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Sugar dating arrangements involve an older partner ("sugar daddy/mommy") who provides financial support to a younger partner ("sugar baby") in exchange for intimacy. The current study recruited a U.S. and Canadian sample of sugar babies ( n  = 45) and sugar benefactors ( n  = 32) through social media sources to survey them about perceived power in their sugar arrangement, gender roles, and stigma. Sugar benefactors did not differ in perceived power from sugar babies, nor in endorsement of traditional gender roles or stigma. Directed content analysis analyzing open-ended responses about associated outcomes indicated that both partners placed strong emphasis on companionship despite the importance of sex within arrangements. Sugar babies reported that money drives participation, although arrangements fulfill other needs, such as pleasure. Other benefits include having an arrangement with clear boundaries and expectations. Disadvantages include concerns for safety, that being physical safety for babies, and reputation and being used for money for daddies. Notably, both groups perceived sugar babies as having equal or more power than sugar benefactors, although this was often attributed to sugar babies' attractiveness and youth. Findings include insights from both babies and benefactors, and support perspectives that sugar dating is distinct from traditional sex work.

Objectives: Households with pets are considered a high-risk population, presenting many challenges to response and recovery efforts. Research indicates that households with pets are less likely to evacuate during disasters, and pets left behind pose a health risk to relief workers and the general public. This pilot study explores a brief education intervention targeting households with pets as a method of increasing general household preparedness, with the purpose of facilitating evacuation and protective behaviors in this population., Methods: A convenience sample of households with pets was recruited to participate in a one-group pre- and post-survey design evaluating the impact of a brief education intervention on increasing pet-specific and general household preparedness levels., Results: Results suggest that the sample population was below national estimates in basic household preparedness before the intervention. Post-survey results indicate an increase in completion of some preparedness tasks after the intervention. There was a statistically significant increase in overall pet preparedness at the P=0.10 level; however, that difference did not translate into general household preparedness., Conclusion: The findings from this study are consistent with those from previous literature suggesting that persons often place the needs of their pets above their own; however, the use of a brief education intervention may be successful in increasing pet-specific preparedness levels, which may be useful in successful evacuation and pet well-being. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;12:441-445).

Over eleven million children in the United States have special health care needs. These unique needs can burden community and emergency responders after a disaster, complicating rescue and recovery efforts and generating reunification needs. Family disaster preparedness can help to moderate the extent that community resources are utilized by preparing families to be self-sustaining after a disaster and streamline access to medical care when needed. This study explored differences in two populations of families of children with special health care needs to determine if geographic differences exist in preparedness levels and whether a brief education intervention would prove successful in increasing baseline preparedness levels across both populations. A brief education intervention was delivered by trained community health educators to 210 families of children with special health care needs. A quasiexperimental pre-posttest design was used to compare baseline preparedness levels and 1 month follow-up levels. Although there was no difference in preparedness levels based on geographic location, both populations demonstrated a statistically significant increase in preparedness levels post-intervention. This study provides additional evidence that a brief education intervention helps to increase preparedness levels among families of children with special health care needs.