The Experience of Mental Health Service Use For African American Mothers and Youth

Little is known about African American families’ experiences with mental health services. A purposive sample of 40 dyads of African American youth (aged 13 to 19) and their mothers participated in a cross-sectional qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews that elicited information about their past experiences and satisfaction with mental health services. Though rarely received, group and family therapy were perceived favorably. However, both mothers and youth reported dissatisfaction centered on medication and lack of professionalism, confidentiality, and concern by providers. The failure of mental health services providers to meet basic standards of quality and professionalism may explain the low rate of service use by African Americans

African American Families\u27 Expectations and Intentions for Mental Health Services

A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive design was used to examine the links among expectations about, experiences with, and intentions toward mental health services. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 African American youth/mothers dyads. Content analysis revealed that positive expectations were linked to positive experiences and intentions, that negative expectations were not consistently linked to negative experiences or intentions, nor were ambivalent expectations linked to ambivalent experiences or intentions. Youth were concerned about privacy breeches and mothers about the harmfulness of psychotropic medication. Addressing these concerns may promote African Americans’ engagement in mental health services

African American Families’ Expectations and Intentions for Mental Health Services

A cross-sectional qualitative descriptive design was used to examine the links among expectations about, experiences with, and intentions toward mental health services. Individual face-to-face interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 32 African American youth/mothers dyads. Content analysis revealed that positive expectations were linked to positive experiences and intentions, that negative expectations were not consistently linked to negative experiences or intentions, nor were ambivalent expectations linked to ambivalent experiences or intentions. Youth were concerned about privacy breeches and mothers about the harmfulness of psychotropic medication. Addressing these concerns may promote African Americans’ engagement in mental health services

Common issues, different approaches: strategies for community–academic partnership development

BAIARDI JM, BRUSH BL and LAPIDES S. Nursing Inquiry 2010; 17 : 289–296 Common issues, different approaches: strategies for community–academic partnership development Communities around the United States face many challenging health problems whose complexity makes them increasingly unresponsive to traditional single-solution approaches. Multiple approaches have considered ways to understand these health issues and devise interventions that work. One such approach is community-based participatory research. This article describes the development of a new collaborative partnership between a school of nursing and an urban social service agency using community-based participatory research as a framework. We describe the partnership’s evolution and process of data collection and analysis and evaluate the outcomes of both. We argue that community-based participatory research involves partnerships at its core whose members, both as individuals and part of the collaboration, must be committed and nimble in the face of shifting and challenging health and social problems, recognize common issues and concerns across the boundaries of community and academia, and respect each other’s different approaches and expertise.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/79191/1/j.1440-1800.2010.00509.x.pd

Correlates of Physical Activity in Urban Midwestern African-American Women

Background: African-American women are at higher risk than white women of cardiovascular disease and stroke. In addition, fewer African-American women reap the cardiovascular benefits of exercise, because of low physical activity. The study goals were to identify personal, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity of urban dwelling, Midwestern, African-American women and to obtain their recommendations for increasing exercise in their communities. Methods: A face-to-face interview (Women and Physical Activity Survey) covering personal, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity was administered to 399 volunteer African-American women aged 20 to 50 years, living in Chicago. Physical activity was measured with questions on lifestyle and planned leisure-time activity (exercise) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Results: The women were from a wide socioeconomic spectrum of education and income. Forty-two percent of the women met current recommendations for moderate or vigorous physical activity; 48% were insufficiently active; and 9% were inactive. The following groups of women were more likely to be physically active: women with at least a high school education; women with perceived good health; women who knew people who exercise; and women who viewed the neighborhood as safe. These findings were statistically significant. Conclusions: Interventions that target urban African-American women must address the safety of the physical environment and personal and social environmental correlates of physical activity, and they should focus especially on inactive women who have less than a high school education or perceive themselves to be in poor health

