background: preterm birth is a major health problem that leads to infant morbidity and mortality. the main goal of this study was to find the relationship between social determinants of health and preterm delivery. methods: a prospective longitudinal cohort study was carried out on 500 pregnant women in their 24th to 28th gestational weeks in 2012. the pregnant women filled out a self-report qu...

Overall satisfaction levels with social care are usually high but lower levels have been reported among black and minority ethnic (BME) service users in England. Reasons for this are poorly understood. This qualitative study therefore explored satisfaction with services among informal carer participants from five different ethnic groups. Fifty-seven carers (black Caribbean, black African, Asian...

Specialized training for healthcare professionals (HCP) in order to reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma must be part of a public health model for HIV/AIDS. Tested interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma among HCP have been mostly absent from these efforts. A qualitative approach was used to assess stigma reduction within a traditional randomized controlled design in order to better understan...

CONTEXT While literature exists on sexual risks for HIV among rural populations, the specific role of stimulants in increasing these risks has primarily been studied in the context of a single drug and/or racial group. PURPOSE This study explores the use of multiple stimulants and sexual risk behaviors among individuals of different races and sexual identities in rural North Carolina. METHO...

abstract background: nurses, who are considered to form the largest group of professional healthcare providers, face the challenge of maintaining, promoting, and providing quality nursing care and to prepare themselves to function confidently and to care effectively. among the factors affecting nursing performance, self-efficacy has been expected to have the greatest influence. however, the con...

Methamphetamine use has increasingly become linked with sexual risk behaviors among men have sex with men (MSM). Yet, the majority of research has been done with methamphetamine dependent MSM or with samples in which addiction to the substance was not evaluated. Furthermore, research with methamphetamine-using MSM in the Southern U.S. is lacking. In this study, focus groups and in-depth intervi...

BACKGROUND Despite an increased awareness of shared decision-making (SDM) and its prominent position on the health policy agenda, its implementation in routine care remains a challenge in Germany. In order to overcome this challenge, it is important to understand healthcare providers' views regarding SDM and to take their perspectives and opinions into account in the development of an implement...

INTRODUCTION Social-structural inequities impede access to, and retention in, HIV care among structurally vulnerable people living with HIV (PLHIV) who use drugs. The resulting disparities in HIV-related outcomes among PLHIV who use drugs pose barriers to the optimization of HIV treatment as prevention (TasP) initiatives. We undertook this study to examine engagement with, and impacts of, an in...