CDC Report Reveals Link Between HIV and Poverty (posted 8/2)
Posted: August 02, 2010
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released a first-of-its-kind analysis showing that 2.1 percent of heterosexuals living in high-poverty urban areas in the United States are infected with HIV. This analysis suggests that many low-income cities across the United States now have generalized HIV epidemics as defined by the United Nations Joint Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). UNAIDS defines a generalized epidemic as one that is firmly established in the general population, with an overall HIV prevalence in the general population of more than 1 percent. While subpopulations with higher risk (such as men who have sex with men and injection drug users) may still contribute disproportionately to the spread of HIV in these areas, heterosexual transmission is also sufficient to sustain an epidemic independent of those groups. For more information click here.
The analysis also shows that poverty is the single most important demographic factor associated with HIV infection among inner-city heterosexuals. Contrary to severe racial disparities that characterize the overall U.S. epidemic, researchers found no differences in HIV prevalence by race/ethnicity in this population. "This study reveals a powerful link between poverty and HIV risk, and a widespread HIV epidemic in America's inner cities," said Kevin Fenton, M.D., Ph.D., director of CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. "In this country, HIV clearly strikes the economically disadvantaged in a devastating way."
"These findings have significant implications for how we think about HIV prevention. We can't look at HIV in isolation from the environment in which people live," said Jonathan Mermin, M.D., director of CDC's Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. "This analysis points to an urgent need to prioritize HIV prevention efforts in disadvantaged communities. We are pleased that President Obama's new National HIV/AIDS Strategy reflects this type of approach, in terms of targeting HIV prevention resources to those in greatest need." There were no significant differences in HIV prevalence by race or ethnicity in these low income urban areas: prevalence was 2.1 percent among blacks, 2.1 percent among Hispanics, and 1.7 percent among whites. By contrast, the U.S. epidemic overall is characterized by severe racial/ethnic disparities: the HIV prevalence rate for blacks is almost 8 times that of whites, and the HIV prevalence rate among Hispanics is nearly 3 times that of whites. The absence of race-based differences in this analysis is likely due to existing high prevalence of HIV in poor urban areas, which – regardless of race or ethnicity – places individuals living in these areas at greater risk for exposure to HIV with each sexual encounter. Authors note that other factors associated with poverty also likely contribute to high HIV prevalence in these settings. Some of these factors include limited health care access, which can reduce utilization of HIV testing and prevention services; substance abuse, which can increase sexual risk behavior; and high rates of incarceration, which can disrupt the stability of relationships.
New Report on Gay and Transgender Homeless Youth (posted 8/2)
Posted: August 02, 2010
The Center for American Progress recently released a report focusing on the issue of gay and transgender homeless youth entitled "On the Streets: The Federal Response to Gay and Transgender Homeless Youth". The report provides an overview of the issue of homelessness in the gay and transgender youth community in the context of homeless youth in general and provides a list of recommended actions that the federal government should take to address this issue. The report places emphasis on the mental health risks for gay and transgender youth who are homeless and offers solutions for how to fix the failing safety net for these youth. To download the full report click here.
Facts from the Report:
There are approximately 1.6 million to 2.8 million homeless young people in the United States, and estimates suggest that disproportionate numbers of those youth are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender.
42 percent of gay homeless youth abuse alcohol compared to 27 percent of heterosexual youth.
Homeless gay and transgender youth also report higher rates of unprotected sex than heterosexual homeless youth,16 as well as higher rates of HIV infection than heterosexual youth.
44 percent of homeless gay youth reported being approached to engage in sex in order to meet their basic needs.
Sixty-two percent of gay and transgender home- less youth attempt suicide compared to 29 percent of their heterosexual homeless peers.
For more statistics on gay and transgender youth homelessness click here.
Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities Part I
Posted: July 27, 2010
Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities Part I
This NNED Network in Action Forum call that took place on July 7, 2010 features efforts taking place in the Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native communities to celebrate Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Speakers provided both a national overview of the efforts taking place to enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities and focused on two local efforts in San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon. To learn what other communities are doing and see how you too can celebrate this important month watch this recording of Celebrating Mental Health in Diverse Communities, click here or scroll to the bottom of the page.
Q & A: To download the answers to the questions from attendees who weren't able to ask their questions during the webinar, click here.
Speakers: Fred Sandoval, Chair, National Latino Behavioral Health Association Fred
is Director for the New Mexico State Income Support Division and
currently serves as the New Mexico Behavioral Health Collaborative Lead
on Cultural and Linguistic Competency and Consumer, Youth and Family
Involvement. He is the current President of the National Latino
Behavioral Health Association in Washington, DC and former NAMI
National First Vice President in Arlington, Virginia. He has provided
leadership on a wide range of Latino behavioral health initiatives.
Fred received his Masters in Public Administration from Northern
Arizona University and his Bachelors in University Studies from the
University of New Mexico.
Estela Garcia, Executive Director, Instituto Familiar de la Raza Dr.
