Youth-Serving Professionals’ Perspectives on HIV Prevention Tools and Strategies Appropriate for Adolescent Gay and Bisexual Males and Transgender Youth

IntroductionHIV disproportionally burdens adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM) and transgender youth. This study explores barriers and facilitators that professionals face in delivering HIV preventive services and education.MethodsAdolescent health providers (nurse practitioners, physicians, and other), school nurses, youth workers, and school educators were recruited nationally for this qualitative study.ResultsThirty-four professionals participated. Common categories identified across professional group were (1) effective strategies for building trust with youth, (2) perceived barriers/facilitators to sexual health communication, (3) perceived barriers/facilitators to effective HIV prevention, and (4) preferred content for HIV prevention tools.DiscussionKey elements for developing multidisciplinary resources to support AMSM and transgender youth should include (1) web-based or easily accessible sexual health educational materials, (2) resources for referrals, (3) trainings to support competence in caring for sexual and gender minority youth, and (4) guidance for navigating policies or eliciting policy change.     

Health Care Bias and Discrimination Experienced by Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,Transgender, and Queer Parents of Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Inquiry in the United States

IntroductionThis study explored the impact of health care (HC) bias and discrimination on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) parents and their children with disabilities in the United States, including the timing of developmental screening and diagnosis.MethodWe conducted semistructured interviews with 16 LGBTQ parents of children with developmental concerns or disabilities recruited through a prior national survey. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a combined inductive and deductive approach.ResultsDiscrimination types reported included noninclusive forms, disclosure challenges, and providers dismissing nongestational parents and diverse families. Few parents reported screening and diagnosis delays. Parents’ recommendations included: avoiding assumptions, honoring family diversity, increasing LGBTQ family support, improving HC forms, increasing antibias training, and convening a learning community.DiscussionOur study advances the knowledge around HC bias and discrimination among LGBTQ parents of children with disabilities. Findings highlight the need for increased LGBTQ-affirming family support and research representing LGBTQ family diversity in U.S. health care.     

Latin America: Actions for the Prevention and Treatment of Malnutrition

The stagnation of the social and economic progress of Latin America in the 1980s is an aftermatch of its enormous external debt and of the drop in the international price of agricultural goods which are its main exports. Today in LA more people is malnourished and live under the line of poverty than in the 1970s. Programs for the prevention of malnutrition and for the rehabilitation of malnourished children have been enforced in most countries in order to mitigate the effects of the crisis. Such actions are briefly discussed.