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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Giulia Norton, MPH, Health Promotion and Clinical Research, Abt Associates, Inc., 55 Wheeler St., Cambridge, MA 02138, 617-520-3542, giulia_norton@abtassoc.com

Background: The Mental Health HIV Services Collaborative, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), consists of 20 sites across the U.S. that provide mental health services to people living with HIV in traditionally underserved communities. While most sites focus on African-Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, or both, some serve specific groups such as Native Americans or Haitians. Almost 5000 clients have been enrolled to date. Methods: In 2005, sites began submitting extensive data on clients. That data addresses questions such as: How well does client perception of disease status correlate with their actual medical and mental health diagnoses? What psychosocial coping mechanisms are associated with which types of traumatic history? Does adherence with psychotropic medications differ from adherence to HIV medications? Does degree and frequency of risk behavior differ among clients with different patterns of social support? Perhaps of most interest is the question behind all these: do the answers differ for different groups, based on traditional lines of race, ethnicity, sex, and sexual orientation? Results and Conclusions: Preliminary results, based on 198 clients, show interesting differences and similarities across groups. Final analyses will be performed in June 2006.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• analyze multiple outcomes
• assess comparisons across groups

Keywords: Mental Health Services, Minority Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No