Perceived Barriers Preventing and Treating HIV/AIDS among Public Health Workers in Florida

In 2015, Florida moved from being ranked second to first nationally in total number of HIV diagnoses. To combat this statistic, public health workers were interviewed to understand perceived perspectives about available resources and practicable solutions to barriers that may inhibit the use of testing and treatment services to reduce overall health disparities and inequalities among individuals with HIV/AIDS. Ten public health workers from rural counties in Florida were interviewed, and then qualitatively analyzed using the constant comparison method. Public health workers found that multiple barriers, lack of education and knowledge of resources available among health workers, and a need for continuing education on HIV/AIDS have an impact on how preventive services and treatment are carried out. Along with highlighting key issues among public health workers, in this paper, we hope to provide feasible solutions at a time where public health funding is decreasing

Change in marijuana use and its associated factors among persons living with HIV (PLWH) during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a prospective cohort

Emerging literature shows increased drug use during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, limited research has examined the change in marijuana use among persons living with HIV (PLWH). This study aimed to investigate how marijuana use changed in a cohort of PLWH during the first year of the pandemic and identify factors associated with the change

Barriers and Facilitators of People with and without Disabilities before and after Autonomous Shuttle Exposure

The deployment of autonomous shuttles (ASs) holds health and safety benefits for people with and without disabilities. Transportation is critical in helping people with disabilities (PWDs) access health care, services, and jobs, but the current transportation system has not afforded them ubiquitous access. To understand the acceptance of ASs, we (1) quantified PWDs’ (N = 42) perceptions before and after riding in an AS (Level 4) and (2) developed a model of facilitators and barriers from 143 participants. For Objective 1, after riding in the AS, PWDs (n = 42) expressed increased Intention to Use (p p p < 0.001), compared with baseline. For Objective 2, four multiple linear regression models were conducted to predict the outcomes for Intention to Use, Perceived Barriers, Well-being, and Acceptance among all participants (N = 143). The results indicated that optimism and ease of use negatively predicted Perceived Barriers and positively predicted Intention to Use, Well-being, and Acceptance. Driving status (i.e., active driver) negatively predicted Intention to Use, Well-being, and Acceptance. Predictors of user Acceptance included optimism, perceived ease of use, driver status, and race/ethnicity—with 30.7% of the variance in Acceptance explained. We also recommended deployment strategies to project stakeholders