Reproductive autonomy is associated with educational attainment, advanced employment, and wellbeing. While U.S. Latinas use contraception to control their own childbearing and have reported a desire to do so, they often use it inconsistently and have the lowest rates of contraceptive use of any group. Reasons previously cited for why Latinas do not use contraception compared with non-Latino white women include lack of access, lack of knowledge, language barriers, emphasis on large families, machismo, and religiosity. These reasons are often overly simplistic and can lead to widespread generalizations about Latinas. Methods: Using focus groups and semistructured interviews from November 2014 through June 2015, this study describes the family planning perspectives and experiences of 16 Latinas living in Baltimore and recruited from two federally qualified health centers. A social determinant of health framework was used to guide identification of important concepts and explain findings. Results: Results demonstrated that respondents reported contraceptive agency and claimed autonomy over their bodies; described a sense of responsibility and often expressed caution about having families too large to care for; expressed educational and career aspirations; and perceived contraception as critical for the postponement of childbearing to achieve their goals. Conclusion: The patient/provider encounter should include communication that recognizes all patient preferences and lived experiences to support vulnerable and/or marginalized Latinas in their desires to control their own childbearing and life choices.

New National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities grant

Join Nature Rx@UMD for a special talk on Nature, Race and Relational Trauma by Beth Collier,

Documentary series aims to reach young men at risk for violence

Black populations in the United States are disproportionately affected by HIV. This disparity may be affected by social and structural barriers to HIV testing, leading to undiagnosed infection and prolonged HIV transmissibility. Using data from a nationally representative sample of 1,727 Black men in the 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System we tested for differences in poverty, depression, and health care barriers between Black men who had been HIV tested in the past year and those who had not. We also tested a syndemic index of these factors. Number of syndemic factors was linearly associated with less HIV testing (aPR=0.79, 95% CI 0.66-0.95). Assumptions of unidimensionality were met. The use of a syndemic index was a superior approach to analyzing these factors individually, both in terms of model fit and associations detected. The accumulation of poverty, depression, and health care barriers has an adverse impact on HIV testing among Black men.

For hospital-based violence intervention programs (HVIPs), gun violence intervention and the treatment of firearm-related injuries for male survivors require a  sui generis  network of team members that includes physicians, caseworkers, mental health care providers, and violence intervention specialists (VIS). The VIS can play a vital part in the success of HVIPs, but there is no published literature about the roles, functions, and best practices of this position. A case study conducted at the Capital Region Violence Intervention Program, an emerging HVIP at the University of Maryland Prince George's Hospital Center, demonstrates the importance of the VIS fostering deep levels of interpersonal connection with survivors of violent injury. The VIS actively seeks to increase the rate of psychosocial services usage. Due to cultural competence, street experience, and a willingness to share lived experiences as a survivor of violent injury, the VIS has credibility when discussing mental health symptomatology and usage of services for young Black male survivors of violence. The relationship between the VIS and male survivors of violent injury markedly enhanced the provision of trauma-informed care, peer support, and mentoring. This case study demonstrates the importance of marshalling the shared lived experiences of the VIS to increase trust and perceived credibility by young Black male survivors of gun violence as a means to decrease trauma recidivism.