American journal of preventive medicine
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Self Enhancement, Inc., is a grassroots, community-service organization working in the most disadvantaged high-risk community in Portland, Oregon. Its violence-prevention program targets middle-school and high-school students by providing classroom and community activities to these young people. These activities are designed to enhance protective factors and build resilience in youths to enable them to attain healthy and productive lives and to resist the threats of gangs, violence, and drugs. ⋯ Baseline indicators of violence-related behaviors clearly indicate the need for intervention in this highly disadvantaged, African-American community. Through its historical presence and recent program development efforts, Self Enhancement, Inc., is well positioned to make a difference in the lives of these young people. The equivalence of program and comparison group students on baseline indicators of violence bodes well for an unequivocal assessment of program effectiveness over time.
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We examine racial and ethnic variations in use of screening mammography. We first review recent literature on Blacks', Hispanics', and non-Hispanic Whites' mammography use. Here we extend that body of literature through use of a comprehensive national database and discussion of the implications of race- and nonrace-stratified mammography modeling. ⋯ Researchers must give explicit attention, both empirically and methodologically, to how race and ethnicity interact with sociodemographic factors, health practices, and access to health care to refine our understanding of barriers to breast cancer screening. Common barriers to routine screening may be perceived differently by Black, Hispanic, and White women and may contribute to underuse of mammography in distinct ways.
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Although several studies have explored reasons for lower mammography screening rates among African-American women generally, none has addressed the effect of age as a context for interpreting these reasons. This study examines the association of predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors with recent screening mammography behavior for different age groups of African-American women. ⋯ This study confirms the need to tailor breast screening initiatives to specific age groups of African-American women.
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The ethical problems that surrounded the Tuskegee Syphilis Study prompted widespread public criticism when they first surfaced in 1972; the Tuskegee Study remains an important case in bioethics. We recently examined public health student knowledge of the ethical significance of the Tuskegee Study as part of an ethics curriculum needs assessment at Tulane University. A brief questionnaire was administered to 236 graduate students currently enrolled in seven epidemiology courses. ⋯ However, this important case stands as an exemplar of the potential for ethical abuses in human subjects research. Such cases ought to be highlighted in public health curricula. Medical Subject Headings (MeSH): blacks, African Americans, educational curriculum, epidemiology, ethics, public health, racism.