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Scholarly research and government surveillance reports demonstrate that African American and Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) bear an inequitable burden of new HIV infections. Among the estimated 31,896 HIV infections attributed to male-to-male sexual contact in 2011, approximately 62% occurred in African American (38.2%) and Latino (23.5) MSM. Simultaneously, recent scholarship on minority MSM and HIV/AIDS reports a dearth of qualitative communication research that address this health issue. This manuscript reports a research study that seeks to fill this gap in health communication theory and praxis. Through in-depth interviews with 17 MSM of color, this article draws upon the culture-centered approach to demonstrate how cultural and contextual nuances, (in)access to structural resources, and participants' agentive capacity to act upon available knowledge/resources influences the ways they manage (the threat of) HIV/AIDS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that the word “hunger” would be removed from official policy statements, substituting it with “very low food security.” Technically, this change is valid given that the term “hunger” can have various meanings and that, while the Food Security Supplement (FSS) in the Current Population Survey (CPS) identifies problems with food access and nutritional adequacy at the household level, it does not objectively measure hunger among individuals. Yet, this reframing of policy does not convey the lived experience of “hunger” among Americans in terms of food insecurity. This article examines the potential consequences of this change in policy, and the reasons behind it. To contextualize this discussion, we offer a brief overview of the way in which “hunger” has been defined, and of the history of hunger policy, food assistance, and food security measures in the U.S. In the end, we suggest that although the exclusion of “hunger” may be technically valid, it is important that this term remain part of the food policy lexicon. Omitting “hunger” will only mask the dire conditions experienced by millions of Americans who struggle day-by-day to provide food for their families. This is especially true given the marked increases in the cost of food since mid-2008 and the fact that we are experiencing the worst recession since the Great Depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the tenets of critical medical anthropology, this article illustrates the relation between violence, drug use, prostitution, and HIV risk in a group of 35 impoverished women living in inner-city Hartford, Connecticut. The study presented here provides an illustration of the role prostitution plays in the SAVA (Substance Abuse, Violence, and AIDS) syndemic as conceptualized by Singer (1996). By focusing on the life experiences of women engaged in street-level prostitution, this article attempts to fill the gaps in research that deals simultaneously with these mutually reinforcing epidemics. It shows that street-walkers' continuous exposure to violence, both as victims and as witnesses, often leaves them suffering from major emotional trauma. In the absence of adequate support services, women who have been victimized may turn to drug use in an attempt to deal with the harsh realities of their daily lives. In turn, the need for drugs, coupled with a lack of educational and employment opportunities, may lead women into prostitution. Life on the street increases women's risk for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse as well as their risk for HIV/AIDS. Exposure to traumatic experiences deepens the dependence on drugs, completing a vicious cycle of violence, substance abuse, and AIDS risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary outcomes of a community-based AIDS prevention program for drug users called Project COPE II, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) cooperative agreement study in Hartford, Connecticut. COPE II's efficacy study compares the NIDA standard intervention against two culturally targeted, enhanced interventions, one for African Americans and one for Puerto Ricans. A sample of 188 out-of-treatment injection drug users (IDUs) with matched baseline and 6-month follow-up interviews were compared for changes in monthly injection rates and proportionate use of new and pre-used needles and used injection supplies. Effects of injection outliers, attrition, and ethnic differences were examined for impact on outcome measures and to identify subgroups within the study population for whom the intervention had differential effects. These preliminary analyses suggest that attendance in culturally targeted enhanced interventions may increase the likelihood of positive program outcome, including drug-related risk reduction for some populations. However, subgroups of IDUs, such as extremely high injectors or individuals who drop out before initiating or completing the program, may require different intervention approaches. Further research is needed to understand the relationship between intervention and behavior change, reasons for attrition, and moderating factors affecting project outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]