Tu Amigo Pepe: Evaluation of a Multi-Media Marketing Campaign that Targets Young Latino Immigrant MSM with HIV Testing Messages

Latino immigrant men who have sex with men (MSM) are at risk for HIV and delayed diagnosis in the United States. 

This paper describes the evaluation of a pilot of the Tu Amigo Pepe, a multimedia HIV testing campaign aimed at Latino MSM in Seattle, WA particularly targeting immigrants who may not identify as gay, ages 18-30 years old. The 16-week campaign included Spanish-language radio public service announcements (PSAs), a Web site, social media outreach, a reminder system using mobile technology, print materials and a toll-free hotline. 

In developing the PSAs, the Integrated Behavioral Model was used as a framework to reframe negative attitudes, beliefs and norms towards HIV testing with positive ones as well as to promote self-efficacy towards HIV testing. 

The campaign had a significant and immediate impact on attitudes, beliefs, norms and self-efficacy towards HIV testing as well as on actual behavior, with HIV testing rates increasing over time.

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By:  Solorio R1,2,3, Norton-Shelpuk P4, Forehand M5, Montaño D6, Stern J7, Aguirre J8,9, Martinez M9.

• 1Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE., Box 359455, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 2Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 3Social and Behavioral Prevention Core, University of Washington Center for AIDS Research, Seattle, WA, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 4Activate Brands, Denver, CO, USA.
• 5University of Washington Foster School of Business, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 6Battelle Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 7Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 8Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE., Box 359455, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
• 9Entre Hermanos, Seattle, WA, USA. 
• AIDS Behav. 2016 Feb 5. 

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Effect of Educational Leaflets on Knowledge & Attitude to Tuberculosis among Homeless Persons in Tokyo, Japan

SETTING:

Delay in seeking care is one of the critical issues in tuberculosis (TB) control among homeless persons in Japan. Yet knowledge of and attitude towards TB among homeless persons have remained unclear and limited efforts have been made to disseminate information related to TB among homeless persons.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the effect of TB leaflets, produced and distributed to homeless persons by a group of ex-homeless TB patients, and to understand what homeless persons know about TB.

DESIGN:

Self-administered questionnaire was conducted among homeless persons before and after distribution of the TB leaflets. Changes in the responses to each question were also subjected to principal component analysis to group questions into types according to response patterns and identify constructs of TB-related knowledge.

RESULTS:

Results of 88 participants were analyzed. TB knowledge score related to risks and symptoms significantly improved after the intervention (from 54.3% to 70.6%, p < 0.05), while knowledge on treatment cost did not. Two components were identified, namely, the "improvement in TB impression" and "improvement in TB knowledge".

CONCLUSION:

TB leaflets were effective in improving certain aspects of TB knowledge. However, its effect on knowledge regarding treatment cost, which may be crucial in improving delay, was limited and thus the messages need to be revised.

Purchase full article at [in Japanese]:   http://goo.gl/Kd0dQh

By:   Kawatsu L, Uchimura K, Watabe H, Kaguraoka S, Kubota Y, Sakakibara M, Ishikawa N.

 

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Relationship Between Tobacco Retailers’ Point-of-Sale Marketing and the Density of Same-Sex Couples, 97 U.S. Counties, 2012

The reasons for higher rates of smoking among lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people than among heterosexual people are not well known. Research on internal migration and neighborhood selection suggests that LGB people are more likely to live in neighborhoods where the tobacco industry has historically targeted their marketing efforts (lower income, more racial/ethnic diversity). We used multi-level models to assess the relationship between the rate of same-sex couples per 1000 coupled households and 2012 marketing characteristics of tobacco retailers (n = 2231) in 1696 census tracts in 97 U.S. counties. We found no evidence of tobacco marketing at retailers differing by same-sex couple rates in census tracts with the exception of three findings in the opposite direction of our hypotheses: a small, significant positive relationship for the rate of same-sex male couples and the price of Newport Green (mentholated) cigarettes. For male and female same-sex couples, we also found a small negative relationship between tobacco advertisements and same-sex household rate. Tobacco retailers’ tobacco marketing characteristics do not differ substantially by the rate of same-sex couples in their neighborhood in ways that would promote LGB health disparities. Further work is needed to determine if these patterns are similar for non-partnered LGB people.

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Heroin-Related Overdose: Unexplored Influences of Markets, Marketing and Source-Types in the U.S.

Heroin overdose, more accurately termed 'heroin-related overdose' due to the frequent involvement of other drugs, is the leading cause of mortality among regular heroin users. Heroin injectors are at greater risk of hospital admission for heroin-related overdose (HOD) in the eastern United States where Colombian-sourced powder heroin is sold than in the western US where black 'tar' heroin predominates. 

This paper examines under-researched influences on HOD, both fatal and non-fatal, using data from a qualitative study of injecting drug users of black tar heroin in San Francisco and powder heroin in Philadelphia Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews carried out in 2012 that were conducted against a background of longer-term participant-observation, ethnographic studies of drug users and dealers in Philadelphia (2007-12) and of users in San Francisco (1994-2007, 2012). 

Our findings suggest three types of previously unconsidered influences on overdose risk that arise both from structural socio-economic factors and from the physical properties of the heroin source-types: 

1. retail market structure including information flow between users; 
2. marketing techniques such as branding, free samples and pricing and 
3. differences in the physical characteristics of the two major heroin source forms and how they affect injecting techniques and vascular health. 

Although chosen for their contrasting source-forms, we found that the two cities have contrasting dominant models of drug retailing: San Francisco respondents tended to buy through private dealers and Philadelphia respondents frequented an open-air street market where heroin is branded and free samples are distributed, although each city included both types of drug sales. 

These market structures and marketing techniques shape the availability of information regarding heroin potency and its dissemination among users who tend to seek out the strongest heroin available on a given day. The physical characteristics of these two source-types, the way they are prepared for injecting and their effects on vein health also differ markedly. The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the unexplored factors that may lead to heroin-related overdose in the United States and to generate hypotheses for further study.

Via: http://ht.ly/QcijQ HT @UCSF