The Black women first initiative: using implementation science to examine bundled interventions to improve care and treatment coordination for Black women with HIV.

BACKGROUND: Black cisgender and transgender women are disproportionately affected by the HIV epidemic compared to women of other racial and ethnic identities. Twelve demonstration sites across the United States are adapting, implementing and evaluating a comprehensive bundle of two or more evidence informed interventions to improve health and outcomes and quality of life for Black women with HIV. METHODS: Guided by Greenhalgh's Conceptual Model of Diffusion of Innovations in Health Service Organizations and Proctor's model for use of implementation strategies and evaluating implementation, service and client outcomes, this mixed methods study documents outcomes at the client, organization, and system level. Participant eligibility for the bundled interventions includes: individuals who are 18 years or older, identify as Black or African-American, identify as cisgender or transgender female and have a diagnosis of HIV. Qualitative data are collected systematically through a series of annual site visits and a standardized monthly call form to assess the barriers and facilitators to the implementation process and the key determinants impacting the intervention uptake and implementation strategies. Quantitative data collection for the implementation, service and client outcomes is conducted through a pre-post prospective study to examine the impact on Black women's health and well-being. Implementation outcomes include: the reach to Black women with HIV, adoption of interventions across the sites and their community; the fidelity to the components of the bundled interventions; the costs of the intervention; and the sustainability of the intervention in the organization and community. Primary service and client outcomes are improved linkage to and retention in HIV care and treatment, increased and sustained viral suppression, improved quality of life and resilience, and stigma reduction. DISCUSSION: The study protocol presented is specifically designed to advance the evidence for adopting culturally responsive and relevant care into clinic and public health settings to improve the health and well-being for Black women with HIV. In addition the study may advance the implementation science field by furthering what is known about the ways in which bundled interventions can address barriers to care and facilitate the uptake of organizational practices to improve health.

Policies enacted during COVID-19 came with unintended health benefits: why go back?

OBJECTIVES: To explore the impact of COVID-19 on the implementation of bundled interventions to improve the engagement and retention of Black women in HIV care. METHODS: Pre-implementation interviews conducted between January and April 202 L with 12 demonstration sites implementing bundled interventions for Black women with HIV. Directed content analysis was employed to examine the site interview transcripts. RESULTS: The pandemic intensified barriers to care and harmful social conditions. However, COVID-19 also forced pivots in health care and social service delivery and some of these changes benefited Black women living with HIV. CONCLUSIONS: The continuation of policies that support the material needs of Black women with HIV and ease access to care is critical. Racial capitalism impedes the enactment of these policies and thus threatens public health.

Perceived COVID-19-related anti-Asian discrimination predicts post traumatic stress disorder symptoms among Asian and Asian American young adults.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the prevalence of COVID-19-related discrimination and the extent to which COVID-19-related discrimination is associated with mental health symptoms among Asians and Asian American (A/AA) young adults during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We used data from the COVID-19 Adult Resilience Experiences Study (CARES), a cross-sectional online survey conducted in the U.S. Out of 1,001 respondents, 211 A/AA young adults were analyzed for this study. RESULTS: Sixty-eight percent of A/AA young adults reported that they or their family have experienced COVID-19-related discrimination and approximately 15% of respondents reported verbal or physical assaults. After controlling for covariates including predisposing factors, lifetime discrimination, and pre-existing mental health diagnoses, COVID-19-related discrimination was significantly associated with an increased level of symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not of anxiety or depression. Our study results suggest that COVID-19-related discrimination may contribute to PTSD symptoms among A/AA young adults. LIMITATIONS: This was cross-sectional data which was collected through online and self-report rather than clinical evaluation. CONCLUSION: This finding adds greater urgency to develop and implement policy- and individual-level interventions to reduce race-based discrimination among A/AA.

Unpacking complexities in ethnic-racial socialization in transracial adoptive families: A process-oriented transactional system.

