Youth

Connecting Resources for Rural and Urban Sexual Health CRRUSH-Sacramento
Investigators: Kimberly Koester, Janet Myers, Orlando Harris, Shana Hughes

In partnership with the Sacramento Zero Together Coalition, we are conducting research to increase PrEP uptake and decrease rates of sexually transmitted infections among men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly among racial and ethnic minority populations, in Sacramento County. New HIV diagnoses are highest among Latino and African American MSM between the ages of 13-44. PrEP coverage in Sacramento is substantially lower than coverage in nearby Alameda and San Francisco counties.

We plan to conduct a discreet choice experiment (DCE) to help us to identify which PrEP implementation strategies are most preferred by MSM. A DCE is designed to examine how people prioritize and make trade-offs among attributes or characteristics of a service or product. In this case, we will use the DCE method to understand what MSM want in a sexual health services program. The DCE will provide us with rigorously generated evidence or justification for selecting the implementation strategies we plan to ultimately test in a pilot study.

Visit the CRUSH Study site.

 

BEEM (Black Economic Equity Movement)
Investigators: Sheri A Lippman (MPI/UCSF); Marguerita Lightfoot (MPI/OHSU); Margaret Libby (MPI/MyPath); Emily Arnold (UCSF); Starley Shade (UCSF); Will Dow (UCB) 

Black youth and young adults in the U.S. experience higher levels of poverty, illness, and discrimination than their white peers, with deep systemic social and structural inequities upending their safe and healthy transition to adulthood. The resulting health inequities are many: Black young adults experience high mental health service needs, but much less service utilization than their white peers, have higher rates of STI and less access to family planning. The goal of BEEM is to disrupt the social determinants of poverty and structural racism in order to have a transformative impact on a healthy transition into adulthood. The intervention will provide Black youth (ages 18-24) with a Guaranteed Income and provide access to financial coaching, and referral services. We aim to determine the impact of Guaranteed Income and financial services on financial well-being, mental health, and utilization of mental health and sexual and reproductive health services. 

For more information, visit the BEEM website.