Reduced HIV risk behavior and increased use of care and support services have been demonstrated among adults accessing HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). The impact of VCT on adolescents is, however, not known. Focus group discussions were held with adolescents and parents in two South African townships to establish the perceptions of and…

Solar water disinfection (SODIS) is an uncomplicated and cheap technology providing individuals with safe drinking water by exposing water-filled plastic bottles to sunlight for 6 hours to kill waterborne pathogens. Two communities were visited, and 81 families (40 SODIS users and 41 nonusers) were interviewed. The relationship between several…

Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) are used in public health to prevent HIV infection among youth and other groups. EBIs include core elements, features that are thought to be responsible for the efficacy of interventions. The authors evaluate experiences of organizations that adopted an HIV-prevention EBI, Focus on Kids (FOK), and their fidelity…

This study examines perceptions about trust among people engaged in community-institutional partnerships. Focus groups were conducted with community, health department, and academic representatives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Prevention Research Centers Program. When asked to describe expectations about working with…

A randomized controlled trial of two formats of a program (Women Take PRIDE) to enhance management of heart disease by patients was conducted. Older women (N = 575) were randomly assigned to a group or self-directed format or to a control group. Data regarding symptoms, functional health status, and weight were collected at baseline and at 4, 12,…

There is an urgent need for continued innovation in the design of HIV/STI prevention interventions for African American females, a group at high risk for STIs and HIV. In particular, attention to social development and to culture is needed. The present study reports on a group randomized controlled trial of a friendship-based HIV/STI prevention…

Misconceptions about HIV/AIDS among Latino adults (N=454) in California were examined using data from a population-based telephone survey conducted in 2000. Common misconceptions concerning modes of HIV transmission included transmission via mosquito or animal bite (64.1%), public facilities (48.3%), or kissing someone on the cheek (24.8%). A…

The author of this study conducted focus groups with African American women to explore their perspectives on obesity, disease causation, and their ideas on the functionality of cultural, social, historical, environmental, and psychological forces in altering healthy eating habits. Reoccurring themes centered on four areas: (a) the definition of…

Studies designed to evaluate HIV and STD prevention interventions often involve random assignment of groups such as neighborhoods or communities to study conditions (e.g., to intervention or control). Investigators who design group-randomized trials (GRTs) must take the expected intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) into account in sample size…

Hispanic adolescents are a rapidly growing population and are highly vulnerable to substance abuse and HIV infection. Many interventions implemented thus far have been "one size fits all" models that deliver the same dosage and sequence of modules to all participants. To more effectively prevent substance use and HIV in Hispanic adolescents,…

This study investigates whether high-risk young adults' perceptions of their likelihood of living to age 35 and of acquiring HIV are related to their substance abuse problems and risky sexual behaviors. The sample consists of data from the 72- and 87-month follow-up assessments of 449 juvenile offenders referred to probation in 1999 and 2000.…

Premature morbidity and mortality from chronic diseases account for a major proportion of expenditures for health care cost in the United States. The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of a disease management program on physiological and behavioral health indicators for Medicaid patients in Florida. A two-year prospective study of…

We assessed the contraceptive needs of women in jails and their sexually transmitted disease (STD) history and risk to determine effective contraceptive methods for this population. A survey of demographics, sexual health, contraceptive use, and preferred method of contraception was completed by participants recruited at jails in a medium-sized…

This study examined the effectiveness of an adapted 4-session HIV prevention program. Participants included 490 adolescents who participated in either the 8- or the adapted 4-session HIVEd program. Analyses to identify mean changes in HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behavioral intentions between participants in either the 4-…

This study examines an intervention for heterosexual couples to prevent human immunodeficiency virus/sexually transmitted infections. It also evaluates the effect of the intervention, which is based on current models of health behavior change, on intermediate outcomes (individual and relationship factors) and consistency of condom use. Eligible…