Practice Based Community Health Research Reports

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  Assessing HIV/AIDS Prevention Needs and Services for Young MSM in Connecticut

  Margaret Lippitt, Ana Sierra, Katie Stetler, and Yao Yang

  Young men who have sex with men (MSM) bear the greatest burden of new HIV cases in Connecticut. However, as the needs of young MSM have increased, funding for services catering to this vulnerable population has decreased. In partnership with the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition and AIDS Project Hartford, this study seeks to understand how Connecticut agencies are serving young MSM in the current funding environment, and what other barriers they face in preventing the spread of HIV in this community. Qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with 10 key staff at agencies that serve the young MSM population in 2 cities in Connecticut. Information was gathered about staff members’ perceptions of behavioral trends and barriers to accessing prevention services in the community, and challenges and successes in prevention programming. Participants were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling.Our findings show that agency staff recognize the profound challenges faced by young MSM in accessing services and the many factors that place them at risk for HIV. However, despite an enormous amount of commitment and creativity on the part of agencies,they continue to struggle to overcome challenges in providing services to this community. Some of these challenges, particularly related to changes in funding and the incorporation of online social media into programs, are relatively new. This report aims to collate knowledge from service providers in order to document recommendations that will help agencies to improve their services and practices.

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  Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Teenage Pregnancy: Perspectives from Teens and Community Members in Connecticut

  Amelia Reese, Brigette Davis, Kate Schedel, Jamille Taylor, Surabhi Srivastava, Bridget Whitney, and Susan Lane

  BACKGROUND: Teenage pregnancy has negative consequences for mother and baby, for example, high school drop out and low birth weight, respectively. Overall, Connecticut (CT) has one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the United States. However, a great disparity exists between whites and other ethnicities. Black teens are 4 – 5 times as likely to give birth than their white counterparts and Latino teens are 8 times as likely to give birth as white teens. Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE) has identified this disparity and seeks the assistance of our research team in developing targets and programming to prevent teen pregnancies.

  METHODS: Teen focus groups and key informant interviews were used to examine barriers to teen birth reduction among ethnic minorities in three cities (Hartford, New London, and New Haven, CT). We develop ed an action plan for PPSNE that identifies potential barriers to preventing teenage pregnancy, identifies potential community partnerships , and includes population attributable risk estimation s to demonstrate potential decreases in teen pregnancy by race/ethnicity.

  RESULTS: Three focus group sessions were completed with a total of 22 adolescent participants (14 females and 8 males) between the ages of 15 and 21. Focus group respondents attributed teen pregnancy to desire for pregnancy, perceived invincibility, lack of knowledge/sexual education and family precedent. The teens indicated that a more substantial presence from peer educators and improved sex education in schools could have an impact on reducing teen pregnancy in minorities. Two key informant interviews with community organization staff members revealed overlapping themes of inadequate education, inadequate support to stay in school, and lack of support for pregnancy prevention programs. Overall, respondents had positive perceptions of Planned Parenthood.

  IMPLICATIONS: Results from this research will provide information to PPSNE regarding the necessary steps to design programs aimed at reducing disparities in teen birth rates in Connecticut. By focusing on Black and Latino teens, we hope to facilitate the development of culturally competent initiatives that result in the elimination of disparities surrounding teen births. Partnership development between PPSNE and community organizations can foster successful and sustainable programs in our populations of interest.

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  “Health Is Academic”: Identifying Factors that Impact Health & Learning Outcomes: A Multi-factorial School Health Assessment in 12 Schools (NHPS--Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) Collaborative)

  Kathleen Clark, Eminet Abebe Feyissa, Quiana Lewis, Alexandrea Murphy, and Mark Trentalange

  Childhood obesity has swept both the nation and the world and emerged as a true public health cause of concern. In response, the New Haven Public Schools developed a detailed District Wellness Policy to help combat obesity and provide students with a positive, healthy school environment. To date, the Wellness plan and its initiatives have been applauded, including acknowledgement of the best school wellness plan and the national recognition of Chef Tim Cipriano, who is at the forefront of school lunch modifications. Five YSPH graduate students, together with CARE, developed a tool to assess the school climate in 12 New Haven Public Schools. Nutrition, Physical Activity, Health Promotion, and Staff Wellness were assessed over four weeks. Photographs and completed tools were compiled to provide a snapshot of the schools and the state of wellness policy initiatives.

  Whitney Hubbard was the Teaching Fellow (TF) for this project.

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  Program Evaluation of the Summer Youth Employment & Learning Program (SYELP) at the Community Renewal Team (CRT)

  Britton Gibson; Blanca Paccha; Nicholas DeVito; Stephanie Platis; Whitney Hubbard , (TA); and Krista Heybruck Santiago, (Preceptor)

  The Community Renewal Team (CRT) is an anti‐poverty, non‐profit organization based in Hartford. For over 10 years they have run a Summer Youth Employment & Learning Program (SYELP).

  While CRT has been running this program for several years, it has recently made some structural modifications in order to improve the impact of the program. Thus, to determine the current impact of the program, to identify best practices and to suggest improvements, we conducted an evaluation of SYELP. Through student survey data collected by CRT and interviews that we conducted with supervisors, we gauged the strengths and weaknesses of the program in order to provide insight on the impact of the program and where improvements can be made to most effectively benefit the youth.

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  Optimus Health Care: Smoking Cessation and HIV in a Connecticut-based Community Health Care Center

  William Hayes; Mia Kanak; Katie LaMonica; Jason Yost; Sharon Taylor , (TF); Alix Pose; and Debbie Humphries

  This project focused on assessing smoking behaviors and attitudes among an HIV/AIDS patient population at Optimus Health Care, the largest community health center network in Connecticut. The high rate of smoking that has been found among People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is an important public health concern because of the known association between tobacco use and increased risk of HIV-related illnesses. The federal government’s Health Resources and Services Administration has begun to recommend that its HIV/AIDS programs for low-income HIV+ populations (Ryan White HIV/AIDS programs) conduct tobacco cessation counseling for all patients who smoke. To date, however, most Ryan White (RW) programs including Optimus do not yet provide targeted smoking cessation programs for specific HIV+ patient populations.

  In partnership with Optimus, 357 RW charts were reviewed and a sample of 43 identified smokers was surveyed in order to collect important baseline data necessary to inform the development of a smoking cessation program in these clinics. Smoking prevalence in Optimus’s HIV+ smoking population (44%) mirrored other studies that found similar rates in other HIV+ populations. Major findings from the chart review and survey included the identification of high-risk subpopulations within the total HIV+ smoking population, inconsistent documentation of smoking status in charts, levels of nicotine dependence by subgroups, motivations to quit or not quit smoking, and preferred methods of smoking cessation. The survey respondents demonstrated relatively high levels of motivation to quit, high levels of smoking-related health risks awareness, and lower levels of awareness relating to the impact of smoking for HIV+ individuals. These results further justify the need for smoking cessation interventions targeted to this population. From these preliminary findings, it is recommended that larger studies be conducted to further delineate the unique motivations and smoking behaviors in HIV+ patients.