Smokeless tobacco use and religiousness.

Although smoking shows a strong negative association with religiousness, no studies have appeared of use of smokeless tobacco (ST) and religiousness. To assess an association of use of ST and religiousness, data from 9,374 men aged 17 years and over with complete data on self-reported frequency of attendance at religious services and use of smokeless tobacco were analyzed. Among men aged 17-29 years, 4.9% of frequent attenders (>or=24 times/y) and 9.4% of others (<24 times/y) were current users of ST (p=0.002). After adjusting for multiple confounders by logistic regression, infrequent attenders were twice as likely as frequent attenders to be ST users: odds ratio 2.09, 95% confidence limits 1.12-3.92, p=0.02. This negative association suggests a protective effect of early-life religiousness on ST use, which might be taken into account in planning ST prevention efforts.

Relevance of spirituality for people with mental illness attending consumer-centered services.

Spirituality has been cited in the literature as having a positive effect on mental health outcomes. This paper explores the relationship of spirituality to demographic, psychiatric illness history and psychological constructs for people with mental illness (N=1835) involved in consumer-centered services (CCS-Clubhouses and Consumer run drop-in centers). Descriptive statistics indicate that spirituality is important for at least two thirds of the members in the study. Members primarily indicated participation in public spiritual activities (i.e., church, bible study groups), followed by private activities (prayer, reading the bible, and meditation) (both of which were centered on belief in the transcendent). A logistic regression analysis was done to explore variables related to spirituality (i.e., demographics, psychiatric illness history, and psychological constructs). Results suggest that age, gender, having psychotic symptoms, having depressive symptoms, and having a higher global quality of life, hope and sense of community were all significant correlates of spirituality.

Building effective programs to improve men's health.

Historically, the health care needs of poor men and men of color have been neglected in the United States, resulting in significant disparities in health and health outcomes. Dedicated resources to address the particular needs of men are necessary to eliminate the health disparities that afflict underserved men. The following article compiles and shares some of the lessons learned as experienced by three Community Voices sites that have been active in men's health. Community Voices Miami's Overtown Men's Health Study, Denver Health Men's Health Initiative, and Baltimore Men's Health Center are working to address the health needs of men in some of the most vulnerable communities in the United States. Examples of community-specific assessment of men's needs, community engagement, service delivery, service to special populations, marketing, addressing sustainability, and advances in public policy to improve men's health are presented.

Bridging the gap: providing health care to newly released men.

Men who are incarcerated have higher morbidity rates than the general U.S. population and upon release most rely on the public sector to get their medical needs met. However, little is known about the health care needs, service utilization patterns, and costs of providing primary care to released inmates in an ambulatory setting. Using data from a primary care health center for uninsured men, health profiles and service use over a 12-month period is described for men newly released from prison (n=221). Health care needs and utilization were measured by medical diagnosis and primary care consultation rates. The results show that the newly released men studied had different service use patterns from that of the general population. The average cost of providing care was slightly higher than the center's average cost per individual for a man newly released from prison. The findings demonstrate the need for future research to support program planning of organizations seeking to meet the needs of people newly released from prison.