Correlates of Physical Activity in Urban Midwestern Latinas

Background: Latinas (Latino women) are at higher risk than non-Latina white women of cardiovascular disease and stroke, primarily because of higher rates of obesity and type-2 diabetes mellitus. Increases in physical activity help control these cardiovascular risk factors, but a higher percentage of Latinas than white women are inactive. The study goals were to identify personal, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity of urban-dwelling, Midwestern Latinas and to obtain their recommendations for increasing exercise in their communities. Methods: A face-to-face interview (Women and Physical Activity Survey) that covered personal, social environmental, and physical environmental correlates of physical activity was performed with 300 volunteer Latinas (242 in Spanish, 58 in English), aged 20 to 50 years, living in Chicago. Physical activity was measured with questions on lifestyle and planned leisure activity (exercise) from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey. Results: The sample consisted of urban-dwelling Latinas who were primarily from Mexico and who spoke predominantly Spanish. The breakdown was as follows: 36% met current recommendations for moderate or vigorous physical activity, 52.3% were insufficiently active, and 11.7% were inactive. Physical activity was higher among younger women, married women, and women with the following characteristics: had some confidence about becoming more active, saw people exercising in the neighborhood, attended religious services, or lived in areas with heavy traffic. Conclusions: Interventions need to focus on encouraging Latinas, especially those who are older, to reach the level of physical activity recommended to benefit health. The church may be a suitable community setting for initiating programs that provide women with the knowledge, skills, and motivation to become more active so that they can bring back to the larger Latina community.https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(03)00167-3/abstrac

African-American adolescent girls' initiation of sexual activity: survival analysis

Purpose: African American adolescent females tend to initiate participation in sexual activity at an earlier age than Caucasian adolescent females. Early initial participation in sexual activity is associated with increased HIV risk. However, limited prospective data are available on the rate at which African American adolescent females delay their initial participation in sexual activity. The purpose is to determine low-income inner city African American adolescent females’ survival or continued non-participation in sexual activity over a 20-month period and to determine predictors associated with survival. Methods: A longitudinal quasi-experimental research design with multiple data collection points was used. The convenience sample consisted of 396 African American females with a mean age of 12.4 years (SD = 1.1 years) and their mothers. The adolescents completed questionnaires assessing perceptions of maternal monitoring, HIV transmission knowledge, self-efficacy to refuse sex, intention to refuse sex, and age. Their mothers completed questionnaires assessing perception of maternal monitoring, safer sex self-efficacy, marital status, and educational level. At baseline, the adolescents reported non-participation in sexual activity. Survival analysis was conducted to determine the timing and predictors of sexual activity initiation for these adolescents. Findings: Of the 396 adolescents, 28.5% did not survive; they participated in sexual activity within the 20-month period. Predictors of non-survival were the adolescents’ age, perception of maternal monitoring, and intention to refuse sex. Conclusion: Findings suggest interventions that increase maternal monitoring and adolescents’ intentions to refuse sex could be beneficial in delaying sexual activity

The Context of Risky Behaviors for Latino Youth

Background and significance: Alarming numbers of Latino teens continue to engage in behaviors that place them at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections including HIV. Design: This study includes data from six focus groups with 38 Latinas. The primary purpose of the focus groups was to elicit antecedents to unsafe sex to guide the development of an HIV-prevention intervention for adult Latinas. The data were reanalyzed using the rich content that had been elicited about community teens. Findings: Six major themes were identified surrounding teen issues and concerns. These are (a) the culture of risky behaviors; (b) romance: illusion and reality; (c) parental involvement: a protective factor; (d) HIV: knowledge versus ignorance; (e) HIV among youth: fear, stigma, and anger; and (f) saving our youth. Implications: A multimodal approach is required to help teens adopt healthy life styles, remain in school, and have a positive relationship with their parents

Community-based research: Barriers to recruitment of African Americans

The elimination of health disparities for African Americans requires culturally relevant, empirical knowledge, which in turn requires including African Americans in research studies. However, power-difference barriers and conceptual barriers continue to inhibit the recruitment of African Americans. The purpose of this article is to define and discuss certain barriers to the recruitment of African Americans into research studies and to present culturally and contextually sensitive strategies to overcoming these barriers. Power-difference barriers reflect unequal authority and often generate mistrust. Conceptual barriers reflect researchers’ need for better understanding about African Americans. Effective strategies include collaboration with the community through a community advisory board and conducting community-based participatory action research. Also, integrating alternative conceptual frameworks with mainstream frameworks may reduce researchers’ ideological assumptions about African Americans. To promote optimal recruitment of African Americans, researchers must be aware of power difference barriers and conceptual barriers and move toward active collaboration with African American communities.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002965540400099