Health and economic inequities among U.S. racial/ethnic minority women and children are staggering. The maternal mortality rate for Black women was nearly three times that of White women. Black women also have the highest rates of infant mortality in the U.S.; an inequity that persists among highly-educated and middle class women. In line with burgeoning advocacy about the need to emphasize intersectionality’s potential for praxis, particularly in the U.S., we propose to develop the Intersectionality Checklist (IC), a user-friendly tool that U.S. policymakers and/or their aides, practitioners, and other interested stakeholders can use to develop and/or enhance more equitable maternal and child health (MCH) policies and programs for diverse women and children in the U.S. In this three phase project we use community engaged participatory methods to develop, refine, and concept test the toolkit. We anticipate that policymakers and practitioners who use the toolkit will be equipped to develop and improve policies and programs that address the racial inequities in MCH.
Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS and Prevention (SISTA-P): Adaptation of the SISTA intervention to include PrEP information and skills building for Black women who are risk for HIV
We will adapt Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA), a widely implemented gender- and culture specific HIV prevention EBI. SISTA is a 5-session cognitive-behavioral intervention to increase condom use through gender and ethnic pride, HIV education, condom negotiation and assertiveness skills training, sexual self-control, and condom use efficacy in the context of partner resistance. This 3-phase study aims to understand social-structural and contextual barriers to Black cigender women’s PrEP uptake (Aim 1), adapt SISTA to address overcoming these barriers (Aim 2), and determine the acceptability and feasibility of the adapted intervention, SISTA-P (Aim 3). This research is conducted in Washington, DC in collaboration with The Women’s Collective, a community-based organization that provides health and social services for women of color who are living with or at risk for HIV.
Contextualizing Cancer (Mis)Information Engagement & Dissemination Among Adult Latino/a Social Media Users
This project was selected as the 2020 Cancer Prevention and Control Pilot Award (fall cycle) through the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey’s Cancer Center Support Grant (P30 CA072720). This qualitatively-driven, mixed methods study explores engagement with and dissemination of cancer (mis)information among U.S. Latinos/as ages 40 and above on multiple social media. Specifically, the study aims to (1) define the reasons and factors motivating engagement with cancer (mis)information among Latinos/as from different groups (general population, cancer survivors/patients, and caregivers/advocates) and (2) describe the mechanisms and motivations for engaging with and disseminating cancer (mis)information across multiple social media popular among Latinos/as.
Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services among LGBTQ+ identifying Women of Color
Sexual and Reproductive Health Information and Services among LGBTQ+ identifying Women of ColorPI: Megan ThreatsA national online survey of LGBTQ+ women of color aged 18-44 years to investigate their preferred means of finding and receiving sexual and reproductive...
Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Services among Black LBQ+ Women
A collaboration between a team of researchers from Rutgers University, Brown University, Johns Hopkins, City University of New York, and the University of Maryland – Baltimore County. Black lesbian, bisexual, queer, and other sexual minority (LBQ+) women face barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health services. Interpersonal sexual orientation and racial discrimination independently undermine sexual and reproductive health services use among U.S. women. However, very few studies have examined whether and how interpersonal sexual orientation and racial discrimination simultaneously affect sexual and reproductive health services use among Black LBQ+ women. Structural sexual orientation and racial discrimination (e.g., laws, policies) have been linked to poor health and health care outcomes among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) and Black individuals, respectively. However, studies investigating associations between structural sexual orientation and racial discrimination and sexual and reproductive health are scarce, and no study of which we are aware has focused on Black LBQ+ women in particular. We will conduct a national online survey of Black LBQ+ U.S. women aged 18-44 years (N=350) to investigate how both interpersonal and structural sexual orientation and racial discrimination influence sexual and reproductive health services use among Black LBQ+ women.