African American Female Adolescents: A Summary

Health equity is when everyone has equal chance to be healthy regardless of their background, this includes; race, ethnicity, income, gender, religion, sexual identity, and disability (Sexually Transmitted Disease, 2017). Over the years there has been higher rates of STD’s in racial or ethnic minorities compared to whites. Which is not caused by color, but, by social conditions that minorities are likely to face. Poverty is a big factor, the tremendous gap between poor and rich, less jobs, and education levels low which all affect sexual health. People in these conditions cannot afford health care, or distrust the healthcare system due to fear of discrimination from healthcare professionals (Sexually Transmitted Disease, 2017).

Many people are unaware of their health status further increasing transmission of disease in young adult African American(AA) women age 18-24. Human Immunodeficiency Viruses (HIV) infects and also destroy blood cells (i.e. lymphocytes) that the body need to fight off infection (Mays 2011). African American women HIV positive, age 18-24 the magnitude of issue of the health disparity in this particular population will be addressed along with the many factors of social and health determinants. The health concern is towards the increase of transmission among young AA mothers and their children who are the health outcomes in many ways than one. The many social and health determinants that affect the women today are on going cycles that have yet to be broken. African American women make 64% of new infection cases for HIV. African american obtain a vulnerability unlike other minorities. The health population’s culture and stigma has played an important role in the community. The concern for AA women is the increase of new cases and most importantly the spread of the disease to these women’s children. The mortality rate of AA women with HIV is 47.1% as of 2012. (Siddiqi 2015)

In the words of C.J. Heck, “We are all products of our environments.” An individual’s behavior is largely influenced by the world in which they find themselves immersed in. This dictum is exemplified in “Identity-Based Motivation: Implications for Health and Health Disparities” by Daphna Oyserman, George C. Smith and Kristen Elmore and “Stress-Related Externalizing Behavior among African American Youth: How Could Policy and Practice Transform Risk into Resilience?” by Sonya S. Brady, Willie Winston III, and Sonia E. Gockley. Both of these readings explore how people’s daily choices are influenced by the society in which they find themselves in. “Identity-Based Motivation: Implications for Health and Health Disparities” delves into the social determinants and identify-based motivation and how it relates to identity-congruence. “Stress-Related Externalizing Behavior among African American Youth: How Could Policy and Practice Transform Risk into Resilience?” investigates how externalizing behaviors are largely influenced by factors that children find in their homes and communities. Both articles make the key argument that human beings are influenced by their surroundings. This conclusion comes based on the extrapolations they have made from their research. Overall, both articles explore the key theme of the impact of external influences by exploring identity, analyzing race, and scrutinizing what needs to be done by larger influences to mitigate these issues.

No one would guess by her wild, nappy, black hair that she was the top of her class. No one would guess by the ashiness of her elbows or the shake of her neck that she had an eloquent vocabulary. To everyone she is the average black girl, to everyone she is a stereotype until you actually get to meet her. No one would guess that this black girl would amount to anything. People automatically assume the worst when they see someone's skin color. They assume the worst when they see the average black girl with her ashy elbows and nappy hair. This is the story of the average black girl to Ernestine Johnson, who wrote the spoken word, "The Average Black Girl," which explains how twisted societies views of black girls. The first part of her poem talks about how her ex's mother was surprised by her because she talked so white for being a black girl. The mother's surprise calls into question how society sees black girls; since when did talking eloquently associate to talking white? Overall, society has a distorted assumption that black is bad and white is good, allowing people to make assumptions based on stereotypes, cultural clichés and misconceptions.

An African American teen, struggles to overcome the hardships of society, wishing to be wealthy. He struggles to overcome the hardships of society, having a lack of resources, few family members he can rely on, and has few friends that he can trust.

STDs can effects anyone.. Who does it affect the most? Why would they need this education? High school boys aged 14-18 Primary STD prevention relies on fi ve key strategies: practicing abstinence, choosing low-risk partners, discussing partners’ sexual history, using condoms consistently and not having multiple partners. Few studies have examined all of these strategies simultaneously, and few have focused on rural black adolescents, whose rates of early sexual initiation and STDs are among the highest in the nation. (p.

Magic’s biggest challenge did not hold him back even though sadness and disappointment is consuming him. He continued to be a voice for Aids awareness and an educator that created an epilogue, “A Message for Black Teenagers.” As he continue to educate the world, a question made him think and left it unanswered. “If all this had happened to somebody else, what would have i done?”