Over 50% of adoptions are transracial, involving primarily White parents and children of color from different ethnic or racial backgrounds. Transracial adoptive (TRA) parents are tasked with providing ethnic-racial socialization processes (ERS) to support TRA adoptees' ethnic-racial identity development and prepare them to cope with ethnic-racial discrimination. However, unlike nonadoptive families of color, TRA parents lack shared cultural history with adoptees and have limited experience navigating racial discrimination. Knowledge of ERS among TRA families has centered on unidirectional processes between parenting constructs, ERS processes, and children's functioning. However, ERS processes in this population have complexities and nuances that warrant more sensitive and robust conceptualization. This paper proposes a process-oriented dynamic ecological model of the system of ERS, situating transacting processes in and across multiple family levels (parent, adoptee, family) and incorporating developmental and contextual considerations. With its framing of the complexities in ERS among TRA families, the model offers three contributions: a conceptual organization of parenting constructs related to ERS, a more robust understanding of ERS processes that inform how parents provide ERS, and framing of transacting processes within and between parenting constructs, ERS processes, and children's functioning. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

How Does Racial Context Matter?: Family Preparation-for-Bias Messages and Racial Coping Reported by Black Youth.

Black families and youth likely consider specific racial discriminatory situations in preparation-for-bias messages and racial coping responses. Our study investigated coping responses embedded in youth-reported Black families' preparation-for-bias messages and youths' proactive coping responses to specific racially discriminatory situations-teachers' negative expectations, store employees' hyper-monitoring and police harassment. Gender and racial discrimination experience differences were considered along with relations between messages and coping. Our investigation was guided by the integrated-developmental, transactional/ecological, intersectionality, and Phenomenological Variant of Ecological Systems Theory theoretical frameworks. We conducted cluster analyses using data from 117 Black youth aged 13-14 to identify situation-specific family messages and youth coping responses. Families' messages and youths' responses varied in content and frequency based on the specific discriminatory situation, which suggests consideration of context.

Distinguishing between demographic and contextual factors linked to early childhood physical discipline and physical maltreatment among Black families.

BACKGROUND: Despite persistent discouragement from professionals, U.S. parents, especially Black parents, highly endorse physical discipline, which also is a risk factor for physical maltreatment. Few studies have examined physical discipline heterogeneity or maltreatment, and predictive demographic and contextual factors within the same population. OBJECTIVE: This exploratory study aimed to identify subgroups of Black parents' use of early childhood physical discipline. It also examined whether demographic and contextual factors' relations with physical discipline were similar or different from those with physical maltreatment. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 310 Black parents from three geographically-distinct high-risk U.S. communities participated in home-based interview and survey data collection. METHODS: We conducted latent class analyses to identify sub-groups among Black parents characterized by physical discipline frequency and type. Bolck, Croon, and Hagenaars method and binary logistic regression were conducted to examine relations between demographic and contextual factors (child gender, family income, marital status, parental education, family stress and perceived neighborhood safety), discipline and maltreatment. RESULTS: Three physical discipline classes, which differed in frequency and type, were identified among Black parents. Only income was significantly related to both discipline (x2 = 18.97, p < .001) and maltreatment (OR = 1.03, p < .01). Child gender (x2 = 6.66, p < .01), never-married status (x2 = 13.94, p < .001), parental education (x2 = 10.32, p < .001), and neighborhood safety (x2 = 7.57, p < .01) also significantly related to discipline. Family stress was significantly related to physical maltreatment (OR = 1.42, p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Differing demographic and contextual factor relations with physical discipline and maltreatment within a Black population should be considered when identifying parents at-risk.

Trends and drug-related correlates in residential mobility among young adults in the United States, 2003-2016.

INTRODUCTION: Young adulthood, typically conceptualized as stretching from the late teens to the mid-twenties, is a period of elevated risk for residential mobility (i.e., moving or changing residences frequently) and drug involvement. However, our understanding of the trends and drug-related correlates of residential mobility among young adults remains limited. METHODS: We analyzed national trend data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2003-2016) on residential mobility and drug involvement among young adults (N = 230,790) in the United States. For tests of trend, we conducted logistic regression analyses with survey year specified as a continuous independent variable and residential mobility as the dependent variable (no/yes), controlling for sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of residential mobility was stable among females, but decreased significantly-a 20% reduction in the relative proportion of respondents-among males during the study period (AOR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.97-0.99). Male and female young adults reporting residential mobility were significantly more likely to report involvement in all drug-related outcomes examined, but effects were larger among females for drug selling and drug-related arrests. DISCUSSION: Study findings show that a substantial minority of young adults experience residential mobility and that, while rates are declining among young men, the experience of mobility is connected with risk for drug involvement, particularly among females. Mobility may be an important target for drug prevention/intervention efforts, but further research is needed to provide insight into how mobility and drug involvement are connected in the lives of young adults.