Stacy Smallwood

Wake Forest University | WFU · School of Divinity

Community-based organizations (CBOs) are integral to achieving the goal of Ending the HIV epidemic (EHE). Their familiarity with and proximity to communities position them to effectively implement strategies necessary to address determinants of health through their formal and informal medical and social services. However, structural inequities have...

Spirituality is a well-established protective psychosocial determinant of health. The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (DSES) among Black gay, bisexual and other sexual minority men (SMM) and Black transwomen (TW) in the Deep South. Data were collected via self-interview technology and anal...

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in unique programmatic opportunities to test hypotheses related to the initiation of antiretroviral treatment (ART) and viral load (VL) suppression during a global health crisis, which would not otherwise have been possible. Objectives: To generate practice-relevant evidence on t...

Background and objective: Research related to anxiety among sexual minority men (SMM) typically focuses on risk factors. It has seldom examined factors that may be associated with lower levels of anxiety. This gap in the literature represents an opportunity to explore positive psychological factors that may be related to lower levels of anxiety am...

Background: Patients living with HIV (PLHIV) often face challenges that contribute to missed clinical care which can impact their health outcomes. Methods: This retrospective quantitative study comprised 5338 adults living with HIV who received antiretroviral treatment (ART) for 12 months, from July 2018 to June 2019 in Kinshasa and Haut-Katanga pr...

Community dialogue is critical to the success of community development and civic engagement efforts. Facilitated Group Listening (FGL) can be used to foster empathy and critical consciousness across lines of difference in communities, promoting understanding and action. After the killing of Michael Brown by then-officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, M...

Agency and Bodily Autonomy in Systems of Care examines the ways in which humans and their bodies become enmeshed in various systems of care. Seven case studies demonstrate the ways in which people lose, negotiate, establish, or impose bodily autonomy in diverse contexts. Diverse methods and perspectives from cultural and medical anthropology, bioar...

Which individual differences accurately predict one's decision to get tested for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and do individuals who have regular short-term sex get tested at higher rates? Two studies-one lab study (total valid N = 69, with n = 20 who were tested) and one involving a student health center (valid N = 250, n = 4 who were teste...

Approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment have made significant advances since the beginning of the epidemic. However, HIV myths and misinformation continue to persist, stymieing efforts to end the epidemic in the United States, particularly in rural areas. The present study's purpose was to identify prevalent myths and misinformation about H...

Religious spaces have proven to be effective sites of health intervention among Black Americans. Less is known about how religious environments impact the health of subgroups of Black Americans, specifically Black men who have sex with men (MSM). Using data from the Promoting Our Worth, Equality, and Resilience study, we explored the factor structu...

While mentoring is part of being a faculty member, Black faculty carry the heavy burden of being perceived by colleagues and students to be the only ones who can adequately mentor minority students. With this heavy burden of mentoring on top of teaching, service, and research, many Black faculty are unable to balance the load, and ultimately one or...

Objective: Prior research suggests that social connectedness is associated with lower levels of depression among college students. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine if an association existed between social activity, need to belong, and depression. Variations in study measures by race, gender, and student status were also explored....

Stigma by association, or “courtesy stigma,” is defined as public disapproval for associating with a perceived stigmatized group. Using an audience response system (ARS), rural HIV/AIDS healthcare providers (n = 69) were asked about experiences of courtesy stigma and self-care practices for safeguarding their well-being. Qualitative responses were...

Introduction: The House Ball Community (HBC) has a longstanding, unique history and place among the LGBTQ community. HBCs provide spaces where gender and sexual minorities find support, acceptance, and freedom for self-expression. Although the HBC has been the focus of extensive HIV-related research and intervention, a more holistic view of HBC mem...

Wastewater workers are exposed to different occupational hazards such as chemicals, gases, viruses, and bacteria. Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a significant factor that can reduce or decrease the probability of an accident from hazardous exposures to chemicals and microbial contaminants. The purpose of this study was to examine wastewater...

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and participatory action research (PAR) are two increasingly-influential paradigms in health equity and social justice work. Building critical consciousness is an important component of both paradigms. Facilitated Group Listening (FGL) can be used to foster critical consciousness and empathy among diver...

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the degree of alignment between an existing public health curricula and disease intervention specialist (DIS) workforce training needs, (2) assess the appropriateness of public health education for DISs, and (3) identify existing curriculum gaps to inform future DIS training efforts....

This presentation described the process of planning and implementing Project PrEP, a community health initiative to increase PrEP awareness among communities at high HIV risk in south Georgia, especially MSM. Intervention strategies, key findings, and lessons learned will be discussed. Introduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the southern U...

Black MSM are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States. Although the disparities in infection rates between Black MSM and MSM of other races have been well documented, less is known about the factors that contribute to those disparities—particularly psychosocial, cultural, and historical factors. The lack of understanding regard...