Many studies has revealed that children are not receiving information about sexuality and sexual behavior from their parents, do not have the availability of physicians to counsel adolescents and adult patients on measures to prevent STDs (primarily HIV), especially if they are treated once for infections in lower-income communities. There are other factors and measures that have been issued by a number of organizations that explain why African Americans and where they live makes them more susceptible to HIV infection and AIDS.

Abdelmalek Bayout was an Algerian citizen living in Italy since the early 90’s. In 2007, he pled guilty to the first degree murder of Walter Felipe Novoa Perez, who had insulted him for the kohl eye make-up (worn for religious reasons) the Algerian had on. Bayout’s lawyer in turn filed an insanity plea, which resulted in a series of psychiatric tests and a final reduction in the sentence from twelve to nine years. However, two years later, an interesting turn of events lead to a further reduction in sentencing . Using brain imaging scans, a group of Italian researchers led by Pietro Pietrini were able to label several genes linked to violent behaviours—including a gene encoding a neurotransmitter-metabolizing enzyme: monoamine

According to healthypeople.gov/2020, the spread of STIs in a community can be directly attributed to social, economic, and behavioral factors. Such factors may cause serious obstacles to STI prevention due to their influence on social and sexual networks, access to and delivery of care, willingness to seek care, and social norms regarding sexuality. Among certain vulnerable populations, historical experience with segregation and discrimination exacerbates the influence of these factors (Healthy People 2020, n.d.). Peoria County, where my hospital is located has a large population of low socio economic patients, which are at a greater risk of contracting STIs through risky sexual behavior and lower educational awareness of these diseases. In 2013, the rate of Chlamydia in Peoria County was 1.7 times greater than the rate of Chlamydia in the United States with some zip codes within the county being 4.9 times greater than the

According to the Center for Young Women’s Health 25 percent of Americans between ages 15 and 55 will catch at least one STI. It is believed that STIs are more significant among teens and young adults, more than half of STI cases are caught by people under the age of 25. Young people are more likely to take more risks and have sex with more partners (“Sexually Transmitted Infections”, 2015). These numbers are high and without a solution being implemented has the potential to get a lot worse. STI’s or Sexually Transmitted Infections can be Gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, Herpes, HIV/AIDS, HPV, Scabies, and Syphilis to name a few. In recent years the HIV/AIDS rates on Historically Black Collegiate Universities have been on a rapid increase because it runs so ramped throughout the African American community. The United States National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health state in their journal that during the years of 2001 to 2005, African Americans accounted for the largest percentage of new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in all age categories, especially among people aged 13 to 24 years (Public Health Rep, 2008).

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are one of the most concerning health problems in the United States. It is a serious threat to the health of the population which could lead to severe complications if left untreated. According to the CDC, approximately 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted disease are reported throughout the nation. “Though constituting 25% of the sexually active population, youth account for nearly half of new STI cases which makes them the at-risk population” (“2014 Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance”, 2015). Research suggests this increase in cases among adolescents and young adults was attributed to the “combination of behavioral, biological and cultural factors” (“Sexual Health of Adolescents and

In the United States every year there are 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (CDC, 2011). One half of those cases are in adolescents and young adults, which cover the ages 15-24 years old (CDC, 2011). Even though this age range only represents 25% of those who are sexually experienced in the United States, they make up an astonishing number of STI cases, which shows how high the prevalence is of STIs in this population (CDC, 2011). In just sexually active female adolescents alone, there are one in four diagnosed with an STI (CDC, 2014).

Several public health researchers have detected higher rates of both (STIs) and STI risk behaviors among MSM /MSMW (men who have sex with men and women) and WSW/WSWM (women who have sex with women and men). Subsequently those populations are compared to men and women who engage solely in opposite-sex sexual encounters (Everett, 2013). These results were concentrated among gay and bisexual identifiers who have reported both male and female sexual encounters. Recently, several studies have also been called into investigation by researchers to examine the sexual identity role in unification with sexual behavior in order to fully comprehend how STI disparities are distributed across the U.S population by sexual orientation (Everett, 2013).

This paper examines five peer reviewed studies that report on results from research conducted about sexually transmitted diseases. The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between social disparities and sexually transmitted diseases in Dallas and Collin Counties. There are certain people who are predisposed to being at a greater risk for transmitting sexually transmitted diseases in the United States given their demographic and socioeconomic status. The studies have shown without access to health care, young men and women do not receive the necessary information or medical prevention devices they need for the prevention and/or transmission of such diseases. The data was descriptive comparative,