The “Translators”: Engaging Former Drug Users as Key Research Staff to Design and Implement a Risk Reduction Program for Rural Cocaine Users

Stewart, Katharine E.; Wright, P. B.; Sims, Desi; Tyner, Kathy Russell; Montgomery, Brooke E. E.

doi:10.3109/10826084.2011.644379

Cited by 14 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Core elements of Safety Counts were retained but session content was tailored to meet the study aims and the needs of the local cocaine-using population based on previous research in the area, 8,10 input from the CAB and community liaisons, 34 and focus groups conducted with members of the study population. 35 For example, we adapted content of Safety Counts to address primarily the risks of HIV and STI for non-injectors because of the project’s focus on cocaine users and prior research 8 documenting rarity of injection use amongst cocaine users in these rural counties.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Risky Sex among Rural African American Cocaine Users: A Controlled Trial

Stewart¹,

Wright²,

Montgomery³

et al. 2017

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

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Rural African American cocaine users experience high rates of STIs/HIV. This NIDA-funded trial tested an adapted evidence-based risk reduction program versus an active control condition. Participants were 251 African American cocaine users in rural Arkansas recruited from 2009–2011. Outcomes included condom use skills and self-efficacy, sexual negotiation skills, peer norms, and self-reported risk behavior. The intervention group experienced greater increases in condom use skills and overall effectiveness in sexual negotiation skills. Both groups reported reductions in trading sex, improvements in condom use self-efficacy, and increased use of specific negotiation skills. Implications and limitations are discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing Risky Sex among Rural African American Cocaine Users: A Controlled Trial

Stewart¹,

Wright²,

Montgomery³

et al. 2017

Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

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“…Core sexual risk reduction elements of Safety Counts were retained but session content was tailored to meet the study aims and the needs of the local cocaine-using population based on previous research in the area (21, 27), input from the CAB and community liaisons (28), and focus groups conducted with members of the study population (29). Both conditions included two 2-hour group sessions, two 60-minute individual sessions, two 2-to-3-hour community events, and two 40-minute follow-up individual sessions, occurring over four months.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interviewers used Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology to conduct the assessment; which took approximately 2.5 hours to complete with a 15-minute break. All interviewers were local residents of the study counties, and were self-identified as in recovery from cocaine abuse or dependence (28). After all 12-month follow-up assessments had been completed, semi-structured qualitative interviews with 36 randomly selected participants were conducted by study investigators using an interview guide.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trajectory of substance use after an HIV risk reduction intervention

Booth¹,

Wright

Ounpraseuth

et al. 2015

The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

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Background Research assessments can confound the results of treatment outcome studies and can be themselves an intervention or form of aftercare. Objective Determine the trajectory of substance use and substance severity in a sample of African-American cocaine users participating in a community-based sexual risk reduction trial. Methods Out-of-treatment participants were recruited using Respondent-Driven Sampling in two African-American majority counties in rural Arkansas. They participated in either the sexual risk reduction condition or an active control focused on access to social services. They were interviewed at baseline, post-intervention, and 6 and 12 months post-intervention. Substance use outcome measures were use of crack cocaine, powder cocaine, marijuana, alcohol, and the Addiction Severity Index Alcohol and Drug Severity composites. A random sample of participants completed qualitative interviews post-12-month interview. Results 251 were enrolled. Substance use outcomes did not differ among the two conditions at any point in the study. Use of measured substances and the ASI composites significantly decreased between baseline and post-intervention (p < 0.01), decreases that persisted at the 12-month assessment period compared to baseline. Qualitative findings suggested that many participants identified increased awareness of their drug use and need to control it through the programs. Participants also noted strong bonding with interviewers. Conclusion Clinical trials may have positive unexpected outcomes in terms of reduced substance use even though the trial is not substance use focused. Behavioral interventions for drug users that are not focused specifically on reducing drug use may nonetheless have unanticipated positive associations with reductions in drug use.

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“…Interviews were conducted using Computer‐Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology and took place in offices that were located centrally in each county and identified as an acceptable and trusted location by members of the research project's Community Advisory Board (CAB), a group of 10 men and women from the study community who met the study's inclusion criteria and served as advisors to the study during its conceptualization, development, and implementation . Recruiters and interviewers were residents of the study community who were selected in part because of their experience with and understanding of the needs and concerns of the study population . These individuals were employed full‐time by the research project and received extensive training in interviewing techniques to ensure the accuracy of the self‐report data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among African American Cocaine Users in the Rural South

Montgomery

Stewart

Yeary

et al. 2014

The Journal of Rural Health

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Purpose Racial and geographic disparities in human immunodeficency virus (HIV) are dramatic and drug use is a significant contributor to HIV risk. Within the rural South, African Americans who use drugs are at extremely high risk. Due to the importance of religion within African American and rural Southern communities, it can be a key element of culturally-targeted health promotion with these populations. Studies have examined religion’s relationship with sexual risk in adolescent populations, but few have examined specific religious behaviors and sexual risk behaviors among drug-using African American adults. This study examined the relationship between well-defined dimensions of religion and specific sexual behaviors among African Americans who use cocaine living in the rural southern United States. Methods Baseline data from a sexual risk reduction intervention for African Americans who use cocaine living in rural Arkansas (N = 205) were used to conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses examining the association between multiple sexual risk behaviors and key dimensions of religion including religious preference, private and public religious participation, religious coping, and God-based, congregation-based, and church leader-based religious support. Findings After adjusting individualized network estimator weights based on the recruitment strategy, different dimensions of religion had inverse relationships with sexual risk behavior, including church leadership support with number of unprotected vaginal/anal sexual encounter and positive religious coping with number of sexual partners and with total number of vaginal/anal sexual encounters. Conclusion Results suggest that specific dimensions of religion may have protective effects on certain types of sexual behavior, which may have important research implications.

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The “Translators”: Engaging Former Drug Users as Key Research Staff to Design and Implement a Risk Reduction Program for Rural Cocaine Users

Cited by 14 publications

References 18 publications

Reducing Risky Sex among Rural African American Cocaine Users: A Controlled Trial

Reducing Risky Sex among Rural African American Cocaine Users: A Controlled Trial

Trajectory of substance use after an HIV risk reduction intervention

Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among African American Cocaine Users in the Rural South

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