Transformational Sexualities: Motivations of women who pay for sexual services

Previous research on client motivations to purchase sexual services in the UK has predominantly focused on the experiences of men. Women who buy sex have largely been overlooked, as it is commonly assumed that women provide, rather than purchase sexual services. In addressing this empirical absence, this article examines data gained from 50 interviews with women clients and sex workers. It examines the reasons why women decide to purchase sexual services in the UK. We argue that the increasing importance of contemporary capitalism and consumerism has shaped women’s engagement in the sex industry as clients. We show how women’s sexual agency and assertiveness as clients, inverts the female sex worker/male client binary assumed to characterize commercial sex and illustrates the overlap and convergence of male and female sexuality. Our research thus contributes to an understanding of female sexuality more broadly, as exemplifying the hallmarks of ‘transformational sexualities’ in cosmopolitanism (Plummer, 2015)

Sexotic: The interplay between sexualization and exoticization

The introduction reflects on the methodological value and implications of the concept „sexotic“, situates it in the research on processes of sexualization and exoticization and demonstrates how the individual contributions to the special issue relate to three central topics that can be approached via the sexotic: mobilities and migrations, arts and media, science and moralities

Pharmacist-initiated adherence promotion activities for persons living with HIV in ambulatory care settings: Instrument development and initial psychometric testing

OBJECTIVES: Consistent adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains a challenge for half the people living with HIV (PLWH) in the U.S. Pharmacists have the expertise in pharmacology and pharmacotherapeutics to manage ART and optimize PLWH outcomes. We developed and validated the psychometric properties of a scale to measure the breadth and depth of adherence promotion activities provided by pharmacists to PLWH in ambulatory care settings. METHODS: An initial 37-item instrument was developed from 31 pharmacists\u27 interviews and a comprehensive literature review. Psychometric properties were assessed from responses to questionnaires of 10 content experts and 184 ambulatory pharmacists in 37 States. Psychometric tests included: content validity index (CVI); Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA); and internal reliability using Cronbach\u27s alpha (α). RESULTS: 26 items were eliminated in the item reduction stage. The final 11-item adherence promotion activities scale (APAS) was a single factor with high loadings (0.51-0.85), good internal consistency (α ≤ 0.93) and an explained variance of 60%. For known-groups validity, HIV-certified pharmacists had comparatively higher and statistically significant APAS score compared to non-certified pharmacists (4.00, p \u3c .001). CONCLUSIONS: Preliminary psychometric testing-factor analysis, and high internal consistency-depict that APAS can be useful in scientific research and pharmacy practice to assess the nature and range of pharmacists\u27 above-and-beyond prescription services in real-world ambulatory settings. Further validation work is needed to establish conclusive reliability and validity of the newly developed scale

Antibiotic use after removal of penicillin allergy label

BACKGROUND: Penicillin allergy is commonly reported in the pediatric emergency department. We previously performed 3-tier penicillin allergy testing on children with low-risk symptoms, and 100% tolerated a penicillin challenge without an allergic reaction. We hypothesized that no serious allergic reactions would occur after re-exposure to penicillin and that prescription practices would change after testing. METHODS: We performed a follow-up case series of 100 children whose test results were negative for penicillin allergy. Research staff administered a brief follow-up phone survey to the parent and primary care provider of each patient tested. We combined the survey data and summarized baseline patient characteristics and questionnaire responses. We then completed a 3-tier economic analysis from the prescription information gathered from surveys in which cost savings, cost avoidance, and potential cost savings were calculated. RESULTS: A total of 46 prescriptions in 36 patients were reported by the primary care provider and/or parents within the year after patients were tested for penicillin allergy. Twenty-six (58%) of the prescriptions filled were penicillin derivatives. One (4%) child developed a rash 24 hours after starting the medication; no child developed a serious adverse reaction after being given a penicillin challenge. We found that the cost savings of delabeling patients as penicillin allergic was $1368.13, the cost avoidance was$1812.00, and the total potential cost savings for the pediatric emergency department population was $192 223.00. CONCLUSIONS: Children with low-risk penicillin allergy symptoms whose test results were negative for penicillin allergy tolerated a penicillin challenge without a severe allergic reaction developing. Delabeling children changed prescription behavior and led to actual health care savings