Estela Garcia is a licensed clinical psychologist with 25 years
experience in the behavioral health field. She has expertise in
developing cultural competent behavioral health and social services and
has promoted integration of traditional, complimentary and conventional
methodologies in service provision throughout her career. She is the
Executive Director of Instituto Familiar De La Raza and represents the
agency in collaborative and healthcare initiatives to ensure that
native born and immigrant Latinos, including the indigenous populations
of San Francisco, have access to culturally and linguistically
competent healthcare services.
Sal Nunez, Instituto Familiar de la Raza Dr.
Sal Núñez practices as an educator, researcher, consultant and
clinician in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a tenured faculty
member at City College of San Francisco, serves as a consultant,
provider, and clinical supervisor at Instituto Familiar De La Raza, and
maintains a private practice. Over the course of a decade, Dr. Núñez
developed a therapeutic drumming approach that integrates ceremony,
drumming, indigenous and behavioral medicine, and psychological
principles. In 2004 Dr. Núñez founded the Healthy Drumming Institute®
and several years ago began training clinicians, community service
providers, and youth in traditional healing arts. Dr. Nunez offers
therapeutic drumming circles at Instituto Familiar De La Raza, City
College of San Francisco, and other San Francisco Bay Area locations. Seprieono Locario, National Indian Health Board Mr.
Seprieono Locario (Navajo/Sicilian) earned a B.A. in Public
Administration and from San Diego State University in 1999 and an M.A.
in Counseling Psychology at the California School of Professional
Psychology in 2001. Mr. Locario has dedicated 15 years of professional
development to work with American Indian youth throughout the state of
California, within multiple levels of incarceration, in community
mental health centers, higher education institutions, and reservation
communities. Mr. Locario currently works as a Behavioral Health Program
Coordinator for the National Indian Health Board in Washington, D.C.
where he focuses on identifying and developing best practices with
tribal communities and assisting in the support of education for and
with AI/AN health. Stephanie Craig, Project Director Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board Stephanie
Craig Rushing, PhD, MPH, is a Project Director at the NW Tribal
Epidemiology Center, a tribal health promotion, surveillance, and
research center affiliated with the Northwest Portland Area Indian
Health Board. Dr. Rushing directs the Board’s Meth and Suicide
Prevention Initiative, Project Red Talon (a STD/HIV prevention
project), and several other adolescent health projects. She completed
her Ph.D. in Public Administration and Policy at the Hatfield School of
Government at Portland State University, focusing on Community Health
and Social Change, and her Masters of Public Health at Boston
University.
** This webinar is offered in partnership with
the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Multicultural Action
Center, National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health,
National Latino Behavioral Health Association, First Nations Behavioral
Health Association, National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental
Health Association, and the Technical Assistance Partnership for Child
and Family Mental Health. **
Multicultural PSA Campaigns Win International Innovation Award (posted 7/22)
Posted: July 22, 2010
The Global Accelerator Award™ has been awarded to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in collaboration with the Ad Council and the National Network to Eliminate Disparities (NNED), for culturally targeted public service announcements (PSAs) across the United States to “promote recovery from mental health problems within multicultural communities by educating and inspiring young adults to talk openly about issues of mental health.” The PSAs are part of a major multicultural outreach campaign for Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Chinese American, and African American communities during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. Congratulations to SAMHSA, the Ad Council and the NNED Multicultural Steering Committee!
Winners of the Global Accelerator Award are organizations or people who have helped propel into action an idea that holds the promise of dramatically improving patient care and human health throughout the world. The Accelerator Award is based on an Innovation Cell methodology that analyzes which organizations or people have put an idea or strategy into action that has generated significant positive “buzz” or “chatter” on the World Wide Web – notably, on patient-led blogs and social networking sites. The Global Accelerator Award is powered by the Health Strategy Innovation Cell based at Massey College at the University of Toronto. The Innovation Cell specializes in capturing real-time global healthcare intelligence – to understand the needs, wants and preferences of patients and caregivers around the world through their website My Health Innovation. The Cell works to listen to people online and help launch their health ideas into action.
Campaign To Raise Awareness About Mental Health in Multicultural Communities Launched (posted 7/21)
Posted: July 21, 2010
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in collaboration with the Ad Council, launched a national public service advertising (PSA) campaign to promote recovery from mental health problems within multicultural communities by educating and inspiring young adults to talk openly about issues of mental health. The culturally targeted PSAs seek to motivate societal change toward social acceptance and decrease negative attitudes that may surround mental illness. These PSAs are part of a larger multicultural public service effort designed to reach Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Chinese American, and African American communities during Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. The Center for Mental Health Services Office of Consumer Affairs worked with the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health (NNED) to develop messages that were culturally informed, meaningful, appealing and acceptable, and utilize means of messaging that have the greatest potential to penetrate and connect with culturally, racially, and ethnically diverse communities. The NNED National Facilitation Center convened a Multicultural Steering Committee (MCSC) comprised of ethnically and racially diverse experts and consumer leaders in the field. "Raising awareness that effective treatments for mental illnesses are
available and that people recover, can encourage those in need to seek
help," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. "Our goal with
this campaign is to open the dialogue about supporting friends or family
members with mental health problems in a culturally relevant way."
Each targeted PSA includes a website where consumers can go to find resources and download the PSAs:
