Browsing by Author "Fischer, Lydia J."

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    HIV Stigma: Perspectives from Kenyan Child Caregivers and Adolescents Living with HIV
    (SAGE Journals, 2017-05) McHenry, Megan S.; Nyandiko, Winstone M.; Scanlon, Michael L.; Fischer, Lydia J.; McAteer, Carole I.; Aluoch, Josephine; Naanyu, Violet; Vreeman, Rachel C.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Stigma shapes all aspects of HIV prevention and treatment, yet there are limited data on how HIV-infected youth and their families are affected by stigma in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions among 39 HIV-infected adolescents receiving care at HIV clinics in western Kenya and 53 caregivers of HIV-infected children. Participants felt that while knowledge and access to treatment were increasing, many community members still held negative and inaccurate views about HIV, including associating it with immorality and believing in transmission by casual interactions. Stigma was closely related to a loss of social and economic support but also included internalized negative feelings about oneself. Participants identified treatment-related impacts of stigma, including nonadherence, nondisclosure of status to child or others, and increased mental health problems. Qualitative inquiry also provided insights into how to measure and reduce stigma among affected individuals and families.
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    User-Guided Enhancements to a Technology-Facilitated Resilience Program to Address Opioid Risks Following Traumatic Injury in Youth: Qualitative Interview Study
    (JMIR, 2023-11-30) Adams, Zachary W.; Marriott, Brigid R.; Karra, Swathi; Linhart-Musikant, Elizabeth; Raymond, Jodi L.; Fischer, Lydia J.; Bixler, Kristina A.; Bell, Teresa M.; Bryan, Eric A.; Hulvershorn, Leslie A.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Background: Youth with traumatic injury experience elevated risk for behavioral health disorders, yet posthospital monitoring of patients' behavioral health is rare. The Telehealth Resilience and Recovery Program (TRRP), a technology-facilitated and stepped access-to-care program initiated in hospitals and designed to be integrated seamlessly into trauma center operations, is a program that can potentially address this treatment gap. However, the TRRP was originally developed to address this gap for mental health recovery but not substance use. Given the high rates of substance and opioid use disorders among youth with traumatic injury, there is a need to monitor substance use and related symptoms alongside other mental health concerns. Objective: This study aimed to use an iterative, user-guided approach to inform substance use adaptations to TRRP content and procedures. Methods: We conducted individual semistructured interviews with adolescents (aged 12-17 years) and young adults (aged 18-25 years) who were recently discharged from trauma centers (n=20) and health care providers from two level 1 trauma centers (n=15). Interviews inquired about reactions to and recommendations for expanding TRRP content, features, and functionality; factors related to TRRP implementation and acceptability; and current strategies for monitoring patients' postinjury physical and emotional recovery and opioid and substance use. Interview responses were transcribed and analyzed using thematic analysis to guide new TRRP substance use content and procedures. Results: Themes identified in interviews included gaps in care, task automation, user personalization, privacy concerns, and in-person preferences. Based on these results, a multimedia, web-based mobile education app was developed that included 8 discrete interactive education modules and 6 videos on opioid use disorder, and TRRP procedures were adapted to target opioid and other substance use disorder risk. Substance use adaptations included the development of a set of SMS text messaging-delivered questions that monitor both mental health symptoms and substance use and related symptoms (eg, pain and sleep) and the identification of validated mental health and substance use screening tools to monitor patients' behavioral health in the months after discharge. Conclusions: Patients and health care providers found the TRRP and its expansion to address substance use acceptable. This iterative, user-guided approach yielded novel content and procedures that will be evaluated in a future trial.
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    ‘Why did you not tell me?’: perspectives of caregivers and children on the social environment surrounding child HIV disclosure in Kenya
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2015-06) Vreeman, Rachel C.; Scanlon, Michael L.; Inui, Thomas S.; McAteer, Carole I.; Fischer, Lydia J.; McHenry, Megan S.; Marete, Irene; Nyandiko, Winstone M.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Objective: We sought to better understand how social factors shape HIV disclosure to children from the perspective of caregivers and HIV-infected children in Kenya. Design: We conducted a qualitative study using focus group discussions (FGDs) to gain perspectives of caregivers and children on the social environment for HIV disclosure to children in western Kenya. FGDs were held with caregivers who had disclosed the HIV status to their child and those who had not, and with HIV-infected children who knew their HIV status. Methods: FGD transcripts were translated into English, transcribed, and analyzed using constant comparison, progressive coding, and triangulation to arrive at a contextualized understanding of social factors influencing HIV disclosure. Results: Sixty-one caregivers of HIV-infected children participated in eight FGDs, and 23 HIV-infected children participated in three FGDs. Decisions around disclosure were shaped by a complex social environment that included the caregiver-child dyad, family members, neighbors, friends, schools, churches, and media. Whether social actors demonstrated support or espoused negative beliefs influenced caregiver decisions to disclose. Caregivers reported that HIV-related stigma was prominent across these domains, including stereotypes associating HIV with sexual promiscuity, immorality, and death, which were tied to caregiver fears about disclosure. Children also recognized stigma as a barrier to disclosure, but were less specific about the social and cultural stereotypes cited by the caregivers. Conclusion: In this setting, caregivers and children described multiple actors who influenced disclosure, mostly due to stigmatizing beliefs about HIV. Better understanding the social factors impacting disclosure may improve the design of support services for children and caregivers.