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Background: This evaluation explores experiences with, and motivations for, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing among black and Hispanic school-aged young men who have sex with men (YMSM). Methods: Participants were recruited at community-based organizations that serve YMSM in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Eligible participants were 13- to 19-year-old black or Hispanic males who reported attraction to or sexual behavior with other males and/or identified as gay or bisexual, and attended at least 90 days of school in the previous 18 months. Participants (N = 415) completed web-based questionnaires and/or in-depth interviews (N = 32). Results: In the past year, 72.0% of questionnaire participants had been tested for HIV, 13.5% of them at school or school clinic. Participants reported that they would be more likely to get an HIV test if they could be tested close to or at school (34.4%), and 64.4% would use HIV testing if offered in schools. Most interview participants reported willingness to use school-based services if they were offered nonjudgmentally, privately, and confidentially by providers with experience serving YMSM. Conclusion: Schools can provide opportunities to make HIV and STD testing accessible to school-aged YMSM, but the services must be provided in ways that are comfortable to them.

Black and Latino young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are at disproportionate risk for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV. This study informs school-centered strategies for connecting YMSM to health services by describing their willingness, perceived safety, and experiences in talking to school staff about sexual health. Cross-sectional data were collected from Black and Latino YMSM aged 13-19 through web-based questionnaires (N = 415) and interviews (N = 32). School nurses were the staff members youth most often reported willingness to talk to about HIV testing (37.8%), STD testing (37.1%), or condoms (37.3%), but least often reported as safe to talk to about attraction to other guys (11.4%). Interviews revealed youth reluctance to talk with school staff including nurses when uncertain of staff members' perceptions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people or perceiving staff to lack knowledge of LGBTQ issues, communities, or resources. Nurses may need additional training to effectively reach Black and Latino YMSM.

This study investigated whether repetition improves older adults' memory for health service appointment messages delivered by automated telephone systems. Whereas imposed repetition reduces age differences in memory (Morrow, Leirer, Carver, Tanke, & McNally, 1999), the present study examined the effect of optional repetition. Both older and younger participants in Experiment 1 chose to repeat messages. More repetition, higher cognitive ability (working memory and processing speed), and younger age were associated with better memory for appointment information. The effect of age was eliminated when cognitive ability, but not repetition, was controlled. Thus, older adults used optional repetition in automated systems, but this strategy did not eliminate age differences in memory. In Experiment 2, older as well as younger adults took accurate notes and also repeated messages. Both note-taking and message repetition improved memory for the messages but did not reduce age differences. These findings suggest that older as well as younger adults use presentation strategies in automated messaging systems. Older adults may not take full advantage of these strategies, perhaps because of age-related declines in self-initiated or metacognitive processes.

Background: In an attempt to increase high school students' STD testing ratesrates, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of Adolescent and School Health partnered with ICF and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) to adapt and implement the "GYT: Get Yourself Tested" health marketing campaign for a high school.Methods: Clinic record data and student retrospective self-report surveys (n=193) tested for differences between the GYT intervention school and a comparison school on a number of outcomes including HIV and STD testing.Results: Clinic record data showed that testing increased significantly more for the intervention than the comparison school during the GYT implementation period (B = 2.9, SE = 1.1, p < 0.05). Furthermore, the odds of being tested at the referral clinic were more than four times (OR=4.4) as high for students in the campaign school than for those in the comparison school (95% CI = 2.3 - 8.2). Survey data did not show increased self-reported testing but, more students in the GYT school (92.7%) were aware of where to receive free, low-cost, or affordable HIV and STD testing than students in the comparison school (76.0%) (p<.01). Among sexually experienced students (n=142), significantly more from the campaign school reported that they intended to test for STDs in the next 3 months (48.4% strongly agree and 33.2% agree) compared to those at the comparison school (27.4% strongly agree and 32.9% agree) (p<.05).Conclusions: Our pilot suggests that a student-led GYT campaign in high schools may successfully increase STD testing of students. Although some of the findings from this pilot evaluation are promising, they are limited and broader implementation and evaluation is needed. Future evaluation efforts can include more rigorous study designs, multiple schools or districts, longer campaign and evaluation across an entire school or calendar year, or in combination with other school-based testing strategies like a mass school-based screening event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plusieurs femmes en Ontario, surtout les femmes rurales et les meres monoparentales se retrouvent completement exclues du marche du travail. Leur seule facon d'y revenir est le programme du << [...]

The present study investigated whether older and younger adults use a schema to organize and remember spoken reminder messages for taking medication. Previous research has shown that older and younger [...]

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND This evaluation explores experiences with, and motivations for, human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) and sexually transmitted disease ( STD) testing among black and Hispanic school-aged young men who have sex with men ( YMSM). METHODS Participants were recruited at community-based organizations that serve YMSM in New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Eligible participants were 13- to 19-year-old black or Hispanic males who reported attraction to or sexual behavior with other males and/or identified as gay or bisexual, and attended at least 90 days of school in the previous 18 months. Participants (N = 415) completed web-based questionnaires and/or in-depth interviews (N = 32). RESULTS In the past year, 72.0% of questionnaire participants had been tested for HIV, 13.5% of them at school or school clinic. Participants reported that they would be more likely to get an HIV test if they could be tested close to or at school (34.4%), and 64.4% would use HIV testing if offered in schools. Most interview participants reported willingness to use school-based services if they were offered nonjudgmentally, privately, and confidentially by providers with experience serving YMSM. CONCLUSION Schools can provide opportunities to make HIV and STD testing accessible to school-aged YMSM, but the services must be provided in ways that are comfortable to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lewis, Sarah Katherine Sex and Bacon: Why I Love Things That are Very, Very Bad for Me. Sarah Katherine Lewis. Berkeley: Seal, 2008. 269 pp. $16.50. Sex and Bacon combines [...]

Barlow, Kate Abode of Love: Growing Up in a Messianic Cult. Kate Barlow. Fredericton, NB: Goose Lane, 2006. 240 pp. $19.95. 'Kate Barlow, author of the intriguing Abode of Love, […]

Soloway, Jill Tiny Ladies in Shiny Pants. Jill Soloway. New York: Free Press, 2005. 256 pp. $29.95. A memoir by the writer and producer of Six Feet Under. 'Tiny Ladies […]

INTRODUCTION Cognitive and Communication Factors Related to Appointment Attendance The failure of patients to attend health care appointments is well documented (e.g., Deyo & Inui, 1980). It is a particular [...], Automated telephone messaging systems have dramatically expanded communication about health service appointments, but few studies have directly investigated these messages. The present study investigated whether message repetition (1, 2, or 3 presentations) and listener age (mean age = 71 or 19 years) improved memory for automated appointment messages. Repetition improved older and younger adult memory for appointment information. Moreover, 2 presentations reduced age differences in accuracy of answering questions about the messages. This was not the case for free recall, suggesting that older adults differentially benefited from repetition only when provided with additional retrieval support. These findings show that older as well as younger adults benefit from at least 1 repetition of appointment messages. Actual or potential applications of this research include the use of repetition to improve comprehension of automated telephone messages.

Describes the development and maintenance of a successful university community-based organization (CBO) collaboration that was formed to explore HIV-related risk rates and prevention strategies for suburban street youth. Discussion on the benefits and challenges of including out-of-the-mainstream youth as full collaborative partners in the research; Formation of the collaboration; Criteria used to select the youth hired into the project; Conclusions.