Issues in community-based care among homeless minorities.

Homelessness is an increasing major public health problem in the United States. The homeless population consists of men, women, youth and families who live on the streets or in shelters. Minorities, especially African-Americans and Hispanics, are particularly at risk for homelessness due to their high rates of poverty. Homelessness predisposes persons to poor health, including a variety of acute and chronic physical and psychological diseases for which they often have difficulty obtaining healthcare. This article discusses common issues and challenges that homeless minorities and their health-care providers face in obtaining community-based healthcare, including issues in caring for homeless men and women, fragmentation of healthcare, perceived discrimination and provider bias, provider-patient trust issues, lack of access to care, and health literacy issues. Two programs designed to provide community-based experiential learning for nursing students to address these issues and the health-care needs of the homeless are described, i.e., the Men Achieving Self Health (MASH) and Women Inspired Self Health (WISH) Outreach Programs. Approaches used by faculty and students who are engaged in providing health-care services to the homeless via the MASH and WISH Programs are discussed.

Relationship, power, and other influences on self-protective sexual behaviors of African American female adolescents.

This study examined risky sexual behaviors, gender, and power issues affecting risk taking, and factors most likely to promote self-protection among female African American adolescents. A cross-sectional design was used for data collection. The sample included 130 adolescents ranging from 14 to 20 years of age, who completed questionnaires. Multiple regression analysis resulted in two models that accounted for 23% and 37% of the variance. Behavioral intention, partner age, pregnancy status, current substance use, and length of sexual relationship were statistically significant predictor variables. Behavioral intentions, in particular, were found to be a strong predictor of condom use among African American youth.