What's Happening

By ETR's Qualitative Evaluation Sub-Core Group | May 16, 2019
 

Advancing health equity is one of ETR’s core values. We are part of a movement to improve health and education outcomes for all communities. Qualitative research—the kind that asks questions, gathers stories and provides rich contextual information—is a valuable tool in this work.

Qualitative research helps us better understand how communities see themselves, their future, their history, and the ways they change over time. It gives us information about structural and social influences and how these affect individuals, neighborhoods and society at large. This is essential knowledge as we engage in efforts to address inequities.

By Amy Peterson, MSc | April 25, 2019
Strategic Development Manager, ETR

Educational equity is closely related to health equity. In fact I’d like to suggest that they are essentially inseparable—that educational equity isn’t merely an element of health equity, but that the two are inextricably linked. Put simply, one cannot exist without the other.

In 2014, I was among a group of colleagues who sought out a framework that would help us unify the work we were doing across ETR’s projects. We found that no existing framework covered all the aspects of our work so we adapted, developed and iterated to create ETR’s Health Equity Framework (HEF). 

By BA Laris, MPH | April 2, 2019

“I was 14 and I just didn’t know…”

Many of us work with teens who face challenges because they didn’t have health information and resources they needed. We put a lot of effort into gathering our own information about their circumstances so we can offer them the best support possible.

But what do you do when you don’t know?

By BA Laris, MPH | February 26, 2019

Today, cancer is the leading cause of death of people living with HIV (PLWH). A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that between 1996 and 2009, there was a 50% increase in cancers of people living with HIV compared to the general population. Non-AIDS-related cancer deaths increased from 11% to 22%. People living with HIV had higher rates for 4 out of 5 forms of cancer. 

By Bo James Hwang | February 19, 2019
Post-Baccalaureate Pre-Medical Student, UCLA Extension

The All of Us Research Program, a project of the National Institutes of Health, aims to gather health data from one million people living in the United States. I was chosen to participate in one of the University of California, San Francisco’s research feedback sessions for the initiative.

Many of the trans and non-binary people participating in the feedback session discussed their personal experiences with medical providers and researchers. Many brought up the mistrust that trans people have for researchers. 

By ETR | January 8, 2019

ETR has a nationally recognized Research Department. Our multidisciplinary research team engages in research addressing a wide range of educational and public health issues.

One of the challenges in research is recruiting participants for studies. In work we did recently, our research assistants went to college classrooms. They delivered a five-minute “pitch” inviting students to participate in an online survey about their learning experiences.

By ETR | November 29, 2018

We had an outstanding Kirby Summit IV this fall. This invitational gathering brings together experts from around the country who know a great deal about emerging issues in adolescent health. The Kirby IV summiteers focused on scaffolding for adolescent relationships. If you're not quite sure what that is, you'll want to watch this lively 3-minute video from ETR Senior Research Associate Pamela Anderson.

By Elizabeth McDade-Montez, PhD, and Rebecca A. Dore, PhD  | November 13, 2018

Harry Potter is the best-selling book series of all time. The books and their derivatives have made author J.K. Rowling the world’s first billionaire author. The novels and subsequent movies are certainly engaging and entertaining. Indeed, entertainment is the primary goal of most media and works of fiction.

But how we engage with fiction and media is a serious area of study for researchers in fields as diverse as psychology, education, literary studies, philosophy and communications. 

By James Walker | November 6, 2018
Project Specialist, ETR

This past September I was faced with a sobering reality. I had to witness my father’s passing and subsequently oversee his homegoing. Although the process was earnest in nature, I was emotionally detached. It is hard to feel attached to someone who was never really in your life. 

By Ifeoma Udoh, PhD | September 27, 2018

Access to PrEP is changing minds and behaviors. As an HIV prevention option, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV) has provided individuals who may be at risk for HIV an important tool in the way they conceptualize choices about sex partners.

The practice of serosorting—selecting a sexual partner based on HIV status—has often been seen as either stigmatizing or divisive. However, PrEP is changing this practice among both older and younger men who have sex with men (MSM). I contributed to a just-published paper that demonstrates this in some persuasive ways.

By Antwan Matthews, BS | July 31, 2018
SHARP Scholar, ETR and San Francisco Department of Public Health

I am Antwan Matthews, a native of Meridian, Mississippi, and recently graduated from Tougaloo College in Biology. This summer I have the privilege to serve as a scholar for the Summer HIV AIDS Research Program (SHARP), an NIH-funded initiative of the San Francisco Department of Public Health.    

I have an argument to offer about the ways we think about public health. 

By Beverly Iniguez-Conrique | May 1, 2018

In 1994, two very important events happened in my life. First, one of the earliest papers on Social Dominance Theory was published. Second, I was born.

Social Dominance Theory holds that people develop a set of beliefs—“legitimizing myths”—that support their attitudes about social inequities.

By Vignetta Charles, PhD & Karin Coyle, PhD | April 24, 2018

At ETR, we advance health equity through science-based solutions. We’ve been doing it for 37 years. But it wasn’t until recently that we developed our own framework to explicitly and transparently ground our work in health equity. This more intentional approach to health equity has energized our mission-driven work.

By Elizabeth McDade-Montez, PhD | April 12, 2018

Worried about social media’s influence on youth? A lot of people are.

In the first part of this blog post, I talked about some of the reasons we worry. Here are 6 recommendations that can guide parents and those who work with youth in supporting healthy use of these new tools.

By Elizabeth McDade-Montez, PhD | April 5, 2018

From a fairly young age, today’s kids are growing up with all kinds of social media. Parents and professionals struggle to keep up with the latest trends and protect children from possible harm. As a media researcher and a parent, I'm also working to stay abreast of the latest technology and how it impacts children and adolescents.

But rather than looking at every new app as a focus of research, I'm interested in the larger issues related to social media use—things like why and how we use social media.

By Stephanie Guinosso, PhD | February 26, 2018

“Our goal is to create a beloved community. This will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This quote resonates deeply for me. It truly captures the journey we must embark upon to become trauma-informed professionals working within trauma- and healing-informed systems.

By Karin Coyle, PhD | February 6, 2018

The Kirby Summit has disrupted the ways I think about sex education. I hope it’s going to disrupt your thinking, too. ETR’s invitational Summit assembled some of the nation’s best-known developmental neuroscientists, along with similarly respected sexual and reproductive health specialists. The things we’ve learned by bringing our disciplines together are altering the ways all of us are conceptualizing sex education.

By Pamela Anderson, PhD | January 11, 2018

Sex trafficking among U.S. teens is real. It’s happening in most communities—in schools, at the mall, online and in other situations. If you work with young people, I hope you’ll check out some new free resources you can use to share facts about youth trafficking with both young people and adults.