Dr. Arya is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She is a HIV clinician who cares for predominantly racial minority patients in the county's public healthcare system. She also is a health services researcher at the BCM-Houston Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence in Health Services Research where she focuses on addressing racial disparities in the HIV epidemic. Her long-term goal is to become a successful independent investigator focused on the development of health communication strategies that will mitigate health disparities. Her immediate goal is to pursue HIV health disparities research under the mentorship of successful independently funded investigators and to receive formal didactic training in research methods. Since HIV testing is a proven HIV prevention strategy, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all patients be tested for HIV routinely in healthcare settings. Many African- Americans remain untested and preliminary research suggests that barriers to testing exist from both the patient and physician side. Using quantitative and qualitative research methods, the Specific Aims of this research proposal are to (1) use behavior change models to assess HIV testing determinants of patients and physicians, (2) use these determinants to develop messages for a health communications campaign that will increase HIV testing in health centers, and (3) pilot test these campaign messages with the intended audiences. The research will be conducted at publically funded health centers serving predominantly African- Americans. The research will be guided by cross-disciplinary mentors and simultaneous formal didactic training. Dr. Arya's mentorship team has the requisite experience in mentorship and funded independent research, and is unequivocally committed to guiding her to research independence. She will be mentored by Dr. Thomas Giordano, a health services researcher with expertise in improving access to care for racial and ethnic minority patients with HIV;Dr. Kasisomayajula Viswanath, a health communications scientist with expertise in the design and study of media campaigns for promoting health in underserved communities;and Dr. Richard Street, a health communications scientist with expertise in the study of physician-patient communication behaviors and its impact on behavior change and health outcomes. To strengthen her skill set in performing health communications research, Dr. Arya will enroll in BCM and affiliated local university coursework for quantitative and qualitative research methods, health communication theory and research methods, and responsible conduct of research. Dr. Arya's proposal will lead to the development of a health center campaign that will improve HIV testing for African-American communities disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic and will provide her with a skill set and knowledge base for conducting independent research in the fields of health communications and health disparities.
African-Americans continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and late HIV testing is one reason for the ongoing disparity in the epidemic. This research will help understand the ongoing barriers to HIV testing faced by both patients and physicians in health care settings serving predominantly African-American communities. The research will guide development of a health center media campaign that will improve physician intent to offer and patient intent to accept HIV testing in community health centers serving predominantly African-American communities.
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