Minority Health and Health Equity Archive

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21769

Welcome to the Minority Health and Health Equity Archive (MHHEA), an electronic archive for digital resource materials in the fields of minority health and health disparities research and policy. It is offered as a no-charge resource to the public, academic scholars and health science researchers interested in the elimination of racial and ethnic health disparities.

Browse

Author: search.filters.author.Ford, Angela

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Racial preferences for participation in a depression prevention trial involving problem-solving therapy.
    (2010) Kasckow, John; Brown, Charlotte; Morse, Jennifer Q; Karpov, Irina; Bensasi, Salem; Thomas, Stephen B; Ford, Angela; Reynolds, Charles
    OBJECTIVES: This study compared African Americans' and Caucasians' willingness to participate in an indicated intervention to prevent depression with problem-solving therapy. It also examined participants' problem-solving skills. Hypotheses stated that there would be no racial differences in consent rates and that social problem-solving coping skills would be lower among African Americans than Caucasians. METHODS: Proportions of African Americans and Caucasians who consented were compared, as were Social Problem Solving Inventory scores between the groups. RESULTS: Of 2,788 individuals approached, 82 (4%) of 1,970 Caucasians and 46 (6%) of 818 African Americans signed consent, and the difference was not significant (p=.09). Racial differences were observed in neither Social Problem Solving Inventory scores nor in the relationship between problem-solving skills and depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: African Americans with depression demonstrated a willingness to participate in an indicated trial of depression prevention. Furthermore, both groups would appear to benefit from the problem-solving process.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Use of Family Health Histories to Address Health Disparities in an African American Community
    (2007) Vogel, Kristen J.; Murthy, Vinaya S.; Dudley, Beth; Grubs, Robin E.; Gettig, Elizabeth; Ford, Angela; Thomas, Stephen B.
    African Americans continue to suffer from health disparities. The Center for Minority Health (CMH) within the University of Pittsburgh has the mission to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. CMH has designed and implemented the Family Health History (FHH) Initiative. The FHH Initiative places geneticcounseling graduate students in the African American community to provide risk assessments and emphasize the importance of family history as it pertains to disease prevention. The FHH Initiative also allows participants to enroll into the Minority Research Recruitment Database (MRRD). This enables CMH to alert individuals to available research participation opportunities. In the first year of this program, 225 African Americans completed their family health histories. More than 60% of individuals enrolled in the MRRD. The authors report their initial successes and challenges of an initiative that incorporates awareness of family history information, proper screening guidelines, behavior modification recommendations, and support for participation in clinical research.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Managing Depression in African Americans: Consumer and Provider Perspectives
    (2007) Brown, Charlotte; Taylor, Jerome; Lee, Brenda E.; Thomas, Stephen B.; Ford, Angela
    The purpose of this project was to examine pathways to depression care and preceived barriers to care amoung African Americans who have experienced a recent depressive episode. The framework for developing specific aims and focus group questions is informed by collaborative models of care. The foundation of collaborative models of care lies in a shared understanding between consumer and provider of the nature of the problem, and agreement on treatment options and treatment plans. With this in mind, we examine factors influencing the provider-consumer encounter by evaluating the sociocultural meaning of depression for both consumers and providers. Expanding our knowledge about consumers' perception of depression, its treatment, and life-circumstances that may influence treatment-seeking behavior will enable us to inform providers about the culturally meaningful perceptions of depression that consumers bring to the encounter. Given that prior research has suggested that providers and consumers often focus on different elements of care, it is particularly important to examine the congruence between consumers and providers on perceptions of depression and its treatment. Information regarding consumers' perception of depression and its treatment, and divergence between consumers and providers can help us to develop more effective collaborative approaches for engaging depressed African Americans in treatment.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Bring a health professional to the people day: A community outreach strategy for mobilizing African American barber shops and beauty salons as health promotion sites
    (2004) Browne, Mario; Garner, Victoria; Howard, Raymond; Reddick, Karen; Williams, Candice; Berget, Rachael; Sansing, Veronica; Gist, Maya; Taliaferro, Devon; Ford, Angela; Duncan, Edgar; Thomas, Stephen
    Despite an abundance of health care resources in the region, Pittsburgh’s African American community continues to suffer disproportionately from a burden of preventable diseases. Although there is no shortage of information about how to prevent these diseases, the African American community is clearly not benefiting from it. One of the reasons for this discrepancy is that health messages are not being delivered in the most effective and culturally appropriate manner. In September of 2002 the Department of Health and Human Services kicked off their “Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day”, a national effort to promote health and wellness in the African American community. At the University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health, the Center for Minority Health (CMH) adopted this model and tailored it to meet local needs by partnering with barbershops, beauty salons, and health professionals to create “Bring a Health Professional to the People Day”. Our strategy was designed with the idea that trusted community members such as barbers and beauticians can be good vehicles for disseminating accurate, evidence-based health promotion messages, especially relating to preventable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes. The CMH partnered with barber shops and beauty salons. The focus was providing health screening and health information to patrons of these shops. Health professionals were recruited via website registration. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate an innovative approach of the use of trusted community members to promote health and wellness in the African American community.