Background: In the United States, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a substantial public health issue. There is evidence that the use of antiretroviral medications such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) can be a safe and effective primary prevention strategy to reduce new cases of HIV infection. Provider practice behavior as it relates to...

Although disproportionate HIV infection rates among African-American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) have been well-documented, less is known about reasons for the disparity. The Sexual Health in Faith Traditions (SHIFT) Study evaluated the relationships between religiosity, spirituality, internalized homonegativity, and frequency of condom use a...

This presentation will describe the process of planning and implementing Project PrEP, a community health initiative to increase PrEP awareness among communities at high HIV risk in south Georgia, especially MSM. Intervention strategies, key findings, and lessons learned will be discussed. Introduction: Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the southe...

Background: Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) are disproportionately affected by HIV infection, particularly in the American South. Previous research has examined differences in risky sexual behaviors among MSM by HIV serostatus; however, few studies have investigated these patterns specifically among BMSM. The purpose of this study was to ide...

Background: Spirituality contributes to better mental and physical health outcomes, including lower rates of HIV. However, there are few theoretically-sound, psychometrically-robust scales of spirituality that have been adequately tested among Black MSM in the Deep South. Methods: As of December 2014, we enrolled 465 BMSM aged 18 years and older re...

In 2015, a group of social change advocates used a process called Facilitated Group Listening (FGL) to foster critical dialogue between African-American youth, African-American community leaders, and law enforcement representatives. Conference workshop participants engaged in a brief FGL to experience this technique and results from the 2015 commun...

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is becoming one of the dominant approaches for bringing evidence- and consensus-based cancer prevention and control practices to medically underserved communities. There are many examples of how CBPR has been useful for generating culturally specific solutions for different health issues that affect Afr...

While the disproportionate rates of HIV infection among African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) have been well-documented, less is known about the psychosocial factors that may influence their risk. Religiosity has been shown to play a significant role in the lives and health of African Americans, but its role in the mental and sexual he...

The Community Empowerment Center used a community-engaged approach to build capacity among residents to develop and implement interventions focused on creating a healthier environment. The Center partnered with residents living in a public housing community and adjacent low-income neighborhood and provided support through a mini-grant program. A si...

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is becoming one of the dominant approaches for bringing evidence- and consensus-based cancer prevention and control practices to medically underserved communities. There are many examples of how CBPR has been useful for generating culturally specific solutions for different health issues that affect Afr...

While the disproportionate rates of HIV infection among African American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) have been well-documented, less is known about the psychosocial factors that may influence their risk. Religiosity has been shown to play a significant role in the lives and health of African Americans, but its role in the mental and sexual he...

Background and Purpose: Public housing communities are often plagued by high crime, which increases residents' concerns about neighborhood safety, and decreases their levels of community engagement. This quasi-experimental community trial was designed to increase public housing residents' level of community engagement and decrease their concerns ab...

BACKGROUND: Health disparities research is increasingly influenced by two paradigms: community-based participatory research (CBPR) and social determinants of health (SDOH). CBPR calls for collaborative research relationships that empower communities to co-generate research programs while SDOH perspectives focus on macro-level, “upstream” factors in...

Background: African-American men who have sex with men (AAMSM) are at disproportionate risk for HIV infection. While internalized homonegativity (IH) has been identified as a potential predictor of engagement in sexual risk behaviors, little is known about how it might function differently among AAMSM when compared with majority white populations....

Health disparities research is increasingly influenced by 2 research paradigms: community-based participatory research (CBPR) and social determinants of health (SDOH). CBPR approaches call for collaborative relationships that empower communities to co-generate research programs while SDOH perspectives focus on macro-level or “upstream” factors infl...

In recent years a growing body of psychological research suggests encounters with racial discrimination are common occurrences in the lives of African Americans (Hudson et al., 2012; Kessler, Mickelson, & Williams, 1999; Ren, Amick, & Williams, 1999; Swim, Hyers, Cohen, Fitzgerald, & Bylsma, 2003). Despite the regularity of such occurrences, there...

Injuries from medical sharps devices and blood-borne pathogen (BBP) exposure are a significant risk to many healthcare workers. Risk awareness communications and sharps safety strategies are key components of BBP exposure prevention efforts. The research reported here includes an evaluation of a large-scale communication intervention aimed at raisi...

Background: In 1999, CDC published the Compendium of HIV Prevention Interventions with Evidence of Effectiveness, marking the beginning of the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) project. Since then, sixteen theory-based interventions have been packaged for dissemination and use by HIV prevention programs in community-based organ...

Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it. Such disciplined efforts are crucial for community-based organizations (CBOs) to survive in volatile funding environments, changing political priorities, and unstable public support....